The Saving Gospel
As we approach the end of our time in 1st Corinthians, we’ve come to discover that this letter is an end-to-end effort to address the many spiritual concerns Paul had with the church at Corinth, some of them disturbing enough to make you blush or wince. As I’ve said several times in this sermon series, the Corinthian church was a mess, yet they were a mess Paul repeatedly affirmed his love for, yet love demanded that he address one final issue with the Corinthians. It had come to Paul’s attention that some in the church were denying an essential aspect of the gospel. In other words, Paul saved the biggest spiritual problem for last! We know from Acts that Paul spent 18 months in Corinth and we can be certain that Paul’s focus on the gospel was constant and thorough, but given what Paul had heard, he felt led to give the Corinthians a thorough reminder of the content of the gospel message before addressing the specific aspect of the gospel that some were rejecting. This Sunday’s text is that thorough reminder of the gospel Paul preached to the Corinthians and, I’m sure, to all the churches. He wanted to make sure the Corinthians understood the essential details of the gospel message as well as the nature of the message itself. Whenever addressing a problem within the church, building a foundation of truth from God’s word to frame the nature of the problem is always a wise approach and this is what Paul is doing in this passage. And even if we aren’t struggling with any shortfalls in our understanding of the gospel, it’s never a bad idea to be reminded of what the gospel teaches, what it does in our lives, and where it came from. Do you believe this?We invite you to come join us this Sunday morning for our in-person worship service at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, starting at 10:55 AM. For those unable to attend, our service can be viewed live on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leptondalebiblechurch. This Sunday, we’ll continue a sermon series from 1st Corinthians titled “Written for Our Instruction” with a message from 1st Corinthians 15:1-11 titled “The Saving Gospel.”
God bless!
Pastor Mike