SLIDES

The Letter to the Galatians

Part 4

The Essentials of the Gospel

The last couple of weeks we have learned from the first ten verses of Galatians one that Paul took the content of the Gospel very seriously.  The Gospel is the bedrock of the book of Galatians and Paul made it clear that there is only one Gospel message. Anything that is added to that or taken away is not acceptable. We learned that the Judaizers that infiltrated the Galatians churches had added obedience to parts of the Mosaic Law as a requirement for justification and sanctification.

In Romans 1:16 the Apostle Paul tells us why the Gospel is important. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for (because) it is the power (dumamis) of (from) God to (eis- resulting in) salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

“For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ: because it is the power from God resulting in salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

Since the Gospel message has the power from God that results in salvation to anyone who places their faith in Jesus as Savior, then it’s imperative that we present the message of the Gospel as accurately and as clearly as possible. In order to present a clear and accurate Gospel message to non-Christians, we have to have a clear understanding of exactly what the Gospel message is.

Because of this, today we are going to examine 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Here the elements of the Gospel clearly defined by the Apostle Paul.  Before we do that, I would like for you to take the notecard passed to you and write:

THE GOSPEL IS

This is not to be turned in and I will not ask you to disclose what you have written unless you volunteer to do so.  This is for you to evaluate what you think the gospel is compared to Scripture.  Let’s now examine the elements of the Gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is framed by Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Paul stresses Christ’s crucifixion in the opening chapters of the letter (especially 1:13–22) and now brings the main body to a conclusion with an extended discussion of the resurrection. This chapter serves, in many ways, as the climax of the letter as a whole.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2

       1   Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

        2   by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

Vs. 1 - Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel

Note that even though the Corinthian church had many problems, the greatest being that some in the church were doubting the resurrection of the body, he still called them brothers in the faith. The church been influenced by some Greek philosophers of the past like the Epicureans. Some of the Epicureans believed in the spiritual resurrection of the soul but not the resurrection of the body.  There may have also been some Sadducees in the church at Corinth who basically believed he same thing that the Epicureans believed about the resurrection i.e. the spiritual resurrection of the soul but not the physical resurrection of the body. 

Because of the controversy about the resurrection among some in the church at Corinth, Paul wanted to present the gospel to the church again as if he was presenting it for first time. He wanted to impress on them the importance and the simplicity of the good news message.

Which I preached to you

The word translated preach means to proclaim or announce.  Proclaimed or announced would be better translations of this Greek word than preach. If the word preached is used, it makes one think of preaching from a pulpit.

(The Good News) which also you received

The Greek word that is translated gospel is euongellion. Euongellion just means good news.  It means nothing more than that. This word was found to be used in the Greek language a couple of hundred years before Jesus’ birth. The good news may have been things like:

§  Euongellion, a couple had a new baby born to them

§  Euongellion, I got a raise today.

§  Euongellion, one of my sons is having his bar mitzvah on Shabbat.

§  etc.

The word euongellion or gospel was not a special religious word.  Paul took the word out of the secular realm and used it to refer to the good news concerning the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus and its results that come from it.  

The word gospel that we find in most modern translations comes from two Old English words god meaning "good" and spel meaning "news, or a story." Therefore, the word gospel just means good news. The off - Broadway musical production Godspell was taken from the Old English word for Euongellion.

Let me make a suggestion. Every time you come to the word gospel in Scripture, translate it good news. If you do that, the verse will make much more sense and be more meaningful.  

Paul made it clear that the good news he had proclaimed to them on his previous visit that they received or accepted was the exact same good news he was proclaiming in this letter.  It had not changed in any way.  

in which also you stand

 The elements of good news of grace, unmerited favor, that Paul affirmed to the Corinthians is the one they stood on that became their foundation. Their foundation was the truths Paul had taught them on his previous visit that had not changed and was still their foundation.

Vs.2 by which also you are saved

The word saved has two important aspects related to it. One is that the present tense of this verb that indicates it is progressive or continuous and should be translated “by which you continue to be saved.” This shows that salvation is not something that one can lose. The second important aspect of this verb is that it shows that one is saved by something outside of themselves.  God saves individuals because of the death of Jesus. The whole point is that individuals can do nothing to save themselves except to believe or trust. They were saved by believing or trusting, not by doing.  It was not an exchange where they gave something to God and God gave back to them salvation. There is nothing whatsoever an individual can give God to grant them forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Absolutely Nothing!

if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

This phase must be only interpreted in the context of what we have just learned about salvation. The bottom line is this. This verse has nothing to do with losing one’s salvation after they have received it. The verb we discussed a few minutes ago demonstrates this. Salvation is continuous once it’s given to an individual because they trusted in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. They did not work for it or give anything to God to receive it. 

If you hold fast is also continuous action. Remember the issue here is the resurrection of the body. As we shall see that to reject bodily resurrection would strip "good news" away as an important element from the good news message.  If a person removes one of the essential elements from the message of the good news, then their belief would be in vain.

