15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
15:6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
15:8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
15:11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.15:29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead?
15:14 If Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.15:15 Yes, we are found false witnesses of God,
because we testified about God that he raised up Christ,
whom he didn't raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.15:16 For if the dead aren't raised, neither has Christ been raised.15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead.15:17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
15:18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.15:19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life,
we are of all men most pitiable.
He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.15:21 For since death came by man,15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits,
the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
then those who are Christ's, at his coming.15:24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God,
even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.15:27 For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet." (Ps 8:6)But when he says, "All things are put in subjection,"
it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
15:28 When all things have been subjected to him,
then the Son will also himself be subjected to him
who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
15:30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.15:33 Don't be deceived! "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."
15:32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me?
If the dead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
15:36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.
15:37 That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be,
but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.15:38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men,15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead.
another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies;
but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
15:41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon,
and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.
15:43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.15:45 So also it is written,15:50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God;
"The first man, Adam, became a living soul."
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.15:46 However that which is spiritual isn't first,
but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.15:47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust.
The second man is the Lord from heaven.15:48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust;
and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.15:49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust,
let's also bear the image of the heavenly.
{NU, TR read "we will" instead of "let's"}
neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible,15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable,
and we will be changed.15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality.15:54 But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption,
and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen:
"Death is swallowed up in victory."15:55 "Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?"
15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The quality of faith that saves is not a trivial thing. It is not the sort of experimental faith often proposed in modern evangelicalism. If a person falls away from the faith, then such a person had never been saved. And John gives an example of this:
vs 3-11 Unlike most religions, Biblical Christianity is based not just upon propositional truth, but also upon historic events. The death burial and resurrection of Christ are central to the gospel. And you cannot separate the historic Christ from his teachings. His death is the primary object of our faith, having gained our justification through his blood. His resurrection both affirmed the truth of the gospel and provided an illustration that believers can identify with. In terms of our position, we were raised with Christ, having been justified. In terms of our experience, we look forward to our own physical resurrection from the dead.
vs 6 indicates that the witness to his resurrection went beyond the accounts in the gospel. It further validates this historic event, when Paul says that 500 had seen him. For these things were not proposed to have been done in secret. And it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine how the reports could have been fabricated with such public witness.
"fallen asleep" is the way the New Testament refers to believers who have died. For the spiritual connotation of "death" is not applicable to the believers.
vs 10 Paul worked harder than the other apostles. This was no idle boast. While the other apostles focussed on the Jews, many staying comfortably in the church at Jerusalem, Paul took the gospel to the rest of the world. Paul was even persecuted in the church at Jerusalem by false brethren (Gal 2:4) God had to give a special vision to Peter before he was willing to even present the gospel to a Gentile (Acts 10), but he didn't continue doing so until later in life. And Peter compromised with the group of the circumcision for fear of persecution, even so much so that Paul had to rebuke him. (Gal 2:11+) But Paul never compromised the gospel. Paul reminds me of one of Jesus' parables:
vs 12 Some Gnostics taught that physical things are innately sinful, which is why they had trouble accepting the idea that Jesus, as a physical man, was sinless. Thus they proposed that Jesus was not a physical man, but a ghost of some kind. (This was known as Docetism).
By the same logic they must have also taught the there was no physical
resurrection of the believers, since the physical body is innately sinful.
Thus they believe that people are simply bodiless spirits - ghosts. And
this concept is common even in the world today. But there is a real physical
resurrection from the dead. There are those who interpret such concepts
in purely metaphysical terms. Just as there are those who think that Christ
has already returned. But these will be real historical events which cannot
be mistaken for some vague existentialistic feeling.
vs 19 "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are
to be pitied more than all men." If some have become Christians just
to improve their lives, then they have a misconception about what Christianity
is all about. In modern evangelicalism the presentation of the gospel often
includes promises which are not part of the Biblical message - promises
that you will be prosperous and everyone will think well of you - promises
that everything will go well in your life. But consider what the apostles
like Paul went through.
vs 23 The resurrection of all believers (those who belong to
him) occurs when Christ returns.
vs 27 Paul gives a simple lesson in hermeneutics (Bible interpretation)
when he says, Now when it says that "everything" has been put under
him,it is clear that this does not include God himself. This is a warning
to literalists. The Bible should be interpreted in its context and sometimes
words like "everything" don't literally mean "everything".
vs 29 What Paul could have meant, by ellipsis, was "what will those do who are baptized for [the resurrection of] the dead?". St John Chrysostom (AD 347-407) made note of this in his commentary on this verse and it does seem to fit the context.
vs 32-34 Nominal Christians were the source of this false teaching about there being no resurrection. Paul warns them to beware and not keep company with false teachers and those who practice their philosophy. For we tend to become like the people we associate with. Christians tend to be gullible towards other "Christians", assuming that they have the same relationship and understanding of God. Don't be too presumptuous. For false Christians often taken advantage of such gullibility both in business and in doctrine.
vs 35-50 It is not clear exactly what the new body will be like, but it is much greater than our present body as a tree is much greater than the seed from which it came. "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" That is, that those who enter the kingdom of God will take on new bodies not made of flesh and blood. Of course he's referring to the "kingdom of God" in the future, after the resurrection. This is not simply referring to the millenial kingdom, for that perishes after 1000 years.
vs 45 "the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." This is not saying that Jesus became a ghost, nor does it refer to him becoming the Holy Spirit.
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost (spirit). He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." Luke 24:37-39 (NIV)Rather it is referring to the type of physical body Jesus had when he was raised from the dead. Any other interpretation would not fit the context of this passage, nor the logical flow of Paul's argument. He became a spiritual man, as when he met his disciples in Luke 24:37+. This same kind of body we Christians will also have. We will not take on the form of the Holy Spirit, but rather the form of Jesus in his resurrection, as verse 49 indicates.
vs 51-57 This is referring to what is called the rapture, which occurs when Christ returns. The believers who are alive at time will not die, but instantaneously be transformed with the new body, and ascend to meet Christ in the clouds as He returns.