According to the Apostle Paul, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was central to the essence and basic doctrines of the Christian faith.
Paul's explanation to the church at Corinth of the importance of the Resurrection is one of the most significant passages in the New Testament. Since the Resurrection is a subject of ongoing discussion here at Suite101 Protestantism, I thought I'd provide a brief analysis/commentary of I Corinthians 15. Feel free to express agreement, disagreement, or concern in the discussion area....
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
According to Paul, salvation is by virtue of the "Gospel."
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
Paul clearly teaches the atonement here. Jesus Christ died for a divine purpose - to pay the price for our sins. And he cites the Jewish Scriptures, making it clear that Jesus was the Messiah prophecied by the prophets of old.
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Note that he follows "buried" with "rose again the third day" - there is NO indication here of anything but a bodily, literal resurrection.
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
Paul is saying that the eyewitnesses CONFIRM Jesus' literal resurrection. There are too many eyewitnesses for this to be some kind of imagined, hallucinatory event. Paul is all but daring any doubters to go talk to the remaining eyewitnesses to verify the Gospel truth that Jesus rose from the dead.
...skipping to verse 12...
12 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?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
In other words...we're preaching to you that there IS a resurrection of the dead, there IS an after-life. You will go into eternity upon your death. We can only do this, because Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus rose bodily from the grave AND ascended to Heaven. Paul is saying that because Jesus CONQUERED death, that means He has sovereign authority over YOUR death - and thus you can rest secure in Jesus' promise of everlasting life.
15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
There you have it! No resurrection of Jesus equals FUTILE or VAIN Christianity!
People who profess belief in Jesus are just doing so in another man, who has NO power to forgive their sins. There is no after-life. None of Jesus' teachings can be taken seriously - anymore than Socrates' teachings can be taken seriously.
That is, of course, IF Jesus didn't rise from the dead.
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
There you have it again - and in a way Paul is agreeing with what a couple folks in our discussion boards have said. If Christianity is made up (and it INDEED is made up if Jesus didn't really rise from the dead) then Christianity IS a hoax. It is a trumped-up religion that has duped billions of people. Truly "pitiable" to use Paul's term.
But, alas, Christianity is NOT made up. It is based on reality. Based on Fact. Based on Truth. And the resurrection confirms that.
