BIG IDEA:
THE FAITHFUL PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL – FOCUSED IN THE DEATH AND ESPECIALLY THE HISTORICALLY ATTESTED RESURRECTION OF THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST – ACCOMPLISHES SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD
MacArthur: Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.
I. (:1-2) THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE – THE GOSPEL SAVES ALL WHO PERSEVERE IN FAITH –
WHAT THE GOSPEL DOES
A. The Faithful Communication of the True Gospel
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you”
Lenski: force = “I remind you of” truths you already know very well
B. The Power of the Gospel to Create and Sustain Spiritual Life and Stability
“in which also you stand”
C. The Need for Perseverance in Believing the Gospel for Genuine, Lasting Salvation
“by which also you are saved”
1. Positive Condition
“if you hold fast the word which I preached to you”
Hodge: not retaining in the memory, but persevering in the faith
2. Negative Possibility
“Unless you believed in vain.”
Empty, worthless faith; without effect; to no purpose (Gal. 3:4; 4:11)
Hodge: Their salvation, however, is conditioned on their perseverance. If they do not persevere, they will not only fail of the consummation of the work of salvation, but it becomes manifest that they never were justified or renewed.
MacArthur: Our Lord repeatedly spoke of sham believers who had useless, non-saving faith. The parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-23) tells us that some of the seeds of the gospel fall on shallow or weedy soil, and that tares often look like wheat, but are not (13:24-30, 34-43). Jesus spoke of many kinds of fish being caught in the same net, with the good being kept and the bad being thrown away (13:47-50). He spoke of houses without foundations (7:24-27), virgins without oil for their lamps, and servants who wasted their talents and so were “cast out” (25:1-30). He warned of gates and paths that seem right, but that lead to destruction (7:13-14).
II. (:3-8) THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE – THE GOSPEL CENTERS ON THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST AS PROPHECIED IN THE OT – WHAT THE GOSPEL IS
A. Paul’s Faithful Stewardship of the Gospel Message
1. The Delivery
“For I delivered to you”
2. The Priority
“as of first importance”
3. The Reception
“what I also received”
Paul received this gospel by direct revelation
B. The Death of Jesus Christ
1. The Historical Event
“that Christ died”
2. The Significance
“for our sins”
As a sacrifice or propitiation for our sins
Boyer: these historic facts alone . . . are not in themselves the good news . . . It is the scripturally interpreted significance of those historic events which constitute the good news.
3. The Scriptural Prophecy
“according to the Scriptures”
4. The Undeniable Proof
“and that He was buried”
Stedman: Did you ever realize how hard it was for them to accept the fact that he died? They did not want to believe it when he himself told them that was what he was going to do. They refused; they shut their minds to it. When it actually happened they went away stunned and unbelieving, agonizing and unwilling to believe that all their hopes and dreams, all they had built up in those marvelous years with him, should come crashing down and become nothing but empty hopes, empty dreams, all in ashes at their feet. But somewhere along the line some realist among them faced up to it and said, “We have got to go get his body, and bury him.” Joseph of Arimathea came forward and offered a tomb, and with loving hands they took his body down from the tree. They wrapped it in grave clothes, bound it tightly, took his head and wrapped it with a separate cloth. (By the way, that answers the claims of the so-called “Shroud of Turin” as to whether it was the legitimate garment that was about Jesus. According to the Scriptures, his grave clothes came in two pieces; one was wrapped around the head and the other around the body.) They embalmed him with spices, and then they placed him in a tomb where he lay for three days and three nights. There is no question that the disciples believed that he was dead. In their minds there was no doubt about it. They could never have entertained any idea that he had merely fainted on the cross, or entered into a coma, for they themselves had performed the burial service. That is why Paul adds that here. It marked the acceptance of the disciples that Jesus was truly dead.
Lenski: This addition is necessary; first, because it attests the reality of Christ’s death, and secondly, because it shows that his death was like ours, for we, too, are buried after death. The latter is important because, like Christ we who die shall have our bodies raised again. Paul intends to write at length regarding this resurrection of our bodies.
C. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
1. The Historical Event
“and that He was raised on the third day”
2. The Significance
[will be the subject of much of the remainder of Chapter 15]
3. The Scriptural Prophecy (Ps. 16:10)
“according to the Scriptures”
4. The Undeniable Proof = Numerous Post Resurrection Appearances – 6 Listed Here
a. Peter
“and that He appeared to Cephas”
b. Apostles
“ then to the twelve”
c. Multitude of Brethren – more than 500 – most still alive
“After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep”
d. James (half brother of Jesus)
“then He appeared to James,”
e. Apostles Again
. “then to all the apostles”
f. Paul Himself
“and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also”
III. (:9-11) THE ENIGMA OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE – THE GOSPEL SHOWCASES THE GRACE OF GOD POURED OUT UPON UNDESERVING ENEMIES – WHAT THE GOSPEL SHOWCASES
A. (:9) Supreme Example of the Grace of God = Personal Testimony of the Apostle Paul Himself
1. His Undeserving Character
a. “For I am the least of the apostles”
b. “and not fit to be called an apostle”
2. His Unrelenting Persecution of the Church
“because I persecuted the church of God”
B. (:10A) Transformed Identity – by the Grace of God
“But by the grace of God I am what I am”
C. (:10B) Supreme Effort Directed Towards Sanctification and Service – Energized by the Grace of God
“And His grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
(:11) CONCLUSION: THE CORINTHIANS HAVE RESPONDED TO THE FAITHFUL PREACHING BY THE APOSTLES OF THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S GRACE IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST
“Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed”
Applications:
– The message is more important than the messenger
– Preaching the gospel remains God’s method of saving sinners
– Repentance and Faith are essential for salvation
– God’s Grace Accomplishes it all