1 Corinthians 15: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul reminds the Corinthians of the good news he preached to them: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, and he lists the people who saw him alive afterward. He then answers those in Corinth who say the dead are not raised, arguing that if the dead are not raised, Christ was not raised either and their faith is empty. He sets out an order of events (Christ first, then those who belong to him at his coming, then the end) and answers the question of what kind of body raised people will have, using the picture of a seed and the plant it becomes. He ends with the change that will happen at the last trumpet and a call to stand firm in the Lord's work.

Claim by Claim

1. 15:1
   • Paul makes known to the brothers the gospel he preached to them
   • The brothers received that gospel
   • The brothers stand in that gospel
2. 15:2
   • The brothers are saved by that gospel
   • Being saved is conditional on holding fast the word Paul preached
   • Otherwise they believed in vain
3. 15:3
   • Paul delivered to them first of all what he also received
   • Christ died for our sins
   • Christ's death for sins was according to the scriptures
4. 15:4
   • Christ was buried
   • Christ has been raised on the third day
   • Christ's raising was according to the scriptures
5. 15:5
   • Christ was seen by Cephas
   • Christ was then seen by the twelve
6. 15:6
   • After that Christ was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time
   • The greater part of those five hundred remain alive at present
   • Some of those five hundred have fallen asleep
7. 15:7
   • After that Christ was seen by James
   • Then Christ was seen by all the apostles
8. 15:8
   • Last of all Christ was seen by Paul also
   • Paul was as one born at the wrong time
9. 15:9
   • Paul is the least of the apostles
   • Paul is not fit to be called an apostle
   • The reason is that Paul persecuted the church of God
10. 15:10
    • By the grace of God Paul is what he is
    • God's grace toward Paul was not empty
    • Paul labored more abundantly than all of them
    • It was not Paul who labored but the grace of God with him
11. 15:11
    • Whether it was Paul or the other apostles, this is what they preach
    • This is what the Corinthians believed
12. 15:12
    • Christ is preached as risen from the dead
    • Some among the Corinthians say there is no resurrection of the dead
    • Paul asks how they can say this
13. 15:13
    • If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised
14. 15:14
    • If Christ has not been raised, the preaching is empty
    • If Christ has not been raised, their faith is also empty
15. 15:15
    • They are found to be false witnesses of God
    • They testified concerning God that he raised up Christ
    • God did not raise Christ if in fact the dead are not raised
16. 15:16
    • If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised
17. 15:17
    • If Christ has not been raised, their faith is futile
    • If Christ has not been raised, they are still in their sins
18. 15:18
    • Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished
19. 15:19
    • If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are more to be pitied than all men
20. 15:20
    • Christ has now been raised from the dead
    • Christ has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep
21. 15:21
    • Death came through a man
    • The resurrection of the dead also comes through a man
22. 15:22
    • In Adam all die
    • In Christ all will be made alive
23. 15:23
    • Each person is raised in his own order
    • Christ is the firstfruits
    • Afterward those who belong to Christ are raised at his coming
24. 15:24
    • Then comes the end
    • At the end he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father
    • He abolishes all rule and all authority and power
25. 15:25
    • He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet
26. 15:26
    • The last enemy to be destroyed is death
27. 15:27
    • He has put all things under his feet
    • When it is said that all things are put under him, it is plain that the one who put all things under him is excepted
28. 15:28
    • When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things under him
    • The purpose is that God may be all in all
29. 15:29
    • Paul asks what those who are baptized for the dead will do
    • Paul poses the condition that the dead are not raised at all
    • Paul asks why they are then baptized for the dead
30. 15:30
    • Paul asks why they themselves stand in danger every hour
31. 15:31
    • Paul affirms by the boasting he has over them in Christ Jesus our Lord
    • Paul dies daily
32. 15:32
    • Paul fought with beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men
    • Paul asks what advantage that is to him
    • Paul asks this on the supposition that the dead are not raised
    • If the dead are not raised, the saying applies: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die
33. 15:33
    • Paul tells them not to be deceived
    • Bad company corrupts good character
34. 15:34
    • Paul tells them to wake up to righteousness
    • Paul tells them not to sin
    • Some have no knowledge of God
    • Paul says this to their shame
35. 15:35
    • Someone will ask how the dead are raised
    • Someone will ask with what body the dead come
36. 15:36
    • Paul calls the questioner a fool
    • What a person sows is not made alive unless it dies
37. 15:37
    • What a person sows is not the body that will come to be
    • What a person sows is a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of some other kind
38. 15:38
    • God gives it a body as he has willed
    • God gives to each of the seeds its own body
39. 15:39
    • Not all flesh is the same flesh
    • Men have one kind of flesh
    • Beasts have another flesh
    • Fish have another flesh
    • Birds have another flesh
40. 15:40
    • There are heavenly bodies
    • There are earthly bodies
    • The glory of the heavenly bodies is one kind
    • The glory of the earthly bodies is another kind
41. 15:41
    • The sun has one glory
    • The moon has another glory
    • The stars have another glory
    • One star differs from another star in glory
42. 15:42
    • The resurrection of the dead is likewise
    • The body is sown in corruption
    • The body is raised in incorruption
43. 15:43
    • The body is sown in dishonor
    • The body is raised in glory
    • The body is sown in weakness
    • The body is raised in power
44. 15:44
    • The body is sown a natural body
    • The body is raised a spiritual body
    • There is a natural body
    • There is also a spiritual body
45. 15:45
    • It is written that the first man Adam became a living soul
    • The last Adam became a life-giving spirit
46. 15:46
    • The spiritual was not first
    • The natural was first
    • Afterward comes the spiritual
47. 15:47
    • The first man is from the earth, made of dust
    • The second man is the Lord from heaven
48. 15:48
    • As the man of dust is, so also are those who are of dust
    • As the heavenly man is, so also are those who are heavenly
49. 15:49
    • We have borne the image of the man of dust
    • We shall also bear the image of the heavenly man
50. 15:50
    • Paul declares to the brothers that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
    • Corruption does not inherit incorruption
51. 15:51
    • Paul tells them a mystery
    • We shall not all sleep
    • We shall all be changed
52. 15:52
    • The change happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye
    • The change happens at the last trumpet
    • The trumpet will sound
    • The dead will be raised incorruptible
    • We shall be changed
53. 15:53
    • This corruptible must put on incorruption
    • This mortal must put on immortality
54. 15:54
    • When this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, the written saying will come to pass
    • The written saying is that death is swallowed up in victory
55. 15:55
    • Death is asked where its sting is
    • The grave is asked where its victory is
56. 15:56
    • The sting of death is sin
    • The strength of sin is the law
57. 15:57
    • Thanks be to God
    • God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
58. 15:58
    • Paul calls them his beloved brothers
    • He tells them to be steadfast
    • He tells them to be immovable
    • He tells them to always abound in the work of the Lord
    • They know that their labor is not in vain in the Lord

