IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED

Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Key verse: 17

NIV

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,(A) how can some of you say that there is no resurrection(B) of the dead?(C) 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised,(D) our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.(E) But he did not raise him 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 futile; you are still in your sins.(F) 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep(G) in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.(H)

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, (A)how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, (B)then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that (C)he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and (D)you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who (E)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[a] in this life only, (F)we are of all people most to be pitied.

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Footnotes
  1. 1 Corinthians 15:19 Or we have hoped
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. If there is no resurrection of the dead (12-13)

...then we are swimming in a sea of death. There is no hope. Furthermore, not even Christ has been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then being a Christian has no point and no meaning. There is no good news to preach. There is no forgiveness and no way out of guilt and hell.

2. If Christ has not been raised (14-19)

...then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. Death is the end. We have no hope, and can only be overwhelmed by despair and fatalism. If there is no hope in heaven, then Christians who have lived sacrificial lives for Jesus' sake and the gospel's are losers. But Christ has been raised from the dead. We have a living hope in heaven (1Pe 1:3,4). We know that if we die with him, we shall also live with him (Ro 6:8). We are not losers, but victors in Jesus.

Prayer: Praise God who raised Jesus from the dead and gave us assurance of forgiveness, and a living hope in heaven.

One Word: Christ is alive!