Don't Forget

1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

Paul here feels it is necessary to “remind” the Corinthians of the gospel which he preached to them such a short time ago (v.1)

I have always found it rather ironic that the two things we know, without a doubt, which Paul received directly from the Lord Jesus Christ have to do with the Gospel, both its audible and visible forms (Galatians 1:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

One can conclude that for the Lord Jesus Christ the content of the preached Gospel and the words and of institution to the Lord’s Supper are of such great importance for the health of his Church that he made sure to reveal them clearly to Paul by doing so personally. Sadly, however, these are the very things Christ’s Church and individual Christians are so prone to forget.

To help us remember the gospel and develop a clear grasp its content and significance, I want to start off by taking note of what we learn elsewhere in Scriptures about this Gospel Paul preached to the Corinthians, and of which he reminds them in chapter 15. We will unpack each statement over the next few weeks before we jump directly into 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1) The Gospel is “not man’s gospel” (Galatians 1:11).

2) The Gospel is God’s Gospel about his Son (Galatians 1:6-7ff.; Romans 1:9).

3) The Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

4) The Gospel was given directly to Paul from the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12).

5) The Gospel is an everlasting and unchanging Gospel (Revelation 14:6; Galatians 1:6-9)

Please read through the passages cited above and reflect upon the significance of “The glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11).