The Gospel In Which You Stand 1 Corinthians 15.1b January 15, 2012

The Gospel In Which You Stand 1 Corinthians 15.1b January 15, 2012 Introduction: This morning we re going to spend our time focusing on a very small phrase that we came across last Sunday as we looked at the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15. For those of you who were here, you might remember that last week we focused on the importance of the gospel. We talked about what the key elements of the gospel were, the role the gospel plays in our lives as Christians, and how it personally and powerfully impacted the life of the apostle Paul. But I also highlighted a phrase from our passage last Sunday that demanded far more attention than I was able to give it at the time. Though I glossed over it then, I promised I would return to it this week and devote an entire message to it. So this morning s sermon is based on a single verse; in fact, even less than that. We re going to spend our time today unpacking just one small phrase. But don t let the size of our text this morning fool you; though it is small and easily glossed over, the magnitude of its importance cannot be overstated for it carries within it the seeds of what is necessary for us to live God-pleasing lives as Christians. Let s take a look at the passage where our text is found by opening your Bible with me to 1 Corinthians 15. We re going to be focusing on the very last phrase of v. 1, but in order to keep the context I m going to read the full sentence that the phrase is found in. So please follow along as I read v. 1-2 of 1 Corinthians 15 from the English Standard Version. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. So Paul speaks here of the gospel in which you stand at the end of v. 1. It s easy to zip right on by that phrase and not give it much thought. But I think this phrase is like an iceberg whose tip is only a small portion of the much larger whole that lies beneath the waters. We need to ask, What does it mean to stand in the gospel? What does standing on the gospel look like in the Christian life? So this morning we re going to spend our time unpacking this idea of the gospel in which you stand. The short of what I have to say this morning is simply this: the gospel stands at the heart of the Christian life. The gospel is not what is preached in order to make you a Christian and then forgotten about as you move on to new concerns; the gospel must be front and center of our lives, actively transforming every step we take as we follow Christ as Lord. So the main idea for our message today is just this: Main Idea: The gospel stands at the heart of the Christian life. This morning I m going to give you four reasons why as Christians we need to stand upon the message of the gospel. Let s begin then with the first reason which is this 1

1. Standing in the gospel prevents self-righteousness If we fail to stand on the gospel, then one of the dangers we ll face as Christians is veering off into self-righteousness. This is a very common trap for us to fall into because everything in our world sets us up for it. First off, we re accustomed to measuring ourselves against an external standard. In school, we get report cards that grade us on how well we are doing: you smart if you get straight A s, an average student if you get B s and C s, and well, you might not be the sharpest crayon in the box if a bunch of D s and F s show up. Then when we get older, we measure ourselves by the amount of money we make, or the position we hold at our job, or kind of car we drive, or the kind of neighborhood we can afford to live in. Provided we measure up to the world s external standards straight A s in school, a six-figure salary, a large house in the suburbs, a new Lexus in the driveway we take pride in our success. There are many who take pride in being a self-made man who overcame the obstacles and through hard work and diligence became wealthy and successful. But in addition to this, we re also prone to measure ourselves against others. Even if we don t land a job where we have our own private jet or if we don t get our names on the honor roll at school, there s always somebody lower on the ladder we can compare ourselves to. Well at least I don t have to work at that job! Thankfully I m not living off the government like those people. There s no way I would hang out with people like that. I can t believe he or she would let their kids do such a thing. I m glad I m a much better parent than they are. Well, at least I m smart enough to avoid doing drugs, or getting that drunk, or sleeping around that often. Does any of that sound familiar? Even if we don t say it, we find ourselves thinking it, don t we? Comparing ourselves to other people is a great way to compensate when we find we haven t measured up to the external standards placed up us. Man, I m not as good as I ought to be, but by golly I m nowhere near as bad as those people are! This turns into legalism for Christians when we pick and choose external rules to live by and judge those who don t measure up to our standards. We turn our applications of Scripture into commands of Scripture with absolute binding authority. As long as you don t smoke, drink, chew, or go with girls that do then you can smugly look down on those who engage in such carnal vices, conveniently ignoring those sins you re guilty of because they happen to not be on your list of Terrible Things Those Other People Do. But if we stand upon the gospel, we won t fall into the self-righteous pride of the legalist because we recognize that we have no righteousness of our own to take pride in. The gospel reminds us that we fall desperately short of the commands of God, because they involve far more than external actions but also entail the passion and desires of my heart. So though I ve never physically murdered someone, I cannot take pride in that because Christ tells me I ve killed hundreds of men with my hatred. Nor can I have a holier-than- Thou attitude about the fact that I ve never cheated on my wife when in fact Jesus said I have slept with thousands of women in the lust of my heart. The gospel helps us to view ourselves in relation to God s perfect, righteous standard and shows us we ve failed miserably to meet it. The gospel reminds us that the so-called righteousness I think I 2

