After all Paul has had to say to the Corinthian church, he wraps up with a reminder of the pure message of the gospel. This not only serves as a capstone to all his urging for them love one another, but also addresses the final problem being face by the church. Some had arisen who questioned the reality of the resurrection of Christ.
12But 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? I Cor. 15:12
Paul first reviews the gospel message as he did in chapter 2. The gospel is Jesus life, death, burial and resurrection. All who believe on Him will be saved. It’s that simple.
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, I Cor. 15:1-4a
He then gives details about the number of witnesses to the resurrection, stating over 500 brethren saw the Lord in addition to the Apostles and himself.
Through the first portion of this chapter he makes it clear that without the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith is meaningless and their lives and sacrifices are in vain. Its reality is the cornerstone of the faith, for without it the life and work of Jesus also becomes vain. He says that if we only have hope in this life (but not in a life after death), then we are “of all men the most pitiable” (v. 19).
On the subject of vanity, Paul pens a troublesome statement:
29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?
The exact meaning of this passage is a mystery, but has been the subject of much speculation and even practice. The Mormons allow baptisms on the behalf of dead, unbelieving souls. Certainly this can’t be the meaning, as we read in Hebrews 9:27
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
I believe a good paraphrase of this may be:
“If there is no resurrection, then why be baptized into the likeness of the death of Christ? He remains dead. Why baptized for the sake of a dead man? Baptism itself is meaningless and vain.”
He continues to address other things that are vain if, in fact, the dead do not rise again – fighting beasts at Ephesus, enduring suffering for Christ. All of this is to underscore the sweeping importance of the resurrection of Christ to all of Christianity.
Paul then answers those who doubt the resurrection because of ignorance about the kind of body we will have after the resurrection. He uses nature to argue that something dies (like a seed body) in order for new life to appear (the plant coming from the seed) and argues that our own resurrection will be a bodily resurrection.
We don’t often discuss our resurrected existence in such terms. We tend to think of a ghostly “spiritual” existence, except the Bible is clear the God has prepared new bodies for us and the end of our earthly existence will usher in a new creation (Rev. 21). Because we cannot envision it with our earthly eyes and imaginations does not make it any less real.
He ends with a rousing vision of our future glorification:
50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[g]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[h] 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Cor. 15:50-57
