“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which 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 according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...”
(rf. I Corinthians 15:1-4)
In February, during a series of sermons entitled, “The Core of Our Being as Believers”, we at St. John’s looked at the truths found in the above passage. We saw how the Apostle Paul felt the need to clarify exactly what the Gospel message was for the believers in Corinth. Apparently, there was some confusion over what was the essence of the message he was bringing them and sharing with others so that they could come into a personal relationship with Jesus. As he did then, so we will do this month, just to make sure everyone is on the “same page” regarding the truths of the Gospel.
Paul states clearly that this is the Gospel which has been “preached to you, which you also received in which also you stand, by which also you are saved...” In fact, here Paul is agreeing with the teachings of Jesus Himself. There is no other Gospel by which one can or will be saved.
To believe any Gospel other than this one means that you believe “in vain”. Such a belief system you possess will not accomplish true salvation nor will the end be eternal life for the possessor.
The content of this vital Gospel message according to the Apostle Paul is simply this: (a) Jesus “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures”; (b) “He was buried”; and (c) “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”. If true salvation in Christ is to be ours during this Easter season, we must not only affirm these truths with our minds and hearts, but we must stake our very lives on them as did the disciples of the early Church, surrendering their all to follow Him.
Is this the same message that we ourselves have affirmed and believe to be true regarding the Gospel of Christ? Before we can ever hope to share the accurate message of salvation with others, we must have appropriated this message ourselves, committing our lives and all to following the Risen Christ. May this short reminder as provided by Paul be a refresher course in our own experience as well as to provide us with the correct information that we should share with others so that they can experience the Risen Christ and His gift of redemption for themselves.
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