1 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. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Paul says this gospel (and his gospeling of it) is capable of saving if the Corinthians hold fast -- and here one could stop and have a conversation about the Calvinist-Arminian debate but we need not. Paul teaches that saving faith is persevering faith.
Then Paul basically outlines the structure of the gospel message he gospels:
1. Christ died for our sins according to Scripture; he doesn't tell us how this works nor does he tell us which Scriptures he is talking about. He assumes his readers know.
2. Christ was buried -- and the burial of Christ does not feature in the gospel preaching elsewhere in the NT but it could be assumed to be something like the descent into hades or the harrowing of hell or the proclamation of victory to the spirits in prison.
3. Christ was raised and appeared -- and this is the emphasis of this chapter.
By resurrection Paul means more than the survival of the soul after death (that's "freakin' Platonism"!) and it means the reconstitution of the body after death. That means bodily resurrection -- touching and eating. Yes, 1 Cor 15 shows this is a new body made for the new heavens and the new earth but it is a body, a gloried and spiritual body, but still a body. I heartily recommend Tom Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
.Faithful gospeling preaches (1) the cross, (2) the entrance into the world of death by Christ and the coming out of that world into (3) the resurrection.
What this means is that the gospel deals with death and the gospel's blessing is life.
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RJS,
I too had a failed comment; weird message. But, I too copy before I click so I had it in memory and it went through the second time.
Yes, I do think the life, death and Res of Jesus -- with Pentecost -- make possible the kingdom gospel of Jesus and reveal its mechanism.
Scot,
I’m with you in wondering why this text is used to prop up a reduced gospel--Jesus died, was buried, rose again, do you believe it? It’s as if Jesus and Paul never said anything else at all about the gospel. I think it is traceable to the penchant for proof-texting that so dominates some approaches to the Bible in the USAmerican evangelical church.
John
This text clearly shows the structure of the saving events -- no Spirit, of course -- and these events need to be at the heart, but two things:
1. I know of very few who preach a gospel that includes resurrection (let alone ascension, etc).
2. Salvation is hereby reduced to forgiveness of sins. Yes, of course, but more and more is what we want in order to be faithful to the full biblical picture of "gospel."
I have been rereading John Piper's "God is the Gospel" and thought I'd put in a defense for him on this matter (he occasionally gets bashed hereabouts as one of those Reformed types who would only preach "a reduced gospel--Jesus died, was buried, rose again, do you believe it?"). On page 29 he states, "But there would be no gospel if Jesus had stayed dead... This is why Paul's definition of the gospel in I Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 includes both the death and resurrection of Jesus... Jesus made clear that he would rise from the dead, and Paul made clear that this was an essential part of the gospel."
Scot,
This is the passage I was taught that was the summary of the gospel. It is easy fodder for "easy-believism" evangelism. How do you think this interacts with the expectations of Jesus regarding how we live the gospel?
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