“Christ Died For Our Sins”

I Corinthians 15:1-4

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:

Preface

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any will be out to church in the coming two weeks. The primary reason for this is to honor a promise made to a family member or to satisfy one’s own “guilt” for not attending church on a regular basis. What we must understand is that “church attendance” is not the primary “issue” with the Lord. What He wants all Men to understand is the purpose of His birth, suffering, death and resurrection. He gave Himself not that Man might become a “better” human being, but that he might be liberated from his flesh that he might live a life superior to the flesh in which he was born.

He has left us with no doubt in our minds that the way to get that which we need is through his death—by being put to death with Him!

Main Thought

The fact that “Christ Died for Our Sins” will be a much-preached message. The “problem” with Man is not that he has not heard, but rather, his not knowing the meaning of what he has heard.

If we are honest, we will acknowledge that as human beings, we desire most things, as well as salvation, to be as “stress free” as possible. Therefore, when it is we who are desiring to “accommodate” ourselves, we will make all requirements upon ourselves as “easy” as possible. In this fact, lies a possible explanation for the popularity of the so-called “sinner’s prayer.” How much easier could salvation get than the simple recitation of a formulaic prayer, after which one is not officially required to “give up” anything?

Salvation is more than a “confession of acceptance.” Even in the case of the Lord, it is unlikely that One would give up all that He had to give and require nothing in return.

So, what does a “confession of faith” really mean? If it means that one is declaring his faith in the death of Jesus for his sins, thereby expressing his agreement with that death, then that one must also agree to do all that is necessary to be part of that death.

The truth of the matter is that if one “confess(es) with his mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and accepts (agrees) that He rose from the dead,” then unequivocally, that one will be saved! This is because once one agrees that He rose, then he will accept that “new life” that comes with that acceptance. This is essential to salvation, for salvation is not just “confession,” but rather, action. Along with accepting Jesus’ death comes the acceptance of one’s own death with Him.

Verse one of our scripture text finds Paul referring to the “gospel which (he preached)” and which the people received and upon which they stood. This point is an essential one, for anyone who would be pleasing to God must be willing to “receive” as well as stand on the Word of God.

Some of us miss the blessings of God because we attempt to serve Him while advancing our own agenda. Those who are successful in the Lord come to accept that their “storage” must be “empty”—meaning that they recognize, upon coming to Him, that their lives become His, to use as He sees fit.

In that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, it is essential that we understand its purpose. That purpose involves informing us of the history of Jesus, Who, though confined to a body of flesh, did not live by its direction. So, in order for us to “be like Jesus,” we must be “born again.” This second birth allows us to be born “without sin,” for the first birth bound us to sin. If we were as bright as we usually think we are, we would realize that if there was no satisfaction to be found in the flesh before salvation, there is none to be found afterward.

We operate under misconceptions our entire lives as human beings. One of the chiefest is that we believe it possible to “improve” ourselves. The truth of the matter is that there is absolutely nothing that the man of flesh can do to “better” himself, much less change. On the contrary, human effort offers no “solutions” to anything!

In the “fight” in which we are embroiled, we need to recognize that the devil never tries to “deal” with us in the Spirit. He is “smarter” than we are, in that he knows that the way to us is through human flesh. Now, though the purpose of tests and trials is to show us our problems, the devil capitalizes on what the Lord allows, making it seem as if the “challenges” are indeed, “problems.” In this way, he induces “panic” and is able to shift our attention from what the Lord would have us to learn.

Ironically, no matter how “difficult” our situations may seem to be, rest assured that what really needs to be “fixed” in us is much more “complicated” than what the Lord has allowed to come.

“Christ died for our sins” that we, through partaking of His death, might be freed from the temptations of the flesh that lead to sin. If this is truly our goal and aim, we will have to do all that He says and has done the way that He instructs it to be done. For you see, nothing “works” in God until and unless His complete instructions are followed. Just as with Naaman, if one has had enough of his putrid flesh, he will be willing to do whatever is necessary to cleanse himself of it. n