Below is an article I posted at NewFundamentalism.com. My good friend Mark Adams, at Agabus.com, created a new Christian forum for the purpose of irenic discussion between the various Christian traditions. We're still in the building stage. However, here is my primer on the gospel for New Fundamentalism. Comments here or on the forum post are welcome.
The Gospel Message - A Primer for New Fundamentalism
Introduction
15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. 15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 15:4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 15:8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 15:11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NET)
The gospel: the simple message of man called Jesus who died and rose again thousands of years go so we could be with God. For many who call themselves Christians, it is in these simple terms they first heard the gospel. At the heart of the gospel, however, is a theological mystery that has baffled theologians and philosophers for centuries. It is the message of the gospel - with mystery and complexity - that we Christians embrace in faith; it is in this gospel that we find unity; it is in this gospel that our lives are transformed. Yet, in our own generation (as in the past), the gospel is being perverted by the schemes of men. These schemes are nothing new: a denial of the resurrection, a denial of Christ's death, a denial of the very God who created us. The men I'm speaking about are not men who are outside the Church - no, I'm speaking of men who are inside the Church, perverting the gospel and causing division within God's covenant community. What I propose here is a primer for New Fundamentalism: that Christian fellowship beings with a clear understanding of the gospel message. If it is true that the gospel is foundational, yea most essential, to Christianity and Christian unity, then a clear understanding of what the gospel message is must be presented.
The Foundation
15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand...
"What is Christianity?" However one would answer this question, the foundation must be laid on the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the most important thing about Christianity: the gospel proclaims that God exists; that people are sinners against this God; that Jesus, the son of God, died for sins; that he was raised from the dead for new life; and that those who embrace the gospel will inherit the promised rest denied to those who rebel. Without the gospel, Christianity is nothing but moralism, a philosophical system comparable to any other religion in the world. For Christians - those who claim to follow the Christ - the gospel forms our basis for unity and discourse.
Paul makes mention to the Corinthian church that he wanted to make clear "the gospel" he preached to them and "on which
15:2 ...and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.
The gospel is a message of sin and salvation, hatred and love. The gospel of Jesus Christ, for it to be of any use to anyone, must be embraced in faith and must be held onto for the duration of one's life. The basic facts of the gospel are historical; the basic theological truths of the gospel are undeniable; and embracing these things in faith requires an act of God's grace. To have mere mental ascent or emotional conviction to these things is to believe in vain. The demon's believe, and tremble in fear. Reasonable understanding of the gospel coupled with internal conviction and embracing of the gospel in our inner being in faith is to believe in the gospel.
For these Corinthians, the gospel was the message by which they were being saved, that is, if they didn't believe in vain. All Christians must be weary of this warning: the only gospel by which one will be saved is the gospel the apostle's preached. Any other gospel, whether given by angels or men, will condemn a person to the eternal blackness of hell, and to remain outside the walls of the New Jerusalem for all time. Indeed, this gospel is what Paul urges the Corinthians to believe in truth and not in vain. Salvation comes by holding firmly to the historic gospel message: it is by this message we are preserved until the end.
The Gospel
15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures...
Very few will deny that Jesus did not die upon the cross of Calvary. Some will say that Jesus merely appeared to die, or that the person killed by the Romans was an impostor. The true gospel excludes these notions and affirms that Jesus, as a human man born of Mary, died in the early first century at the hands of the Roman government in Judea by means of crucifixion. However, though many will affirm that Jesus died on the cross, will yet spend an eternity in hell. Mental ascent to the fact of Christ's death is not enough; knowing and embracing in faith the facts with the basic theological justification of Christ's death will separate saint from sinner. More importantly, the basic theological justification of Christ's death will separate the true gospel from the false gospel.
