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1 CORINTHIANS

CHAPTERS

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

12 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. 15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.”


No resurrection of the dead: Here we see the occasion of Paul’s writing. Evidently, some had believed the idea that there was no resurrection of the dead. But Paul rejects such a notion even going so far as to say that without the resurrection there is no Gospel. Notice Paul’s language: If there is no resurrection then the believer’s faith is in vain. If there is no resurrection, then all who proclaim the Gospel are false witnesses about God because they promote a false Gospel that leaves people in their sins. 

Fallen asleep: If there is no resurrection then fellow believers who have passed away will stay deceased. In other words, there is no hope after death. 

Pitied: The resurrection of Jesus is everything for Christianity because it validates the entirety of His teaching and salvific work. Furthermore, if this resurrection is not true, then believers are not actually changed spiritually because there is no union with Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection.

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1 CORINTHIANS

CHAPTERS