1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)
It is the Gospel that non-Christians receive to be saved and it is the Gospel that Christians hold fast to, in order to be saved as well. The way into the Christian life is the way on in the Christian life, by trusting/believing/depending on the Gospel.
So what is the Gospel? In many places Paul and others describe the Gospel. Summed up it includes the life, death, resurrection and return of Jesus. It is all about who Jesus is and what he has come to do. But Paul wants us to see what is fundamental to the Gospel:
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
The answer is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again in accordance with the Scriptures and appeared to many people. The language of receiving and delivery has to do with traditions that were to be strictly held to and not changed. That is exactly what Paul wants the Corinthians to do with the Gospel. But secondly we see that the Gospel is comprised of two things. Facts and interpretations.
The facts are historical events that happened. Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. Christ appeared to many. They are realities that happened in history, with eyewitnesses who can verify what happened. Actually there are a lot of eyewitnesses who can verify what happened. There was the apostles, the 500 people and Paul himself who is a surprising eyewitness because originally he was an enemy of Christianity. It would be like Richard Dawkins joining a church and becoming a missionary, it would be very surprising. Something big, something like seeing the risen Christ is the only thing that could change his mind.
But these facts have an interpretation. Essential to the Gospel is what these facts mean. We know that Paul is here talking about Jesus (v. 57), he is making the connection that Jesus is the Christ (Christ means God's Chosen King). We also see that how we are to understand Jesus' death and resurrection is according to the Scriptures. They will interpret what his death and resurrection mean. It makes sense that Paul here has in mind both the suffering servant and the Christ promised in the Old Testament. The Christ was the one who would defeat the enemies of God's people and reign forever (vv. 56-57 show this to be what Jesus has done). He occurs most prominently in places like Psalm 2. Whilst the suffering servant was one who was obedient to God yet would suffer for God's people to take away their sin as seen in Isaiah 53. What Paul does that no one else had done prior to Jesus is put these two together. Jesus is both the Christ and the Suffering Servant and the Old Testament is what helps Paul understand these events. That "Christ died for our sins" shows us that Paul is making this link. For many Jews to think that the Christ would die was a nonsense. But the Gospel is that the death of Christ has a meaning. That meaning is that our sins are paid for.
Conclusion
From this passage we have seen that everyone needs the Gospel for salvation. We have also seen that this Gospel is a message that is about Christ's death and resurrection to save us from sin. This means that as Christians we need to keep holding on to the true Gospel. It is a tradition that is passed on from generation to generation. We need to cling to it whilst passing it on to others.
We do this by:
1. Preaching the Gospel to yourself
2. Preaching the Gospel to Christians
3. Preaching the Gospel to non-Christians
We all need the Gospel. It is fundamental to the Christian faith, the Christian life and the Christian church. We need to keep the Gospel as of first importance in our lives remembering that this big news about Jesus is what saves us and others. How can you remember, share and grow in your trust in the Gospel?
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