The Gospel of Grace
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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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.
Welcome - 1 Corinthians 15 - a wonderful section about resurrection - both Christ’s and ours - and about glorification, the consummation of our salvation and the completion of every promise of God
Now, sometimes we preach through sections of a Biblical book and there is some repetition. Take, for instance, the last two months of speaking about spiritual gifts. While Paul offers great exposition and practical and clear application about using our gifts, it becomes tedious for some.
Because, first, we wind up with similar application for a few weeks. And since we put the application of the first sermon right into action, I’m sure by last week it was all old hat to us.
But more importantly, in those overtly practical sections, the tie in with the Gospel is not as evident when such specific matters are addressed.
But the reason Paul wants the Corinthians and all of us to apply those very practical instructions is because they are out-workings of the faith we claim to have in Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: ‘The essence of the church is not to practise theology but to believe and obey the word of God.’
In other words: Our obedience is the result of believing the Gospel.
And that’s why Paul takes a bit of a breather from all his corrections and practical instructions that flow from the Gospel, and he brings the Corinthians back to the basics of the Gospel.
I probably say this more often than I think, but this is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Why? Because it is literally just the Gospel.
And Paul gets here from talking about all that he has addresses so far. All the particular things he has written about - all the very specific instructions he gives for life in the church and as Christians - for Paul, that all flows naturally not only from, but back to the basic truth of the Gospel.
How we live out our faith is a result of Who Christ is and what He has done, and how we live out our faith is a pointer to Who Christ is and what He has done - for us, for each other, and for the world.
Very simply, the Corinthians need to be reminded of Who Christ is and what He has done, so that they will remember who they were, who they now are, and what they are to do because of who God has made them.
And I think we all need to be reminded of that often.
So let’s be reminded along with the Corinthians. Paul begins:
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.
He says “Now I would remind you, brothers.” Paul is changing his tone a bit here. He is not answering anything they wrote to him. At least not directly yet. He is instead bringing them back to what he had previously told them. He reminds them of the Gospel he preached to them that made them what they were.
The Gospel that made them Christians and that made them a church.
We will see that he is doing this in order to answer something they said. But before he disputes them on that, he needs to bring them back to the basics of the faith. Because if they believe these basics, they really answer their own questions and objections.
I think the same often applies to us. I think there are times in life that we stray, doubt, believe something that can’t actually be true if the Gospel is true. That’s why we always need to be reminded of the simple and life-changing truth of the Gospel.
Because, for example, we sometimes stray from God because we seek something we believe will make things better. Not that we believe it is better than Christ - but we see something better than what we currently have or currently do and we think “if only I had that, things would be better.”
Did you ever notice that there’s always something else “better” even after we get that?
But if we would stop, and think about the truth of the Gospel - if we would think about who we are because of Who Christ is and what He’s done - what we are called to in this life - and where we are headed! - so many of the things we value in this world - that we overvalue - would be revealed for what they are.
They are nothing. They are not our source of happiness. They are not our source of value. They are not our source of identity. That is found only in Christ and His salvation.
Sometimes, we doubt. We might doubt whether God will be faithful to His promises at times, but I don’t think that’s our real struggle. I think the bigger problem is that we doubt, at times, whether what we want to do or the way we want to do it is really all that wrong even if the Bible has something to say about it.
The Corinthians had this issue on a few fronts.
We doubt the Word of God. We like to take some things that are black and white and mix it into gray.
Maybe we doubt whether we should really forgive someone for something they’ve done, because what they did to me - how they hurt me - surely that isn’t what Jesus talks about when He says we should forgive.
We may doubt whether it’s really wrong to do this or that: to maybe use our eyes in unholy ways because it isn’t hurting anyone, or say horrible things about someone because we have convinced ourselves they deserve it, or rationalize not doing any number of things the Bible calls us to because I’m just too busy or that’s boring or I’m too tired or that’s not my problem.
But if we would stop, and think about the truth of the Gospel, and how we have been forgiven - and what we have been and still are forgiven for - we would know forgiveness is always required of us.
If we would remember that Jesus Himself calls us to holiness - to exceed the Scribes and Pharisees in our righteousness - and that He says to love Him is to obey Him - and remember that He lived perfectly only to die and give us His righteousness - then we would see a lot of our gray fade to black.
Sometimes, though we have Gospel truth in our minds, we yet somehow right along side it hold to things that can’t also be true.
Like, I believe the Gospel, but I also believe this or that person can’t or won’t ever be saved by God. They’re too far gone.
