It is a pleasure and an honor to return to this pulpit. The last time I preached to you from 1 Corinthians 15 was April 6, 2014. As recently as June 8th, Balu preached a sermon from the first four verses of 1 Corinthians 15 to you during Missions Month. What, then, is my aim in preaching this text to you, one that surely you are familiar with? My aim is not to bring new interpretations of the text. Although this sermon may offer some new insights to some of you, new insights are not my primary aim either. My aim for you is to have fresh confidence in the gospel. Paul has the same aim for the Corinthians. Look at verse 1; he is reminding them of the gospel that was preached to them formerly. The English writer, Samuel Johnson, once said, “People need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed.”
So, let us pray and get into the text.
God, grant us fresh confidence in the gospel of Jesus as we delve into your Word. Preserve us by your grace. Amen.
I bring seven lessons from this passage to you: the message of the gospel, the veracity of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, the receiving of the gospel, salvation by the gospel, standing firm in the gospel, and the grace of God in the gospel.
The Message of the Gospel
The first lesson is the message of the gospel. Look at verses 3–8. There are four parts to the message of the gospel that Paul presents in this passage. Each of these is marked by the conjunction “that” in the ESV. Can you see all four of them? First, Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures. Second, he was buried. Third, he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. Fourth, he appeared to various people, the list beginning with Cephas and ending with Paul. Let us look at each one of these parts in order.
Christ Died for Our Sins
The Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament, do not merely predict that Christ will die. Everyone dies. It teaches that Christ’s death is vicarious. He dies on behalf of the sins of his people. This is good news. The good news has two sides. Jesus’s death is substitutionary—“for our sins.” Jesus’s death is atoning—“for our sins.”[1] That is, Jesus’s death pays the penalty for our sins, resulting in atonement for our sins. This is termed penal substitutionary atonement. Each word in the term is important. Penal—relating to the penalty; substitutionary—describing the “on our behalf” aspect of the penalty; atonement—describing the accomplishment of the act—reconciling God and sinner.
It is vital to note that Paul did not invent this doctrine. He asserts that this penal substitutionary atonement is in accordance with the Scriptures. Paul has Isaiah 53 in mind.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:4–6)
Isaiah is clear. The Servant of the LORD is pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. That is penal substitution. Moreover, he was chastised for our peace; our wounds are healed. That is atonement. Some Christians only care about the substitution aspect of Jesus’s work. They suggest that Jesus died for our sins, which means that Jesus took away the effects of our sins from us. The punishment is taken away. Some people use the word “expiation” to describe this concept. However, expiation only deals with the effect of the sin on the sinner. As we have only briefly seen from Isaiah, the Bible teaches that our sin also has an impact on our relationship with our creator. We must be reconciled; we need peace. Therefore, it is not just the effect of the sin on the sinner but also the impact of the sin on the sinner’s relationship with his creator that needs to be restored. We need propitiation. Propitiation involves both expiation and the appeasement of God’s wrath. In fact, propitiation is what penal substitutionary atonement achieves. Friends, the disciples of Jesus did not create a new religion or invent the gospel message. The gospel message was promised in the Old Testament and is revealed in the New Testament.
He Was Buried
The second part of the gospel message is that Jesus was buried. Note that this part does not have the phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures.” The fourth part, likewise, does not have the phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures.” Why is that the case? The second and fourth parts serve as confirmation of the first and third parts.[2] Jesus was buried because he died. Islam denies that Jesus was crucified. It teaches a substitution theory—that God made it appear that Jesus died by placing a lookalike on the cross while taking Jesus up to heaven. Islam cannot reconcile that a messenger of God is allowed to be killed. The good news in the Bible is that Jesus, sinless and perfect, died for our sins. He, and not a lookalike, died and was buried.
