1 Corinthians 15:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

NIV: But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

NASB: Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

CSB: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, "There is no resurrection of the dead"?

NLT: But tell me this — since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?

KJV: Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

NKJV: Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

After establishing that the Christians in Corinth did believe that Jesus was physically raised from the dead, Paul now directly addresses his point in this section. Some people in the church were saying that Christians will not be raised from the dead—at least in bodily form—in the end times.

It's not clear exactly what these critics believed happens to Christians after death. Perhaps they believed that all the benefits of faith in Christ were experienced in this life and then the soul simply ceased to exist. Many in the Greco-Roman era believed that death was the end with no afterlife to follow. Others believed the death of the body released a person to a purely spiritual existence, in an afterlife marked by freedom from all the limitations of the physical.

It's unclear if the Corinthians had been influenced by false teaching or were naively blending Christian truth with cultural perspectives. In either case, Paul will correct their thinking in the following verses.

He begins by making what he thinks they should see as an obvious connection: If Christ was raised from the dead, as they had been taught and had believed, then how can anyone suggest that Christ's followers could not also be raised from the dead? Paul will use careful logic to show them the problem with this idea.

First Corinthians 15:12–34 describes all the implications for Christians if there is no resurrection, at all. Most importantly, that would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ was not raised, then Paul's preaching of the gospel was false, and the faith of those who believed it was worthless. All remain in their sins. Christ, though, was raised from the dead, and when He returns for those who are His, all who have died in Christ will be resurrected to new life, as He was after the crucifixion. Finally, Christ will reign on earth before delivering the kingdom to the Father.

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.