What happens if we ignore the basic premise of the gospel?
Ignoring the basic premise of the gospel—that Christ died, was in the grave three days and three nights, and rose from the dead—leaves no gospel at all. Scripture ties salvation to that finished work; those three days and nights in the tomb separate the believer from the old life of sin and bondage.
Les explains that the basic premise of the gospel is that Christ died, was in the grave three days and three nights, and rose from the dead. If we try to ignore that premise, we have no gospel. He connects this to Matthew 12, where the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign, and Jesus answered that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but the only sign given would be the sign of the prophet Jonah—as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Les also sees this pictured back in Exodus: Israel could not be set free from Egypt without three days separating them from their captivity. In the same way, when we put our faith in that gospel, the three days and three nights in the tomb separates us from the old life of sin and bondage.