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

15:1

Paul wrote this letter to people in a city called Corinth. The King James word "brethren" means brothers. Here it means everyone who follows Jesus, men and women too.

15:2

"In vain" in the King James means empty, to no purpose. It carries no sense of vanity or conceit. Paul uses the same word again in verses 10, 14, 17 and 58.

15:3

When Paul writes "the scriptures" he means the Jewish scriptures, what Christians later called the Old Testament. No Christian writings yet existed as a recognized collection.

15:4

The third day counts the day Jesus died as day one.

15:5

Cephas is Aramaic for "rock," the nickname Jesus gave Simon; Peter is the Greek form of the same word. Paul usually calls him by the Aramaic name. "The twelve" was the standing title of the group of disciples Jesus chose, and the name stuck to the group even when it was briefly short of twelve men.

15:6

"Fallen asleep" is an ordinary ancient way of saying died. Paul's point in mentioning that most are still living is that these witnesses could still be found and questioned.

15:7

Not James the apostle, son of Zebedee, who was killed early. This is most likely James the brother of Jesus, who led the church in Jerusalem. "All the apostles" names a wider circle than the Twelve; Paul uses the word for commissioned messengers generally, including himself.

15:8

"Born out of due time" translates a blunt Greek word used for a miscarriage or a birth wrenched out too early. It is not a gentle image, and Paul may be picking up a taunt his opponents used against him.

15:9

"Meet" in the King James means fit or worthy. It has nothing to do with meeting someone.

15:10

"Grace" is favor given freely to someone who has done nothing to earn it, and in Paul's usage it also means the active help that comes with that favor.

15:12

Many Greeks of the time accepted that the soul survives death, but found the raising of a body repellent, since the body was precisely what the soul was glad to be rid of. That is the position Paul is arguing against here.

15:15

A witness is someone who tells what he really saw.

15:18

"Perished" here means finished, gone for good, not merely dead. Paul is spelling out what the Corinthian position would mean for friends and family who had already died.

15:19

In 1611 "miserable" meant deserving of pity, an object of others' sympathy. It did not mean feeling unhappy.

15:20

Firstfruits were the first portion of a harvest, brought to God before the rest was gathered in. The offering was both a gift and a marker that the full harvest was already under way and would follow.

