The Core Gospel Message

The gospel is often described as simple, not because the problem is small, but because the solution is complete.

The human problem—guilt, death, and separation from God—is profound and serious. The work required to address it was costly.

What is simple is not the work itself, but the way it is received.

Scripture does not describe salvation as something assembled through effort, ritual, or moral improvement.

It is received as a gift because the work has already been done.

This simplicity is not a weakness. It is the result of a finished work.

Anything that must be added, earned, or maintained to complete salvation turns good news into instruction and assurance into uncertainty.

The gospel is simple because Christ’s work is sufficient.

The gospel summarized in 1 Corinthians 15 is not an isolated or later formulation.

Scripture presents this same message consistently, using different words and contexts, but with the same core claims.

• Jesus spoke of giving His life as a ransom:

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

— Mark 10:45

• The apostles proclaimed forgiveness through His death:

“To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

— Acts 10:43

• Paul emphasized justification through Christ’s work:

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

— Romans 5:8

• The resurrection was central to the message from the beginning:

“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.”

— Acts 2:32

Across Scripture, the gospel is presented as something God has done, announced publicly, and received by faith.

These verses present the core of the Gospel as a twofold confession: Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead on the third day. Paul is careful to state twice that these events occurred “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3–4). This repetition is intentional. The Gospel is not grounded in private revelation, later reinterpretation, or spiritual experience, but in events that align with God’s prior, written revelation. Scripture had already defined what the Messiah would suffer and how God would vindicate Him (e.g., Ps 16:10; Isa 53:8–10).

The additional elements noted in 1 Corinthians 15:1–8 further reinforce these truths. Christ’s burial confirms the reality of His death, ruling out symbolic or apparent suffering, and His post-resurrection appearances authenticate His resurrection through public, verifiable testimony. Together, Scripture and history converge.

Paul reminds the Corinthian believers of three lines of evidence that Jesus Christ was truly raised from the dead: the reality of their salvation (vv. 1–2), the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures (vv. 3–4), and the witness of living eyewitnesses (vv. 5–11). While Christ’s crucifixion was witnessed publicly by unbelievers, His resurrected appearances were granted to believers who were commissioned as witnesses (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32). He was seen by Peter, by the apostles collectively, and by James—His half-brother—who came to faith only after this appearance (John 7:5; Acts 1:14). He also appeared to more than five hundred followers at once, eliminating the possibility of hallucination or deception (1 Cor 15:6). This gathering may have occurred shortly before His ascension (Matt 28:16–20).

Why this matters: by grounding both the death and resurrection of Christ “according to the Scriptures,” Paul establishes that Christianity rests on fulfilled revelation and public evidence, not on evolving theology or post hoc explanation.