THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
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1 Corinthians 15:1-2
1 Corinthians 15:1-2
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
INTRODUCTION
I. The Context
Last week we covered the resurrection of Jesus. Mark’s gospel concludes with this radical event - Jesus, the man who claimed to be the Son of God, the man who claimed He would rise from the grave actually did!
Twenty years later the Apostle Paul is writing to a church in the city of Corinth about the very same subject - the resurrection of Jesus. Some were apparently saying that there was no resurrection.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
That is why Paul begins this chapter with “Now I remind you”. The city of Corinth was well known as a hotbed of Greek philosophy; a place where ideas were shared, developed and discussed. It’s possible that some of those Corinthian attitudes had found their way into the church. They needed to be reminded again of these foundational truths of the gospel.
It’s when a church begins to shift from gospel foundations that the culture of the world begins to seep in. There’s this type of buffet approach to Christian belief - I’ll take that doctrine but I’ll leave that one etc. The Apostle Paul is at pains to point out the dangers of that kind of approach.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Paul calls them back to the simple gospel which he had preached to them in the form of a simple creed in verses 3-8
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
This is an ancient church creed that dates back to within 3-5 years of the resurrection.
There are some who say that belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus wasn’t originally part of Christian belief but that it was invented later - this creed blows that out of the water.
Paul didn’t tell them some fresh revelation - he didn’t tell them they needed a new prophetic word, he called them back to the gospel! Not a message about themselves but a message about Jesus Christ.
If you are struggling in your faith, what you need isn’t a fresh revelation, or another prophetic word, or to be pumped up on self esteem, you need to return to the gospel, you need to come again to Jesus.
The gospel has the power to save you and to revive you wholly and completely if you will continue to…
II. RECEIVE THE GOSPEL
Story of Becca’s birthday present - delivered but not received.
Paul delivered the gospel - but it was not efficacious until it had been received by the Corinthians.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
It has to be received by faith. I’m not talking about the Indiana Jones leap of faith type of faith - I’m talking about trust.
I have faith in my wife. It’s not a blind faith, it’s a trust which is based on evidence that she is trust worthy. I don’t need to put a tracking device on her every day and cross examine her; she has my trust. And that’s the kind of faith which receives the gospel - it’s not a blind faith, but neither is it a kind of rationality that will only believe that which is acceptable to human reason; it’s trust based on good evidence.
The gospel must be received whole and wholly by faith. Not just the bits that make sense to us but all of it.
“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.” - Augustine
III. STAND UPON THE GOSPEL
The gospel is supposed to be our foundation. It is supposed to be the doctrine upon which we build our lives.
A building is only as secure as it’s foundations - what is at the foundation of your life? Paul said it ought to be the gospel.
What is it to have the gospel as our foundation? Well it means that our entire outlook on life, our behaviour, our conduct, our hopes and fears are governed by gospel doctrine;
That God is holy
That we are sinful
That God loves us
That our sin is dealt with once and for all at the cross
That we are reconciled to God through faith in Christ
Any other foundation in life is not fit for purpose and will cause subsidence and damage.
IV. HOLD FAST TO THE GOSPEL
Those who receive the gospel, and stand on the gospel will be saved through it, IF, says the Apostle Paul, they will hold fast to the word which was preached to them.
What did he mean by the word which was preached to them? He means the content of the gospel - the revelation that we now have in the New Testament!
You don’t tell someone to hold fast to something unless there’s some danger that it might be taken from them. Rugby (stick it up your jumper and run!)
There are three opponents on the field of play trying to strip you of your confidence in the gospel:
The devil
The flesh
The world
By the grace of God you must hold fast to the gospel as it was revealed to you by God’s word.
Those who receive Christ, those who stand upon Christ, those who hold fast to Christ to the end shall be saved!
