The New Testament - 3
Notes
Transcript
Key Verse
Key Verse
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Introduction
Introduction
Ok, tonight, we are going to dive deeper into what the Gospel is.
In lesson one we talked about how the OT
Foreshadowed the NT
Through patterns and prophecies
In Lesson 2, We looked at the Kingdom of God
And how repentance, and being born again
of both water and Spirit
is essential to entering God’s Kingdom.
And now, we will start diving deeper into terms
that are related to the NT.
Terms that you’ve heard or read
and possible understood
or maybe you didn’t understand them
but after this series
we will all understand them.
Terms like gospel, faith,
atonement, sacrifice, reconciliation,
propitiation, justification and redemption.
These lessons are not going to be as simple as Sunday nights
If you want to hear the simple message of the gospel
you can come on any given Sunday at 5pm.
But true worshippers worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
It is important for us to know the truth.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Now, you don’t need to understand what the word propitiation means
to be saved.
The simple message of the gospel saves us
So, this harder teaching is not for salvation of your souls
It is for the salvation of those whom you will teach
Because, I cannot be the only one that can answer questions
that hungry people have about the gospel
As we grow in our faith
We must grow in our knowledge of the word of God
and we must all strive to understand the truth
so that we can be instant in season and out of season
and always be ready to give an answer, amen.
So, the better you understand why the gospel works
the better prepared you will be to share the simple message
of the gospel to your neighbors, family, and coworkers.
You don’t need to teach the grocery clerk what atonment is
but if you understand what these terms mean
you can answer any questions they have about the gospel.
I know it is deeper subjects
and I do my best to break them down
but they are important subjects
ones that we should all understand
Especially this first one
and that is the Gospel
The Gospel
The Gospel
What is the Gospel?
Do you know the answer to that question
if someone on the street asked you?
If you pull out a dictionary,
It might say that the word Gospel means:
a thing that is absolutely true.
A set of principles of beliefs
The record of Jesus’ life in the first four books of the NT
A style of religious singing developed in Southern Baptist and Pentecostal churches.
But none of those definitions are what the Bible is talking about
When the Bible uses the word “Gospel”.
So, you might pull out a Bible dictionary called a Greek Lexicon
and it will tell you that the Greek word simply means “good news”.
In fact, in many modern English translations
They just started putting “good news” instead of putting the word “gospel”
Because that is what the word gospel literally means.
Now, you could go back in history and trace the history of the word
which is called the etymology of the word.
And find out that the word gospel
was the message that was sent out to the troops from a king
that the battle was won
because they could just email them or text them back then
they would just keep fighting until they all died
if someone didn’t come share the good news aka the Gospel
that the battle had been won
And, so that might help you understand a little more about the meaning of the word
but what does the Bible mean when it says, Gospel?
We don’t have to wonder… Paul tells us what it means in…
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.
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,
Now, this is where most people stop reading
and they will say, the Gospel, or good news is…
That Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the 3rd day.
And that is good news
and that is the Gospel
but verse 4 doesn’t end with a period…
And, so, if we have time, we will look a little closer at the full message of Paul’s Gospel.
But first, I want us to pay close attention to every word Paul says here…
If people would do that,
we’d have way less false doctrine.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
Paul says, this Gospel is the one I preached to you.
It hasn’t changed
It can never change
In fact, Paul tells the church in Galatia
That is anyone comes and preaches another Gospel
let them be cursed.
let’s read that..
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
If we…
Even if I come back later and preach something different.
Then don’t listen to me
curse me
Because that means I changed
not the gospel
The gospel can’t change
In this world we live in now with AI
Don’t you believe anything you hear or see online anymore
It might be best if we just stayed off the Internet
and I’m about as serious as I can be
I will use the Internet as a tool
and I will teach people in video format online
but the technology is already there
for someone to take one of my videos
and make it sound like I’m saying something else
something I do not believe
something contrary to the gospel you heard from this pulpit.
So, be wary of that.
If you hear a video of me preaching another gospel
don’t you believe it
Paul said, watch out for angels preaching false doctrine
Joseph Smith said two angels delivered two golden tablets to him
and translated them to him in the woods
and he wrote the book of Mormon
another testament of Jesus Christ, he called it…
You know what I think about old Joe?
He is cursed according to Paul
He listend to an angel preach another gospel
and then he preached that lie to millions of people
and they are all cursed.
There isn’t a new new testament.
There isn’t another new testament of Jesus
There’s one Gospel
and all others are false.
