Do you know what the Gospel is? Can you explain it? If you are a Christian and the Philippian jailor (Acts 16:25-34) asked you, “Sir (or Ma’am), what must I do to be saved?” would you have an answer? There are many Christians who would struggle to give a clear answer, even if they really do believe all of the elements of the Biblical Gospel.

There are multiple framings of the Gospel in scripture, the simplest of which I believe is actually the name of Jesus, which translated means “God saves”. That’s the Gospel, but while somebody could be saved by believing that Gospel, there is much more depth and clarity to be had in longer expositions. If you don’t know any, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with some of them. Perhaps the most famous Gospel verse is in John.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The Gospel is here: God saves (in Jesus). But there is a lot left unsaid too, and someone given the Gospel like this will probably have some follow-up questions. In fact, the often left off verses that follow 3:16 do provide more answers:

John 3:17-18

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Already, we know more about why Jesus came, what our status is apart from him, and what we need to do to “not perish but have eternal life.”

The Gospel is like our blood vessels. You can fit all of your blood vessels inside just you, but if you stretched them out they could wrap around the earth multiple times. In the same way, the Gospel can be scrunched into a single word, dense with unstated meaning, historical significance, concealed glories, and containing all that you need to be saved. It can also be unpacked and expanded to clarify and delight in its intricacies. If you want this expanded view, where should you look in Scripture? There are multiple answers; here are a few that I encourage you to go read (and read the surrounding context too):

• John 3:16-18
• Colossians 2:13-14
• Titus 3:4-7
• Hebrews 2:14-17
• 1 Peter 2:22-25
• Galatians 3:13-14

These are all wonderful and great places to start. There are also hyper-expansive explanations of the Gospel like the whole book of Romans. The Gospels themselves show you the Son and His work so you may know Whom you have believed. Ephesians 2 is a wonderful mid-length presentation of the Gospel. But the one I want to focus on today is 1 Corinthians 15:3-11. It is a beautiful presentation with a lot of excellent detail to unpack. Here’s the passage.

1 Corinthians 15:3-11

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now go back and read that again a couple of times and try to pick out a few things that stand out to you. Perhaps some of these things you’ll see in my breakdown, but others you might have caught that I left out!

Done? Let’s dig in.

For I delivered to you as of first importance

This is the most important thing.

what I also received:

It is a message received. Remember, Gospel means Good News. The core of the Christian faith is a message about something accomplished and of things to be, not a set of rites or rituals we do. Orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy, but the saving is done by the truths believed, not our efforts.

that Christ died

It is more heavily emphasized elsewhere, but Jesus was a real flesh-and-blood human who physically died. He was (and is) one of us. Gnostics and others deny the physical life and death of Christ, but it is all over the Gospels.

for our sins

We are sinners! (sin means missing the mark, and we all missed the mark of God’s righteousness) That’s the bad news, and why we need saving. Why did Christ have to die? Because we sinned. Romans goes into more detail here in the early stops of the famous Romans Road (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23).

in accordance with the Scriptures

This one is often skipped when people give a Gospel presentation, but Christianity is uniquely insistent on its own historicism. When Jesus is called Christ or Messiah, that is a claim to Him being the fulfiller of prophecies that preceded His incarnation by four or more centuries. Jewish prophets said Messiah would come, and that He would do certain things. Christians say Messiah came around 0 AD and did those things, excepting those He would do when He came back a second time for a different purpose than the one He came for the first time. There are literally hundreds of prophecies Jesus fulfilled in His first coming, but here are a few famous ones:

• Genesis 3. He is the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent.
• Isaiah 53. He is the suffering servant who will bring spiritual healing to His people who rejected Him by His suffering and death, Who will be sinless but executed as a criminal, who will be buried as a rich man, yet who will see His offspring and “prolong His days” after death.
• Zechariah 3 and 6. He is the righteous Branch who will remove the iniquity of the land in a single day and who simultaneously holds the offices of Priest and King.
• Psalm 2. He is the only begotten Son of God who will rule the earth.

There are too many for a blog post. Suffice to say, the insistence of the Gospel is that Jesus came in fulfillment of God’s promises to His people - He didn’t come out of nowhere. He is all over the Old Testament (see passages like Leviticus 16 about the Day of Atonement, Job 19:23-27 about the God-Redeemer who Job anticipates seeing in the flesh after death, and Joshua 5’s Commander of the LORD’s army whose presence makes the ground holy). I just can’t list them all if I want to finish this post.

that he was buried

Again, Jesus really died, in the way that we all do. It’s His literal death and literal resurrection that gives us hope (read: confident, evidenced expectation of something yet unrealized) of our own literal resurrection after our literal death.

that he was raised on the third day

His resurrection confirmed His identity, fulfilled prophecy, and established His power over death itself. God vindicated Jesus’ life, ministry, and claims about Himself and what He could do by raising Him from the dead.

in accordance with the Scriptures

If God repeats Himself, pay attention. It is a magnificent attestation to the reliability of Scripture (and God Himself) that He keeps His promises across the millenia.

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

The resurrection of Jesus was neither secretive nor metaphorical. He appeared to many people - close companions (Cephas, the twelve), other witnesses (the five hundred), his own family that had rejected Him during his earthly ministry (James), multiple times (all the apostles), and even post-ascension to His enemies (Paul).

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Christ saves even persecutors of His Church. Paul was an approving witness to the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr, and was actively seeking to arrest Christians under the authority of the Sanhedrin (jewish high council) when Jesus showed up, blinded him, and completely changed the course of his life. While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Romans 5:10). The Gospel’s scandalous assertion is that no one, no matter how vile, is beyond the power of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. You cannot sin so much that Christ cannot save you. But this isn’t because of some hidden worthiness on our part. Paul is clear that he is not worthy of his salvation and apostleship.

But by the grace of God I am what I am,

Salvation is not a work of the believer. God does the work. Ephesians 2 takes us from “dead in our trespasses and sins” to “seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” all before faith is even mentioned. Salvation is a gift we receive, not a wage we earn.

and his grace toward me was not in vain.

God’s salvation never fails. He Who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Even the fruits (changed heart, good works) of salvation are the work of God in us, as it says in Philippians 2:13, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Gospel of all the apostles is to be believed. That’s the call on you, your family, your friends, your acquaintances, your enemies, and total strangers on the other side of planet Earth.

Acts 17:30-31

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

If you are a believer, I pray this encouraged you and helped you think more clearly about the Gospel you believe. If you don’t have a good Gospel passage like this memorized or at least well-understood, now is the time to change that. If you are an unbeliever, I pray that this helps you understand what Christians are talking about when they talk about the Gospel, and that your heart is drawn to repentance and a real and lasting hope in the finished work of Jesus.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Straight from the mouth of Jesus.

In Christ,

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