1 Corinthians: The Core of the Gospel

As I was designing and trying to think of the best way to present to you the gospel and share with you the things I've learned over the past few years about the gospel, what I did was every class except for that first one we did and the last one in the series will focus on a New Testament book. And each of these books is chosen because it contains a predominant theme as it relates to the gospel.

So we've already done the gospel of Mark, Acts and Romans. Now in this class, we're going to do I Corinthians. And the predominant theme of this one is I Corinthians has the core of the gospel as we're going to see. The first and most important thing about the gospel is recorded in I Corinthians. So I'm excited about getting the chance to share that with you.

There's 3 main points that we're gonna be talking about.

A. The Relationship Building Gospel

When you're studying the the gospel with somebody, it's amazing how close you can get to each other and how it promotes good relationships. We will see some of that in these early passages.

1. Our evangelistic goal is not to baptize people; it's to preach the plain gospel.

As Paul is opening up the book, that we call I Corinthians and he's writing to the church in Corinth who are experiencing a division in the church and it is over, of all the silly things, who had baptized who. And so you're starting to get these cliques in the church and you had your little Apollo's clique over here and your little Cephas clique and your little Paul clique. And Paul is writing to them saying, What are you doing? Is Christ divided? Were were you crucified by Paul? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
- I Corinthians 1:14-17

Paul can't even remember who all he baptized. That's not the goal. The goal is not to baptize people. And I think there's a message there for us as well. Sometimes we make that the goal. Get people in the water, get them baptized.

I know baptism is necessary to salvation. I understand that. But the goal is to proclaim the gospel to people.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
- Matthew 28:19

The goal is to make disciples, people who are going to follow Christ, not just people who are gonna get wet. Our responsibility is to preach the gospel.

2. The gospel doesn't need our cleverness. That empties the cross of its power.

That's why we're calling this course the plain gospel. We don't need to spice it up. We don't need to put ornaments on it and and make it frilly. Just teach the gospel just the way it is in the Bible (as Paul says in verse 17).

We don't need to improve upon the gospel because we can't improve upon the gospel. It's perfect just the way it is.

3. The gospel made Paul a spiritual father to the Corinthians.

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
- I Corinthians 4:14-15

Now what Paul was talking about was he, through his gospel, was able to help participate in their rebirth and their coming into the kingdom through spiritual birth. In other words, he taught them the gospel and they got baptized. And that made them in a sense a spiritual father.

Now they didn't call him father, but he was like a father to him. They looked up to him as a father figure. It created a tight bond between these Corinthians that he was so close to and himself where they they had the type of relationship where he could speak to them fairly boldly about some things that needed to be changed. He could chastise them as a father or reprimand them or correct them because he had that type of relationship. And that's what the gospel does. It builds strong relationships.

B. Ensuring the Gospel's Future

I Corinthians really brings this out, the need to make sure that we continue to do things that are going to help the gospel, help the gospel do well in the future.

1. Do all you can not to hinder the gospel.

¹¹If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹²If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
- I Corinthians 9:11-12

If we sold spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? Now, what he's talking about there is if a person is is preaching the gospel and is doing that full time, like that's what they're doing for a living, then there's nothing wrong with them reaping a material benefit from that. He'll talk more about that here in just a moment.

In verse 12 Paul sets a precedence that we should all follow. We don't want to do anything at all that hinders the gospel of Christ. As we think about our lives, the way we're living, the example we're setting for others, we certainly don't want to do anything in our lifestyle or in our words and the way we treat people that would hinder the gospel of Christ. And it does hurt our message if we come to church and we're little angels there, but dull during the week, we are mean to people or we are hard to get along with, we're unkind in our dealings with people at work or as we're in the community going to the grocery store, the gas station, wherever. You need to think about your example, and are you doing something that hinders the gospel of Christ?

We don't want to do anything at all to hinder the gospel of Christ. And Paul says, I didn't even use my right in receiving financial support because I didn't want to hold back the gospel in some way. He must have believed that maybe they were not able to support him.

2. Those who preach the gospel are within their right to earn a living from the gospel.

¹³Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? ¹⁴ So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.
- I Corinthians 9:13-14

Paul is talking about the old covenant. This would be the priest and even the Levitical tribe, those who even who weren't priests, receive some financial help, some support so they could serve in the temple. And he's drawn that old testament principle into the New Testament. And those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar. And so again, old testament.

In verse 14, the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. So the worker is worth his keep. I've been preaching in the church of Christ for about 40 years now, and I receive a salary for doing that, and I have for the past 40 years essentially. And had I not received that, I would not be able to study as much. I would not be able to reach out in the community and have Bible studies with people and do counseling and do many of the things that I do because I would have to be providing for my family. My drawing a salary has allowed me to do many things. I'm grateful to God. I love what I do, by the way. Absolutely love being a minister with the church of Christ. It is to me the greatest lifestyle I could have ever chosen. No regrets whatsoever. That is an option for somebody.

Now, Paul says, I didn't use that option in the situation there in Corinth, but it is not there's nothing wrong with a person receiving a salary for preaching the gospel. That helps to ensure the gospel's future because we have in congregations where there is a full time minister or in some cases, a full time elder or different people like that. If somebody is able to devote their life full time to something, then they can pay attention better on a day-to-day basis to what's going on. Whereas with a lot of times, we just see things kind of week-to-week when we come together on Sunday maybe, and oh, well, this needs to be fixed or we're not doing enough of this or we need to grow on that. If somebody is paid full time to pay attention to that, that ensures the future of the gospel. That helps to move the gospel forward.

