March 1932
T HE
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
108
thing to receive the gospel. It is another to stand in it. The importance of this steadfastness was evidently much in the mind of the inspired writer, for he returns to it at the end of his resurrection testimony: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast.” It is well, however, to know definitely wherein and wherefore one is to be stead fast, hence the setting forth here of the basic terms of the gospel. It is “the gospel . . . by which also ye are saved.” This is its ultimate value and purpose. “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and there were those in Corinth who had found it so. But what is this gospel? What is the content of this message, this good news, which has such a fourfold signifi cance in the experience of those to whom it comes ? T he C ontent of the G ospel “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ”—stopping short just here, yet scanning the statements which immediately follow, it be comes evident that the gospel is entirely concerned with a central Figure, and that there are certain basic facts con cerning this Figure, that constitute the fullness of the gos pel message. Christ, not humanity, is the central Figure in the gos pel message; not a vague deity, but God the Father re vealed in Jesus Christ; not a mere Jesus of Nazareth, a man of sinless beauty, and a teacher of matchless charm and authority, but—“these are written, that ye might be lieve, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” Surely there is no alternative. Surely there is no ground for com promise. The gospel is unalterably based upon something connected with this unmistakable Figure, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. hat are these things concerning Him that constitute the basic facts of the gospel? Two statements follow, each presenting in the barest, simplest terms the fact of a momentous event. Each of these statements is accom-
T he resurrection chapter of Paul’s great letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:1-5) is notable not only for the sublimity of its testimony to the ultimate fact of the Chris tian faith, but also because it begins with the. clearest and fullest description and definition of the gospel to be found in the Word of God. Surely we need such a clear state ment, for the term has been most grievously misused. Almost anything today may be called “preaching the gos pel.” Even among those who would not secularize or will fully pervert the meaning of the precious phrase, there is all too frequently a restricted conception of the content of the gospel. Paul’s declaration, however, leaves little room for misunderstanding or failure to receive the message in its fullness. “Moreover, brethren,” he says, “I declare unto you the gospel.” First, he proceeds to describe this gospel. After that, he sets forth its content. T he D escription of the G ospel T t is as if the apostle were saying, “I am about to declare the gospel to you in such clear and simple terms that it may stand as a summary of my message,” and then, before he proceeds to the terms of this summary, he makes use of certain descriptive phrases which will identify that gospel indisputably to those who may receive his testimony. It is “the gospel which I preached unto you.” It is the evangel which Paul had heralded in Corinth., Then he had set forth the various factors of its content, over and over again, in season and out of season. Now all this preaching is to be summarized. It is “the gospel . . . which also ye have received.” The preaching had not been in vain. It had been a message of life and light unto many who were in the midst of the sordid darkness of cosmopolitan Gorinth. Possibly, how ever, as with many who receive it today, there was some lack of clarity as to its terms. It is. “the gospel . . . wherein ye stand.” It is one *Pastor, First Presbyterian Church.
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