1 Corinthians 15:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

NIV: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

NASB: and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

CSB: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

NLT: And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

KJV: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

NKJV: And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

This passage counters a misguided idea among some of the Christians in Corinth: that Christians will not be physically, bodily resurrected from the dead. Paul has followed the idea to its logical conclusions, an approach that would likely have been appreciated in the Greek culture that valued clear thinking, speaking, and logic.

If nobody is physically resurrected from the dead, Paul has written, that would mean Christ Himself was not raised from the dead. Since Christ's resurrection is essential to the gospel—the message that we can be forgiven for sin by God's grace and through faith in Christ's death and resurrection—then the faith the Corinthians had placed in Christ would clearly be futile, useless, pointless. The gospel is either true, or it is not—and the resurrection of Christ is a foundational part of the "good news." Unique among religious ideas, Christianity ties all its truth to a single, real-world event; "blind faith" or self-deception have never been compatible with the biblical ideal.

Far worse, if Christ is not raised, all those who have trusted in Christ would still be in their sins. That is, their sins would remain unforgiven by God, since they believed in a Savior who was no Savior at all. Without forgiveness of their sins, they would remain separated from God with no hope of salvation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Paul follows the implications of that in the verses to follow.

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.