Remember the Gospel

The older I get, the more I seem to forget things. I barely have a thought before it has disappeared. But it isn’t just getting older that can make us forgetful. Anyone who is around kids can see their forgetfulness as soon as you ask them to do something. Regardless of age, we all forget things at one time or another.

The Apostle Paul understood man’s inclination to forgetfulness. In Philippians 3:1 he said, “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” Peter also recognized our forgetfulness. “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have” (2 Peter 1:12).

Both Paul and Peter were reminding believers of specific truths. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul reminds the Corinthian church (and us) of the Gospel.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,[1]

Why would Paul remind the Corinthian church of the Gospel? He says in verse 1 that they had received the Gospel. He even says that they are standing in the Gospel. This is quite a statement given all the sin issues going on in the Corinthian church (sensuality, strife, divisions, immorality, ignorance, and strange ideas about spirituality). The Corinthian believers were still standing for the Gospel even in their struggles. Compare this to the Galatian church that was turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6).

In verse 2 we see why Paul is reminding them. “And by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you.” Some of you might be wondering why Paul said, “are being saved.” He is referring to our sanctification – being conformed more and more to the image of Christ which God has promised to complete in us (Philippians 1:6). At the moment we put our trust in Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), we are saved; we are justified. Positionally it is just as if we had never sinned and just as if we had always obeyed. Jesus’ perfect, righteous record is given to us so that our position or standing before God is the same as Jesus’.

However, I know not many hours or minutes go by in a day before I see new sin. In the everyday, we are still working out our salvation (Philippians 2:12) – living out what God says is true of us, our justification. This is why he tells us, “if you hold fast to the word I preached to you” (the Gospel in vs 3-4). Because we still live in a fallen world, because we still daily struggle with sin, we need to hold fast to the truth of the Gospel or we may end up like the Galatian believers who were turning to a different Gospel. We may end up living discouraged and defeated.

I know that was a bit of wordy theology to get through. Let’s look practically at what remembering the Gospel looks like in our daily lives. We can do this by comparing some of the things we forget, how we then respond and how remembering the Gospel transforms our thinking and actions.

We need Jesus just as much on our obedient days as we do on our sin-filled days because it is always and only His righteousness that covers us. It is Jesus’ perfect record of obedience that the Father sees when He looks at us both when we obey and when we have sinned. It is only by God’s grace, the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ triumph over sin that we can choose to obey. It is only by Jesus’ atonement, that covers our sin that, that we can come before a Holy God. We need to remember the truth of the Gospel every day and hold fast to it.

Reflections

1. In what ways do you forget the Gospel? What Gospel truths do you need to remember today?

2. Take time to praise God for what He has already done for you (justification) and what He is continuing to do in you (sanctification).

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 15:1–4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.