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Bible School · Understanding Paul's letters · Class 14 of 33

Christ is risen: the resurrection argument of 1 Corinthians 15-16

1 Corinthians 15–16 · about 24 minutes · Resurrection

By the end of this class you should be able to

Read the passage

15Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. 6After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. 9For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 12But 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? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. 15In 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. 16For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. 24Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. 25For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “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. 28And 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. 29If 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? 30And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If 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.” 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame. 35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. 38But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. 39Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. 40There 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. 41The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As 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. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man. 50Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in 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. 53For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When 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.” 55“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Open 1 Corinthians 15 in the reader (BSB)

16Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia: 2On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed. 3Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4And if it is advisable for me to go also, they can travel with me. 5After I go through Macedonia, however, I will come to you; for I will be going through Macedonia. 6Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7For I do not want to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me. 10If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am. 11No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers. 12Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was not at all inclined to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. 13Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong. 14Do everything in love. 15You know that Stephanas and his household were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. Now I urge you, brothers, 16to submit to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. 18For they refreshed my spirit and yours as well. Show your appreciation, therefore, to such men. 19The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. 20All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. 22If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord! 23The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Open 1 Corinthians 16 in the reader (BSB)

01Background

First Corinthians closes with its longest and most carefully argued chapter. Paul wrote from Ephesus about AD 53 to 55 () to a church he had founded some years before (). The letter is accepted as Paul's by nearly all scholars, and is among its best attested parts.

Some in Corinth were saying 'there is no resurrection of the dead' (). The reason is not given in full. Greek thought generally held that the soul was freed at death from the body, which was a prison or a tomb, and found the idea of a rising body repellent or absurd (compare the Athenians' reaction in ). Some Corinthians may also have thought that they already shared the fullness of the Spirit and the kingdom (), so that nothing bodily remained to hope for. Scholars differ on which view lies behind the denial, and Paul's answer touches on both. He does not argue that the soul survives, but that God will raise the body.

closes the letter with practical matters: a collection for the believers in Jerusalem, Paul's travel plans, the movements of Timothy and Apollos, and greetings. These belong to Paul's mission in the years after the Jerusalem agreement, when he promised to remember the poor (). The collection is the subject of and 9 and .

02Outline

  1. The gospel received and delivered, and the witnesses
  2. If there is no resurrection, everything collapses
  3. Christ the firstfruits; the last enemy destroyed
  4. Arguments from practice and from Paul's own sufferings
  5. The kind of body: seed, spiritual body, last Adam
  6. The mystery, the trumpet and the victory
  7. The collection, travel plans and greetings

03How to read it

is argument, written in the style of a debate with an imagined objector (). It builds in a clear order: the fact (), the logic of denying it (), the meaning of Christ's rising for the whole creation (), and the manner of the believers' rising (). Paul keeps returning to the same point, that Christ's resurrection and ours stand or fall together.

Two principles help.

  • First, Paul does not argue from the immortality of the soul but from the bodily resurrection of Jesus, which for a first-century Jew was an event in history, witnessed by named people.
  • Second, he reads the resurrection through Scripture, twice saying 'according to the Scriptures' (), and by echoing to 3, and 110, and as the argument moves. Where Paul uses word-pictures such as seed and body, the point is the contrast between what is sown and what is raised, not a theory of biology.

is a practical conclusion of the kind Paul often adds. It is useful for the facts of his mission, and it should be read as part of the same letter, a letter about a church that must stand firm in the Lord.

04What the text says

Chapter 15:1–11

Paul reminds them of the gospel he preached, which they received, in which they stand, and by which they are saved if they hold to it (). He passed on 'as of first importance' what he also received: 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, then to the Twelve, then to more than five hundred brothers at once, most still alive, then to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all to Paul himself, 'as to one abnormally born' (). The language of receiving and passing on (paralambano, paradidomi) is the language of tradition, and most scholars, including those who doubt much else, date this summary to within a few years of the crucifixion, probably from Paul's early contacts in Damascus and Jerusalem (compare ).

Chapter 15:12–19

If the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised, the preaching and the faith are empty, the apostles are false witnesses, believers are still in their sins, and those who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are of all people most to be pitied. The chain shows that Paul sees no gospel without the resurrection.

Chapter 15:20–28

'But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep' (). The firstfruits were the first part of the harvest, offered to God as a pledge of the rest. Death came through one man, Adam, and resurrection through one man, Christ (). Each will rise in order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who belong to him at his coming, then the end, when he hands the kingdom to God after destroying every rule and authority. He must reign until all enemies are under his feet, drawing on and , and the last enemy to be destroyed is death. At the end the Son will be subject to the Father, so that God may be all in all.

