The Book of
1 Corinthians 15
58 verses≈ 9 min3 peopleBSB
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In this chapter
Where we are
- 1–4DivisionsChrist crucified, not rival leaders
- 5–6A holy peopleDiscipline, lawsuits and the body
- 7–10Your questionsMarriage, food and freedom
- 11–14Worship togetherThe Supper, gifts and love
- 15–16Raised with ChristResurrection hope; the collectionChapter 15
The Resurrection of Christ
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
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For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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 and then to the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:3–5
After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.
For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am
1 Corinthians 15:10
No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
He appeared
Whiteboard
Paul lists the people the risen Jesus “appeared” to: Peter, the Twelve, more than five hundred at once, James, all the apostles, and last of all Paul himself. These were real people, with names, and most of the five hundred were alive when Paul wrote. Anyone in Corinth who doubted could go and ask them.
The Resurrection of the Dead
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
If Christ has not been raised
Whiteboard
Paul follows the idea that “the dead are not raised” all the way down. If it were true, Christ was not raised either, and everything falls with Him: the preaching, the faith, forgiveness, and the hope of believers who have died. Paul does not pretend the resurrection is a small detail. Everything stands on it.
Reflect
Everything stands on it
Paul says that if Christ has not been raised, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” Turn it around: because He has been raised, your faith is not empty and your sins are forgiven. Where does your hope still feel like it is “for this life alone”? Write down one fear or loss you want to bring under the hope of the resurrection.
The Order of Resurrection
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:21–22
But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:26
For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.
If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians 15:33–34
The Resurrection Body
Someone might ask
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
Paul
You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.
Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another. The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
Question
Quick question
Someone in Corinth asked, “How are the dead raised?” Paul answers from the farmer’s field.
What picture does Paul use for the body that will be raised?
Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?
Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O Death, is your victory?
Where, O Death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
0:48
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
your labor in the Lord is not in vain
1 Corinthians 15:58
Pray
Thanks be to God
Thank God that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. Bring Him the people you love who have “fallen asleep” in Christ, and thank Him that death will be “swallowed up in victory.” Ask Him to make you “steadfast and immovable,” and to show you the work He has for you this week, knowing that it is “not in vain.”
You’ve experienced
1 Corinthians 15
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A verse to carry with you
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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 and then to the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:3–5
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