In Paul's writings, he makes of great importance the death of Christ. This passage of Scripture is no different, for here he proclaims without apology, without qualification, that Jesus died for sins according the scriptures. Jesus did not die as a moral example. Jesus did not die because his social ideas were too radical. Jesus did not die because he was too much of a nice guy. Jesus bore the punishment for our sins. The mystery of the gospel is found here, where a holy and perfectly moral God allowed a truly innocent man to suffer for the wrongs of another. How scandalous! Yet, the gospel message is here: Jesus died for sins as prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures. The Man of Sorrows would bear our iniquity so we might be made right before God. To embrace the gospel is to embrace this fact: I am a sinner, depraved and hating God. Yet, by grace through faith, as I embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, I know that Jesus died so I might be saved from the wrath that God all ready poured out on Christ. For Paul, our justification came only by the death of Christ for our sins.
15:4 ...and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures...
Quite opposite from those who affirm Christ's death, many will deny he rose from the dead. With present-day technology, it is scientifically impossible to bring somebody three-days-dead back to life. Yet somehow, in a time when modern medicine would have been seen as magic, a crucified man somehow came back to life, exited the tomb, escaped a Roman guard, and convinced many hundreds of people that he conquered death. The gospel of Jesus Christ affirms the message Paul communicated: that by the power of God, Jesus resurrected from the dead, becoming the first-fruits of many brothers and sisters.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ completes the gospel message, because implicit in the resurrection is that Christ will also bring those who are his - as given by the Father - into this resurrection as well. Not only this, but the resurrection promises those who are truly called of Christ, will be with him when the kingdom of God is finally consummated. As Paul says later in this letter, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, by the resurrection, a sinner in this present body will be transformed into one like Christ, where in this new body, he will be able to experience and exist in the Lord's kingdom. The resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes our glorification before God. Just as we are wholly incapable of justifying ourselves before God by our own merit, we are wholly incapable of making ourselves renewed both internally and externally in order to exist before God in his fully glory. By Christ's death we are justified; by Christ's resurrection we are glorified.
Christ and the Gospel
15:5 ...and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
The word "apostle" means "one sent". The letter to the Hebrew believers calls Jesus a "great apostle". In like fashion, as the apostle from heaven, sent by God, Jesus likewise sent his men out to give the message of reconciliation - the gospel - to the world. Note this, that Christ first appeared to Peter and then the twelve. There were, of course, about one hundred twenty disciples of Christ in the upper room, however Paul emphasizes that Jesus appeared to Peter first, then the twelve. Jesus first entrusted the gospel message to his closest followers, those who knew him best. Of importance here is this: Christ's first interaction with the gospel post-resurrection is to establish the apostles of the Church. These apostles would be the authority in the Church, establishing doctrine and most importantly, they would be laying the foundation of the modern Church in the world through a gospel that would survive until the return of Christ. This is the gospel that Christ entrusted them, and the gospel they would pass on to the churches, and so on down the ages until one day, somebody like you and me would hear the message of Jesus Christ and believe. Apostolic succession is true in this sense, then: the gospel that unites believers today and throughout time is a gospel that reaches back in history to the first gospel-bearers: the Twelve Apostles.
15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
However, Christ didn't merely appear to those select few, but he also appeared to five hundred more. In this way, Christ is not far removed from us. The Christ the first apostles knew and lived with also interacted with those who may not have seen him in person, but instead experienced him in his resurrected, glorified state. Like the men on the road to Emmaus, Christ comes to us, not us to Christ. Like the those in the upper room, it is Christ who reveals himself to us; it is Christ who opens our minds and hearts to understand and believe the gospel.
Many times, when I read the testimonies of those who have left Christ, the underlying stumbling block to belief (or the rejection of belief) is not intellectual: the stumbling block is experiential and emotional. Many will drown themselves in theology and the Bible, in books of philosophy and higher learning, yet in the end, will still find something lacking. The problem is not intellectual, but experiential: they have not experienced the Christ of the gospel, and thus they do not believe the Christ of the gospel. This experience is not founded on intellect or emotion, it is not founded upon general revelation or tradition (although all of those things are important for faith). It is founded on the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and Christ, and he is our experience of Jesus. Those who believe today are embraced by the Holy Spirit, and he is our internal witness that we are one of God's children. Praise be to the Lord our God, who not only appeared to the apostles, but appeared to the crowds as well, allowing us to experience personally Jesus Christ.
