Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 NIV
Hold Fast
The idiom “hold fast” means to remain steadfast or to hold onto something tightly. It can be used both literally and figuratively. The origin of this idiom can be traced back to nautical terms where sailors would use the phrase as a command during rough weather conditions. They would tell each other to “hold fast” when they needed to grab onto something firmly so that they wouldn’t get thrown off balance by the waves. No wonder islanders are heard to say, “Hold Fast, Newfoundland!”
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We live in a day of wabbling morality, loud voices, and conflicting theologies. With social media, everyone has a platform and truth is relative. Except it isn’t. From the early stages of the Bible, it declares over and over that there is a benchmark for truth, and when Jesus came, He declared that He is the Truth. Paul writes about all of this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.” As Paul’s readers were commanded, so are we – in our day, we must hold fast to truth, to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley