Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 15:12-19”
Categories: 1 Corinthians"Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
---End of Scripture Verses---
So what are the consequences of believing that there is no resurrection from the grave? First and foremost, if there is no resurrection then Christ himself never bodily arose from the dead! Christianity would be no better than any other religion because Jesus would be just like all the other “religious leaders” that had ever gone before or after Him—DEAD! All that would be left of Him are the remains of a corpse in a grave! But our Savior accomplished what no other would-be savior could ever hope to do. He laid down His own life (body) for His people, and then He took it up again by His own power (John 10:18).
Also all of the Apostles’ teaching would be “vain” (verse 14). The Gospel of Jesus Christ would not be the “Good News” at all. It would just be worthless, empty doctrine and the Apostles would be no more than liars and false witnesses (verse 15). They would have been mere fools who devoted their lives to a fallen leader and who went about spreading false doctrine about Him after His death.
Furthermore, everyone else who has ever devoted their lives to Christ would have “worthless” faith (verse 17). We would still be condemned by our sins because Jesus’ death alone was not enough to atone for our iniquities and transgressions. Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). Without His resurrection there would be no power to forgive and save. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:10-11).
“Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (verse 19). In other words, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then all the Christians who have parted from this world are just dead. But, and the implication is this, THEY ARE NOT!!! Anyone who teaches that when we die we are “just like rover, dead all over,” do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29)! The people who die in Christ live forever more! God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Matthew 22:32)!
“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (verse 19). What an amazing verse and thought! I have heard Christians say before that even if the Bible turned out to not be true, the “Christian life” would still be the best life to live. I have even made similar statements before myself. But Paul clearly states that just the opposite is true! If we devote our lives to a dead, powerless Savior who offers us no eternal life after our physical death, we have led the most pitiful life imaginable! Why not eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die (verse 32)!
But the good news is that the Gospel IS the Good News and a life of obedient, righteous devotion to Christ IS the very BEST life to possibly live! “Godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Jesus died for our sins and arose from the grave and ascended into heaven as our Forerunner (Hebrews 6:19-20) to prepare us an eternal “dwelling place” (mansion) there (John 14:1-4)!
Please read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
