The Gospel
by royaldiadem | Published on June 10th, 2010, 7:02 am | Religion
Have you read and reacted to the The Gospel? " 1 Corinthians 15:
1Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 30Why are we also in danger every hour? 31I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE. 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. 48As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. 49Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
50Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. "
"Acts 2
37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. "
The principle of Biblical Hermaneutics demands that the reader extract from the text the author's original intent and then either accept as truth or reject as truth. These are the general principles of Biblical Hermaneutics:
SIMPLE RULES FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE INSPIRATION: It is the written Word that is inspired and not the writers. They were not inspired to write, but were moved to write the inspired Word. The source is always God. He "breathed out (theopnuma) the Word". I Tim 3:16
REVELATION: God revealed His truth in many ways. Through Dreams, Visions, Handwriting, direct speaking, the Holy Spirit, etc Heb. 1:1
MOTIVATION: The Holy Spirit moved upon the writers of the Word to write. He did not dictate the very words used, but so moved upon them that they would choose the proper word out of their vocabulary. Luke, the Doctor, often uses medical terms (prognosis - to foreknow Rom. 8:20) II Pet. 1:21 Sometimes the writers themselves did not understand what they had written Dan. 12:8,9; I Pet. 1:10
PRESERVATION: God preserves, for us, throughout the ages, His Word. Although we do not have any original manuscripts God preserves His Word so that each generation has a reliable record Matt . 5:18
UNDERSTANDING: To understand God's Word three things are necessary;
1st: Salvation I Cor. 2:14 a
2cd: Study II Tim. 2:15
3rd: Surrender Jo. 7:17
1. Anthropomorphism - Deity seeming to take on human form, or body parts: Ex. 31:18 the "....finger ..." Deut. 32:10 "...the apple of His eye..."
2. The Language of accommodation - God speaking in such a way that humans understand the idea, He uses human understanding: Josh. 10:12"...sun stand thou still..."
3. Hebrew Poetry -Proverbs: Some in Parallelism - stating a truth in two parallel statements; Prov. 8:5 Some in antithesis - stating a positive then a negative; Prov. 11:27
4. Coopers Rule of Interpretation: When the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense. Take every word at it's primary, ordinary, usual meaning unless the context indicates otherwise.
5. The Rule of "First Mention" - when an idea, word, subject is first used in scripture, it generally controls it's interpretation in following passages. i.e. Acts 2:4 "tongues" are obviously unlearned known languages so the " "unknown " (not in the original Greek) languages of I Cor. 14:2 Are the same as in Acts.
6. Scripture is best Interpreted by Scripture: The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed Isa. 7:14 cf. Matt. 1:23
7. The Rule of Context: - Interpret the Word by the text immediately before and after the verse being studied. The Mormons use I Cor 8:5b "(...there be many Gods...)" to support their false doctrine of polytheism.
8. The Rule of Logic: - Does the interpretation make logical sense Jo. 10:7 Jesus said "...I am the door...". Is Jesus a literal door?
9. Interpret the Unclear in light of the Clear: The interpretation of difficult verses must never violate nor contradict clear passages. There are no contradictions in God's Word.
10. Interpreting Parables: Interpret parables carefully. They generally have but one meaning. Don't make a parable "walk on all fours"
11. One Interpretation Many Applications: for all scripture.
12. Grammatical/Historical: Interpret all Scripture by the rules of grammar and in it's historical setting. What did it mean then, what does it mean to us today?
13. ESSENTIALS: Everything Essential in Scripture is clearly revealed.
14. Ignorance as to the meaning of some passages must be admitted. "If you don't know, say so!"
The question for the reader is which of the two options have you chosen?
For what reason?
Sterling
May Jesus Christ grant repentance and forgiveness to you. In the meantime:
"1Timothy 2 if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. "
