“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.
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status that we enjoy as saints of God we enjoy because we have been “delivered”
(brought into “right relationship”) with God through the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Specifically, the “gospel” consists of the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus. It is
“identification” with Jesus in baptism that brings us out of sin. Our “liberation from bondage” happens not because we are placed under water,
but rather, because as we are
“buried,” we liken that burial to our own
death in the flesh.
For
years, Man has tried, unsuccessfully, to “do better.” What he has found is that
he can no more change his conduct than the proverbial leopard can “change his
spots” or “the Ethiopian his skin color.” So, since a change is required, what is God’s “solution”
(requirement)? Man must allow his old man to be buried as he becomes new.
Man
is handicapped in that he is limited to five areas through which to gain any
information concerning his environment. As humans, we are capable of gathering
new information through sensory perception, only. That “information gathering”
will take the form of perceiving through sight, sound, hearing, touching or
smelling. Since God is a Spirit, anything pertaining to Him will have to be
accessed through another means. In other words, “spiritual things require
spiritual discernment.” Any revelation that one will ever have will have to received. In order
to receive, one must exercise faith.
Since one is saved by faith, he must, then, live by faith.
Accepting
God’s word means that one agrees with what He says. This means that when
one accepts that he must live by the Word, he is agreeing with the requirements of God and He is then free to supply
his every need. Being on the same “side” makes it unnecessary to go to the Lord
“begging.”
When
one asks himself the question, “Are you saved?” it will have to be with the
understanding that the determination is to be made according to the standard of
God, rather than one’s “human” standard. If we would only stand on, believe in
and accept the Word of God, we would have the assurance we need that “God said
it,” and if He said it, we can rest assured that 1) it’s true and 2) it will come to pass.
If
we
do not believe, then the gospel will be “vain” (empty) for us. You see, the
“value” of the gospel lies in the application of the concept of death
(contained therein) to the life of the saint. Salvation is based upon the
principle of flesh being “dead” and this can only happen as one applies the
death of Jesus to his life and
conducts himself as did He. So, it only stands to reason that if one is
unwilling or unable to “reckon himself dead” with
Jesus, Jesus’ death will be in vain for him.
Coming
upon solemn assembly as we are, we are called upon to trust God to sustain and
keep us in a most literal way. As we know, the fast that we undertake allows us
the opportunity to submit our flesh to the Spirit. Successful completion also proves to us that God will manifest His power and anointing in
our lives.
We
cannot emphasize enough that there is never any need to fear what is happening
in one’s life at any given time. This is because if one is saved, that which
comes to him is allowed to come by
Jesus.
Perhaps
never is His voice so strongly and clearly heard as in our trials and tests. In
everything that comes to challenge us, He is trying to get our attention;
“show” us something; teach us. Of course, this means then, that everything that
we face is “good” even if we did not know that “every good and perfect gift…”
God
has even allowed catastrophic events to assail the earth so that Man might be instructed”
in His truth. What, for instance, was the purpose of The Flood? It was to
impress upon Man the need for salvation through
Jesus. The one door
and the 2nd floor in the
Much
is said about the gospel and much emphasis put on all of its “parts” (the
death, burial and resurrection), however, not many understand exactly how it is
that we are “saved by” it. Whether or not we understand completely, we ought to
pick up something through the fact
that God “lowered” Himself to the form of Man only to willingly allow that body to be abused and give up His life. To add
“insult” to “injury,” He was not worthy
(deserving) of death.
Anyone
who would make such a sacrifice has very “right” to require that those who
would partake of it meet some “minimum” requirements. All that He really asks
is that we be grateful enough to
dress and conduct ourselves befitting those who are members of a royal family.
In today’s wicked world, people want Jesus’ name, but not his standard. The
Bible foretold this in its description of the “last days” when 10 women would
take one man just to be called by his name. However, they would continue to
dress and act as they pleased. This description is largely true of women,
today, who want a “man,” but not necessarily a “husband.”
God
is not a God of “multiple choice”—as in He makes “suggestions” and we are free
to choose whether or not we like our
“options.” One either does as God says or one is rebelling.
The
time has come for the people of God to walk in victory and this can happen
only as we accept the “work” already done through the gospel and apply it
to ourselves. Accepting Christ’s death as our own brings with it the freedom
and privilege of being identified with Him—and this will give us the courage
and ability to allow our “…lives (to be) hid with Christ in God.” Then when
we look at “me” in the mirror and ask the question “Am I Saved?” we won’t
have to be afraid of the answer.