The word gospel means good news. In a world of so much suffering, we all enjoy hearing good news. We rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom. 12:15) over getting married, the birth of a child, getting good test results, or being hired to a new job in a promising career. But the most important good news that mankind will ever hear is the gospel of Jesus Christ which results in eternal salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul wrote:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures
Notice how Paul used these verbs in the above passage in relation to the gospel: preached, received, stand, and saved.
This good news must be preached. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”
(1 Cor. 1:21). Without preaching, men will not be saved:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Rom. 10:13-15.)
Of course, not all who have the gospel preached to them are saved. The message must be received or welcomed into the heart for it to do any good. John 1:11-13 says of Jesus, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Those who receive the gospel of Jesus Christ have the right or privilege of becoming children of God if their faith moves them to be born of God. When the gospel was preached by Peter in Acts 2, some received it gladly and were moved to become children of God. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
Paul said that the gospel is that “by which also ye are saved” (1 Cor. 15:2). The engrafted word of God is able to save our souls (Jas. 1:21). Those Jews who heard the gospel from Peter on Pentecost had the opportunity to be saved from that untoward generation (Acts 2:40). Those Gentiles who were friends and family of Cornelius who heard the gospel from Peter heard words whereby they would be saved (Acts 11:14). When one obeys the gospel, sins which separate one from God (Isa. 59:1-2) and lead to death (Rom. 6:23) are washed away (Acts 22:16) and the soul is purified. Notice how Peter used the truth, the gospel, and the incorruptible word interchangeably in 1 Peter 1:22-25:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
In Romans 1:16, Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is such good news that one can live for it and die for it. That’s exactly what Paul did in imitation of Jesus Christ. It is what we should do as well.
At the end of 1 Corinthians 15:1, Paul said that the gospel was that in which his Corinthian converts stood. All Christians must take a stand on the gospel. The message of Christ crucified was a stumbling block to the unbelieving Jews (1 Cor. 1:23). But to those who are saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24). Those who are saved are willing to take up the cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23, 24). They take their stand on the gospel of Christ and will not be moved away from it. Notice that Paul said to his converts that the gospel saved on this condition: “if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:2).
Some in Corinth were tempted to deny the resurrection
(1 Cor. 15:12). If they gave in to the corrupting influence of worldly teaching (1 Cor. 15:33), then they would be moved away from the hope of the gospel and would no longer be saved. But if they clung to the truth of the gospel, they could stand steadfast and be immovable (1 Cor. 15:58). We must do the same unto the end to experience the good news of victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).
God wants people to obey the gospel. Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will not be saved (2 Thess. 1:8). How do we obey the gospel if 1 Corinthians
15:1-4 defines it as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Having believed Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24), repented of our sins (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 2:38; 17:30, 31) and confessed publicly the Lord Jesus (Matt. 16:16; Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9, 10), we are united with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in baptism (Rom. 6:3-7). One dies to sin, is buried in the water, and is raised to walk in newness of life. That is obedience to the gospel. After we obey the gospel, we must continue to stand in it until the end when we experience the victory of being raised to live with the Lord forever.
–Mark Day