GOSPEL BASICS (1 Corinthians 15)

 1 Corinthians 15 with Isa.40:6-11

RECAP

With chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians we arrive at the last major block of teaching in this letter. We are entering, if you like, the last lap, of what has been a bit of a long distance run. 1 Corinthians has forced us to tackle a diverse variety of subjects—unity and division among Christians; church discipline; marriage and singleness; the proper use of our spiritual gifts; the ministry of women; and most recently, the dos and don’ts of public worship.

Sometimes, the subject matter has, at first sight, appeared rather esoteric, irrelevant to our 21st century situation—particularly those sections dealing with food offered to idols. Yet with a little digging, a little probing, we’ve discovered that this letter is God’s word to God’s people today.

It’s a messy book, primarily because it is written to messy people—to people whose lives were as confused and confusing as any today. The fascinating thing for myself as your minister is that during the course of the last year certain pastoral issues have arisen among members of our congregation which are dealt with directly in this letter. Therefore, I am in no doubt of its relevance for the modern church. The Corinthians themselves are not particularly attractive.

From the word go we learn that they have divided themselves into parties: I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ. As we continue through the letter it goes from bad to worse. There is spiritual snobbery in this church, with those who have certain gifts looking down their noses at those whose gifts are less spectacular. Those who felt strong in their faith made no allowances for those struggling to avoid relapsing into paganism.

There is social snobbery too. The richer believers behaved insensitively in the presence of their less wealthy brothers and sisters. And there is sexual promiscuity, the result of an attitude encapsulated in the slogan “everything is permissible.”

There are times when we just want to slap these people and say to them: don’t you realize that you are supposed to be Christians? Don’t you know what that means?

Well, actually, that’s the problem. They don’t realize what being a Christian really means. That haven’t worked out the full implications of professing faith in Christ. Paul says to them in 6:19: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.  

Do you not know, asks the apostle. It’s a reality check for preachers like myself who sometimes despair at the behaviour and attitudes of some members of our congregations. We imagine that a few years of sitting under our ministry should be enough to form a Christ-like spirit in even the toughest of characters; and we’re shocked and dismayed when we witness veteran believers acting in ways that make us question their salvation. Or expressing an opinion about the faith that makes us wonder if they’ve ever listened to a word we’ve said.

The Corinthians had the apostle Paul as their father in Christ (as he puts in 4:15) and yet in so many areas they were way off-message. That’s why, like the apostle, preachers like myself should never shirk away from the kind of sermon that says: I know you know this already, but I’m going to tell you again. This is how Paul starts chapter 15.

CONTEXT

Now brothers I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

I want to remind you of the gospel, says Paul; I want to take you back to basics. There’s never any harm in being reminded of first principles. This is especially so when it appears that something is going wrong. Many a golfing pro, whose game has gone awry, has had to go back to lesson #1—how to stand when addressing the ball, how to grip the club. I remember a driving instructor telling me that he dreaded teaching people who had already had informal lessons from friends or relatives.

Before he could teach them the basics of driving, he had to unteach them the bad techniques they had picked up. The Corinthians were getting something wrong, and it was because they had forgotten, or had not fully grasped the gospel basics. v.12 reveals to us what they were getting wrong: But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

It appears that some of the Corinthians were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead. Why would they be saying that? The most likely answer is that it is connected to the kind of thinking we uncovered in chapter 7 when we thought about marriage. There we learned that some of them were so super-spiritual that they thought they should avoid marriage—more to the point, the marriage bed. Behind such thinking lay the idea that the soul is good and the body is bad. That’s what the Greek philosophers taught.

These dear believers got it into their heads that they were as spiritual as is humanly possible and they looked forward to an afterlife free of the body, with all its sinful faults and failings. The idea of a resurrected body was not so much ludicrous to them as appalling. Their thinking was all wrong because they hadn’t got the basics right.

Paul has to take them back to first principles and returns to the very kernel of the gospel, to what CS Lewis called “mere Christianity”; the indispensible fundamentals of our faith. Get these wrong and you get everything wrong.

