1 Corinthians 15:1-11 “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. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
Continuing, Pastor Kyle’s third important reason that we need frequent Gospel reminders is (3) that Gospel reminders help us maintain our spiritual conditioning. We need to keep up our spiritual conditioning continually, disciplining ourselves to keep doing them. When we don’t keep a steady routine of spiritual disciple then when we get back into devotional Bible reading, daily prayer, going to church or Bible Study groups, we will feel like they are some massive time commitment that we are unprepared for. Our focus will be lacking, our minds will wander, and we will give up more quickly of them. Those little reminders of the importance of living out the Gospel helps us keep the perspective of maintaining our relationship with our heavenly Father first and foremost, along with reasonable answering why we are doing what we are doing in kingdom living. The difference in living for the Gospel and every other form of discipline that you already do in your own life is that it is not about us doing something for self-improvement.
Romans 6:16-18, 22-23 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Apostle Paul tells us that “Christ died for our sins”. We don’t earn our salvation and we also will not earn God’s approval from my obedience, but when we serve God, who gave everything, so that us undeserving, broken and dead sinner could be made alive in Christ and spend eternity with God in Heaven, the natural response is: “what can I do to give my life back to you Lord?” Gospel reminders help us maintain our spiritual conditioning and ongoing obedience.
Pastor Kyle’s fourth important reason that we need frequent Gospel reminders is (4) that Gospel reminders refocus us on what really matters. When we take our eyes off what matters most, we draft towards whatever we focus on in life. We forget who we are and whose we are. We forget those around us that we care about and focus on things that feed our own desires. When life becomes about us, we’ve lost our Gospel focus. What really matters? Who really matters? What is this life all about? We might come to church seeking a massive Divine revelation, but God mainly speaks to us through little reminders that we need to refocus on for those who are on track in their Christian walk. It is not some prodigal son or daughter story, just little refocusing in so areas of our lives, and that refocusing on the Gospel reminds us that God loves us, God has a plan for us, God has a plan for this world, that we are a part of God’s plan to reach this world for Christ, and that God’s plan for us is bigger than our plan for us. If we do not live up to our full human potential, but do everything God says that we are supposed to do, we can rest easy as a Christian walking in the Spirit with love, joy and peace because told us what this life supposed to be about, giving us perspective.
Pastor Kyle gave us three Gospel truths to remind ourselves of daily. (A) Is the story and historical facts about the Gospel. Christ dies for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; God’s plan of Salvation designed, prophesied and played out on the world stage. Jesus was buried, that he was raised on the third day. Then Jesus appeared to Peter (who denied the Lord 3 times), and the twelve (who all but one died a martyr’s death for their faith); nobody dies for a known lie. Then to 500 other Believers (still alive at that time to verify the fact). Finally, to the Apostles James and Paul. (B) Is the story and fact of how God transformed your life from the inside out and your personal relationship with the Lord. All of us can say, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” Whether in a specific moment or over a period of time, we by faith became Believers, received Christ and were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. (C) Is the power of the Gospel that continues to be at work in our life today. What God did, what God does and what God is going to do in our lives by the power of the Gospel and Gospel reminders.
In Christ, Brian
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