65 Ministries

After spending 14 chapters going after the church in Corinth for all of their sins and issues that divide the congregation, Paul brings their attention back to the core of their belief, their core message. This is a message that was, “preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1b-2, NASB1995). Now what is this message? This is the gospel. What is the gospel? Now, Paul clearly defines this as, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the core message of the Christian faith. This is the core of the good news. This is the message by which people are saved and are being saved. This is the message that is the true solid foundation of our faith. 

It is truly important for Christians to understand the idea that this is what truly matters. Our doctrinal disagreements or our different preferences for people are important, but it is not of “first importance.” I do not think that we are called to fellowship with everyone who claims to believe this message, but we should be spending much more time promoting this message rather than anything else we want to promote. 

I wonder how many more converts we would make if we, yes myself included, spent more time talking about the saving, sacrificial message of the cross of Jesus the Christ rather than arguing over small doctrinal disagreements, debating over who will win the Super Bowl, or what movie or tv show is peaking our interest at the moment? I am not saying that these things are bad or there is no place to discuss doctrine, because there definitely is and we need to live and operate as close to the commands of Scripture as we possibly can, but should we not hinge our faith on this gospel message rather than the acceptance or casting away of a specific point of doctrine?

I love truth, I want to live as closely to the truth of God as possible. With that being said, I want to encourage all Christians, those in academia, those who work in ministry, those who are like newborns in their faith, those who are in school, and any other type of Christian to keep the message of the cross at the center of their life and belief. This idea is not just a door we enter through, but it is also the foundation, walls, and roof that supports us and protects us spiritually. It is not a message we think of once or twice then move on, we need to constantly be reminded of it.