1 Corinthians 15
15
The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection
1Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith]. 2By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
3For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold], 4and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold], 5and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the #A title referring to the original disciples chosen by Jesus (including Judas). A few hours after betraying Jesus, Judas committed suicide (Matt 27:5) leaving only the eleven (Matt 28:16; Mark 16:14; Luke 24:9, 33).Twelve. 6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death]. 7Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles, 8and last of all, as to one #Paul’s life-changing encounter with the resurrected Christ occurred on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also. 9For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God. 10But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me. 11So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.
12Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that #Perhaps these were converted Sadducees, who as a sect denied the possibility of a resurrection (Acts 23:8).some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth]. 15We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either; 17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin]. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.
The Order of Resurrection
20But now [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death]. 21For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come. 22For just as #Because of our physical nature as descendants of Adam.in Adam all die, so also #Because of our spiritual nature as born-again believers in Christ.in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected with incorruptible, immortal bodies] at His coming. 24After that comes the end (completion), when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after He has made inoperative and abolished every ruler and every authority and power. 25For Christ must reign [as King] until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy to be abolished and put to an end is death. 27For He (the Father) has put all things in subjection under His (Christ’s) feet. But when He says, “All things have been put in subjection [under Christ],” it is clear that He (the Father) who put all things in subjection to Him (Christ) is excepted [since the Father is not in subjection to His own Son]. 28However, when all things are subjected to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One (the Father) who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [manifesting His glory without any opposition, the supreme indwelling and controlling factor of life].
29Otherwise, what will those do who are being #This has nothing to do with Christian baptism or salvation. Paul may be referring to the practices of a pagan religion that required a ritual washing to enter an afterlife.baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people even baptized for them? 30[For that matter] why are we [running such risks and putting ourselves] #Paul’s life was continuously threatened because of his public commitment to Christ.in danger [nearly] every hour [if there is no resurrection]? 31I assure you, believers, by the pride which I have in you in [your union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily [I face death and die to self]. 32What good has it done me if, [merely] from a human point of view, I #This may refer figuratively to the furious crowd that rose up against Paul in Ephesus, rather than to literal animals (Acts 19:23-41).fought with wild animals at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink [enjoying ourselves now], for tomorrow we die. 33Do not be deceived: #Paul quotes this one verse maxim from the writings of the Greek dramatist Menander (342-291 b.c.). “Bad company” in this case undoubtedly refers to the teachers who were denying the truth of the resurrection.“Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34Be sober-minded [be sensible, wake up from your spiritual stupor] as you ought, and stop sinning; for some [of you] have no knowledge of God [you are disgracefully ignorant of Him, and ignore His truths]. I say this to your shame.
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?” 36You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies. 37The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. 38But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given]. 39All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are also heavenly bodies [sun, moon and stars] and earthly bodies [humans, animals, and plants], but the glory and beauty of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41There is a glory and beauty of the sun, another glory of the moon, and yet another [distinctive] glory of the stars; and one star differs from another in glory and brilliance.
42So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. 43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; 44it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life]. 46However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual. 47The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven. 48As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], #Two early mss read “let us also.”we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].
The Mystery of Resurrection
50Now I say this, believers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit nor be part of the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (mortal) inherit the imperishable (immortal). 51Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed], 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed]. 53For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death]. 54And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever). 55O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law; 57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].
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1 Corinthians 15
15
The Question About Rising From the Dead
1Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news that I preached to you. You received it, you belong to it, 2and you’re being saved by it. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. Otherwise, you’ll have believed it for nothing.
3When I passed on to you what I received, I told you that the most important thing was that Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would; 4that he was buried; and that he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. 5He appeared to Peter, then he appeared to the 12 apostles, 6and after that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. (Most of them are still living, although some have died.) 7He appeared to James, then he appeared to all the apostles, 8and last of all he also appeared to me, as if I’d been born almost too late to see him.
9I’m the least important of the apostles, and I’m not even fit to be called an apostle, because I tried to destroy God’s church. 10But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted on me. No, I worked harder than all the other apostles—though it wasn’t me doing the work. God’s grace was with me. 11But whether it’s me or the other apostles, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Believers Will Rise From the Dead
12But since we do preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead? 13If no one rises from the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised. 14And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then what we preach doesn’t mean anything, and your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15Even worse, that would make us false witnesses about God, because we testified that God raised Christ from the dead. But God didn’t do that if the dead aren’t really raised. 16If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. 17And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins haven’t been forgiven, 18and those who have died believing in Christ are lost. 19If we have hope in Christ only for this life, then people should pity us more than anyone else.
20But Christ truly has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead. 21Since death came because of what one man did, rising from the dead also comes because of what one man did. 22Because of Adam, all people die, and because of Christ, all will be made alive. 23But this will happen in a particular order. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. 24And then the end will come, when he will hand the kingdom over to God the Father, after he has destroyed all other rulers, authorities, and powers. 25Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” (When it says that “everything” has been put under him, it’s clear that this doesn’t include God himself, who put everything under Christ.) 28When he has put everything under his control, the Son will then put himself under the rule of God, who put everything under him. In that way, God will be all in all.
29If no one rises from the dead, where does that leave people who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31I face death every day, just as surely as I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes, then what did I gain by that? If the dead aren’t raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we’ll die.”
33Don’t let anyone fool you. “Having bad friends turns a good person into a bad one.” 34Come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of that!
The Body That Rises From the Dead
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. 37When you plant something, you don’t put a completely grown plant into the ground. You plant only a seed, maybe of wheat or something else. 38But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish still another. 40There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and earthly bodies have a different kind. 41The sun has one kind of brightness, the moon has another kind, and stars have still another. And one star’s brightness is different from that of another star.
42It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted doesn’t last forever; the body that is raised from the dead does. 43It is planted without honor, but it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness, but it is raised in power. 44It is planted as a body made alive in the natural way, but it is raised as a body made alive by spirit.
Just as there is a naturally living body, there is also a spiritually living body. 45It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” But the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46What is animated by spirit didn’t come first; the natural came first. What is spiritual came after that. 47The first man came from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. 48Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth, and those who are spiritual are like the one who came from heaven. 49Right now we’re like the earthly man, but one day we’ll be like the heavenly man.
50Brothers and sisters, here’s what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God. Things that perish can’t share in what never perishes. 51Listen! I’m telling you a mystery. We’re not all going to die, but we will all be changed. 52That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can blink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever, and we will be changed. 53Our bodies that don’t last forever must be dressed with what does last forever. These bodies that perish must be dressed with what doesn’t perish, and these bodies that don’t last must be dressed with what lasts forever. 54And when our bodies that die are dressed with what doesn’t die, then the saying that is written will come true, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55“Death, where is your victory?
Death, where 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.
58My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord, your work isn’t for nothing.
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