Title: The Hope Of Our Salvation
Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-19

INTRO
Paul is reminding the church of Corinth in this chapter about the validity of the Gospel and not only Christ’s resurrection but also of the resurrection of his followers. We see through OT scripture the fulfilment of Jesus’ death and resurrection as well as God’s plan to restore man back to fellowship with God. We are commanded to understand the full depth of the resurrection and how our bodies play a part in God’s Will.

When one takes the First letter to the Corinth church as a whole, a concise conclusion would be that the church was really mixed up theologically. These included corrupted views and practice of spiritual gifts, the Lord’s supper and holy thinking and actions regarding sinfulness. Many of these problems were a result of not loving each other in the way the Christian family is supposed to. But these problems were still not the most significant error working its way through the hearts and minds of the Church in what is now modern-day Greece. When taking the letter of 1 Corinthians as a whole, one must conclude that the baggage of Greek thought in the city was taking its toll on the Church. The Greeks believed that all matter was evil. In some circles they believed that individuals cease to exist in the afterlife—as such— because in their view they are absorbed into a higher being. (See Barclay)1 The syncretism of these pagan views had influenced the church’s theology to undermine the gospel itself. To state the problem clearly, the Corinth church was in danger of nullifying their faith by corrupting the gospel at its very core through the denial of their future, physical resurrection. Although their erroneous error was of the highest order, I am grateful for it. The result of false teaching resulted in what Fee called “one of the greatest theological treasures of the Christian church.”2 (Fee, 717) So let us examine their error and Paul’s resulting defense of the gospel.

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.

• 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you,

• Atmosphere:

• some were saying there is no resurrection (v.12).

• Church of Corinth was very talented but distracted

• Remind … Christians need reminders.

• Christians are susceptible to drift even in the core theologies.

• This is a specific gospel. The one and only that Paul had taught them.

• The simplicity of the gospel, man seems to want to add to it.

• Job 4:4

• which you received, in which you stand,

• Heavy lifting done by God

• They had received it—past tense.

• No one invents the gospel every man receives it.

• We are called to stand in our faith (Greek stand: Istemi (his-tay-mee) means set or established.)

• They stand in the truth, but outside forces are undermining their faith with false doctrine.

• 2 and by which you are being saved,

• What saves us? (GOD!!!)

• Man can never get enough of salvation, it continues until the end

• Hebrews 10:14

• Hebrews 2:11

• 1 Corinthians 6:11

• 2 Corinthians 5:17

• if you hold fast to the word I preached to you —unless you believed in vain.

• “If” first class condition. Hold fast = saved. Don’t hold fast = unsaved.

• Belief that does not clutch to God is useless.

• Counterfeit faith not the faith that saves. God sees through fake faith.

• Faith is a victory of the soul which clings to God above all else.

• Turn to Hebrews 3:12-19

• Paul reaffirms that upon receiving salvation you will not lose it unless you never truly believed

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,

• Gordon Fee wrote, that is generally agreed that these verses 3-4 are a “creedal formulation” of the gospel. That is, that these exact words were taught in the first century church to make sure the gospel would not be contaminated by the steady, other, counterfeit “plausible arguments” of their day. (Fee, 718; Colossians 2:4, respectively)
• 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
• Paul delivered this firsthand to the church of Corinth.
• Galatians 1:11-12
• that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
• Hebrews 10:10 Christ died for our sins once and for all.
• During their time priests had to not only make sacrifices for the sins of their people but also for their own sins. Christ’s sacrifice was the Greatest and Final sacrificial atonement.
• Reminded of the sacrifice Abraham who was ready to give up his only son before God established his covenant with him
• Jesus was the perfect and Holy sacrifice once and for all.
• Christ dying is a historical fact; Christ dying for our sins is doctrine.
• 4 that he was buried,
• that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
• Why is the resurrection important to Christians?
• Everything that the Christian believes is hinged on Jesus’ resurrection.
• Our hope for life after death.
• Isaiah 53 “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities.”
• Our hope for being freed from the power of sin.
• Isaiah 25:6 “The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain, He will swallow up the covering, which is over all peoples. Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.”
• Our hope for brokenness being healed
• Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
• “according to the Scriptures.”
• More OT passages
• Isaiah 53:7
• Psalm 22:16
• Isaiah 50:6
• Psalm 22:7-8
• Psalm 69:21
• Isaiah 53:12
• Isaiah 26:19
• The simplicity of the gospel, one sentence.

