Passages Devotional: First Importance
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.”1 Corinthians 15:3-4
What is the most important topic of conversation? Paul would say it is the gospel. The gospel’s essence may be summarized as simply the message of who Jesus is, what He has done and why. He is the Christ, the one sent to rescue us. He died on the cross to save us from our sins and rose from the dead, demonstrating that he is the Lord. That is the essence of the gospel.
While the gospel is so simple a child can understand it, it is so profound that a scholar will never finish exploring it. Nor will you ever finish experiencing it. You do not graduate from the gospel to move on to deeper truths in the Christian life. Rather you dig deeper into it. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote whole books sharing gospel truth. Paul wrote letters such as Romans and Galatians, unpacking the implications of the gospel. The whole Bible is centered on the gospel. Make it a lifelong quest to master the gospel, learning to communicate its essence and experiencing its fullness.
Thought
The gospel is life’s most important field of study.
Take a Step
Memorize Romans 6:23.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Romans 6:23
Bonus
READ: Acts 20:17-35 >>
Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them:“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”READ: One-Verse Evangelism >>
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