have is in fact nothing more than filthy rags, soiled black with sin, and worthy not of God s commendation but rather his condemnation. But the gospel not only destroys any delusion of self-righteous, but provides the hope of what Martin Luther called the alien righteousness of Christ a righteousness that is not from you but is alien to you because it comes totally apart from you. We re not righteous in and of ourselves. We have fallen short of God s holy standard in thought, word, and deed. So how will we obtain this righteousness that God requires? We receive it in Christ. The Lord Jesus did what all of us failed to do: he lived the perfect, sinless life. He obeyed all the commands of God without fail. He was righteous and the good news of the gospel tells us that by faith his righteousness is credited to us as our righteousness. To stand on the gospel is to trust in the alien righteousness of Christ as that which makes us pleasing to God, not our own efforts of obedience. And once we do so we ll find ourselves liberated from the lie of self-righteousness because we recognize that we could never meet God s standards but Christ did for us. There is no room for boasting because our righteousness comes not from us but as a gracious gift of God through faith. All pride in ourselves is destroyed by the message of the cross of Christ. So let me encourage you to stand in the gospel by putting away all boasting in yourself. Do not believe for a moment that your acceptance in the eyes of God has anything to do with how well you ve done in measuring up to some external standard or that God is more pleased with you because you aren t as bad as that other guy. Stand in the gospel truth that by yourself you are totally unrighteous, but Christ is the righteousness of God and solely by grace through faith is his righteousness credited to you. Therefore, there is no room to boast in ourselves. The gospel silences all lips sans to boast in Christ alone. So then that s the first consequence that comes from standing in the gospel: it obliterates our self-righteousness. All pride and human boasting is eliminated. But there s another reason why we should stand in the gospel that s the flip side of the coin to what we just talked about. Our second point is this 2. Standing in the gospel prevents self-condemnation The opposite of self-righteousness is feeling excessive guilt for our sin. For some of us, our biggest problem is not that we feel so good about ourselves that we look down on others and boast in our accomplishments, but rather that we re painfully aware of just how bad we ve failed. You know you ve sinned. You ve done things that you are deeply ashamed of, things which have wounded others, destroyed relationships, brought about great sorrow both to you and those you love. You ve said things you ve regretted but can t take back: words full of pride and anger, arrogance and malice. You ve entertained thoughts you wouldn t in a million years ever reveal to anyone. You try to push aside the guilt and shame for a while, escaping in hobbies or sports or your job, but in those times when you are alone with your thoughts, when you try to sleep at night the memories come flooding back, and they whisper to you words of commendation like failure, sinner, worthless. The guilt of all you have done in the past and what you fear you will fail to do in the future is what haunts your soul. You know what you deserve for your sins and the guilt is ever before you. 3