Chapter 15:29–34

Paul turns to practice. 'Baptized for the dead' () is one of the most obscure phrases in the New Testament, and interpreters have offered many explanations: a practice of vicarious baptism for those who had died, baptism by new converts to take the place of dead believers, or baptism in view of the resurrection of the dead. Paul neither endorses nor condemns it; he uses it only as an argument ad hominem, that those who do it assume the dead rise. His own daily danger makes the same point: why risk it if there is no rising? 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die' () echoes .

Chapter 15:35–49

The objector asks how the dead are raised and with what body. Paul answers: a seed is sown and dies, and God gives it a body of his choosing. There are different kinds of flesh and different heavenly and earthly bodies, with different glory. The body is sown perishable, in dishonour and weakness, a 'natural body' (soma psychikon), and raised imperishable, in glory and power, a 'spiritual body' (soma pneumatikon). 'Spiritual' does not mean made of spirit but animated and ruled by the Spirit. Citing , the first Adam became a living being, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall bear the image of the man of heaven.

Chapter 15:50–58

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom. Paul tells a mystery: not all will die, but all will be changed, in a moment, at the last trumpet. The perishable puts on the imperishable. Then the words of and are fulfilled: death is swallowed up in victory, and its sting is sin, whose power is the law. 'Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (). The conclusion is practical: stand firm, because the Lord's work is not in vain.

Chapter 16

Giving to the saints is arranged on the first day of each week, and Paul will send the gifts to Jerusalem with their chosen men (). He plans to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, where a wide door has opened, and to visit them after Macedonia (). Timothy, Apollos, Stephanas and Aquila and Priscilla, with the church in their house, are named. Paul ends in his own hand with 'Maranatha' (), an Aramaic cry meaning 'Our Lord, come' or, in another word division, 'Our Lord has come'.

05Key terms

firstfruits aparche
The first part of a harvest, offered to God as a pledge of the rest. Christ's resurrection is the first part of the harvest of the dead ().
natural body soma psychikon
A body suited to this present life and animated by the soul (psyche). It is sown in death.
spiritual body soma pneumatikon
A body suited to the new age and animated by the Spirit (pneuma). A real body, not a ghost.
fallen asleep koimaomai
A common word for death among believers, which suits the hope of waking in the resurrection.
mystery mysterion
A truth hidden until God reveals it. Here it is the change of the living at the last trumpet ().
Our Lord, come Maranatha
An Aramaic prayer that the early church kept in its original tongue. It can be divided as marana tha (Our Lord, come) or maran atha (Our Lord has come).

06In the whole Bible

The chapter is the Bible's fullest argument for bodily resurrection. The hope was growing in the Old Testament, in , and , and was held by the Pharisees against the Sadducees (). Paul makes it central by tying it to what has happened to Jesus. The resurrection is not only a personal hope but a claim about the whole creation: death was the last enemy, and the kingdom will be handed to God when it is destroyed. adds that creation itself will be set free.

The teaching on the body links creation and new creation. The body that is sown is raised changed, so God does not abandon the material world but renews it. The contrast of Adam and Christ (, 45-49; ) places all humanity in one of two families, those in Adam who die and those in Christ who live.

The chapter also joins gospel and ethics. The hope of resurrection makes work in the Lord worthwhile (). The collection in turns the unity of the church into practical care for the poor in Jerusalem, as the Gentile churches repay a spiritual debt ().

07Where Christ is

The chapter is built around the risen Christ. His death, burial, resurrection and appearances are 'according to the Scriptures' (). Paul does not give the passages, but the New Testament elsewhere points to for the death for sins, and to () and as readings that were heard in the early church for the third day, though is a tentative connection. His rising as 'firstfruits' also draws on the Old Testament offering of the first sheaf at Passover time (), which is an echo and a pattern.

Christ is the last Adam (), a life-giving spirit. Adam brought death, Christ brings life, and the pattern is stated again in . He reigns until every enemy is under his feet (, read in the New Testament as spoken of him: ; ), and is applied to the Son as the one who rules all things. At the end he hands the kingdom to the Father (), which Paul presents as the completion of his work and not the end of his reign.

The appearances prove that the crucified Jesus is alive. The risen Lord appeared to Paul (; ), and the believers' bodies will be like his (; ). Death is swallowed up in his victory.

08Review questions

  1. What reasons might some Corinthians have had for denying the resurrection of the dead, and how does Paul answer them in ?
  2. What events and witnesses does Paul list in , and why is the language of 'received' and 'passed on' important?
  3. What does Paul mean by calling Christ the 'firstfruits' and the 'last Adam'?
  4. How does Paul describe the difference between the natural body and the spiritual body in ?
  5. What is the purpose of the collection in , and where else in Paul's letters is it discussed?

Prepared with AI assistance. A scholar's review is still to come; if you spot anything to correct, please tell us.

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EphesusGalatiaJerusalemMacedoniaAchaiaAsia
Dashed outline: region boundary as scholars identify it. Locations are best identifications, not certainties.Geocoding: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) · Map: Natural Earth

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