1 Corinthians 15 - Either Jesus Did Rise From the Dead Or He Didn't!

1 Corinthians 15 - NIV

Enduring Word Commentary

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But 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? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be 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. 16 For 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; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul has addressed many important issues facing the Corinthian church, and now he addresses the most important one. It was a serious one. There was some teaching that had infiltrated the church that somehow Jesus had not risen from the dead. This false teaching came from two places. First, the Gnostic sect taught that taught that the spirit was superior to the body, because the body was evil. The spirit which inhabited the body lived forever. This spirit was the divine spark within us, which when it experienced secret knowledge escaped the prison of the body and returned to the spiritual realm. The "New Age movement" was just a reinvented version of gnosticism.

The other source was the Sadducees who taught that there was no resurrection of the dead. They didn't believe in miracles or the the supernatural. 

To Learn More About What Gnosticism Taught Click Here

To Learn More About What the Sadducces taught about life after death click here

Paul points out that this is a huge problem because the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a core doctrine and essential to our Christian belief. Paul puts it well when he says, 

"Jesus is not raised from the dead our preaching is useless and so is your faith." 

That is a pretty bold statement. And it makes a lot of sense, because Jesus himself said that he would die and after three days be raised from the dead. Matthew 27:63

If He did not raise from the dead he is a deceiver and should certainly not be trusted. It would also mean that he is not really God and so he couldn't have died for our sin because he would have had to die for his own. Someone has said, "The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the linchpin of the Christian faith and upon it Christianity stands or falls."

On top of it, the apostles, who witnessed the Risen Christ, all preached this gospel. The heart of the gospel they proclaimed was that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, and after three days he rose from the dead. If he didn't in fact rise from the dead they are imposters. 

So this also excludes any one saying anything less than Jesus was and is God. Those who say Jesus was only a prophet or good teacher, fall into the category of false teachers. Anybody who fails to preach, teach, and confess that Jesus rose from the dead is not a Christian. This sounds harsh but logically two opposite propositions cannot both be true. It is illogical. Either Jesus did rise from the dead, which proves he was the Son of God, and He will come back and judge the living and the dead. Or, he did not, which means what Christians believe in is worthless. 

Why do you think understanding these concepts about Jesus' resurrection is so crucial to how we teach and preach about Jesus in our world today?

Do you think it is possible that Christianity, which teaches Jesus rose from the dead, and other religions which deny it, can both be true? 

Secular relativism is the prevailing worldview today. This denies absolute truth so that two people could believe in two religions who are fundamental opposed to each other and they can both be true. Why? Because truth is relative. I.e. My truth is my truth and your truth is your truth!

I think Paul would write the same things to our church today, as there are many today in liberal denominations today that would say you don't have to believe Jesus literally rose from the dead to be a Christian. The resurrection of Jesus is a story that teaches the universal truth that life overcomes death. It is faith in the concept of Jesus that brings salvation not the historical event. 

Jesus, thank you for rising from the dead proving that you were and are the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world. We pray Your church would boldly preach the same gospel as Your apostles did and not conform to the empty worldview which empties our faith of its power! Amen. 









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