The word of God makes it clear that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16) and that it pleased God to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:21). However, right since the days of the apostles up till now, the devil has kept on deceiving many with numerous counterfeit versions and renditions of the glorious gospel (Gal. 1:6). There have been so many lies from the pits of hell to distort the gospel and so many pulpits propagating inaccurate messages in the name of teaching the gospel. So what exactly is the authentic gospel of Christ?
Around 55 AD, during his third missionary
journey, Paul reiterated the gospel in his first letter to the Corinthian
church: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you
are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you
have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he
was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared
to more than five hundred of His followers at the same time, most of whom are
still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one
abnormally born late” (1 Cor. 15:1-8).
It is expedient to understand that every single
part of the foregoing statement by Paul has a profound meaning and any gospel
that omits any of these four key points is no gospel at all. The first point is
that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures. Be careful to note
that Jesus didn’t just die, but He died in accordance to what had been written
in the scriptures about His death. Why wasn’t Jesus beheaded, or stoned to
death? Why did He have to be hung on a cross after being tortured? This is the
reason: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his
wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), so there was a clear reason for every
suffering He went through and “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by
becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on
a tree” (Gal. 3:13). Christ had to die on the cross of Calvary for it to be
possible for any man to be saved. No one will come to salvation except he/she
comes to that personal realization that Christ died for his/her sins. He said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if
it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). So it was when Jesus died that the seed of
our deliverance and salvation was sown, and it was because of His death that any
one of us could be brought to glory (Heb. 2:10). It wasn’t because we cried or
prayed or gave money or offering or did some work for Him. We only became the
children of God because Jesus died and brought many sons to glory which made us
heirs of God and of all that belongs to Him. He took our sins and nailed it to
the cross. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we
might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor. 5:21). Jesus tasted death for
every man and the only thing that acquits a sinner is that Jesus paid the
ransom. The reason I am saved is because Jesus died for my sin and God forgave
me because He accepted the death of Jesus credited to my account, He won’t
punish me for a debt that has been paid.
The implication of His death, however, goes
beyond the full payment for our sins, if not we will still continue wallowing
in sin. Therefore, in His death He made the provision for the demise of the old
man, that nature which made us sinners. “Or
don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this
in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because
anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Rom 6:3-7). In His death I found my own
death and find my freedom from sin, because He who is dead is free from sin. A
man is not a sinner because he sins, he sins because he is a sinner, because of
the sin nature in Him. Hence, in His death Jesus provided the death of my sinful
nature. For, if one man died for all, then all died (2 Cor. 5:14). So, it is
because He died that my old nature died. If He didn’t die, nothing would have
terminated the enmity that was in me. Hence, any gospel that does not include
the crucifixion of the old nature of man is not a gospel at all. This is the
reason many people are not victorious over sin.
Secondly, He was buried. His burial is a
significant component of the gospel. Why did He have to be buried? He could
have avoided burial. He could have resurrected immediately after his death and
ascended into heaven. But He had to be buried because He had to go down to the
grave. He went to hell and in hell, when the demons were jubilating that they
had gotten Him, on the third day, God declared Him as His Son when He raised
Him from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness (Rom 1:4). And He led captivity
captive (Eph. 4:8), He dismantled the powers of darkness (Col 2:15) and
collected the keys of hell and death (Rev 1:18).
Thirdly, He was raised on the third day
according to the scriptures. In fact the gospel won’t be good news at all if
Jesus wasn’t resurrected. The implication of His resurrection is that as the Father
raised Him up far above all principality and power (Eph. 1:21), we were also raised
with Him since we were buried together with Him. As He was being raised, I was
raised with Him to sit with him in heavenly places and to live a new life
entirely (Eph. 2:6). His resurrection brought me a whole new life. “I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I
live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). So the moment you receive the correct gospel, that
same day sin no longer has power over you, demons no longer have power over you,
the devil or any ancestral spirit has no power over you. It is not a matter of
praying for 3 years before getting victory, you get the victory the same day
you receive the gospel. Therefore, if the gospel is properly preached, we can
conclude and say of anyone who has received it that, “If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things have passed away (not that old things are
passing away) behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Finally, the fourth key point is that He
appeared to people. Why is His appearance important anyway? It means He is
alive!!! He is not a ghost; He did not just arise in the Spirit. People saw Him
and touched Him (John 20:28); He even ate with them (John 21:12). He is a man
and He is in heaven. He is the firstborn from among the dead (Col. 1:18). So Jesus
is a man we can relate with on a daily basis and talk to constantly. He is a
person. He hears, He feels, He knows, He loves you and He is coming back again!
This is the gospel. This is the good news.