Or, we don’t pray because we don’t think God will hear ‘me’. Why should He care about my little problems when there are much bigger problems in the world.
Or - and I think we’ve all done this - we confuse wants and needs. You know, if I put time into a ministry, I won’t have time to do everything else I need to do. If I give to the church, I won’t be able to afford everything I need to have.
But if we remember the Gospel, and what Jesus did and Who He did it for, we would remember that no one is too far gone to be saved. No one is outside the saving power of God.
We would realize that God loves us so much that He took on flesh to die for us - do you think there is any part of you or your life He doesn’t care deeply about?
God provided His only Son to pay for what we couldn’t afford for ourselves. Do you think He Who stepped into time for you, won’t redeem the time you have if you seek Him first? That He Who gave it all for you won’t provide all you truly need if you seek Him first?
This is why we need to be reminded of the Gospel.
We may not have some of the issues the Corinthians did, but we all falter. Because we don’t hold fast to the truth of the Gospel at times.
And we need to hold to that truth at all times. We need to have it fresh in our minds and in our spirits so that it’s reflected in our lives.
Because though we may talk about “being saved” - and though we know what Christ did to secure salvation was a once for all event - our salvation is not a once for all event.
Look, salvation doesn’t stop when we believe and are born again. It only begins.
That’s why Paul describes the Gospel the way he does.
The Gospel was preached to the Corinthians, they received it, and they stand in it - Paul emphasizes the standing grammatically - this isn’t about hearing something and merely assenting to the truth of it - it is hearing it, it is assenting to is, yes - but it is then standing in it - being set or established in it.
We have to be established in the Gospel. We have to stand in it.
The Corinthians heard it and received it and stand in it, so they were saved, but they were also being saved Paul says. The Gospel saved them and continued to save them.
The same is true for us. We heard, we believed, and we were placed into salvation. And now we are always being saved until Christ comes to complete our salvation.
And until He does, we need to hold fast to the truth of the Gospel.
Notice, Paul says they received the Gospel, stand in the Gospel, and are being saved by the Gospel. And then he says “if you hold fast to the word I preached to you.”
Paul is saying there’s a condition here.
Of all Paul says they did with the Gospel, which is conditional upon the holding fast?
All of it.
They truly received the Gospel, if they hold fast to it.
They truly stand in the Gospel, if they hold fast to it.
They are being saved - they are growing in holiness and Christlikeness - if they hold fast to the Gospel.
And this is stated so as to indicate that Paul believes they are and would continue to hold fast to the Gospel. Because if someone receives the Word of the Gospel, and believes it, but does not live it out and hold fast to the truth of it, what does that mean?
It means, Paul says, they believed in vain.
But how can you believe in vain? Well, this speaks of a false faith vs. a true faith.
On one extreme are those who assent to the truth of the Gospel, without really embracing the Gospel. You can know it’s true without it changing your life. You can believe what happened happened without being placed into real salvation. That’s believing in vain.
On the other extreme are those who just try to obey without believing. You can try to do what salvation requires of us. You can try to do all the right things, say all the right things, but if you do it in your power because you believe that will save you, you are believing in vain.
Paul is spelling it out pretty clearly. Either you have faith and live out the truth of the Gospel, or you believe in vain.
Either you will persevere in your faith, or you don’t have real faith.
And here is where some may panic and say “how do I know if my faith is saving faith or false faith?”
Do you hold fast to the truth of the Gospel? Do you stand on that truth? Are you growing in holiness? Do you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?
Do you bear fruit in keeping with your repentance from sin?
Do you live more and more like the person you are, rather than the person you were?
Very simply: Do you believe Christ and obey Christ? Do you love Him by keeping His commandments?
Paul will talk more about this. Because he wants to make sure the Corinthians are holding fast to the word he preached to them.
So first, he reminds the Corinthians what he preached to them. And he starts:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
Paul is talking the essentials of the Gospel. These are matters of first importance - the basics of the faith.
And note how Paul puts this: he delivered what he also received.
delivered = handed
Paul took what was handed to him and handed it to the Corinthians.
In other words, this is not the Gospel of Paul, that Paul preached. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Contrary to many liberal scholars, Paul did not change what Christ taught. We have seen this throughout the series - Paul pulls right from Christ’s teaching over and over again.
What he received, he delivered. What was handed down to him was what he handed down in his letters.
And this is how the Gospel works. It is the hearing of the Gospel - the one and only Gospel that neither man nor angel can change - because it is this Gospel - and this Gospel alone - that saves. It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.
So we share what we have received. The basic truth of the Gospel. We don’t do it, as Paul already said, through worldly wisdom with eloquent words.
