The gospel message is specifically recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them of the message he evangelized to them. “Indeed I make know to you, brethren, the gospel which I evangelized to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, through which also you are saved, that word that I evangelized to you, since you hold fast, except if you believed in vain. I delivered to you at first that which also I received, that Christ died on behalf of our sin according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” This is the message through which we are saved.
These saints tolerated men who were preaching another Jesus, accepting a different spirit, and proclaiming a different gospel—none of which were the message they originally received (2 Corinthians 11:4). Paul wrote down the message to ensure it was passed down accurately.
The offer of this salvation is not contingent upon works, social status, or family heritage. It is obtained by grace through faith. Grace is God’s attitude whereby He gives a benefit without consideration of merit. Faith is taking God at His word, and is always based upon a promise (Hebrews 11:1). Therefore, when someone responds to the message by believing it to be true—which requires a change of mind concerning these facts—they are saved.
In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul writes, “For by grace you are in a state of being saved through faith, and this is not out from you. It is a gift from God. Not out from works, in order that no one should boast.” Grace is the means by which salvation is offered. Therefore, it is not dependent upon a person’s works, willingness to recognize sin, or remorse for sin. Its only basis is that God has chosen to provide the benefit. This benefit is obtained by the agency of faith—that is, through taking God at His word, salvation is granted.
Why do we need salvation?
Humans come from a single act of creation by God, designed to propagate. God created Adam and built Eve from his side. When God created Adam, he was made fully mature and in a state of innocence—without the knowledge of good and evil. Because Adam is the only human who was created, all other humans come from him, he is the head of the human race. Therefore, he passed down his nature to all his offspring (Genesis 5:3). Before Adam and Eve had their first child, Adam sinned and brought condemnation upon himself. This bent his nature and subjected it to physical death. It is in this condition that Adam passed down his nature to his offspring, thereby also passing down condemnation to all.
“Because of this, just as through one man the sin entered the world and through the sin the death, thus also the death came unto all men, on the basis that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12).
Because Adam brought sin into the world, and the end result of sin is death, he passed this death down to all humans. Therefore, all are subject to death, even though we do not sin in the same manner as Adam’s transgression (Romans 5:14).
Not only did Adam pass down physical death, but he also separated himself from God in his spirit—that is, spiritual death. This occurred when he determined in his mind to break God’s command, making the decision that he was capable of determining what was good in a situation brought about by Eve, who had been thoroughly deceived by Satan (Romans 5:17). “Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being thoroughly deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14).
Therefore, all humans are born separated from God in their rational nature—the spirit being the center of our reasoning and logic—and are subject to physical death. Thus, all humans are unable to save themselves, for they are under a condemnation that demands death for Adam’s sin. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you will die’” (Genesis 2:16–17).
In an act of grace, God expressed His love toward the world by giving His one-of-a-kind Son, so that all who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
God the Son—the second Person of the Godhead—wrapped Himself in flesh, tented among us, and laid His life down as a sacrifice for our sin. Since He was righteous, and death is only for the unrighteous, God raised Christ from the dead to die no more—answering His prayer to be saved from death. In resurrecting Christ, God made a new Adam, and all who believe in Christ’s death for sins and His resurrection three days later according to the Scriptures are immersed into this new man and, therefore, no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
Be cautious of false gospel.
The gospel Paul presents in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 has an inherent ability to save all who believe it (Romans 1:16). This message is not palatable to most, because they have chosen to reject the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 2:16). When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he obtained a conscience. All humans are thus born with a conscience, by which they accuse or excuse their actions (Romans 2:15). Because of this, we all know that we do wrong. Although the conscience can be seared or improperly trained through deception to permit wrongdoing, it nonetheless still abides with each human—even those who reject God. This creates an environment that is ripe for false teachers who seek financial gain from people’s remorse. They will not present the true gospel message, because it results in freedom from sin—thereby removing the hold these false teachers seek to maintain by subjecting others to principles of law in order to keep them captive.
Statements such as “By Christ alone, through faith alone,” “Accept Jesus into your heart,” “Make Jesus the Lord of your life,” “Repent of your sins,” and many other similar messages all come from false teachers who pervert the one true message of salvation in order to gain converts who follow them.
The gospel message is simple: we believe that Christ died on behalf of our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. This is the only message through which we are saved.