1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Chapter 15
12
We Too Are Resurrected
Well then, if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?13
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
14
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and our faith is worthless.
15
We are false witnesses of God, testifying that he raised Christ, when in fact he could not have raised him if the dead are not raised.
16
If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.
18
Also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19
If our hope in Christ is only for this life, then we are the most pitiful people of all.
20
But no, Christ has been raised from the dead, and he is victorious over all who have fallen asleep.
Commentaries
We Too Are Resurrected.
Paul proves this point by showing how those who deny the resurrection are wrong. If Jesus did not rise, then our faith has no basis, and our hope is pointless and tragic. The Apostle even says that Christians would be the “most pitiable” people because they have put their hope in Christ “only for this life” (19). That would be a disaster for those already dead and a vast emptiness for those still alive. A vague idea of immortality of the “soul” without the body, as Greek philosophy suggests, is repulsive to both the Paul of Jewish tradition and the Christian Paul. These verses are a strong declaration of Christian hope. Finally, referring to himself, Paul assures them that he would be suffering for them in vain if he didn’t believe in the resurrection.