3. Woe to any believer who does not preach the plain gospel.

And so there is a responsibility not just for ministers but for anybody to preach the gospel who has received the gospel.

¹⁵But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. ¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
- I Corinthians 9:15-16

He's not saying I'm not trying to raise a support here. The way Paul felt about it is if I have this gospel, this good news about salvation, and I don't share it with somebody, woe is me. It is so wrong that I wouldn't be eager to to tell others this good news, this path to salvation that I've been blessed to find. That should be the natural response.

And, of course, the more we do that, the more we ensure the gospel. We also make sure that we are teaching the correct gospel. Let me share another scripture.

For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
- II Corinthians 11:4

I hope you could hear Paul's sarcasm in that. They shouldn't be bearing it beautifully. They should be objecting. A different gospel? A different spirit? A different Jesus is being preached? That should never happen. There is one Christ, there is one spirit. There is only one gospel. I'll talk a little bit more about that in another class, but make note of that. There really is only one gospel.

Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all,
- II Corinthians 9:13

Notice the obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ. He's writing to the church. He's not writing to preachers, elders, or apostles. He's writing to the church saying, I commend you for your obedience to the confession of the gospel. You see it as a responsibility of every member, not just the leaders in the congregation, but every member to ensure the future of the gospel.

4. A preacher may choose to forfeit their right to earn a living from the gospel.

¹⁷For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. ¹⁸What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
- I Corinthians 9:17-18

By the way, I don't know if you noticed this, but starting in verse 12 down through verse 18, he mentions the gospel eight times. I mean, it's obvious that this is an important theme as he is talking to the church there in Corinth.

A preacher can receive a salary for preaching the gospel but he also has the right to say, I don't need that and I know of situations like that. I'm not in that situation but I know some that have become independently wealthy through some other means and they're able to say, you know, I don't need to get a salary but I'll go ahead and keep preaching the gospel. Amen, that's great to see.

And that's what Paul is saying. He was in a situation, I don't know if he was making tents or he had support from another congregation, but he was able to present the gospel to them free of charge. It actually made him a little nervous though because in II Corinthians he says,

Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
- II Corinthians 11:7

And there he's kind of questioning, "well, maybe I shouldn't have done that." The disadvantage would be maybe if they were helping to support him, they would maybe care more about what he was doing. He's just saying, I hope I didn't wrong you in not receiving support from you.

5. Everything we do as a church and as individuals is for the gospel's sake.

²²To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. ²³I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
- I Corinthians 9:22-23

Paul says, I do all things for the sake of the gospel. That means as individuals or as a church, every single thing we do should be for the sake of the gospel. If it's not for the sake of the gospel, why are we doing it?

We have to be careful sometimes as a church so we don't get to doing a lot of activities and forget the reason we're doing these things is to present the gospel to people.

Now there's nothing wrong with ice cream socials and potlucks and, some of those kind of things that we do. That's fine, but why are we doing those things? Hopefully, it's to provide opportunities to invite unbelievers to come and see that Christians enjoy life and come to get to know them a little better.

Everything that we do needs to have the purpose of the gospel behind it. I say that because we do sometimes get church members who think the church is just a social club. That's not what we exist for. We are the Lord's organism. I don't want to say organization. We're a living thing. The church is a living thing, and our purpose is to make sure the gospel is passed on to the next generation.

That the gospel continues to thrive and flourish as it has for 2000 years. We want to ensure the gospel's future.

C. A Reminder of the Gospel

1. There is a specific gospel on which we stand.

¹Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ²by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
- I Corinthians 15:1-4

Now, this really is the core of the gospel. Paul had already taught the gospel to them, and now he is reminding them of the gospel.

2. The gospel saves us under the condition that we hold firmly to it.

Do you see that in verse 2? By this gospel is going to save you if you hold firmly, if you don't compromise it. What I'm teaching you about the gospel comes straight from the Bible. Don't change it. Don't alter it in any way. Don't don't let somebody come along and say, "oh, well, yeah that but this is just as good." No. Hold fast to the gospel. Don't let it ever be changed.

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- II Corinthians 4:3-4

If we're not careful, the god of this age comes along and and he blinds us. So we don't see the gospel. We need to make sure that we hold fast to the gospel. Don't let anybody change it. Don't let anybody come along and try to improve upon it. No. We want to hold fast to the plain saving gospel.

3. The gospel is that Jesus died, he was buried, and he was raised.

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
- I Corinthians 15:3-4

Now, that is the hub of the gospel, the death, burial, and the resurrection of Christ. When we get to our last class, we will come back to this verse and really unwrap it more. There's a prize waiting for you there. The first most important thing about the gospel is Jesus died, he was buried, and he was raised.

One last thing before we leave this passage, I want you to notice not once but twice, he mentions the scriptures at the end of each verse. What scriptures is he talking about? Well, he's not talking about Romans. Romans wasn't written yet.

4. Christ did so in fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures

The scriptures that he is referring to is the Old Testament scripture. This is the word which I mentioned a couple of classes ago. Means only inspired writing. And the only inspired writing that was really complete at this point was what we call the Old Testament or the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant talks about the Messiah coming and what he was coming to do. And he says, we're seeing the fulfillment of this old testament. This has been around for a long time. This has been planned, and now Paul says we have it. We're so blessed to have the gospel, and we have the core of the gospel.