While it is important to recognize that we are sinners and that we have fallen short of God s holy standard in thought, word, and deed, as Christians the reality of our sin should not drive us to guilt and despair but rather to the cross of Christ. Your guilt was nailed to the cross and the wrath of God was poured out upon the One who bore your sins so that you would no longer have to. If you have trusted in Christ as your Savior, then you no longer need to bear the crushing burden of the guilt of sin. Instead Scripture says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As soon as we are untied to Christ by faith in the gospel, all guilt is removed from us and given to Christ and the righteousness of Christ is credited to us so that in God s eyes we stand before him free from sin. That s the good news of the gospel. So don t hold on to something that isn t yours to hold. God has taken the guilt and shame away; he gave it to Christ on the cross and destroyed it there. It s gone. It s been dealt with once and for all. God s doesn t see it any longer and neither should you. So my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, stand in the gospel. Do not believe Satan s lies that would trick you into needlessly wearing an albatross of guilt and shame when you have instead been clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. Understand that because of what God has done for you in Christ, you are not worthless. Instead, live in the truth that God valued you so much that he sent his only-begotten Son to die for you. Understand that because of what God has done for you in Christ, you are not a failure. All of your mistakes, your bad choices, the sinful words you have spoken and deeds you have done, have been fully redeemed in Christ. Understand that because of what God has done for you in Christ, you are not condemned. You have been liberated from guilt because your sins have been fully pardoned at the cross. Stand in these truths of the gospel in Jesus Christ your Lord. Let me encourage you to remind yourself of this truth every day. Get out of bed in the morning and stand in the gospel by preaching the gospel to yourself. Remind yourself that though you re a sinner, God has not given to you what you deserve. Instead, he has given to you Christ, the spotless Lamb of God who nailed your guilt to the cross and has clothed you in his perfect righteousness. Your value and worth doesn t come from what you have done that is praiseworthy and neither is it diminished by what you have failed to do. All that you are comes from Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. In light of these first two points, can you not grasp how gloriously wonderful the gospel is? It saves us from falling off of either side of the fence. Apart from the gospel, people will either fall into self-righteous or they will fall into self-condemnation. But the gospel calls us to a better way: not to arrogant pride nor to guilty shame but rather to rest in God s sovereign grace. When we stand in the gospel, all prideful boasting ceases and all the voices of condemnation are silenced. Instead we can walk in the way of joyful humility as we realize that all is by grace. All we have is a gift. I cannot boast because Christ is my righteousness and I cannot despair by drowning myself in guilt because Christ is by allsufficient atoning sacrifice for sin. In the gospel, I realize that all I have is Christ. So then, we must stand in the gospel because is prevents us from falling into the opposite yet equally erroneous traps of self-righteousness and self-condemnation. But there is 4

more to be said as to the importance of standing on the gospel, so let me move on now to our third point which is 3. Standing in the gospel provides purpose We are a near-sighted people. We often become so preoccupied with the present that it becomes difficult to see the bigger picture. The demands of our jobs, our families, work that needs to be done around the house, e-mails and phone calls to respond to all of these and more threaten to cloud our vision as we become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent and focused on the day-to-day grind of our lives. But the gospel calls us to look beyond our immediate horizon. There is more to this life than the immediate concerns of our daily lives. The gospel is more than just learning our sins are forgiven; it is a life-transforming reality that calls us to reorient our lives around a greater purpose than just making money or climbing the career ladder or whatever else it is we try to build our life upon. The gospel tells us that we have been created to reflect the glory of God in our lives. In Ephesians 1, Paul describes our purpose like this, In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12) We exist so that we might bring about the praise of his glory. This means we aren t to live for our recognition but rather for God s. Our lives are to be lived with the singular allencompassing purpose of showing forth God as glorious and wonderful, as the One who is our most treasured possession, so that he might be praised in us and in others. There is no higher calling we can have. Whereas we were once unable to praise God because we were enslaved in sin, we have now been set free from sin and can live lives that bring God the praise, glory, and honor only he deserves. This is why our Purpose Statement here at GBC begins as it does. Grace Brethren Church exists to glorify God That s our purpose, both individually and collectively. And we bring God glory by doing what Paul says in Ephesians 2:10. He says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) The gospel calls us to a life of good works in order to bring God glory. And what are those good works which God has prepared beforehand for us to do? I could make a big list, but let me just summarize what Scripture says simply like this: our purpose in life is to bring God glory through worship, discipleship, service, and mission. Does that sound familiar to you? I hope it does by now. Those are the four main components of our Purpose Statement which I believe faithfully reflect the key ways Scripture says we re to live in order to bring God glory. Our Purpose Statement is simply another way of saying stand in the gospel. Let the purposes of God which he called you to in Christ be that which you center your life upon. Our Purpose Statement isn t just some catchy little slogan that we elders made up that you can politely ignore if it seems inconvenient to 5