Remember he told the Corinthians:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The simple truth - because it is the truth - has the power to save.
You don’t need to spruce up the Gospel. You don’t need to make it sound better than it is. Because it doesn’t get any better than the truth of the Gospel.
Which is why Paul says:
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,
Paul here lays out the basics of the Gospel. He talks about the “what” of the Gospel. But he also gives the “why” - why should we believe it? Why should we hold fast to it? Why should be believe it enough to stand on its truth and live according to it?
Let’s start with the “what”:
The Gospel centers upon the death and resurrection of Christ.
Christ died for our sins. He lived a perfect life - and nobody else could. So He lived it and then died so that our sins would be paid for.
He traded His perfect life, for our sinful lives. He traded His death for that sin, for our life based on His perfect righteousness.
And then, Christ rose again. He offered the greatest proof of the salvation God promised He would provide by being raised from the dead.
And Paul emphasizes the resurrection here. Christ died and He was buried. And though His death means our sins were paid for - if not for the resurrection, how would we know?
I mean, there were plenty of epics and myths and religious stories about heroes dying to save their people - and that’s what Christ did.
But it is the fact that he rose again that sets the Gospel apart from all other myths or religious writings - it is what sets Christ apart from any other so-called god - it is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions.
And it is what proved God just and righteous - He kept His promise and wiped away our sin. He saved us through the risen Christ.
This is why Paul focuses so often on the resurrection. Look at Paul’s preaching in the book of Acts - what Paul preached was the resurrection! THE proof that God had fulfilled His promise.
Which brings us to the “why” of our faith. Why do we believe? Why should we?
There are also other myths of heroes coming back from the dead. Why should we believe this one?
Well, that’s what also sets the Gospel apart from the claims of any other religion. We are not called to a blind faith. We aren’t called to trust what goes against our God given sensibilities. We don’t have to.
Because God promised this would all happen before it did. Paul says:
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
The death and resurrection of Christ happened according the Bible.
What is Paul talking about? How could this be in the Bible? There was no Bible in the mid 50’s AD.
I mean, most of Paul’s letters weren’t written at this point. This is the fourth of his epistles. And they couldn’t have been very widespread by this point.
None of the four Gospel accounts were written at this point.
So what Scriptures does the Gospel accord with?
The Scriptures they had, The Old Testament. The same Scriptures that make up more than 3/4 of our Bible. Paul says the Gospel can be found in the Old Testament.
This is why I find it such a shame that so many Christians think of the Old Testament as a kind of supplement to the New Testament. It’s like an appendix to the book - you read it if you want to, but you don’t really miss the point if you don’t.
That sure isn’t what Paul is saying here. He is saying that the Old Testament talks about the death and resurrection of Christ. Did you get that? The Old Testament is about Christ.
And it is about Christ, before Christ.
And the fact of the Gospel is proven, Paul says, because the Old Testament was about it, and it was written over about a thousand years, 400-1400 years before Christ came.
He is giving the Corinthians that as a reason to believe the Gospel.
The Old Testament speaks of Christ and all He would do.
Now, it isn’t spelled out all in one verse. And it is somewhat veiled in the Old Testament. But Paul has already addressed that. He said that when he came proclaiming the Gospel, he didn’t do it according to worldly wisdom. And he said:
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Paul says that if it was that clearly spelled out in the Old Testament, the powers of darkness would not have had Christ crucified.
So how do we know what the Old Testament Scriptures taught?
Well, Paul continues:
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
The Old Testament - understood in the illumination of the Holy Spirit Whom Christ sent - it speaks to us of Christ. It is proof of the Gospel. It predicts it well before it happened so that the resurrection could serve as proof of the truth.
But God didn’t leave it there. Because now we need to know for sure that what the Old Testament promised actually happened.
And that is why we have the New Testament. The Old and New Testaments together are the complete revelation of God - and together are proof of Who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.
God made the promise, fulfilled the promise, and Paul says, He proved He fulfilled the promise:
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.
So the Old Testament promises the resurrection. But how do we know it really happened?
Well, we have historical records of it. More numerous historical records, closer to the events, more copies in more agreement with each other, than any other historical event that had ever happened before or for centuries after this.
And, of course, that is ignored because those historical records include the claim that a dead man came back to life.
Oh, if only there were writings from a thousand years before predicting it.
Do you see the lack of reason behind the rejection of the Bible?
And do you see why Scripture is sufficient? Why it is the only sure authority for our lives and our faith?