APPLICATION

• The gospel is singular. The gospel has the genuine article in the text. There is one and only one.
• We hear it
• We receive it
• We stand in it
• We are saved by it
• What about my nephew that was on fire for the Lord and is now a Buddhist? Honest truth is he was never saved

Appearances to the witnesses:

• 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
• Peter was known as the leader of the disciples outside of Jesus.
• 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
• Apparently, Jesus appeared to a sizable crowd at one time.
• Paul calls on the remembrance of their verified understanding of the gospel.
• They knew the proper gospel.
• 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.
• All of these appearances have this central thrust: Jesus was seen as resurrected by all of the witnesses.
• With this phrase “he appeared to me”, Paul claims his right to straighten out their theological errors. (Fee, 716)
• Untimely born lit.: Miscarriage
• Came to Christ after the first Apostles.
• Why such hard language? 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• Instead of coming to Christ when the other apostles did and not persecuting the Church, Paul came later and had to carry the grief from his latter conversion.
• 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
• Paul is a product of his life experiences.
• God was now using his guilt as motivation.
• Paul is not pointing out the things he did, but what God had allowed him to do
• On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
• He who is forgiven much, loves much.
• 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
• Unifying message of the witnesses.
• Paul was saying that his message was not unique but that it aligns with the other apostles.
• They had received the proper and only gospel at one time.
• Over 500 witnesses had the same message.
• They were starting to be influenced by other corrupting forces.

TESTIMONY Growing up I always thought Jesus was just a good man who was killed by bad people, and that’s just how the world worked. I accepted this worldly POV and gave minimal effort to seeking God, and started to seek things that satisfied me. I studied astrology, numerology, and a multitude of religions. In my mind every religion had some truth and had some corruption so I would pick and choose what I felt was right about certain topics. But God slowly started using those studies and that curiosity for good and I started reading the Bible. When I arrived at college from day one, I was surrounded by Christians, and I began to pursue the peace that they had. By the grace of God, I came across some mentors who explained what the bible said and challenged me on my buffet beliefs. I realized that I could not feed myself spiritually because I am limited in understanding and wisdom. Upon submitting myself to the Lord he began to change my desires and intentions the more I accepted that apart from God my life had no purpose and maning …(corrupted gospel trying to distract us from THE gospel)

APPLICATION

• We see the same thing today: We take people’s salvation for granted when we shouldn’t. People often don’t understand the gospel.
• Churches can drift outside of core Christian doctrine or orthodoxy.
• Errors in the Church are circulated by those without knowledge and understanding.
• Also, there are outright false teachers in the Church.
• The gospel is simple, precise, and complete.

Application

Context: Greek culture had an attitude that the body was a prison for their soul with proverbs such as “The Body is a tomb” “Shackled to a corpse” and when they died their soul was just absorbed into oneness with God.

12 Paul uses “If” 7x starting in verse 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

• 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
• 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
• 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
• Greek = sudo-martyr (phonic; pseudomartys) = False witness
• 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
• We are tied to Christ as his body of believers
• 1 Corinth 12:12-13 “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”
• We are so connected that one resurrection cannot happen without the other.
• Just as it is with marriage, we have become one with Christ.
• 1 Corinth 6:14-15 “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!”
• 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
• Futile = useless, in vain.
• Sin remains if no resurrection.
• 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
• 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
• The significance of the resurrection is a message of redemption
• Out Hope is not here on earth where we suffer but in Heaven where we are in fellowship with God eternally.
• God plans on restoring everything that Satan has messed
• God says that man is VERY good.

NOTES

1 Fee disagreed. See p. 715.

2 Fee cited Conzelmann, 250, notes.

WORKS CITED

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. May be sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987. May be sourced from archive.org/details/firstepistletoco0001feeg/page/7/mode/1up.