you; it s a reflection of the biblical purpose of God for your life. You re either committed to bringing God glory through the God-ordained means he has called you to in Scripture or you are committed to something else. You can choose to be preoccupied with lesser things like Martha was with her housework when Jesus came calling in the account in the gospel of Luke or you can be like Mary and be preoccupied with Jesus. Paul s call to us here in 1 Corinthians 15:1 is to stand in the gospel. Make Christ s purpose for your life your purpose. Live for him so God might be praised for his glory though you. But there is one more reason why it is important for us to stand in the gospel that I need to highlight for you. Not only does the gospel give our lives a glorious purpose, but it also provides us the power to make living out that purpose a reality. So our fourth point is 4. Standing in the gospel provides power The gospel does not call us to a new and glorious purpose and then withhold from us the power to accomplish that purpose. To stand in the gospel is to avail ourselves to the Holy Spirit who empowers us do all that God has called us to do in Christ. The good news is that we re not only declared righteous in God sight, with the penalty for sin paid for by Christ and his perfect, sinless life credited to us as our righteousness, but beyond that the gospel tells us that the enslaving power of sin that once kept our wills enslaved to wickedness and made us unable to please God has been broken. God has caused us to be born again so that our hearts are transformed. Through spiritual rebirth the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer s heart so that what we were once unable to do due to our total depravity we can now do by the power of the Spirit as work in us. Think of it like this: a criminal might be on trial for a great number of crimes: robbery, murder, assault, battery. But in an amazing twist, the judge offers to allow the man to go free. He renders his verdict as Not guilty and the man leaves the courtroom as a free man. He no longer needs to fear the punishment for his crimes. Now that idea is certainly part of the gospel message. We who are guilty of crimes against Almighty God have been declared Not guilty because Christ paid our penalty for us. But the problem is, unless that man s heart is changed, he ll likely go out and do those very same things again. If the wicked bent of his heart is not dealt with, then he ll only repeat those things which brought him under condemnation in the first place. So God does for us what no human criminal justice system could ever do he not only declares us free from guilt but he transforms our heart as well. He provides us the power to live righteously by causing us to be born again. He gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us so that we can actually live according to God s commands rather than constantly breaking them. The gospel not only provides a new purpose but also gives us the power to be able to accomplish that purpose through the Spirit of God at work in our hearts. As a result of this, we re called throughout the NT to live according to the Spirit. So for example Paul says in Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 6

Or in Galatians 6:8, it says, For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. As believers, we don t have to live according to our flesh which means according to our sinful desires. At one point, before we came to Christ, that was the only option we had. But now we can live according to the Spirit because God has graciously given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to convict us of sin, transform our desires, and empower us to live our lives for the glory of God. That s what stands behind what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10 that we looked at last week. Paul said there that, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. The grace of God at work in Paul is at work in all of us who are Christians the Holy Spirit has been given so that we can live the righteous life that God has called us to. So my friends stand in the gospel by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. Sin is no longer your master. You have been more than just set free; you have been empowered to live in obedience to all those things God has for you in Christ. You ve been declared righteous positionally and have been given the ability to be righteous practically. Live according to the Spirit who empowers you to live out God s purpose for your life. Conclusion So then, in light of everything that has been said, I think it should be clear why this little phrase here in the first verse of 1 Corinthians 15 is so important. To stand in the gospel is at the heart of the Christian life because it is what it means to live one s life for Christ. As Christians, standing on the gospel frees us from self-righteousness and legalism. Our righteousness comes not from ourselves, but from Christ by grace, so there is no longer any room for pride or boasting of any sort. Standing on the gospel liberates us from a life of self-condemnation, mired in guilt and shame for what we ve done. The gospel tells us our sins are fully atoned for; there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Standing on the gospel gives our lives a glorious purpose. No longer do we need to live only to satisfy our own sinful cravings but we can strive to do what we were created for: to bring God glory in all that we do. And finally, standing on the gospel means we rest on the power of the Holy Spirit. We recognize the powerlessness of our own sinful flesh and joyfully surrender ourselves to the power of the Spirit who works in us to will and do all that we ve been called to be in Christ Jesus our Lord. My brothers and sisters in Christ here at GBC, stand in the gospel every hour of every day so that you might rejoice in God s abundance grace as you live your lives for the glory of Christ our King. Let s pray. This sermon was addressed originally to the people at Grace Brethren Church of Waterloo, IA by Pastor Rob Borkowitz. Copyright 2011. 7