Resurrection Essential to the Gospel

15 Now brothers, I want to clarify^[a] for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand^(A) on it. ² You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.^{[b](B) 3} For I passed on to you^(C) as most important what I also received:

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles,^(P) unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted^(Q) the church of God. ¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.^{(R) 11} Therefore, whether it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Resurrection Essential to the Faith

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,^(S) how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?^{(T) 13} But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.^{[d] 15} In addition, we are found to be false witnesses^(U) about God, because we have testified^(V) about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ^(W) have also perished. ¹⁹ If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits^(X) of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death^(Y) came through a man,^(Z) the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.^{(AA) 22} For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.^{(AB) 23} But each in his own order:^(AC) Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end,^(AD) when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father,^(AE) when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.^{(AF) 25} For He must reign^(AG) until He puts all His enemies under His feet.^{(AH) 26} The last enemy to be abolished is death.^{(AI) 27} For God has put everything under His feet.^(AJ)[e] But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception. ²⁸ And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son^(AK) Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.^(AL)

Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience

²⁹ Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?^{[f] 30} Why are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day!^{(AM) 32} If I fought wild animals in Ephesus^(AN) with only human hope,^[g] what good did that do me?^[h](AO) If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.^{(AP)[i] 33} Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”^{[j] 34} Come to your senses^[k](AQ) and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.^(AR)

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” ³⁶ Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life^(AS) unless it dies. ³⁷ And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the future body, but only a seed,^[l] perhaps of wheat or another grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He wants,^(AT) and to each of the seeds its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh^(AU) is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor^(AV) of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. ⁴¹ There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for one star differs from another star in splendor. ⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead:

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being;^(BA)[m] the last Adam^(BB) became a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

Victorious Resurrection

⁵⁰ Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh^(BG) and blood^(BH) cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Listen! I am telling you a mystery:

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work,^(BR) knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.