the gospel which I preached unto you, which ye received, wherein ye stand, by which ye are saved, (I bring to your knowledge, I say,) how, qua ratione^ I preached, if ye hold fast.' This, however, breaks the connection. It is, therefore, better to consider the words tlvl Xoyw as placed first for the sake of emphasis. ' You are saved if you hold fast (the gos- pel) as I preached it to you.' Unless ye have believed in vai7i. The word cik^, hi vain^ may mean either without cause, Gal. 2, 18, or without effect, i. e. to no purpose. Gal. 3, 4. 4, 11. If the former, then Paul means to say, ' Unless ye believed with- out evidence, i. e. had no ground for your faith.' If the latter, the meaning is, ' Unless your faith is worthless.' The clause may be connected with the preceding words, ' If ye hold fast, which ye do, or will do, unless ye believed without cause.' The better connection is with the words ye are saved, &c. ' Ye are saved, if ye persevere, unless indeed faith is worth- less.' If, as the errorists in Corinth taught, there is no resur- rection, Paul says, v. 14, our faith is vain; it is an empty, . I worthless thing. So here he says, the gospel secures salvation, unless faith be of no account.
3. jFor I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ac- cording to the Scriptures :
For introduces the explanation of * what he had preached.' I delivered unto you first of all ; first, not in reference to time ; nor first to the Corinthians, which would not be histori- cally true, as Paul did not preach first at Corinth ; but Iv Trpw- Tois means, among the first, or principal things. The death of Christ for our sins and his resurrection were therefore the great facts on which Paul insisted as the foundation of the gospel. Which also I received, i. e. by direct revelation from Christ himself. Comp. 11, 23. Gal. 1, 12. "I did not receive* it (the gospel) from man, neither was I taught it ; but by revelation of Jesus Christ." The apostle, therefore, could speak with infallible confidence, both as to what the gospel is and as to its truth. That Christ died for our sins, i. e. as a sacrifice or propitiation for our sins. Comp. Rom. 3, 23-26. Some commentators remark that as virlp d/xapntuv, for sin, can- n(5t mean in the place of sin, therefore virlp rjixiov, for us, cannot mean in our place. This remark, however, has no more force in reference to the Greek preposition, vTrip, than it has in rela-