The Gospel Centered Life

The Basis of the Gospel

I believe most of us understand the importance of the Gospel in bringing salvation through Jesus Christ.

But it’s not enough to simply be familiar with the Gospel

we must hear it clearly,

respond to it by faith,

and live in light of it to truly walk in fellowship with Christ.

To some, a series focused on the Gospel may seem redundant, especially for those who have already trusted in Christ.

However, I firmly believe this focus is not only helpful but urgently needed in today’s church.

I fear that while many Christians accept the truth of the Gospel and have responded to it in faith, they do not fully grasp its ongoing relevance to daily life.

The Gospel is not just the entry point into the Christian life

it is the foundation we build on and the lens through which we view everything.

As followers of Christ, our identity must be rooted in the Gospel.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in The Cost of Discipleship:

Themes: Discipleship; God: Grace “Such grace is costly … because it costs a man his life and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner” (p. 5).

As believers everything we have and everything we are is rooted in the gospel. It is the center of our lives. If it is not I pray that today you make it be.

With that in mind, as we begin this series I have entitled A Gospel-Centered Life, let the Holy Spirit search you and speak to you and allow Him to show you

If you are living the life you have been called to live

If you have the gospel period. You cant live it if you dont have it.

So as we begin the first thing we need to understand is the foundation or basis of the gospel.

This can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4: Lets all stand this morning in reverance to the reading of God’s Word as we read 1Cor. 15:3-4.

In just a few verses, the apostle Paul summarizes the basics of the Gospel.

Jesus lived, died was buried and rose again on the third day accourding to the scriptures.

Though brief, this summary not only contains the truths that one must believe in order to have faith that Christ is able to saved you, it also contains essential truths that every believer must live by.

So lets talk a brief look at the basis of a gospel centered life.

The basis of a gospel centered life is to understand...

I. The Importance of the Gospel

v.3a For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also recieved

The gospel is top priority

Before sanctification, holiness, service, or tithing, the gospel must be preached

without the gospel nothing else matters

to many churches today are preaching the gospel of self

I can do anything in Christ

I can be blessed beyound measure

If I name it I can claim it

etc,

It is all about “I”

but Paul says it is all about the great “I AM”

Christ did not die for your prosperity

He did not die for your health

He did not di so you could be a better person

He died so you could be set free and serve Him

He died so that you might live for the glory of God

He died so you and I could be saved.

The reason we must preach the gospel Before anything else is because it ‘s God’s message

This is no fairy tale

This is truth therefore it must be preached as truth

Beginning with the gospel signifies the gospel’s paramount importance for faith, doctrine, and discipleship.

If the gospel is, as Paul says, “first of all” or “of first importance” (1 Cor 15:3), then it deserves first place in the theological system.

and if it deserves first place in the theological system, it deserves first place in our daily lives

II. The Instruction in the Gospel

(v. 3) “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

The Gospel not only is of most importance in our lives, it is also instruction for our lives

Paul boldly declares that Christ died for our sins , was buried and rose again. What instruction do we see?

First we see that there is instruction in the....

A. The Life of Christ

(v. 3)

“Christ died…”

In order to Christ to have died what did he have to do live.

Now this was not just a man living among other men, this was God in the flesh sent to the world to redeem man back to God.

But before he died on that ol cross at Calvary, He had to live a sin free life

Im not saying that we have to live sin free lives

Im saying we should strive to immitate Christ at all cost.

From his birth Christ had the cross at center focus. shall I not be about my fathers buisn

If the gospel is at the center of our lives

we will make every moment an eternal moment

We will not see men as just men

we will see them as souls in need of a savior

We wont seek out what is best for self we will strive to help others

We wont forsake that personal time with the Father

we wont forsake that commanded time with fellow believers

[Wait preacher you said commanded, yes commanded (Not forsaking the assemblig of our selves together as the matter of some is, most so much the more as we see the day approaching you say that is not really a command more of a suggestion, I know to some of you it seems that way, because if you truly believed it you would be here every time the doors were open. But you]

Christ did not save you so you could treat his house as a schedule filler

For Christ to have died He had to live and there for we see the first instruction to us is to live like Christ

A. The Life of Christ

B. The Death and Burial of Christ

(v. 3,4)

“Christ died....And that he was buried…”

Christ did not die for His own wrongdoing—He had none.

He died in our place, taking upon Himself the punishment we deserved.

This is the doctrine of substitution.

