1 Corinthians 15:1-11

                                                                 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.  Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

There is no subject more important than the Gospel.  For that reason, there is no subject that is more attacked than the Gospel.  Satan seeks to cast doubt on the Gospel, add to the Gospel, subtract from the Gospel, and do anything else he can to tear down the Gospel.  For that reason, Paul is constantly reminding His disciples of the basic truths of the Gospel.

 

SALVATION BY THE GOSPEL: The Gospel is the only means of salvation.  However, there are several things that must take place in order for the Gospel to save.  The death and resurrection of Christ does not automatically save everyone.  The first requirement for the Gospel to save someone is preaching.  People must hear the Gospel before they can be saved by it.  The second requirement is receiving the Gospel.  Unfortunately, many who hear the Gospel reject it in favor of some other works-based religion.  The way one receives the Gospel is by believing in it.  One must trust exclusively in the Gospel to receive it.  The final requirement for salvation is to stand fast in the Gospel.  This is the proof of genuine faith.  Those who hear the Gospel and genuinely receive it by trusting in Christ alone for their salvation will stand fast in that belief and will be eternally saved.  Some may appear to believe from an external perspective, but if they do not persevere, it proves that they never truly placed their faith in Christ.

 

SUMMARY OF THE GOSPEL: The message of the Gospel in found in the Scriptures.  Paul received this message and passed it on to the people in Corinth and everywhere he went.  The message Scripture records in that Christ died for our sin and that he rose again the third day.  There are basically three aspects of the message of the Gospel.  The first is recognition of sin.  Christ died for our sin.  We must recognize that we are sinners and that this sin separates us from God.  It is necessary for us to understand why Christ died.  The second aspect of the Gospel message is redemption.  The wages of sin death and Jesus paid that debt of death by being crucified and shedding His blood as a payment for our sin.  The central message of the Gospel is that Christ died to redeem us.  The final aspect of the Gospel is resurrection.  As long as Christ was dead, the price of sin was still being paid.  However, when God raised Jesus from the dead, He declared that the debt of sin had been paid in full and He who bore all our sin in our place on the crossed was resurrected and restored to perfect fellowship with the Father.  Because Jesus lives perfectly in the presence of God, the promise of the Gospel is that one day all who believe will also live eternally in perfect holiness in the presence of God.

 

STEWARDS OF THE GOSPEL: The message of the death and resurrection of Christ can be trusted as true because it is recorded in Scripture and because these events were witnessed by many men who were still alive at the time Paul was writing.  Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was a witness to the resurrection.  James, the brother of Jesus is a witness to the resurrection.  Jesus appeared to over five-hundred men, many of whom remained alive.  Additionally, he appeared multiple times to all the apostles, including Paul at his conversion  and during his time of training in the wilderness.  These men are stewards of the Gospel because they can attest to the truth of the message and because they spread the message of Christ at great personal expense.  Many of these men died preaching this message.  They certainly would not have all been willing to pay this price for a message of their own invention.

 

APPLICATION: Make sure that we have heard, understood, received, believed and are standing firm in the Gospel.  Recognize that we are sinners that have been redeemed by the shedding of the blood of Christ who died in our place on the cross, and the was raised from the dead.  Faithfully proclaim this message to all people everywhere as it is the only means of salvation from sin.