“You Are Saved By The Gospel”

I Corinthians 15:1-6

1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

W

e hear much talk about the “gospel” and generally, within the context that “the gospel must be heard.” The sad truth about this is that many do not know what it is and therefore, would not know when or if they have heard it.

The “gospel” is defined as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus or the “Good News.” While “good” to some, many (upon getting “close” to the Lord) find the message of the gospel a little less than “joyous” to them. Why? Because it is opposed to all that is human. Now, if the human being could devise his own plan of salvation, all men, everywhere, would be happy, for he would combine the best of both worlds into his salvation. How would he do this? By granting himself all of the benefits of salvation without “taxing” himself with the responsibilities.

This would never work, for you see, the “problem” that we have as human beings is that we were born with a sin nature. This very nature is why Jesus had to come and die and why we cannot stay the way we were born.

We are well aware of the problems that being fleshly creatures causes us (in other words, we know that flesh doesn’t “work” in spiritual situations), yet, we try to make it work, anyway. Nothing is every accomplished by this but it seems to give Man a certain sense of “personal satisfaction” that he tried to do something.

We have as our example of all the “wrong” things to do the children of Israel, who were never able to keep the Law. Their rebelliousness, stiff-neckedness and hardheadness are well documented, yet the children of God seem to “miss” their “lesson.”

In all fairness, we know that the children of Israel really never “had a chance,” for God’s “point” was to leave their failures as an example to us. You see, God’s “mind” has now been revealed to us and we know that His “grand scheme” was to give the Law to a people who could not keep it. Because He is merciful, He provided this people so that through their failure, the people coming after them, us, would be irrefutably convinced of our need of Him.

Though so much has been provided for us to “cement” us into salvation, there yet seems to remain “confusion” even after redemption. The explanation for this appears to be inherent in the fact that one remains in a human body after salvation. You see, we know that we must be sinless after salvation; we know that the deeds of the flesh must be “mortified” and that the body must be “brought under subjection” to the Spirit. The problem is that we look at the “doing” of those things as an almost “impossible” task.

We should know by now that in His infinite wisdom, the Lord has provided an answer for everything. You see, the example of Jesus has been left to us that we might have a “barometer” of how we are to conduct ourselves. The current “pop” religious mantra of “what would Jesus do” is valid in its point and as a consideration.

In the scripture, we have plenty of examples of Jesus going to the Father. The sole point in Him doing this was to leave us an example to teach us what we need. Without some sort of example, even after salvation, Man would be doomed to follow the will of his flesh—for this is all that he knows. Hence, the leading of the gospel.

Man, however, world remain “autonomous” (that is, “self-governing”) even after salvation. Who would not want to have the best of supernatural world while living in the “convenience” of what one already knows and finds “convenient?” Fortunately, the Lord still resists our attempts at claiming Him while also attempting to claim our “rights” as “humans.” The willingness of the Church world to overlook and excuse that which is not holy, sacred, sanctified or truly “Christian” is spawning a new generation of bad teaching, writing, music, preaching and pastoring.

If we would be “…saved by the gospel” we are going to have to understand the purpose of the gospel. Being called “good news” obviously means that some “bad” exists. If Jesus stepping into one’s life is to have an impact on another , that “step” must be seen as having some significance. So, how is this shown? By us allowing His power to be manifested. That power is not manifested through human beings. In other words, a man’s works, shouting or church attendance is not what wins others. That which “counts” with others is a manifested change in the individual! This means that our “issues” before salvation cannot be “issues” after salvation. After all, if one gives one’s life to the Maker of heaven and earth, how then, after encountering Him can lives not be changed?

Any “issues” that arise after salvation arise because we do not accept what Jesus has already done—that al that needs to be handled has been handled! Not doing so contributes to one’s view that his life after salvation has changed very little from his life before. You see, instead of counting ourselves as changed, we yearn for “others” as well as our situations to change—so that we do not have to! But, the reality of this situation is that we were the only thing that was supposed to change! And we can change only because we learn to trust God!

We know that we must be saved and we know that we will be saved only “…by the gospel.” Though we are aware that we have no choice in the matter, we have a tendency to “run scared,” fearing that what God is doing will destroy us. Actually, this is exactly what is supposed to happen and the “trump card” that the devil uses to keep us “under control.”

As opposed to fearing God, we had better learn to trust Him. Unwavering faith and devotion is the only “antidote” to our “demons” of fear and distrust. What have we to fear, for the life that we led offered us no redemption and in fact, caused us unceasing pain, heartache, turmoil and misery? There was nothing “salvageable” in it, but through salvation, we have been granted a life to be cherished and protected no matter what the cost. The Man who would be saved will be “…saved by the gospel,” or not at all.