Mohammed claimed to have recieved the word of the Quran
directly from the mouth of the Angel Gabriel
and he believe it was the word of God verbatim.
You know what it really was?
Another gospel
and according to Paul,
Mohommed is cursed for preaching it
and so is every muslim.
I don’t care if it came from an angel Paul says.
If it is another gospel
you are cursed for preaching it.
Just so we know how important this gospel is…
Paul repeats himself in verse 9:
9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Now, that we have settled that,
let’s go back to…
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
So, Paul preached one gospel message
and that message never changes
and here he reminds the church in Corinth
of that message.
And he also reminds them that they all received the message.
That doesn’t just mean they heard it
but they accepted it as true.
The Greek word for “recieved” means
to take control of, take along with you, or to accept as true.
In which you stand…
They not only received in (past tense)
but they were still standing on that message (present tense)
So because they received the gospel,
and they were standing on the gospel,
Paul then says..
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
You are being saved…
Now, depending on which Bible you pick up
You might see this first part written as:
Being saved
Are saved
Have been saved.
Which is correct?
Well, to be honest, all of them are true statements.
We have been saved, are saved, and are being saved all at the same time.
So, they are all true, but here only one can be correct
And the experts all agree that the word is a present passive participle.
Which means, “being saved’ is correct.
And we can confirm this by looking at the context.
Which we will now do.
The word “If” is a big clue.
by which you are being saved “IF”.
Now, if I’m already saved, then “if” doesn’t make sense here.
That would be like saying:
I already paid you, if you don’t quit before Friday.
That sentence doesn’t make sense does it?
How can I already be paid, and then have a condition of not quitting?
The correct way to word that would be:
You are getting paid, IF you don’t quit before Friday.
And Paul says:
This Gospel, by which you are being saved, IF you hold fast to it.
This naturally implies that IF you don’t hold fast to it, you will no longer be saved.
But, of course, modern evangelical Christians don’t like that message
So, they want it to say.. I’m already saved (past tense) whether I hold fast or not.
But Paul says, this salvation is a process with a condition
You are being saved, if you hold fast.
Which is what the whole book of Hebrews is about, is it not?
“Unless you believed in vain”…
We understand what vain means?
Doing something for no reason, right?
It can also mean, to do something without result.
So, if I dig a big whole looking for treasure
and there is no treasure
then I have dug that hole in vain.
Or even if there is treasure, but I stop just before I strike gold
then all the digging was in vain.
So, doing something in vain can mean, without result.
It also means, doing something for no reason.
I heard a story about a woman that cut the ends off her ham
before she put it in the oven
and she did this every single time
and then she got ready to teach her daughter how to do it
and her daughter asked her,
Mom, why are we cutting the ends of the ham off?
That meat looks good to eat… why waste it?
Her mom said, this is how your granmama did it
and this is how I do it.
So, the girl called up her grandmother
and she asked her.
and her grandmother said…
Well I did it because my oven was too small
but I got no idea why your mama does it.
…
So, she was cutting the ends of that ham off, in vain.
Or for no reason.
And here Paul, says… unless you believed in vain.
Now, if we are saved by faith alone
as some preachers preach
How do we know if we believed in vain or not?
Well Paul tells us there is such a way to believe that is “in vain”.
Or without results, or for no reason.
One of those ways is to “not hold fast”.
So, like the treasure hunter that stops digging before he finds the treasure.
He did all that digging in vain.
And the believer that stops believing before Jesus comes back...
They did all that believing in vain.
Hold fast, Paul says.
Or all the believing you have done will have been in vain.
For no reason, and without result.
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,
What I also received…
Paul shows the chain of custody here.
He got the gospel from Jesus
and He recieved it, aka, accepted it as true and took it with him.
Then he delivered to the people in Corinth
and based on verse 1 and 2,
They received it, stood in it, and were being saved by it
IF — they held onto it.
When you receive the gospel
It is your responsibility to deliver it to someone else.
“Well, I’m not the Apostle Paul, pastor”
And you don’t need to be.
I’m not saying you need to start 100 churches in Asia…
But you can reach one of your neighbors before you die.
At least deliver the gospel to one person who receives it
and you might have to talk to 10 people before one receives it
and that’s okay.
We are just the messengers
They aren’t rejecting us
They are rejecting Christ
Jesus said that, not me.
That Christ Died for our sins…
Now we are getting to the message that Paul received
That Paul delivered
That the church in Corinth received
and is now being reminded of.
The Gospel, according to Paul.
I give Paul a hard time often
Because he takes 8 chapters to say what Peter says in one verse.
