Institute for Creation Research

1 Corinthians 15:1

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

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By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

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For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

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And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

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And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

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After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

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After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

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And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

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For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

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But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

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Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

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Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

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And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

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Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

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For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

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And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

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Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

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If in this life only we have hope ° in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

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But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

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For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

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For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

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But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

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Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

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For he must reign, till he hath put ° all enemies under his feet.

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The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

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For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith ° all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

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And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

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Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

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And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

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I protest by your rejoicing ° which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

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If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

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Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

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Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

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But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

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Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

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And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance ° of wheat, or of some other grain:

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But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

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All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

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There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

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There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

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So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

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It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

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It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

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And so it is written, The first man Adam was made ° a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

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Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

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The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

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As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

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And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

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Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot ° inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

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Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all ° sleep, but we shall all be changed,

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In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

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For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

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So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

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O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

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The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

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But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:1

15:1 gospel. This passage (I Corinthians 15:1-4) is often considered the defining verse of the gospel of Christ, by which men alone can be saved, receiving it, believing it, and standing on it. Significantly, of the 105 times where this word (Greek euaggelion) or its correlative words appear in the New Testament as presently organized, this occurrence is the middle one (52 before, 52 after).

1 Corinthians 15:3

15:3 according to the scriptures. Although the central focus of the gospel is certainly on the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins and salvation, the phrase “according to the Scriptures” is interjected twice in this passage, indicating that the other 104 Scriptures on the “gospel” are also important. The first occurrence of the word is in Matthew 4:23 (“the gospel of the kingdom”), looking forward to the coming kingdom, when Christ shall be acknowledged as King of kings. The last occurrence is in Revelation 14:6-7, where it is called “the everlasting gospel,” calling on men to worship Him as Creator of all things. Thus “the gospel” embraces the person and work of Christ in its entirety, from creation to consummation, eternity to eternity. Its foundation is the Creation; its consummation is His eternal kingdom; its centrality and power is His substitutionary death and bodily resurrection. To reject or neglect any component of this is to leave us with “another gospel: Which is not another,” but one which “would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7). Only the true gospel of Christ is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16).

1 Corinthians 15:4

15:4 buried. The bodily burial of Christ is included as a part of the gospel, or “good news” concerning Christ, no doubt in order to emphasize that His resurrection was a bodily resurrection. Note Romans 10:9.

1 Corinthians 15:6

15:6 five hundred brethren. The remarkable parade of eye-witnesses of the resurrected Christ, most of whom were still living when Paul wrote and could have denied the story if it were not true, is part of the overwhelming body of evidence (“many infallible proofs”—Acts 1:3) that makes this greatest event in history since the creation probably the most certain fact of history. Jesus Christ has, indeed, conquered death itself, thereby demonstrating that He was the Creator of life and the only possible Savior from sin and death.

1 Corinthians 15:10

15:10 yet not I. This striking phrase “yet not I” occurs just two other times, in I Corinthians 7:10 and Galatians 2:20. In all three occasions, Paul—arguably the greatest Christian of all—instead of boasting, reminded his readers that anything He had accomplished was altogether by the grace of God.

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