(I. Corinthians 15:1-4), “ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
The gospel is the most important message that can ever be proclaimed.
- THE DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL
The word “gospel” means good news. It is good news about God. It is good news about Jesus Christ. What is the good news of the gospel? That God so loved the world that He sent His Son into the world to die for the sins of the world and that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. In order for there to be good news there has to be bad news. What is the bad news? We are lost sinners, separated from God, and we cannot do anything in and of ourselves to be reconciled to God. The good news is that Jesus came to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and He done this by taking upon Himself a human body, living a sinless life, dying on the cross to pay our sin debt, and resurrecting from the dead. This is the gospel of good news.
In the gospel are the foundational facts about the Saviour, sin, and salvation. Notice what the apostle Paul said in (I. Corinthians 15:1-4).
1. It Was Sure – The Bible does not say that we are saved by the declarations of Christ, but by His death; not by His example, but by His expiation.
2. It Was Sacrificial – You and I were born to live. Christ was born to die. Why was He born to die? He was born to die for sins; not His sins because He had no sins. Christ was born to die for our sins and pay our sin debt. He died “the Just for the unjust.” He died pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.
3. It Was Scriptural – The death of our Lord was not accidental. Neither was His death an after-thought with God but it was according to a pre-planned and pre-written program. It was designed in the heart of God before the world began. The gospel designed by God included the virgin birth of Christ, His sinless life, His death upon the cross, His burial and resurrection from the dead after three days. It is only as we believe this that we can be saved. For it is written in (Romans 10:9), “That if thou shalt confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.”
- THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL
What does it mean to be saved? To be saved means to be delivered? Delivered from what? Sin and its consequences. Consider the following. (Romans 3:23), “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Then we read in (Romans 6:23a), “For the wages of sin is death…” Because we have sinned against God there is a penalty that must be paid. Because we have sinned we deserve to perish. That is the meaning of the word “death. But God is not willing that any should perish but He wants everyone to be saved. To be saved means to be delivered from perishing, or from hell, this is the penalty of sin. There is no other way to be saved apart from the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Christ. To be saved, a person must believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ from the dead and place their personal faith in Him in as their Savior.
1. To be saved means to be delivered from the penalty of sin. When one is saved they do not have to go to hell and pay for their sin but will go to heaven.
2. To be saved means to be delivered from the power of sin. When one is saved they can be delivered from habits as well as hell.
3. To be saved means to be delivered from the presence of sin. The death of Christ brought about the redemption of our soul. The resurrection of Christ brought about the resurrection of our body. Up to this hour, redemption extends just to our souls. But later on it will include the redemption of our bodies. Until this moment, not one of us has experienced the redemption of our bodies.
- THE DANGER OF THE GOSPEL
(I. Corinthians 15:1-2), “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Paul not only tells us the Corinthians believers that he had preached the gospel unto them by which they had been saved but he also gives a warning about believing in vain. What does the Bible mean by believing in vain? It means to believe in your baptism to save you; to believe in your church membership to save you; to believe in a prayer to save you; to believe in your intellect to save you; or to believe in anything else other that Jesus Christ alone to save you. This is the only way to be saved.
(John 14:6), “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? If not, for more information on how you can be saved, please contact us.
Pastor Allen Jackson