He Was Raised on the Third Day
The third part of the gospel message is that Jesus was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. Jesus’s resurrection is essential to the redemption of sinners and, therefore, the gospel message and, thus, the Christian faith (Cf. Luke 22:46; John 20:9; Acts 17:2–3; 26:22–23; Rom 6:23; 2 Cor 5:17). The New Testament in other places as well teach us that Jesus will be raised from the dead. This is foretold in Psalm 16:10… you will not let your holy one see corruption. But is there a text in the Old Testament that foretells the “third-day resurrection?”
Some suggest that “in accordance with the Scriptures” applies to the whole complex, “he was raised on the third day.” This is grammatical at the sentence level. However, it presents a problem. A fundamental difficulty is that one cannot find a verse about the third-day resurrection as easily as penal substitutionary atonement or resurrection predictions in the Old Testament. The Old Testament passages put forth are Hosea 6:2 and Jonah 1:17. Some have suggested that many other passages also allude to the third day, a significant theme in the Old Testament.[3] (Sigh…) We need a better explanation. Otherwise, how do we trust this creedal statement?
I suggest that “in accordance with the Scriptures” only applies to “he was raised” and not to “on the third day.” I do have a grammatical reason to suggest such a split. This is a bit technical but not impossible to follow. He died, was buried, and appeared. All three of these statements are in the past tense. However, he was raised should have been translated as “he is risen” if the phrase “on the third day” was not present in the sentence. Grammatically, the phrase “he rose and remains risen” conveys the meaning of this text. However, since the event of the resurrection occurred on the third day, and this phrase is included by Paul in this letter, our English Bibles translate this phrase as “he was raised on the third day.” And it is a fair translation. The point of the matter is that we need not split hairs on attempting to find “third-day” resurrection predictions in the Old Testament. What we must know, believe, and cherish is that Jesus’s resurrection was foretold in the Old Testament. Even more, we can cherish the fact that the third day is a significant theme in the Bible.
He Appeared to Various People
The fourth part of the gospel message in this passage is the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to various people. Note the gravity of this confirmatory point. The order of the events—death, burial, resurrection, and appearance—implies that Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, appeared to various people. While this is the only place in the Bible where these many post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are noted, it is not the only place where such appearances are noted. What Paul intends to impress upon his readers is that many of the witnesses of the resurrected Jesus were still alive at the time of the writing of this letter. Together, these four parts make up the gospel message.
The Veracity of the Gospel
The gospel message is not merely a technicality that involves four parts. The gospel message is heralded as true. What’s more? The gospel message recounts God’s plan for the salvation of sinners. But how can we trust this message? There are two avenues by which Paul ensures that his readers can recognize the truth of the gospel message. The veracity of the gospel message lies in its promise as found in Scripture and living eyewitness accounts.
Paul brings this issue before the Corinthians because, at least some of them, believed that there is no resurrection of the dead (v. 12). So, Paul challenges that assumption by presenting them with evidence of about five hundred living persons who have seen a resurrected person—Jesus. Pretty cool! But some of you here may say, “I wish I could meet someone who has seen the risen Jesus, or better yet, I wish I could see the risen Jesus.” In our day and age, when science claims that there is no resurrection from the dead, we may feel that a reassuring appearance of the resurrected Jesus will go a long way in making the gospel believable. May I remind you what Jesus said to Thomas? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Sight is not required for faith. Neither does Paul use the post-resurrection appearances as evidence for faith. The eyewitness accounts serve as a refutation for those who believe that resurrection is not possible. It is a tool in apologetics and not necessary for repentance or faith.
When it comes to us today, we must note that although there were two avenues for the Corinthian church to validate the veracity of the gospel message, for us, the two avenues are slightly different. The Scriptures remain the same for them then and for us now. But the living eyewitnesses have died. What do we do about them? We recognize that some of these brothers and sisters were martyred for their faith. No sane person desires to die for something that they are not entirely sure of. Moreover, no one dies for something that is of low value. Two important conclusions can be drawn from these facts. First, our brothers and sisters from the Early Church period valued Jesus above everything else, including their lives. Second, they were sure about what they saw—the resurrected Jesus. Thus, we too have two avenues to know the veracity of the gospel message—God’s word and his witnesses.
