•I Corinthians 15:1-11
•This Historic Salvation
•Corinth
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
(I Corinthians 15:1-2, ESV)
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
(I Corinthians 15:3-11, ESV)
Main Points
• Paul utilizes basic instruction in order for him to share the main tenant of the Christian faith
• That Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures
• He was buried
• And He rose again on the third day according to the Scripture
• They experienced the risen Lord and it is this shared experience which they all proclaim
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation
– The Gospel of Jesus hinges on the person of Jesus
– If one were to take away any of these beliefs then we would cease having the Christian faith
– We must get this right
– It isn’t something we can have disagreements over
– Who Jesus is, what He accomplished, is necessary for this saving faith
– All of these things are being attacked in various ways
– We find in the Gospels themselves the arguments of some that Jesus never rose
– Such a thing might give credence to the argument, but why include it in our own history?
– It would be far more reasonable to ignore it, not even discuss it, than to add it
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (2)
– That the critics argued this is significant, because it means the tomb was empty
– Their own attempts at reconciling what actually happened imply a burial and then something more took place
– It is fairly normal to experience rebuttals and attacks from the skeptic
– In the past there were certain groups such as the Docetists who believed that Jesus’ body was illusory
– In our own times we experience much the same
– There are those who would say that Jesus did live, even was martyred, but that He did not rise from the dead
– They argue that this belief occurred gradually over time
– Others who argue He never really died
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (3)
– Still, perhaps most dangerous of all, are those who accept Jesus living, dying, and rising
– Yet reject that He died for our sins
– Humans, to them, are like plush animals
– Out of all the potential pitfalls rebuttals and criticisms, this last one is the one we should most fear entering into our congregations
– When it comes to the others the historical claims are far too strong
– We have the evidence of the Christian witness
– We have outside sources telling about things that happened
– These beliefs were not formulated centuries after the event
– Paul was saved approximately 3 years after Jesus had risen
– 3 years is plenty of time for something to be discredited, it is also short enough time for people to remember what actually happened
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (4)
– Yet, we find in these verses Paul received this Gospel from the beginning
– It happened in time, space, history, and flesh
– Their encounters caused them to believe
– The failed Peter, the apathetic James, the hostile Paul
– Everything they claimed happened in history
– The pagans all wrote about things which happened long before the writers themselves existed
– Even apart from the myths, such as the life of alexander the great
– The earliest written account is from Diadorus
– Alexander died in 323 BC.
– Diadorus was born sometime in the 1st century BC.
– The earliest accounts we have of Alexander happened 200 years after the events took place
– Meanwhile the Gospel accounts are written in the same generation
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (5)
– It is historic in the sense that it has a profound impact on history
– It is historic in that the events actually took place
– The merits of the historical account hold true
– Why did the events of Jesus’ life happen?
– We are in need of redemption
– We are a guilty people before God
– Sinfulness is not something to discard just because we do not like hearing about it
– His love is so great that even in our faults and failures He is reaching our to us
– He gives us the ability to move further up and further in to the grace and peace given to us by Jesus
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (6)
– That He saves us from our sins is about justification
– We are declared righteous before God
– But this leads to sanctification
– That we are becoming righteous as well
– The righteousness credited to us through Jesus has an impact on us to live in that righteousness
– People do not like to hear the truth
– They do not like to hear they are in need of redemption
– But this is the truth of the Gospel
– Any other supposed “gospel” that goes against this is not the gospel at all, but antichrist from the word go
Application Points
• This Historic Salvation (7)
– We must hold fast to the truth of the Gospel handed down to us
– The more we see His redemption in our lives, the more…we will live for Him
– How can we live for Him?
– By knowing Him, knowing what He has accomplished according to the Scriptures, and by following His teachings concerning the Scriptures which spoke of Him
– In the end it is possible for us to do not by our own power, but the power of Jesus
– Hold fast to this Gospel
– Do not let the world persuade you that there is a better way
– Hold fast to this Gospel
– No other gospel can compare to that which has been given through Jesus
– Cling to this historic salvation, for by it you will be saved
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
–Origins
–Where we began
–Fall
–What went wrong
–Redemption
–How it is fixed
–Glorification
–Where it at leads