Let me give you a brief summary of the whole chapter. In vv.1-11 he reminds them of the gospel he preached to them and which they received, the gospel which proclaims Christ’s death and resurrection. The main issue revolves around the resurrection of believers so he makes a point of listing those who were witnesses to Christ’s resurrection.

This is because in vv.12-34 he counters those who claim there is no resurrection for believers by arguing (v.13): If there is no resurrection of the dead then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised then the whole of Christianity comes tumbling down.

 It’s like a game of Jenga. Remove this one brick and it all collapses. The apostles are shown to be liars and sins remain unforgiven.

However, v.20: Christ has indeed been raised from the dead and he is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

In other words, just as Jesus rose physically from the dead, so shall we. In the third section, vv.35-58 Paul explains how the dead are raised. That is, in what form are we raised? His answer is that we are raised as bodies, not as incorporeal spirits. It is a body adapted to the new conditions of the new heavens and new earth. Just like Jesus, who after his resurrection was recognizable, who ate and who spoke with the disciples, but who also could appear and disappear, our resurrection bodies will be the same but different from what we have now. v.42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable

And the chapter ends with that rousing battle-cry against death: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (v.54,55)

These are basic truths, which Paul tells us all the apostles preached (v.11): Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed.

TEXT

Let’s home in, now, on the opening verses of this wonderful chapter, which commentator Gordon Fee describes as one of the great theological treasures of the Christian church. We’re going to be in the chapter for a few weeks, so today I’m laying foundations.

vv.1,2: Now brothers I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

During the course of this letter Paul has dealt with many of the Corinthians’ questions: about marriage, about food offered to idols; about public worship; about spiritual gifts. These issues had not arisen during his ministry there, so we can excuse them for being confused.

But there is no excuse when it comes to the gospel, the core teaching of the Christian faith. This is what Paul preached when he was in Corinth. Back in 1:17 he tells them: For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel

What exactly is “the gospel”? What does the word mean? It gets bandied around these days. People talk about the gospel of socialism, or the gospel of nationalism; the gospel of this diet, or that exercise regime. When people want to assure us that they are not lying to us they’ll say: it’s the gospel truth.

The English word “gospel” translates the Greek word euangelion which means “good news” or “glad tidings.” It’s the word the Romans used when proclaiming the birth of an heir to the throne.

The prophet Isaiah used this word when he declared to the Jewish exiles in Babylon that they would soon return to their homeland. Earlier we read Isa.40:9: You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tiding to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with shout

And we sang from Isa.52:7: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, Your God reigns.

It’s no wonder then, that our Lord Jesus Christ appropriated this word to describe his ministry. In Luke 4:18 we hear our Lord reading from Isa. 60:1: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

“Good news”, “glad tidings”, “gospel” – the phrase, the word that encapsulates the whole story of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and return. So when John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to check out if Jesus is really the promised Messiah, Jesus sends them back with this message: Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. (Lk.7:22)

The gospel—the good news about Jesus. This is what the apostles preached as they travelled through the Roman empire.

Acts 8:25 Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Acts 8:40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

And Paul, what about Paul? Acts 16:10 After Paul had seen the vision we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 1Thes.1:4,5 For we know brothers loved by God that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. Rom.1:14,15 I am bound both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.

The gospel is what the apostles preached. And the gospel is what their converts received. Receiving the gospel, believing the gospel is what turned pagans into Christians. What exactly is content of the gospel? What was it that the apostles preached?

Paul tells us in v.3: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve.

That in a nutshell is the gospel—Christ died for our sins, and rose from the dead on the third day, all in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Now, in future weeks we’re going to consider these statements very carefully. For the moment I want you to note three things.

1. Paul does not simply say that Christ died. He says Christ died for our sins. Jesus Christ died for a reason. He died as a sacrifice, as a substitute. The fact of our sins means that we are alienated from God, separated from him, and liable to be punished by him. Jesus did something for us. He died for our sins. He took our place, our punishment, so that God could forgive us.

