Talk 18. The Certainty of the Resurrection of Christ
Paul now turns from the subject of public worship to the vitally important matter of the resurrection of the dead.
Some had been questioning and even denying the great truths of bodily resurrection (v 12).
1 Corinthians 15 is a masterpiece of literary logic in defence of this fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith.
The chapter may be summarised as follows
vv 1-4 Resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel
vv 5-8 The evidence of Christ’s resurrection – he appeared
vv 9-11 Digression – Paul’s unworthiness to be an apostle
vv 12-19 The logical outcome of denying the resurrection
vv 20-28 Christ’s resurrection and final victory guarantees ours
vv 29-34 Further illogicalities in denying the resurrection
vv 35-50 How are the dead raised?
vv 51-58 The certainty of final victory over death
We will deal with the chapter under 2 headings:
The certainty of Christ’s resurrection
The certainty of our resurrection and of final victory over death.
The certainty of Christ’s resurrection
- a) Resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel (1-4)
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
Paul’s defence of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body centres around the historicity of Christ’s resurrection.
So he begins by reminding the Corinthians that to believe the Gospel at all means believing in resurrection.
The Gospel which he preached and which they had accepted was the Gospel by which they had been and still were being saved (unless they had believed in vain). And what was that Gospel? Christ died for our sins …. he was raised …. according to the Scriptures.
And so Paul paves the way for a point he is to make later (vv 14-29) that to deny the resurrection is to render the Gospel meaningless.
- b) The evidence of Christ’s resurrection – he appeared (5-8)
…and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Since Christ’s resurrection is crucial to Paul’s argument he proceeds to elaborate the evidence for its historicity. Note the four-fold he appeared in these verses (5, 6, 7, 8). (Note that the verb here also means ‘he was seen’). He appeared to (and was therefore seen by):
- Peter (v5) (cf Luke 24:34)
- the Twelve (v5) (a title rather than a number)
- 500 brothers (v6) (cf. Matthew 28:7,10, 16)
- James (v7) (referred to only here in NT) – James the Lord’s brother who ‘did not believe in him’ during his earthly ministry
- all the apostles (v7) (including Thomas? or does this refer to a wider company than the 12?)
- me also (v8) (note the importance of personal experience)
Vv 9-11 Digression – Paul’s unworthiness to be an apostle
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
It was appropriate for Paul to digress for a moment to consider his own unworthiness to be called an apostle and the greatness of the grace of God in making him what he was. But whether it was he, or the other apostles, the message preached was the message of resurrection, and that was what the Corinthians had believed in (v11).
- c) The logical outcome of denying the resurrection (12-19)
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?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
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.
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The logic of these verses is extremely compelling. The apostolic preaching in which the Corinthians had believed was that Christ rose from the dead.
It was, therefore, quite illogical to say that there was no such thing as resurrection (v12)!
If there is no such thing as resurrection then Christ can’t have risen (v13), and if Christ didn’t rise then Paul’s preaching and their believing were both completely pointless (v14).
In fact, if Christ didn’t rise, the apostles must be liars (vv 15-16)
and the Corinthians’ faith was futile and their sins unforgiven (v17).
And those who had already died had perished (i.e. died with their sins unforgiven) (v18).
In fact, if there’s no resurrection, Christians are to be pitied more than all other men (v19) (not because the Christian life is miserable but because, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we’re completely deluded!)
vv 20-28 Christ’s resurrection and final victory guarantees ours
We will deal with this next time. We move on now to vv29-34 which continue the theme of the logical outcome of denying the resurrection.
- d) The logical outcome of denying the resurrection (29-34)
Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptised for the dead?
If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptised for them?
Paul is not condoning baptism for the dead. He is using it as an illustration of their inconsistency. If the dead don’t rise, what’s the point of doing anything on their behalf, baptism or anything else?
He probably forbade it on his next visit to Corinth (cf. 11:34), for the practice did not survive in the church.
And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
I face death every day – yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained?
If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’
And what’s the point of all the persecution Paul has just suffered if there’s no resurrection?
Paul was having a hard time at Ephesus. The reference to fighting with wild beasts (v 32) is probably metaphorical as Roman citizens were not put in the arena, but he was facing the reality of death every day (v 31), there were many adversaries (16:9) and he had despaired of life itself (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).
He might just as well live for the moment (vv 30-32).
And this is just how the Corinthians would start behaving. Their actions would be influenced by the false doctrines of those who denied the resurrection (vv 33-34).
Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’
Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God – I say this to your shame.
Summary
People were saying that there’s no such thing as resurrection.
But resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel. Without it the Gospel is meaningless.
There is abundant evidence for the fact of Christ’s resurrection – he was seen!
So it’s quite illogical to say that there was no such thing as resurrection.
If there is no resurrection:
Our Christian faith is completely pointless
The apostles were liars
There is no hope of salvation
We’re completely deluded
We might as well eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!
BUT NOW IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD AND BECOME THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP.
But that’s for next time.1