What is the Gospel

I Cor. 15:1-4

Welcome to Mountain View Baptist Church! It is a blessing to join God’s people as we worship the Lord together. If this is your first time here, please be sure to stop by the welcome center that we may connect with you.

We are honored to have each of you here today.

If someone were to ask you, “what is the gospel, “ would you be able to tell them? If Barna research foundation is right saying that in their recent polls only 51% of Christians know the Great Commission, that must mean that some in the church don’t know what the gospel is.

The gospel is the foundation, the epic center of our faith and our belief. This is by far the most critical and crucial belief a person has. Without the gospel, we have no salvation, we have no hope, and we have no peace. A person cannot be a assured of a home in heaven without Jesus Christ.

Today, I want to preach on What is the gospel. There is so much confusion by the world that even some church attenders are not sure what the gospel is. Many of you do know what the gospel is but it is my desire that everyone knows what the gospel is when they leave today.

Some think that everything is the gospel. Every message should be undergirded by the gospel, but everything is not the gospel. While there is more than the gospel in the Bible, all will be rooted in the gospel. Today as we leave, we will learn what the Bible says is the gospel.

However, let’s start with what the gospel is not.

The gospel is not . . .

It is not baptism, even though we are baptizing tonight, it is still not the gospel. Baptism is something that comes after we receive the gospel into our hearts. Baptism has been likened to the wedding band. When you are married, you place a wedding band on the finger of your spouse as an identification that you are married. It is not marriage, it is a public declaration that you are married. Just like when you are saved, it is a public declaration of the relationship you have already begun with Christ.

It is not church membership. Many people get confused and believe that by joining a church or attending a church that makes you a Christian. In fact people think when you become a church member, you live a better life. That is not biblical and no person becomes a child of God because of his church attendance.

It is not being religious. Religion is man’s effort to do good to get to heaven. The gospel is not doing good things or good works to get to heaven. The gospel is what has already been done for you. The difference between the gospel and religion: gospel is done and religion is doing.

The gospel is not being given a denominational name or doing a religious ritual. The gospel is not giving to the poor or caring after the needy. The gospel is not giving to the community or giving to the missionaries or a special recognition from the world.

This does not mean that all these things are bad but none of these are the gospel. When Paul talks about the power of the gospel to change lives, we need to know what the gospel is.

The gospel is. . .

Here Paul gives us an understanding of the gospel in these four verses. Paul preaches the gospel which every believer is called to do. Our message and focus in church should be first and foremost the gospel. This does not mean it is our only message, but it is the core of our message. Recently I have noticed when I drive into the downtown area of certain cities, they have signs up that says: the epicenter of ??? town.

The gospel is the epicenter of the church.

At the end of verse 1, Paul explains the gospel is received. This means we accepted the message of the gospel in our heart This is the work of God in our heart when we yield to His salvation.

Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This is not a message of mental ascent but a trust and reliance in the heart on Jesus as the Only Savior.

Here is the meaning of ‘justification by faith’: when anyone believes in the gospel, God declares that he or she is truly one of those who will be vindicated in the future.

N. T. Wright

Paul says in v. 2a-this message is that which saves-which means man’s penalty for sin has been paid for by Jesus. New life begins when we call upon Jesus as our Savior. Salvation is believing on Jesus Christ as our Savior.

The gospel is one message with three unified parts. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

. . Christ died

Christ died means He did not just die an ordinary death. He was crucified on the cross. While others also were crucified on a cross, but His crucifixion was one of a kind. He died on the cross not for His sin but for our sins. Verse 3 “for” means in our behalf or for the sake of. This word has the meaning of giving benefit to the person who receives it.

Jesus died a substitutionary death for all of mankind. Isaiah 53:3–4 “He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” He carried the punishment of our sins on the cross dying in our place. He paid for the price for the sins of the whole world by His shed blood on the cross. So His death on the cross was necessary for man to be forgiven.

Knowing that our sin was so wicked and evil that God had to die for our sins, should bring great guilt and conviction on us. Before I became a believer, I was guilty and uncomfortable in my sin. To know that we are sinners are before a holy God, should bring conviction to our lives. The gospel points us to our need for forgiveness and Jesus died so we can be forgiven.

2. . . He was buried

This means he was buried and placed in a borrowed tomb. This was a literal tomb in which Jesus was crucified. More than likely it is the garden tomb located next to skull hill outside of Jerusalem. You don’t bury a live man, you bury a dead man.

There are some commentators in attempt to dismiss the resurrection will say, Jesus passed out from the torment of the cross, and they placed him in a tomb. The cold and dampness of the tomb revived Him and He came out. That is not true. You cannot explain away a miracle.

Jesus was placed in the tomb as a dead man who gave up His life on the cross. However, death could not hold Him. The grave could not secure Him. He created the rocks from the which the tomb was cut out of.

3. . . He arose from the dead

The resurrection proved His power over death and the grave. The resurrection proved that God accepted His payment for sin. 1 Corinthians 15:17 “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” His resurrection is the greatest event in world history. The apostles and early believer’s lives were changed when the resurrection occurred.

Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection.

John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher); Robert J. Morgan

His resurrection demonstrated His power and payment for sin. Without the resurrection, the rest of this chapter argues there is not salvation and no faith. Which reminds us without the resurrection, we have no salvation. A person who tries to bypass the cross and bypass Jesus by being religious, he has no relationship with God.

The resurrection is a fact better attested than any event recorded in any history, whether ancient or modern.—15.185

Charles Spurgeon

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf of springtime.

Martin Luther (Founder of the German Reformation)

The gospel gives us a promise and a hope for heaven. It was purchased and paid for by Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This means salvation is a gift from God. A home in heaven is God’s promised gift. Gift costs somebody else something but it did not cost you anything. It cost Jesus His life. When we receive Jesus by faith, we come turning from our sins and accept Christ as our only Savior.

Do you know Him as your Savior? You can accept Jesus as your Savior by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31 “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Will you accept Him today?

Christian, will you share the gospel with others? Will you during these days of soul winning emphasis find someone who you can share the gospel with them? We are to live the gospel.

It means to be a gospel man, to live the gospel. Preaching is important, but then so is living. Paul’s call was to a way of life as well as to a task of preaching.

Leon Lamb Morris