Who Are the Real Christians?

Paul conveys to us truths that are of “first importance”:

• First, Jesus died in our place for our sins. His death (promised in Isaiah 53:8, 12) is certain because he was flogged, crucified (promised in Psalm 22:16), and impaled through the heart with a spear.
• Second, Jesus was buried. His body was wrapped in many pounds of burial linens and spices and placed in a tomb gifted to Jesus by a rich man (promised in Isaiah 53:9).
• Third, Jesus resurrected from death (promised Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:10-12).
• Fourth, after rising from death Jesus appeared to eyewitnesses. This included his friends (Peter and the other disciples), strangers (crowds of more than five hundred people), family (brother James), followers, and enemies including Paul himself was transformed from a murderer of Christians to a Christian pastor because he saw Jesus risen from death.

This set of facts about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were penned when many eyewitnesses were still kicking around to verify these historical facts. This section of Scripture was perhaps the earliest Christian creed, summing up the most important truths for early Christians and all Christians since. In a few verses that follow (1 Corinthians 15:9-11) Paul rounds out this thought by stating that he and all other Christians are sinners and hypocrites unqualified for God’s love. Only God’s grace could rescue and remake this persecutor of the church.

With those straightforward definitions of what it means to be an actual Christian in mind, it starts to become clear what it means to be a hypocrite which we will do in the next blog.