1 Corinthians 15, REV Bible and Commentary (2024)

THE RESURRECTION (15:1-58)
Christ’s Resurrection and the Good News

¹Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
²and by which you are being saved if you hold on firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you believed it in vain.
³For I delivered to you as of first importance that which also I received: that Christa died for our sins according to the scriptures,
⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,
⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
⁶Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at once (most of whom remain alive until now, but some have fallen asleep),
⁷then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
⁸and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.
⁹For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit 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 found worthless. On the contrary, I labored even more than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

Christ’s Resurrection and Our Trust

¹²Now if Christ is being preached that he has been raised from among the dead, why are some among you saying 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 worthless, and your trust is also worthless.
¹⁵Indeed, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified in contradiction to God 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 even Christ has not been raised.
¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your trust is pointless; you are still in your sins.
¹⁸Then also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
¹⁹And also, if in this life we have only put our hope in Christ, we are of all people to be pitied the most.

Christ’s Resurrection as the Firstfruits

²⁰But in fact, Christ has been raised from among the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
²¹For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also came by a man.
²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to his God and Father, after he brings to an end every ruler and every authority and power.
²⁵For it is necessary for him to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
²⁶The last enemy that will be brought to an end is death.
²⁷For He has put all things in subjection under his feet.b But when it says, “all things” have been put in subjection, it is clear that the One who subjected all things to him is not included.
²⁸And when all things have been put in subjection to him, then the Son will subject himself to Him who put all things in subjection to him, so that God is all in all.

Additional Support for Christ’s Resurrection

²⁹Otherwise, what will those do who are being baptized for the sake of those who are dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
³⁰Why are we in danger every hour?
³¹I die every day! I swear this, brothers and sisters, by your reason to boast, that is, Christ Jesus our Lord.
³²If for merely human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.c

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”d
³⁴Start thinking clearly, as is right, and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to move you to shame.

The Nature of Resurrection

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
³⁶You senseless one, that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
³⁷And that which you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat, or of something else.
³⁸But God gives it a body just as it pleased him, and to each of the seeds he gives a body of its own.
³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of humans, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.
⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
⁴⁴It is sown a soul body, it is raised a spiritual body. Since there is a soul body, there is also a spiritual one.
⁴⁵So also it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul.e The last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.
⁴⁶But the spiritual is not first, on the contrary, the soul body is; after that is the spiritual.
⁴⁷The first man is of the earth, made of dust; the second man is of heaven.
⁴⁸Like the one made of dust, so too are those who are of the dust; and like the heavenly man, so too will be the heavenly ones.
⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man.

Victory in Resurrection

⁵⁰Now I say this, brothers and sisters: flesh and blood is not able to inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
⁵¹Look! I tell you a sacred secret: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.
⁵²In a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
⁵⁴Now when this corruptible puts on incorruptibility, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that has been written will be brought to pass: Death has been swallowed up in victory.f
⁵⁵O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?g
⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin comes from the law,
⁵⁷but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸So then, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.