But, I have to give Paul credit here.
He puts the basic message of the Gospel into two verses.
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All in two verses here…
And Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John took 16-28 chapters
to say the same thing.
So, for once, Paul is concise.
The death of Jesus alone would not be the gospel
remember, gospel means good news
It was the message that the battle is won
And, the death was just the first part of that battle
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
After Jesus died, he was buried for 3 days.
and then he defeated death, hell and the grave
and rose again on the third day
That’s what makes this message the “good news” or gospel
Because it tells us how Jesus defeated death,
and why did he need to do this?
Because we couldn’t do it.
It had to be done, because of the fall of man, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.
That’s why Paul says, in accordance with the Scriptures.
The Gospel is the good news
and the good news is a response to the bad news.
The bad news, according to the Scriptures
Goes all the way back to the beginning…
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
They had one rule
and breaking that rule was a death sentence
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
This is where death enters humanity
When Adam and Eve break this rule that God set in the last chapter
They enter a guilty plea for the death sentence
and put all of humanity on death row.
And they needed someone to come and win the battle over death.
Thankfully, God shared the first gospel message in that same chapter…
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This is the promise of the Messiah.
He shall bruise your head…
The devil thought he won when Jesus died
But God said, that’s just a bruise to his heel…
but when Jesus is done with satan…
He will bruise, not his heel, but his head.
And back in 1 Cor 15, we see Paul make the connection back to this promise in the Garden.
Starting in verse 12, Paul talks about the resurrection of the dead
Since Jesus defeated death for us,
ressurrection from death is available.
In verse 20, it says…
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
So, the Gospel is not just that Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected,
He was just the “Firstfuits”, vs 20 says.
One day we will all rise, either from death, or in the rapture
to meet Jesus in the air.
So, the Gospel is not just meant to be heard,
but it is meant to be a pattern for our own lives as well.
How, do I know this?
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Because we have this promise…
We will all be made alive
Just like Christ is alive
So, we need to obey the Gospel if we want to be made alive…
Look closely at the word “IN”
IN Adam, all die
IN Christ, ALL will be made alive
BUT … To be made alive, we must be “IN” Christ.
This is crucial
We’ve got to get out of Adam
and INTO Christ.
Otherwise we will die instead of being made alive.
So, we need to understand 2 things here:
How do I obey the Gospel
How do I get out of Adam and INto Christ?
Obey the Gospel
Obey the Gospel
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
There are many places we could go read this concept
Of obedience to the gospel
Including in the book of Romans
and other epistles and of course James and Hebrews
But here, Paul says it plain and concisely
He also specifies the consequences
for those who do not obey the gospel
What does this mean?
Well, first of all, as we have shown
By going all the way through the book of Hebrews
Faith doesn’t just mean to believe
You’ve got to Know God
Not just know of Him
but really get to know him
and you’ve got to repsond to the good news
It isn’t enough to hear it
and it isn’t enough to believe that the good news is true
The devil knows and believes that Jesus rose from the dead
but the devil is going to burn in the lake of fire
To truly believe this gospel message
to receive it, like Paul received it
One must obey it.
And to obey it, means to go from being IN Adam
to being IN Christ.
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
This is the proper response to the Gospel
The to be baptized INTO Christ
and to have his Spirit come INTO you.
You got to get into Christ
and Christ has got to get into you.
Those are the only ones who are Sons of God
Those are the only ones who KNOW God
Those are the only ones who heard the Gospel and obeyed it.
Paul says the same thing in Romans 6…
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
So, here we have the Gospel again
But this time, it isn’t Jesus dying
This time it isn’t Jesus being buried
This time it isn’t Jesus being resurrected
It is us….
To get out of Adam
and INTO Christ
We must be baptized…
Look at vs 3 again
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
baptized INTO Christ…
There’s the death.
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Buried with him by baptism
There’s the burial
Just as Christ was raised
We too might walk in newness of life
There’s the ressurection
Do you see how it all ties together with 1 Cor 15?
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
IN Adam, who dies?
ALL die.
IN Christ, who lives?
ALL shall (future tense) Live.
And how do we get out of Adam
and INTO Christ?
Baptism in water and Spirit.
Summary
Summary
This is the Gospel
The death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus
This is how we obey the gospel
Repent, be baptized in Jesus’ Name
and be filled with His Spirit.
Amen.
It is very simple, but many have complicated this message
And it is because the devil doesn’t want people to see the truth
but we see it, and we know it
and we have read it, and we believe it
One day, we will be resurrected because we have been buried with Him in baptism.
Amen.
