Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.”[1]
The Message of the Gospel
Psalm 16:8-10 NKJV
I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.[2]
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 CSB
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,he also appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed. [3]
Bruce Winter
Paul reminds them of the gospel he preached and they believed. It rescued them and unless they hold on to that which Paul had preached to them their belief is vain, i.e. empty. Paul had not invented it but had been the one who transferred to them what he had received. Of first importance was the death of Christ for our sins which was true because the OT had discussed the work of the Messiah (Isaiah 53). The Messiah’s burial and resurrection on the third day was likewise the subject of the OT (Psalm 16:8–11). This OT passage was naturally substantiated by Christ’s resurrection, which a large number of people now living could confirm. Peter, then the twelve apostles, five hundred Christians to whom he appeared at one time, James the Lord’s brother, then all the apostles and finally Paul as a latecomer on the road to Damascus, all met him. The intervention of God’s grace had made Paul an apostle and he claimed to have worked harder than any other apostle, or rather the grace of God had achieved this. That however was immaterial, for this gospel which Paul has just outlined was what we (apostles) preach and this was what the Corinthians believed.[4]
Matthew Henry
Most take the world for their chief good, and place their happiness in the enjoyments of it; but how poor soever my condition is in this world, let me have the love and favor of God, and be accepted of him; let me have a title by promise to life and happiness in the future state; and I have enough. Heaven is an inheritance; we must take that for our home, our rest, our everlasting good, and look upon this world to be no more ours, than the country through which is our road to our Father’s house. Those that have God for their portion, have a goodly heritage. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, and look no further. Gracious persons, though they still covet more of God, never covet more than God.[5]
Heidelberg Catechism Question #56
What do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins?
I believe that God, because of Christ’s satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, nor my sinful nature, against which I have to struggle all my life, but will graciously grant me the righteousness of Christ, that I may never come into condemnation.
Heavenly Father, you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death, and brought us into the kingdom of your beloved Son: Grant that, as by his death he has called us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.[6]
There is One Gospel
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.[7]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 16:1–2.
[2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 16:8–10.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Co 15:1–11.
[4] Bruce Winter, “1 Corinthians,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1183.
[5] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 16:1.
[6] Collect for Saturday of Easter week, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 611.
[7] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 16:11.