2. Paul says that Jesus rose on the third day. Why this insistence on a day, on a time? Because that’s what actually happened. This places Christ’s resurrection firmly in the realm of historical fact. When the apostles preached Christ’s resurrection, they did not mean that he lives on in our hearts; nor that he was now in heaven—that’s not what resurrection means. They meant that on the Sunday after the Friday he was crucified, Jesus physically rose from the dead.

3. All this happened in fulfilment of scripture. In other words, Christ’s death for sins and his triumphant resurrection were at the heart of God’s plan of salvation. Whether it’s the Passover lamb or the sacrificial system detailed in Exodus and Leviticus; or the Suffering Servant of Isa.53 who took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, the Old Testament repeatedly teaches us of our need for a substitute if we are not to suffer the consequences of our own sins. So too with the resurrection of our Lord.

The “third day” has a curious habit of being the key day, the day of salvation, the day of rescue. Jesus himself spoke about the sign of Jonah, for Jonah was in the belly of fish three days and nights. It was on the third day of fasting that Queen Esther plucked up the courage to approach her husband, the king, thus preventing the Jews from extermination.

More directly, there is the Messianic prophecy of Ps.16:9,10, quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost: Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

How could David, the author of the psalm, be referring to himself, says Peter, when his tomb is right here in Jerusalem? No, says Peter (Acts2:31,32): he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave nor did his body see decay. God raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

This is the content of the gospel, the message which Paul says the Corinthians received and upon which they took their stand. And he continues: By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Let me say a couple of things about this before we finish.

1. This gospel is to be received. It’s not like the sun which shines on all and sundry, warming the wicked as well as the righteous; or like the waves of the sea which wash every shore. It is to be received, believed. Not just an intellectual assent, so that our Christianity goes no further than a box ticked on a census form. When the Corinthians received this gospel their lives were transformed. For all their faults, they were no longer what they once were.

Remember Paul’s list in 6:9 of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God? Idolaters, adulterers, the sexually immoral, thieves, the greedy, slanderers, swindlers and so on.

And then he says: And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If the good news is to be good news it must be believed. We must act upon it. Like the Corinthians we must take our stand on the gospel. In other words, we become gospel people. It’s our faith in what the gospel tells us about Jesus that distinguishes us from everybody else.

This is why Paul says: By this gospel you are saved. To receive this message, to believe this message is to receive its content. So Paul can say to the Romans (1:16): I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Conversely, he says in 2Thes.1:8 that when Christ returns: He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

 2. So secondly, Paul warns the Corinthians: By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Paul is making a very serious point, one which we all must heed. By denying the resurrection of believers the Corinthians were denying the resurrection of Christ—if the dead are not raised then Christ was not raised. And to deny the resurrection of Christ is to deny a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith.

Therefore, whatever it is you do believe, you believe it in vain. It’s pointless. It will do you no spiritual good. It’s not the gospel.

The modern church is full of people who do not believe the gospel. They do not believe that Christ died for their sins. They do not believe that they are sinners. As far as they are concerned Jesus died as an example of what this world does to good people. He died as an example of perfect love. But they no notion at all of his death as a sacrifice for sins. God would never send anyone to hell; so why is a sacrifice for sins necessary? Whatever it is they believe, they believe in vain.

And as for Christ rising from the dead, 21st century people can’t be expected to believe such nonsense—as if people in the 1st century didn’t realize that once you’re dead and buried, that’s it. The Athenians gave Paul a polite hearing until he mentioned Christ’s resurrection—then they scoffed at him. The resurrection has never been easy to believe; yet as I hope to show you in coming weeks it’s the most reasonable thing to believe. If you don’t believe that Christ rose from the grave then whatever your faith is, it isn’t Christianity. It isn’t Biblical, apostolic Christianity.

CONCLUSION

Have you received this gospel? This gospel that tells you that Christ died for your sins and on the third day was raised from the dead? Is this is gospel upon which you have taken your stand; the gospel upon which you rely for your salvation? If your hope is in any other so-called gospel—the gospel of your own morality, your own respectability—then you are believing in vain, for that is no gospel at all. Receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is by this gospel that you are saved.

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