15:22

Adam is the first human being in the Genesis account, the man through whom death enters the story. Paul is setting up a pattern: two men, each of whom starts something that everyone connected to him shares in.

15:23

"His coming" translates a Greek word used for the official arrival of a king or emperor at a city, a state visit with all its ceremony.

15:24

"Rule," "authority" and "power" are used here as titles for ranks of powers rather than as abstract qualities. Paul's readers would have heard them as names for forces, human and spiritual, that hold sway over the world.

15:25

The wording echoes Psalm 110:1. Putting enemies "under his feet" was a standard image of total conquest; a victorious king might literally set his foot on a defeated ruler's neck.

15:27

The quoted line is from Psalm 8:6, where it describes humanity being given charge over creation. The argument turns on pressing the word "all": the one who does the subjecting obviously cannot be among the things subjected.

15:28

"All in all" is a Greek way of saying completely and in every respect: God present in everything, with nothing left outside.

15:29

Paul refers to this practice in passing and never describes it, and no other writer of his century explains it either. Proposals include being baptized on behalf of believers who died before they could be baptized, and being baptized because of the dead, out of a wish to be with them. He argues from the practice here without saying anything about whether he approved of it.

15:30

"Jeopardy" means danger, and Paul means it literally. His travels regularly ended in beatings, riots, arrests and stonings.

15:31

"I protest" in the King James means I swear solemnly, and "rejoicing" here means boasting. Paul is taking an oath by the pride he takes in the Corinthians. "I die daily" means he is in danger of death every day, not that he dies in some inward sense.

15:32

Condemned criminals were thrown to wild animals in the arena, but a Roman citizen like Paul would not normally have been sentenced to that, and he lived to write the letter, so many read the phrase as a figure of speech for savage opposition at Ephesus. "Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die" is quoted from Isaiah 22:13, where it is the talk of people in a city about to fall.

15:33

This is a quoted proverb, a line from the Greek comic playwright Menander. "Communications" means the company you keep, and "manners" means character and habits, not politeness or table etiquette.

15:34

"Awake to righteousness" translates a Greek word that means to sober up from drunkenness. The image is of someone coming out of a stupor.

15:36

"Quickened" in the King James means made alive. "Quick" in this older sense means living, as in the phrase "the quick and the dead."

15:37

"It may chance" means perhaps. "Bare grain" is a naked seed, with nothing yet of the plant it will become.

15:39

"Flesh" means the soft parts that a body is made of.

15:40

"Celestial" means heavenly and "terrestrial" means earthly. "Bodies" covers both the sun, moon and stars and the bodies of living creatures; the single word holding both is what lets the comparison work. "Glory" here means visible brightness or splendor, not honor.

15:42

"Sown" is the farming word for planting seed, carrying on the image from verses 36 to 38. "Corruption" means decay, the physical process of rotting, and has no moral sense here.

15:43

"Dishonour" refers to the indignity of a dead body being put in the ground, not to disgraceful conduct.

15:44

The Greek contrasts a body animated by ordinary human life with a body animated by God's Spirit. "Spiritual body" does not mean a body made of spirit, or a ghost; it names what powers the body, not what it is made of.

15:45

The quotation is Genesis 2:7. "Living soul" renders a Hebrew phrase meaning simply a living creature; it does not describe a soul housed inside a body. "Quickening" means life-giving. "The last Adam" is Paul's title for Christ, set deliberately against the first man.

15:47

"Earthy" means made of earth or dust, recalling Genesis 2:7, where the first man is formed out of the ground. It does not mean coarse or crude.

15:50

"Flesh and blood" was a standard Jewish expression for a human being considered as a mortal, physical creature.

15:51

"Mystery" translates a Greek word meaning a secret that was hidden and is now being disclosed, not something baffling or beyond understanding. "Sleep" again means die, as in verse 6. "Shew" is the older spelling of show.

15:52

"Trump" is simply trumpet. Trumpet blasts summoned armies and called assemblies together, and in Jewish expectation a trumpet announced the day when God would act. "Last" marks it as the final signal.

15:53

"Put on" is the ordinary word for putting on a garment. The image is of one thing being pulled on over another rather than of a replacement.

15:54

The quoted line is from Isaiah 25:8.

15:55

The lines are drawn from Hosea 13:14. "Grave" translates a word for the realm of the dead, Hades in Greek and Sheol in Hebrew, the place where all the dead were thought to go, rather than a burial plot. Some early manuscripts read "death" in both lines and put "victory" first.

15:56

"The law" means the Law of Moses, the commandments given to Israel.

15:58

"Stedfast" is the older spelling of steadfast. "In vain" again means empty, producing nothing, the same word that ran through verses 2, 10, 14 and 17.