1 Corinthians 15:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

NIV: Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

NASB: Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

CSB: Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

NLT: So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

KJV: Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

NKJV: Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul began this section in verse 3 by describing the gospel as he preached it to his readers in Corinth and as he received it from Christ (Galatians 1:12). Faith in Christ's physical resurrection from the grave after His real and physical death is as central to the gospel as faith in Christ's death on the cross to cover sin.

Paul made a list of all those who had seen Christ alive after death, naming himself last, and then sidetracking into a short description of himself as one who did not deserve to be an apostle. By God's grace, though, he had vigorously carried out that mission.

Now he returns to the Corinthians and their faith in the gospel. The Christians in Corinth did hear it preached by Paul and other apostles and teachers. They believed it, too, exactly as it was presented to them. They believed that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for their sin on the cross, and that he was raised from the dead to live in a physical body.

Paul is emphasizing the fact that they believed in Christ's resurrection because some in the church were teaching that there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians. Paul begins to tackle that head on in the following verses.

First Corinthians 15:1–11 describes the gospel as it was delivered to Paul and as he delivered it to the Corinthians. It begins with the death of Christ on the cross for our sins, but it continues to His burial and, significantly, His resurrection. The alive-again Christ appeared to many people still alive at the time Paul wrote his letter. Paul establishes that the Corinthians believed the gospel, including faith in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Paul will connect that faith to belief in the resurrection of all believers from the dead.

Paul provides thorough teaching about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. This is a direct counter to some group of Corinthians who did not believe in such a resurrection. He shows that natural death is not the end of life for Christians; it is the last step before receiving a glorified, resurrected body like that of the risen Christ. That ''spiritual'' body will be as different from our current bodies as a star is from a fish. In that moment, for all who have believed in Christ, living and dead, death will be defeated for good.

In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians' thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.