Great Quotes on the Gospel

St. Paul in prison.
Wood engraving. By Gustave Doré.

In the mid-part of the first century, the apostle Paul wrote the following words to Timothy, his spiritual son in the faith:

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2, NASB 1977)

The following quotes on the gospel are from “faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 

* * *

William R. Newell (1938):

“The gospel is all about Christ. Apart from Him, there is no news from heaven but that of coming woe! Read that passage in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5: ‘I make known unto you the gospel which I preached unto you: that Christ died, Christ was buried; Christ hath been raised; Christ was seen.’ It is all about the Son of God!”[1]

“this good news concerning Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearing, ‘is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth.’ There is no fact for a preacher or teacher to hold more consistently in his mind than this.”[2] 

“Again we repeat that it is of the very first and final importance that the preacher or teacher of the gospel believe in the bottom of his soul that the simple story, Christ died for our sins, was buried, hath been raised from the dead the third day, and was seen, IS THE POWER OF GOD to salvation to every one who rests in it – who believes!”[3] 

“Paul’s preaching was not, as is so much today, general disquisition on some subject, but definite statements about the crucified One, as he himself so insistently tells us in 1 Corinthians 15.3-5.”[4] 

“This story of Christ's dying for our sins, buried, raised, manifested, is the great wire along which runs God’s mighty current of saving power. Beware lest you be putting up some little wire of your own, unconnected with the Divine throne, and therefore non-saving to those to whom you speak.”[5] 

“Therefore, in this good news, (1) Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (2) He was buried, (3) He hath been raised the third day according to the Scriptures, (4) He was manifested (1 Cor. 15.3 ff),—in this good news there is revealed, now openly for the first time, God’s righteousness on the principles of faith. We simply hear and believe: and, as we shall find, God reckons us righteous; our guilt having been put away by the blood of Christ forever, and we ourselves declared to be the righteousness of God in Him!”[6] 

Merrill C. Tenney (1963):

“The cardinal tenets of Christian doctrine which Paul himself illustrated or stressed belonged to the comprehensive body of truth which the church proclaimed. His letters include occasional references to the substance of the message which he preached in pioneer territory. Paul epitomized the substance of his message in his first letter to the Corinthians church. ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; and that he appeared…’ (I Cor. 15:3-5a). He concluded this capsule statement with the words ‘So we preach, and so ye believed’ (15:11). He claimed that his gospel was accepted by the entire church (Gal. 2:6-10) and that there was no distinction between him and the other preachers, except that his ministry was directed chiefly to the Gentiles, whereas theirs was for the Jews.”[7]

“Paul, writing to the Galatian churches, stated that Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might free us from this present evil age (Gal. 1:4). He summarized the essence of the gospel for the Corinthian Christians by saying, ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;…he was buried;…he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; and…he appeared…’ (I Cor. 15:3-5). The apostle emphasized the theological significance of Christ’s death, stating that He ‘who knew no sin he [God] made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him’ (II Cor. 5:21).”[8]

F. F. Bruce (1976):

“The things of first importance are four in number: (a) Christ died, (b) he was buried, (c) he was raised, (d) he appeared in resurrection to many. Whatever differences there might be in primitive Christian faith and preaching, there was evidently unanimity on these fundamental data.”[9]

To be continued....

ENDNOTES:

[1] William R. Newell, Romans Verse-By-Verse, p. 6, comment on Romans 1:3-4.

[2] Ibid., pp. 18-19, comment on Romans 1:16.

[3] Ibid., p. 19, comment on Romans 1:16.

[4] Ibid., p. 20, comment on Romans 1:16. 

[5] Ibid., p. 21, comment on Romans 1:16.

[6] Ibid., p. 24, comment on Romans 1:17.

[7] Merrill C. Tenney, The Reality of the Resurrection (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), pp. 68-69, ellipsis his. Note: This book was also published in Chicago by Moody Press, 1963.

[8] Ibid., ellipsis and brackets his. 

[9] F. F. Bruce, 1 And 2 Corinthians (London: Oliphants, 1976), p. 138, bold and italics his; cf. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1982), p. 88, where he discusses 1 Corinthians 15:3 "with regard to the saving events of Christ's death, burial, resurrection and subsequent appearances".