1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is that Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, who is also the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8 ESV).
“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..” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV).
And Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26).
And “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” And, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:15,21 ESV).
And “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:3-4,6,12,16,22 ESV – includes paragraph above).
For “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV).
If You Hold Fast
So, first of all, I hope you did read through all the Scriptures quoted above which do give us a good picture of what the gospel of our salvation is all about. Jesus didn’t die on that cross just to forgive us our sins, and just so we can go to heaven when we die. He died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now serve him with our lives. For he delivered us from our slavery to sin so we would now walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and so we will walk in sin no longer.
And another picture of our salvation is found here in verse 2 where it says, “and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.” For “being saved” shows that our salvation is not a one-time deal which takes place in our lives, but it is progressive, ongoing, and it will not be completed until Jesus Christ returns for his bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity. And this is why we have all these verses above which teach that how we live our lives on this earth determines where we will spend eternity.
And then where it says, “If you hold fast to the word I preached to you,” this shows that our salvation is conditional. There are many such “if” clauses in the Scriptures which introduce conditional clauses such as if this is true, then this is what should naturally follow. But if it is not true, then you will get a different result. Like if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed.
So, we don’t “get saved” and now we are on our way to heaven regardless of how we live our lives. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his bride provided that we are walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands and in righteousness, and that we are not living in deliberate and habitual sin, and provided that we continue in those walks of faith unto the very end. So, please know what the Scriptures teach, and please obey them.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
“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.”
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is that Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, who is also the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8 ESV).
“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..” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV).
And Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26).
And “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” And, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:15,21 ESV).
And “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:3-4,6,12,16,22 ESV – includes paragraph above).
For “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV).
If You Hold Fast
So, first of all, I hope you did read through all the Scriptures quoted above which do give us a good picture of what the gospel of our salvation is all about. Jesus didn’t die on that cross just to forgive us our sins, and just so we can go to heaven when we die. He died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now serve him with our lives. For he delivered us from our slavery to sin so we would now walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and so we will walk in sin no longer.
And another picture of our salvation is found here in verse 2 where it says, “and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.” For “being saved” shows that our salvation is not a one-time deal which takes place in our lives, but it is progressive, ongoing, and it will not be completed until Jesus Christ returns for his bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity. And this is why we have all these verses above which teach that how we live our lives on this earth determines where we will spend eternity.
And then where it says, “If you hold fast to the word I preached to you,” this shows that our salvation is conditional. There are many such “if” clauses in the Scriptures which introduce conditional clauses such as if this is true, then this is what should naturally follow. But if it is not true, then you will get a different result. Like if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips have professed.
So, we don’t “get saved” and now we are on our way to heaven regardless of how we live our lives. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his bride provided that we are walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands and in righteousness, and that we are not living in deliberate and habitual sin, and provided that we continue in those walks of faith unto the very end. So, please know what the Scriptures teach, and please obey them.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