That’s why Paul points out that the Old Testament spoke of these things, and then moves on to the eyewitnesses of the event.
The New Testament was mostly written by men who saw the risen Christ. The entire thing is based on eyewitness accounts.
And Paul’s challenge here to the Corinthians is that if they are having trouble believing - which their lifestyle may indicate - that most of these 500+ people who saw Jesus dead then alive were still alive themselves. They could be asked. They would attest to this.
Plus, Paul says he himself is one of them. This is Paul’s testimony that Christ rose from the dead as promised. There is more than the Gospel accounts, Paul here is saying he is an eyewitness to the resurrected Christ.
The two letters of Peter - they are by an eyewitness of the resurrection. The letters of John are written by an eyewitness of the resurrection. The letter of James - practical living described by someone who saw the risen Christ.
The New Testament is all about a man that was dead, and then came back to life, and whose resurrection was verified and verifiable.
And any reason for dismissing the Bible is not rooted in the reliability of the Bible, it is rooted in someone’s predetermined unbelief of the truth about Christ. It is rooted in their rejection of God.
Paul is telling the Corinthians that he himself is an eyewitness that Christ is alive.
And the resurrection of Christ is the reason Paul believed. Go read about it in the book of Acts.
And that is why his preaching is centered on the resurrection of Christ.
But there is more to the Gospel than just that. If all Paul did was tell the Corinthians of the death and resurrection - they could believe it happened without it changing a thing.
Preaching the facts of the good news was not enough. Paul had to explain to the Corinthians why it was good news for sinners.
Paul says:
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
This is Paul’s recognition of who he was.
And this is such an important part of the Gospel!
And he continues:
But by the grace of God I am what I am
This is Paul’s recognition of who he is, based on God’s grace alone.
And this is such an important part of the Gospel!
Let’s talk about who Paul was:
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
I love the way Paul phrases this. Because though our Bible’s render this as an adjective: “unworthy” - Paul actually uses a noun here. It is a subjective noun. Paul calls himself here - actually equates himself - with what he calls something like: “the not worthy one.”
I like that. Because I can relate.
And while Paul is referring to his not being worthy of his Apostleship, as we have seen over the last few months, a higher gift doesn’t make someone a higher Christian. We are all gifted by God for His service.
And like Paul, none of us are worthy.
And I think that the fact that Paul was called and gifted to be an Apostle, it makes the fact that he is a “not worthy one” all the more acute for him.
Believe me, as a pastor and a preacher of the Word of God, I am reminded every week how much of a “not worthy one” I am.
As I’ve said, by the time I preach to you all, I’ve had a whole week to digest the truth of any given passage, and I’ve had a whole week to be convicted by it and humbled by it.
I am reminded every week that I am not worthy of Christ and His calling on my life. And I thank God for the reminder.
Because, believe me, if I had to get up here and preach to you believing it was on me to convict and to impart the wisdom of God and to change hearts, I’d have given up a long time ago.
Because I am such a not worthy one.
Not for this calling, and not for my salvation.
And that is the beauty of the Gospel. Christ’s salvation is only for “not worthy ones.”
And it is important that the handing down of the Gospel includes that fact, because if someone doesn’t know how unworthy they are of Christ, then they don’t know why the Gospel is good news for them.
Until someone can say with Paul that they are unworthy of Christ, they will not turn to Christ.
Until we proclaim with Paul that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - and that we and everyone else are just that - the Gospel has not been fully proclaimed.
Paul says he is a “not worthy one” because he persecuted the church - because he was an enemy of God.
So were we all at one time.
But thank God, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, and much more, we will be saved by His resurrection life.
Because we are not what we were.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
God makes us what we are. Not us. Not our decisions. Not our will, nor the will of any man, but the will of God. Not by works. Not through some formulaic prayer.
Not through baptism or Communion.
But only by the grace of God.
While some may believe in vain, as Paul said - and there are false converts out there among the elect - and while we may worry that our own faith may fall under that category - that we might believe in vain - our faith needs to not be in ourselves and how strongly we believe.
It needs to be in God Whose grace is never in vain.
God’s saving grace is never in vain.
God’s grace toward Paul was not in vain. He just warned the Corinthians about them believing in vain. Paul says he did not believe in vain. Why does he say that?
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.
Paul contrasts believing in vain, with working.
Paul knows God’s grace toward him was not in vain, because he sees the fruit. Because he lived out the Gospel.
Because of his works rooted in the gracious salvation of God in Jesus Christ. Yes, salvation requires both grace and works - the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ. That alone is what makes you righteous.
