Understanding Gospel Ministry: The Content of the Preaching

By Robb Brunansky

Published March 26, 2025

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. –1 Corinthians 1:18

In 1 Corinthians 1, the apostle Paul lays out his philosophy of ministry to give his readers – and future believers – a correct understanding of true gospel ministry. As Paul informs us in verses 18 through 31 (and into chapter 2), how we preach the gospel must conform with Christ’s standards. Both the message and the method are vitally important.

It is imperative, then, to have a clear and firm grasp of verse 18, which is foundational to understanding the nature of biblically faithful and sound gospel ministry. In this verse, Paul outlines three truths to shape our thinking in order to minister the way Christ has called us.

The first truth from verse 18 is the Content of the Preaching.

Notice at the outset what the content is that Paul proclaims in his ministry: the word of the cross.

According to Paul, the word of the cross of Jesus Christ is the power of God to those who are being saved. This statement immediately gives us the context for what he is discussing – the gospel – because in another passage, Romans 1:16, Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” We see further confirmation of this link in 1 Corinthians 1:17, where Paul reveals that his mission is to preach the gospel and ties those efforts to the cross of Christ and its power. The word of the cross, then, is the message of the gospel.

The word gospel means good news, and to preach the gospel is to proclaim good news. A problem arises, however, when the gospel is combined with the cross. 21^st Century believers are not quite as aware of this problem as Paul would have been in the first century. In those days, good news and glad tidings were typically proclaimed due to a military victory or a great celebration within the empire. Crosses, however, were never part of good news.

Rather, these disgusting instruments of death were abhorrent to Greeks, Romans, and Jews alike. The Roman stateman and philosopher Cicero wrote, “The very word ‘cross’ should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes, and his ears.” Crosses and the practice of crucifixion were effective in sending fear into the hearts of the enemies of the state, but they were unfit topics of conversation to philosophers, scholars, statesmen, and the general populace of the Roman Empire.

It is striking, then, that Paul repeatedly refers to the gospel as the word of the cross, and that he always puts the cross at the very center of his message. Paul could have chosen other ways to express the gospel – like the word of the resurrection or the word of the sending of the Holy Spirit. Paul, though, always and intentionally makes the cross the focus of his preaching. We see another reference in Galatians 6:14, where Paul penned, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul’s unwavering conviction was that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of the cross, regardless of how others may think about this statement.

The cross is at the heart of the gospel because the heart of the gospel is the forgiveness of sins and justification before God.

The cross is where God demonstrated His own love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The cross is where Jesus Christ satisfied God’s just wrath against us through sacrificing Himself in our place.

The cross is where Jesus canceled out the certificate of debt against us, disarmed the rulers and authorities, made a public mockery of the devil, and triumphed over all His foes.

The cross is where Jesus exclaimed, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” as He bore God’s curse for our sakes.

The cross is where Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” as He breathed His last, having accomplished a perfect redemption for His people.

These truths – and so many more – are why Paul calls the gospel the word of the cross, because the cross is where our Savior died to save unlovable and faithless wretches like us.

The word of the cross is that those who believe in Christ crucified will be saved. This is the gospel – the good news to sinners that God has provided forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life through the cross of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel tells sinners that they can receive this gift of God through faith in the crucified Christ. Although we cannot justify ourselves by our own obedience or through good works, God justifies the ungodly through faith in His Son. The good news is that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness because Christ died on the cross to forgive the sins of everyone who calls upon His name for deliverance.

The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, then, is everything to believers, and we can join Paul in saying that we should never boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For people to understand how to do gospel ministry, they must first understand the content of the preaching, which is the cross of Christ.

We see, too, that the content of the preaching is not just the gospel; it is overtly the gospel. It is a relentless focus on the gospel, which is the message of the cross. The content of the preaching is not wrapped up in a bunch of pop music or blockbuster films, where Jesus can barely be found through the fog machine on stage. The content of the preaching is intentionally, overtly, obviously, and clearly the cross of Christ.

Paul described his manner of preaching in Galatians 3:1, when he wrote, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” The idea of being public portrayed as crucified is to write something out so clearly and publicly that anyone who wanted to read it could understand it. Paul preached Christ crucified so plainly, boldly, powerfully, and clearly, that the Galatians knew the truth as if they had seen it with their own eyes, when they heard Paul’s testimony as an apostle. The central event and fact of Paul’s preaching was always the cross of Jesus Christ.

The content of all biblical preaching is the cross of Christ, either by directly speaking of the gospel itself, or by showing the implications of the cross of Christ, how the cross should transform our lives as Christians. May we, as believers, never sacrifice, exchange, or compromise the cross of our Lord as we seek to honor Him in our churches and ministries.