The Impact of the Gospel
15:8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
There is a reason why Paul emphasizes the resurrection and the gospel so much in his writings: Paul was the last person to visibly see Jesus and to be commissioned as an apostle of the Lord. Paul, as a persecutor of the Church of God, was confronted violently with the gospel. The gospel made the blindness of his heart physical, and it was the gospel that made him finally see his sin for what it was: rebellion against the living God. Paul was so affected by the gospel such that he risked certain death to gain an audience with Caesar himself so he can witness to the king of the gentile world. The boldness needed for such an endeavor! Here we see the effect of the gospel: present humility.
When the gospel overcomes a person, the vileness of past and inherited sin is wholly revealed. Indeed, I know I can say along with Paul that I am unworthy to be called a Christian; to this very day - yet more so in the past - the most vile, evil, depraved images and thoughts will enter my mind, wholly unworthy of a mind dedicated to Christ. I am unworthy - my flesh rebels against the truth of the gospel on a daily basis - and there are times, more often than not, where I am ashamed of myself because of the sin in my heart. This remembrance of my past - and even my current sin - is a humble reminder caused by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians today need to be reminded that the gospel is our present humility.
15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
For by grace we are saved through faith, and not of ourselves, it is a gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast. By God's grace we are who we are; it is by God's grace that I can say I am a Christian. In nothing else can I boast but the cross of Christ and his resurrection from the dead. The work of ministry that Paul accomplished in his time was not a work done by mere human effort, for as he proclaimed about himself, "yet not I, but the grace of God with me." Notice, it is the grace of God with him that empowered him to serve. God's grace didn't merely surround him nor did it merely inhabit him, as though stagnant. It was God's grace active, moving and influencing with him; it was the power of the resurrection itself moving him forward toward in serving the Christ he once hated.
The gospel is one that does not keep men in their sin, wallowing in depression and darkness. The gospel is a message that makes people face who they are naturally, then presses upon them the reality of spiritual re-birth: who they are in Christ. It is by the grace of God that we are changed; it is by the grace of God that one is made like Christ. No amount of social justice work, no amount of good works, no amount of obedience to the law will change the fact that it is only by the grace of God that we are forgiven of our sin, and it is only by the grace of God that we are empowered for obedience to the Law of Christ.
The full effect of the gospel is seen here: men, dead in their sins and hating God with all their own power and might, violently confronted by the resurrected Christ. Christ, through the gospel, shows them their own vileness and the fact that he himself bore the wrath of God for sin. The grace of God, through the gospel, changes men's hearts so they might believe. The gospel changes men's attitudes and actions, so someone who actively rebelled against God in all their might is now serving him in all their might; yet, not their own power, because it is still unworthy, but a power given from the gospel.
Conclusion
15:11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.
Finally, we come to the present-day problem: the preachers of the so-called gospel. The gospel entrusted to the preachers of the first century is the same gospel (hopefully) preached by most in Christian-dom today. There are, however, elements within the Christian Church that are proclaiming a perverted gospel. There are those who proclaim a gospel of earthly wealth and prosperity. Others proclaim a gospel of works based on a faulty understanding of the Kingdom of God. Still others proclaim a gospel of social justice where Jesus modeled behavior pleasing to God. Indeed, there are some elements of truth in these perversions, yet all miss the mark of failing to match up with the gospel as proclaimed by Jesus, Peter, the Twelve, and Paul: a gospel of sinful humanity on the wide road toward hell and of those saved by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Christ.
Those who believe and follow the gospels mentioned above will more than likely be offended by my calling them perversions. This is where New Fundamentalism comes into play. Our goal here is to have a clear understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and base our conversations, discussions, debates, et al on the foundation of this gospel. Hopefully, all those who call themselves Christians will agree with this statement: the basis of the Christian faith is the gospel, and without it, we are hopeless. We wish to discuss the elements of the gospel, to talk about the differences people have, and to finally reach conclusions where Christ is glorified, the gospel upheld, and Christian unity via the Holy Spirit is preserved.
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