Preaching The Gospel To The Saved

I Corinthians 15:1-2

Have you ever wondered why preachers preach the gospel at church when only members are present? I remember hearing of a church which called an evangelist as interim pastor. Some of the members became annoyed because all he preached was salvation messages. My dad asked one of them "What did you expect when you called an evangelist?" What he meant by this is that an "evangelist" has a calling on his life to preach the gospel. A pastor has a calling to "Shepherd". That is what pastor means.

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Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

I Corinthians 15:1-2

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I am currently preaching through the book of Romans (Today is 12/3/2020). Almost every single message has been about some aspect of salvation. Spoiler alert, so will every other message I preach because that is the central theme of Romans. The book of Romans like the book of I Corinthians was written to a church. That means saved people. Paul was saying that he is preaching the gospel to saved people; but why?

The answer lies in the phrase "and wherein ye stand". The word "stand" means "to make firm, fix, or establish". The gospel is our foundation because the gospel is Christ. Paul wrote earlier in I Corinthians "For other foundations can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (3:11). If Christ is the gospel and it is our foundation as believers, then we should be intimately familiar with it.

I also think about a house. The walls of the house should never be separated from the foundation. If they do separate, the whole house is in danger of falling. If the gospel is our foundation, why would we separate from it? We are to be fixed on it. This is where Paul said, "...if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you..." (v. 2).

I know of a house in which the whole front wall is disconnected from the foundation. It concerns me that this house could fall on the occupants at any time. I know of many "Christians" whose spiritual house is in the same condition. They are disconnected from their foundation. The solution is simple. They need to secure themselves to Christ and the gospel.

Father, help me to stay fixed on the gospel of Christ. May I always be established on you. I pray you use me to proclaim the gospel that others may be established as well.