I Corinthians 15: 1-6 And The Doctrine of "Essential" and "Non-Essential" New Testament Teachings

Posted : 17 Mar, 2013 04:37 PM

I Corinthians 15: 1-6 And The Doctrine of "Essential" and

"Non-Essential" New Testament Teachings



I Corinthians 15: 1-6 says "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the

gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and

wherein ye stand;

2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached

unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,

how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day

according to the scriptures:

5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of

whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen

asleep.



Paul goes on beyond verse 6 with his discussion of Christ's death and

resurrection, by which we are saved, in fact on to verse 14. He also

mentions grace and the resurrection of believers from the dead, which

is where he is heading in this chapter.



But are the doctrines Paul talks about in I Corinthians 15:1-14 to be

taken as Paul's definition of the Gospel? And are these few doctrines

to be taken to be the "essentials" and other doctrines

"non-essential?"



If this is the case, this narrow definition of the Gospel would allow

for most of the man-made theologies popular among Christians since the

19th century acceptable as the Gospel, because they appear not to

violate the "essentials."



Compare, for example, Galatians 1:6-8, where Paul warns against

preaching another Gospel other than the one he preached. He says in

Galatians 5:2-5, "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be

circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to

every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole

law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are

justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the

Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."



And in Acts 15:1-2"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught

the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of

Moses, ye cannot be saved.

2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and

disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and

certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and

elders about this question....But there rose up certain of the sect of

the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to

circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."



There is nothing in Paul's opening discussion of the death and

resurrection of Christ in I Corinthians 15:1-14 about not having to

keep the ceremonial law of Moses in order to be saved.



Hebrews 10: 9, "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He

taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." "For the law

having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the

things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by

year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." Hebrews 10: 1



"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of

an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a

shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Colossians

2:16-17



These three scriptures are not part of the Gospel, and are

non-essential"?



"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he

cannot see the kingdom of God....Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye

must be born again." John 7.



"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the

renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and

acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12: 2



These two scriptures on the transformation necessary for the natural

man to be saved are not in I Corinthians 15:1-14.



What about these scriptures, are these too non-essentials? ""And other

sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them

also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be

one fold and one shepherd." What about Paul's saying the same thing in

Romans 12: 4, I Corinthians

10: 17, Galatians 3: 28, Ephesians 2:14-16, and Ephesians 4: 4?



If these scriptures are not part of the Gospel and are

"non-essentials," then a man made theology could get by claiming that

God now has two peoples, not one.



Here is a big scripture that many might want to put in the

"non-essential" category: "And with all deceivableness of

unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the

love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God

shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That

they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure

in unrighteousness." II Thessalonians 2:10-12



This is getting long. The last three scriptures that many might want

to put in the "non-essential" category as not being a part of the

Gospel start at Romans 2:23-24, 29-30; "Thou that makest thy boast of

the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God, For the name

of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is

written....For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is

that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew,

which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the

spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of

God."



The next one is Romans 9:6-8, " Not as though the word of God hath

taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:

but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the

children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the

seed."



The third scripture is Galatians 4:24-26: "Which things are an

allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount

Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem

which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."



These last three scriptures are all a part of Paul's revelation given

to him by the risen Christ which he talks about in Acts 26:15-18.

Remember that this revelation was given to Paul after the Day of

Pentecost and after the establishment of the Christian community in

Jerusalem by Peter and others.



These texts too are not included in Paul's supposed definition of the

Gospel because if they were and many other texts were to be included

there, it would be so long it would just replicate much of the New

Testament. And thats the point, a Christian cannot say there are

"essential" and "non-essential" doctrines in scripture. The doctrine

of Christ as in II John 1:9-10 is really all the doctrines given by

Christ and through his apostles.



The idea that there are "essential" and "non-essential" New Testament doctrines would allow man made theologies to gradually replace sound doctrine (II Timothy 1: 13, 4: 3) as II Thessalonians 2:3, Luke 13: 21 and several other texts predict. Seeing all New Testament doctrines as "it is written," absolute truth, and facts and strong faith in those teachings is necessary to discern errors in man made theologies.

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