However, you must ask the question: Which of these two avenues should be more compelling to our hearts? The answer to that question is easy. It is God’s word. When I preach the rest of 1 Corinthians 15 to you, I will show you how his word proves that the resurrection from the dead is a reality. Until then, this must suffice.
The Preaching of the Gospel
Now that we have talked about what the gospel is. We must discuss how the gospel affects us. Paul uses four descriptions of the Christian’s experience with the gospel. First, the gospel is preached to the Christian. That is, before they had become a Christian. The preaching of the good news of salvation is a proclamation of good news.
The Receiving of the Gospel
Second, the Christian receives the gospel message. That is, they become a Christian by faith in Jesus. In verse 1, Paul describes this act as a reception. In verse 11, Paul describes this act as believing. At the very least, receiving Jesus as savior is believing that Jesus is savior.
Being Saved by the Gospel
The result of this belief is that the gospel is saving the Christian. Look at Paul’s language closely. “You are being saved.” Something is saving the Christian. The something is described with the words “by which.” The “which” refers to the gospel that was preached by Paul and received by them. Moreover, they were not saved. But they are being saved. The act of saving is continuous. The Gospel is saving the Christian. This means that the Christian requires the gospel constantly and not as an entry pass to Christianity. But there is a condition upon standing firm in the gospel.
Standing Firm in the Gospel
Final salvation “is conditioned on perseverance in the gospel.”[4] On the one hand, we could talk about the need to be a fruitful Christian who does good works. On the other hand, we could talk about the need to heed the warnings of apostasy. While these are important and relevant, I want to focus on what standing firm in the gospel means in this context. At the heart of the issue in this chapter is the belief in the resurrection of the saints. To not believe in the resurrection is to question whether Jesus was raised from the dead. Many naïve Christians today believe that being a Christian who does not look forward to the resurrection is still better than being a pagan. One might say that there is nothing to lose if I were a Christian and died to “discover” that it is the end. According to verse 17, this is futility. Paul says that such a person is to be most pitied. God willing, we will look at this more closely in a few weeks. The point is this: our faith in the resurrection of Jesus and, consequently, our resurrection is central to standing firm in the gospel to the very end. The Apostle’s Creed declares, “I believe in the resurrection of the saints.” To be a Christian who stands firm to the end is to be a Christian who dies believing that he will awake to see Jesus face to face.
The Grace of God in the Gospel
Finally, let me describe the result of receiving the gospel, being saved by it, and standing firm in it. The Christian experiences God’s grace despite their past. God’s grace toward Paul was not in vain (v. 10). It transformed him and used him as a messenger of the gospel. It is the grace of God that does it all. We are not forgiven because we repented, believed, or are walking in sanctification. We are forgiven because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and God’s grace came to us in the preaching of the gospel, enabling us to receive the gospel, saving us constantly, and helping us to stand firm in the gospel. If God were to take away his grace, we would be done for in an instant. Our hope is not in our ability to fight sin. Our hope is in the grace of God. We must be grateful to God for his grace. We must daily seek his grace. We must depend on his grace in our fight against sin and our desire to be with him for all eternity in our resurrected bodies.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank you for your grace. You sent your son to die for our sins. Your Spirit enabled us to believe. You keep us in your grace each moment. Help us, Lord, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
[1] Some would argue that “for our sins” conveys the idea of expiation alone and not propitiation. This would only work if God is not offended by man’s sin. For a brief discussion, see NIDNTT 3:147-160.
[2] Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 746.
[3] E.g., Jason S DeRouchie, “Why the Third Day?: The Promise of Resurrection in All of Scripture,” Midwestern Journal of Theology 20.1 (2021): 19–34.
[4] Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 318.
