The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

15 Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith]. ² By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].

³ For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],^{(A) 4} and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],^{(B) 5} and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the ^[a]Twelve. ⁶ After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death]. ⁷ Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all, as to one ^[b]untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.^{(C) 9} For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me. ¹¹ So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.

¹² Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that ^[c]some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth]. ¹⁵ We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, 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 worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].