But that salvation then requires works. Works are not required to be saved, but salvation is required to truly work, and that work will result from that salvation, which is how we know God’s grace toward us is not in vain.
As Paul would later write:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
If we have been saved by that grace through faith which excludes all works, that salvation will produce works.
And yet Paul says:
I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
The salvation in which we stand is only by the grace of God. And the Gospel truth in which we are being saved is by the grace of God.
As Paul would also later write:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Paul says that working out of our salvation - of our growing in holiness - is the proof that God’s grace in making us righteous was not in vain:
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.
It all comes back to God - His will, His power, His working in and through those He truly calls.
But it isn’t just God’s work. Paul says his work was by the grace of God that is “with me.”
In other words, Paul recognized not just God’s completely unmerited grace towards him, Paul recognized his own responsibility to work.
By God’s grace we are what we are. Now we have to be what we are.
And the great and gracious part about that, is that we do it with God.
We work out our holiness even as He gives us the “want to” and the “can do.”
We should strive to work like Paul worked, even though it isn’t us but the grace of God that is in us, and the grace of God that is with us.
And since God is with us, and His grace is with us, and it is He Who works it in and through us, there is no such thing as “I can’t” when it comes to living holy lives. When it comes to living out the Gospel.
There is only “I won’t” - and that is what Paul calls believing in vain - it is what James calls a useless faith.
You see, Paul’s point isn’t just to remind the Corinthians - and us - of the truth of the Gospel. It isn’t just to humble us under the glorious truth of God’s grace.
It is to move us to obey all he has spoken about in the letter so far. It is to move us to obedience to what the Gospel requires of us once we are reconciled to God.
Christ said that all who love Him will keep His commandments. He also said that we are to love each other like He loves us that the world may know we are His disciples. This is what Paul has been talking about in this letter - what we do, we do for each other because that is how we do for God.
What we do is rooted and grounded in love for each other because we love Him Who first loved us.
God cares very much about our motivations, our reasons, our purposes - in short, He cares about what is in our hearts when we do what we do, Paul has made that clear.
But God also cares very much that we do.
And that is a whole Gospel.
And that is holding fast to the Gospel.
And ultimately, by God’s grace, when we do from a pure heart - when we work out of love for, and faith in, Christ - God gets the glory. Men see our light shine, and they glorify our Father in heaven and then know that we are disciples of the risen Savior.
God always gets the glory.
This is why Paul deserves none of the credit for what he has done. And neither does anyone else.
He says:
Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Paul returns to his admonition about the divisions - whether him, or Peter, or Apollos - fellow workmen who sowed seed or who helped lay the foundation of the Corinthian church - it doesn’t matter who preached. It matters Whom they preached.
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them that what he proclaimed was not himself, but Jesus Christ as Lord.
So what matters is:
that they preached Christ
that the Corinthians believed
that the Corinthians stand in the Gospel.
They heard the words of life. The pure truth of the death and resurrection of Christ.
By God’s grace, they believed the words of life. They recognized what they were - sinners in need of grace - and they became what they are - sinners saved by grace.
And they would remain established in that Gospel truth - by grace through faith - in the power of the Holy Spirit Who works in them to will and to do.
And so must we.
So let us humble ourselves - we are all “not worthy ones” before God. And that is exactly why Jesus came, and died, and was buried, and rose again.
It is why God promised it, did it, and proved He did.
Let’s stand in the Gospel.
(unbelievers - humble yourself under the mighty but gracious hand of God - recognize who you are and Who He is, because He has proven it - repent of your sin and believe - place your faith in Jesus Christ)
(believers - humble yourself under the mighty and ever-gracious hand of God - turn from any sin that you have allowed to remain, and turn to Jesus Christ.
And let’s work harder than ever to strive for holiness - and remember that it is not us but the grace of God that is with us, that will make us live like we are what we already truly are by the grace of God)
And whether you have believed for one minute or fifty years, let us leave this place - the not worthy ones - and let us stand in the truth of the Gospel by which we are being saved, and hold fast to that truth that we may know - and the world may see - that God’s grace toward us is never in vain.
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LBCF Chapter 30:
The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his churches, unto the end of the world, for:
- the perpetual remembrance, and showing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death (always remembering the truth of the Gospel)
- confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof (let this remind us of the grace of God that is never in vain)
- their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him (let us focus not just on the salvation we have been given, but the salvation that is being worked in us)
- their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to him (let us reflect on our commitment to Christ and our responsibility to submit to Him in all things)
- and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other (let us remember that Christ, and His grace, are always with us)
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