Jesus endured the wrath of God so that we might receive mercy and eternal life.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many…” (Hebrews 9:28). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…” (1 Peter 2:24)

His lifeless body was taken down from the cross, wrapped in linen, and placed in a tomb.

“And he … laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door…” (Mark 15:46)

This was not a symbolic act—Jesus truly died.

The death of Christ for our sins not only instructs us about the payment that was made so that we could be set free,

it should instruct those of us that are born again, that living a gospel centered life means that we we should sacrifice our selves daily for him and this requires us waking every morning making a concious decision to die daily to our sins, dead men cannot do wrong.

It also instructs us that just as Christ was our sacrifice and showed the greatest love ever shown, A gospel center life will place others before their selves.

it also says that he was buried

this not only confirms His death.

it also instructs us that just as Christ died, we to have died to the old man.

His death instructs us that now that we have believed, we are made new creatures and therefore the old man has died.

If you are in Christ

If you call yourself a Christian and know without a doubt that you are saved by grace through faith

Then I have to ask you, why are you still allowing the old man to control you?

Living a gospel centered life is remembering that Christ died and was buried and therefore as a believer in Christ I must die to self and keep the old man buried.

Illustration:

How many in here remember the movie Weekend at Burney’s?

Just like that movie we are proping the dead man up, dressing him up acting like he is alive when we really should be rejoicing over the fact that we are no longer slaves to sin.

You say I just cant get the Victory.

You are not living a gospel centered life!

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

A. The Life of Christ

B. The Death and Burial of Christ

C. The Resurrection of Christ

(v. 4)

“And that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The resurrection is the crowning proof of the Gospel.

Jesus did not remain in the tomb

—He rose victorious over sin, death, and hell.

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

Without the resurrection, there is no hope.

But because He lives, we can live also.

His ressurection is a great reminder to those of us that are saved that we have been made alive in Christ.

Romans 6:3–8 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”

maybe you are walking around defeated becasue you have not been truly made new

or maybe you have forgotten that because of Christ’s resurrection we too can live a victorious life.

A. The Life of Christ

B. The Death and Burial of Christ

C. The Resurrection of Christ

D. The Service of Christ

Twice, Paul emphasizes that all these events happened “according to the scriptures.”

This reminds us that Christ’s death and resurrection were not accidental

—they were part of God’s eternal plan.

God has a plan for every believer after salvation.

He wants you to serve Him

Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and perfectly accomplished the will of the Father.

His suffering, death, and resurrection were foreordained for our redemption.

and just as Christ accomplished the will of the Father, this instructs us that we are to walk as Christ walked and do as Christ did, Not my will but thy will be done.

Conclusion

Paul begins this passage by saying:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received…”

A. Its a Personal Gospel

Paul had received the Gospel.

This speaks to the personal influence of the Gospel.

He had personally placed his faith in the risen Christ.

That’s how transformation begins.

Salvation is personal.

No one else can believe for you.

When Paul was saved, he was radically changed—no longer the persecutor, but the preacher.

The Gospel changes lives.

A. The Personal Gospel

B. The Public Gospel

Paul said he delievered

This speaks to the public influence

Paul didn’t keep the message to himself.

He delivered what he had received.

He preached it far and wide.

Likewise, we are called to share the good news with others.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Matthew 28:19) “…ye shall be witnesses unto me…” (Acts 1:8)

The Gospel is not just for your salvation—it is your message to the world.

The basis to A gospel centered life is understanding the importance in the gospel and the instruction we get from the gospel

The gospel does not stop just because you have been saved, it is just the beginning to our life.

as a saved man or woman here today you have a responsibility to live a gospel centered life.

You know that the gospel is the most important message we have

so why are you remaining so quite

You know that Christ life, death, burial and resurrection instruct us on how we are to live our lives daily

So why are you still living like the world

Now, For those of you in here this morning that have never been saved by grace through faith, you can not walk out of here saying you did not hear the gospel.

You’ve now heard a clear and biblical presentation of the Gospel:

Christ died for your sins

for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God

He was buried

just as Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale so must the Son of man be in the belly of the earth

He rose again on the third day All according to the Scriptures.

Revelation 1:18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Now you must respond.

If you are unsaved, turn from your sin and trust in Christ alone for salvation.

If you are already saved, let the Gospel remain the center of your life—guiding your walk, shaping your witness, and fueling your worship.

The Gospel is not only how we begin the Christian life—it is how we live the Christian life.

“Ye were bought with a price…” (1 Corinthians 6:20) Let us live like it.