Paul’s First Epistle of the Corinthians lays down for all Christians their responsibility when it comes to The Gospel. In First Corinthians 15:1-7 we read his declaration to his fellow Christians in Corinth:

“And, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand; by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve.
Afterward He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until this present day, but also some fell asleep. Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”

This declaration from Paul builds upon the foundations of what Christians call “The Great Commission,” of Jesus Christ. Jesus’s commission is recorded in Matthew 28:16–20

“And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. But some doubted.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world’. Amen”.

In general Christian tradition since about the year 1600, The Great Commission, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. Now a tenet of Christian theology, this commission emphasises missionary work, evangelism, and baptism. However, and just for some background on this, some Christians, Preterists, take the eschatological view that the Great Commission and other Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the first century: while others and perhaps the majority of Christians, Futurists, believe and hold that Bible prophecy and especially The Great Commission, will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ. The majority view now is that The Great Commission is a prerequisite (but not the only prerequisite) to the Second Coming of Christ.

The importance, then, of The Great Commission both to and on us as Christians in what can only be reasonable described as The End Times, cannot be understated. With this in mind, many evangelical para-church groups are working hard to complete this Commission as soon as possible, as their sole and focussed purpose.

Looking at the large picture we can see clearly that Jesus expected all of His disciples to have an active and meaningful part in working toward His commission. Indeed, any study of the Bible shows that the early Church sent out its best men in response to this charge; the best men did not stay home! Yet as First Corinthians 12:27-29 explains, all Christians had some role to play in the body of Christ:

“And you are the body of Christ, and members in part.
And God set some in the church, firstly, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers, then works of power, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of languages.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of power?”

So what of the stay and home disciples, apprentice disciples, general believers, wives and children? First Corinthians 15:1-7 provides answers and guidance for them and for us. But before looking at the five-fold biblical responsibilities Christians hold in respect of The Gospel, let us first remind ourselves what The Gospel is. First, the word Gospel simple means ‘Good News’ and refers to the Gospel, the good news, of the Salvation of Jesus Christ. The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia summarizes the gospel message this way saying:

“The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement.”

There are four clear parts to Gospel of Salvation of Jesus Christ:

1 The Death of Christ:

First Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.”

Romans 5:6-10 “For we yet being without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will with difficulty die for a righteous one, yet perhaps one would even dare to die for a good one. But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

Second Corinthians 5:14-21 “For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.
So as we now know no one according to flesh, but even if we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we no longer know Him so.
So that if anyone is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us.
Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as God exhorting through us, we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Colossians 1:20 “And through Him having made peace through the blood of His cross, it pleased the Father to reconcile all things to Himself through Him, whether the things on earth or the things in Heaven.”

Hebrews 9:15 “And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new covenant, so that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

2 The Burial of Christ:

First Corinthians 15:4 “and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Matthew 26:12 “For in putting ointment on My body, she did it for My burial.”

John 12:7 “Then Jesus said, Let her alone. She has kept this for the day of My burial.”

Romans 6:4 “Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Colossians 2:12 “buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.”

3 The Resurrection of Christ:

First Corinthians 15:4 “and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

First Corinthians 15:12 “But if Christ is proclaimed, that He was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Romans 14:9 “For this Christ both died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

Second Corinthians 5:15 “and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.”

First Thessalonians 4:14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.”

4 The Manifestation of Christ: after the resurrection of Christ.

First Corinthians 15:5-8 “and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. Afterward He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until this present day, but also some fell asleep. Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”

John 21:14 “But when the morning had come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”

The five-fold responsibilities which Paul call us to in First Corinthians 15:1-7 in respect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are simple, clear and practical:

1 The Gospel must be preached:

First Corinthians 15:1 “And, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand.”

Mark 16:15 “But I exhort you, brothers. You know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruit of Achaia, and they appointed themselves to ministry to the saints.”

2 The Gospel must be received:

First Corinthians 15:1 “And, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand.”

John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name.”

3 The Gospel must be obeyed:

First Corinthians 15:1 “And, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and in which you stand.”

Romans 1:5-6 “by whom we have received grace and apostleship, to obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name.”

Romans 6:17 “But thanks be to our God that you were the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.”

4 The Gospel must be kept in memory: must be ‘held fast.’ From the Greek katechō, meaning to hold down, kept secure, kept firmly in possession of, kept in memory.

First Corinthians 15:2 “by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”

Hebrews 3:6 “But Christ was faithful as a Son over his own house; whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take heed, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised).”

5 The Gospel must be believed from the heart:

First Corinthians 15:2 “by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”

Romans 1:16 “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Romans 10:9-10 “Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.”

John 3:16-20 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.
He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

What Paul is calling the Church of Christ to, is the preaching the Gospel of Jesus wherever we are, at all available opportunities. We take it and give it to our colleagues at work; to fellow shoppers at the market; to fellow passengers on the bus, train or plane; to our customers and to all those whom we meet in our daily lives. Not all are necessarily called to a life in the missions field, but all of us are called to be the hands, feet and mouth of the Church of Christ wherever we are, and at all times.

Paul also expects us to declare whom we are in Christ and be proud of it! This call to stand proud in the name of Jesus can be found in First Corinthians 16:13 and without doubt, these words are doubly important for the Church today, as they were for the original recipients, given the times of apostasy in which we find ourselves.

“Watch! Stand fast in the faith! Be men! Be strong!”

Our spiritual forefathers were prepared to die for their faith. Most who read this article are as yet not called to make that decision, or that sacrifice. However, that situation is changing and changing fast. For the first time in more than 1500 years, there is no Church in Afghanistan. The ‘Arab Spring’ in north Africa and the Middle East is showing signs of becoming a Christian holocaust in lands where Christians had lived at peace with their neighbours of centuries. The Church in Iraq, is all but irradiated. Daily, Christian men, woman and children are being slaughtered, or as the Church would say, martyred, by the hundred. Daily, Christian men, woman and children are making a stand for Christ and being killed for their stand. Some, like Christian Solidarity Worldwide are a voice for the voiceless and try to make a difference.

Jesus warned us to be aware and to clearly see and interpret the signs of the times we are now in, and He prophesied this persecution of Christians as He said in John 15:20

“Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept My saying, they will also keep yours.”

Paul took the words of Jesus seriously and stood up as a Christian to be counted in the world of his time. Second Corinthians 11:23-28 briefly, but factually provides a glimpse into his sufferings for the Gospel recording:

“I have been in labours more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more, in deaths many times.
Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the deep.
I have been in travels often; in dangers from waters; in dangers from robbers; in dangers from my race; in dangers from the heathen; in dangers in the city; in dangers in the wilderness; in dangers on the sea; in dangers among false brothers.
I have been in hardship and toil; often in watchings; in hunger and thirst; often in fastings; in cold and nakedness; besides the things outside conspiring against me daily, the care of all the churches.”

The question we must face is this: How seriously do we take our Christian responsibility for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

To help in your answer to the question, perhaps these words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 will help focus your mind:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will cull them out, one from another, like a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, because I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will say to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or see you naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
The king will answer them, ‘I tell you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!
Here’s why: I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.
I was a stranger, and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t help you?’
Then he will say to them, ‘I tell you with certainty, since you didn’t do it for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do it for me.’
These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

Amen and Amen and Amen.