(Illustration about trying to make homemade ice cream without salt at Lester Reed’s house.)

The word vain means "without cause" or "without success.” Believing the gospel includes continually holding fast or firmly to all the essential elements of the good news message. All the elements of the good news must be there. The bottom line is this: if they did not believe in all the essential elements that make up the gospel, they were never saved to start with. 

Not holding fast or firmly meant total rejection of the resurrection not just some doubt. Has anyone here ever doubted their salvation before? If one rejects the resurrection and did believe in vain but came to the conclusion later that Paul made persuasive argument and they now did indeed believe the resurrection was true, they could be saved. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

It's important that we hold firmly to the gospel as preached by Paul.  Our faith must be rooted deeply in the gospel truths, with Christ's death and resurrection as the cornerstone. So far, we have seen that the Corinthians learned and received the good news from the Apostle Paul. It became their foundation because they were saved by it. So, what are the essential elements of the good news? As we move along in the next few verses that explain what the essential elements of the good news are, notice that Paul uses the word “and” at the beginning of each aspect of the good news. Remember that when writer of the Bible uses this literary device called “many ands,” it shows that each aspect that is listed is very important. In this case, it’s each aspect of the good news.

Vs. 3a For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received

From the first part of verse three we learn that Paul was able to share with the people of Corinth things about the good news before he shared with them things that were less important. The most impart thing is always the Good News. After all, it’s the good news that has the power to convict people and save people. (Romans 1:16). He did not receive it from other people as Paul said in Galatians 1:11-12, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

So, the good news he proclaimed to others came directly from God.

In verses 3b-4 we Paul gives the essential elements or the content of the Good News.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

1.   Christ died for our sins (3b)

Remember the word “for” has the meaning of “on our behalf, “ in our place”, “and for our sake.” Jesus the Messiah died for our sins so we would not have to. He became our substitutionary sacrifice.

according to the Scriptures

Since Paul was a Pharisee and scholar, He knew that Old Testament prophecy demonstrated that the Messiah would die as a substitutionary sacrifice for man. It was a forgone conclusion, and it shows the unification of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Paul did not quote a specific Old Testament verse, but there are many that could have been quoted from. Isaiah 53:4-10 is one of them.  Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before the birth of the Messiah. Isaiah 53 has been used more than any other Scripture to lead a Jewish person to Jesus. (The Thrifty Nichol, Rabbi Slava)

2.   and that He was buried (4a)

The burial of Jesus Christ is important because it proves two significant things. One, it proves that Jesus Christ died. No man is buried unless he is dead. The reason a graveside service is performed is to demonstrate once and for all that a person is dead. Two, it proves the resurrection. The empty tomb is evidence that Christ arose from the dead. Even though Paul did not use the phrase according to the Scriptures concerning His burial, Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53: 9 predicted it. The reason Paul did not include the phrase “according to Scripture” is that burial is a forgone conclusion for a dead person.

3.   and that He was raised on the third day (4b)

As the death of Jesus as our substitutionary sacrifice is important and essential to the message of the good news, so is the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ proves that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. It proves that Christ is the very One whom God sent to earth to save men from death and to give them eternal life. He is different than any other so called god because He is alive.

Jesus’ death would mean nothing without the resurrection because every man dies. It also shows that the Father approved of His substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world. Had the Father not approved of it, Jesus would still be in the tomb. But there has only been One who died and was resurrected never to die again.

according to the Scriptures

Paul again uses the phrase according to the Scriptures to demonstrate skeptics that the resurrection of Jesus was prophesied.  The resurrection of Jesus was prophesied in Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49:15, Isaiah 53:10, and Jonah 1:17. 

The resurrection is not just a theological concept, but a historical event witnessed by many. This supports the application of having a faith that stands firm in trials, knowing that our hope is based on a proven event—Christ's victory over death and the grave.  

The eyewitness accounts of Christ's resurrection are presented in verses 5-8. Being seen by many people after His resurrection, also demonstrates or proves that Jesus was resurrected.

5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

Here we find that Paul mentions no fewer than six different appearances of Jesus’ to people. This list is probably not exhaustive:

•          To Cephas (Peter)

•          To the Twelve

•          To more than five hundred at one time

•          To James, the brother of Jesus

•          To all the apostles

•          To Paul himself

So, there are two lines of proof that Jesus arose from the grave: the prophetic Scriptures and the numerous eyewitnesses.  For hundreds of Jesus’ early disciples, there should have been no doubt in their minds that Jesus of Nazareth had miraculously risen from the dead.

From this we see that the resurrection of Jesus in an essential part of the good news. The importance of the resurrection is demonstrated in several verses - 1 Corinthians 15:14. Philippians 3:10, and Romans 10:9

Take the notecard and turn it over. Write THE GOSPEL IS and complete it again, if your view of the gospel is different tan it was 45 minutes ago.

Therefore, there are three important aspects of the good news message that must be included in a gospel presentation to the lost and believed if one is going to receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

1. The death of Jesus

2. The burial of Jesus

3. The resurrection of Jesus