• 15:1-34 Paul argues that resurrection is an important part of their faith.

• 15:35-58 Paul explains how the dead are raised and in what form.

• 15:1-11 Paul emphasizes the objective reality of both Christ's death and resurrection.

• 15:12-34 Paul appeals to logic to expose their contradictory positions of believing in Christ's resurrection but denying their own resurrection.
• v.12-19 If the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised, then everything is false.
• v.20-28 If Christ has been raised, then resurrection of the believers is inevitable.
• v.29-34 Activities of the Corinthians and Paul support resurrection.

15:3
Creed (basic tenets of faith) of early church: four points each introduced with the word "that":
 

(a)    Christ's death (v.3): He died on behalf of others to satisfy the penalty of sin and to overcome the alienation (between God and humans because of human sinfulness), Is 53:4-6

(b)    Christ's burial (v.4): the reality of his physical death

(c)    Christ's resurrection (v.4): "he has been raised" (perfect passive) meaning raised and still lives; popular Jewish belief that corruption set in the third day after death; Jesus was raised on the third day to fulfil Ps 16:9-11 that his body would not suffer corruption

(d)    Christ's appearance (v.5): not a form of spiritual existence

15:6
Paul invites everyone to inquire for themselves the authenticity of resurrection.

15:8
Paul considers his experience not a visionary experience but an actual resurrection experience.

15:9
Paul again argues that he is an apostle, but at the same time chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15).

15:10
God's gracious gift of apostleship was a divine initiative; Paul's response is his hard work. Despit his hard work, his emphasis is that nothing of God's grace is deserved.

15:15
If there is no resurrection, his preaching will then be a lie; even more seriously, Paul and others would be false witnesses about what God did and false witness in God's name.

15:17
Their faith is futile because: to themselves (the living), they are still in sin; to those believers who died, there is no future and they have died in their sins.

15:19
They would be most pitied because they have lost their future as well as their past and present.

15:20
firstfruits = the first of the harvest serving as a kind of guarantee for the full harvest (like the down payment of the Holy Spirit, 2Co 1:22, Eph 1:14); resurrection of the believing dead is absolutely inevitable because it has been guaranteed by God himself.

15:22
Christ stands at the beginning of the new humanity in a way analogous to, but not identical with, the way Adam stood at the beginning of the old order.

Death is inevitable because human beings share in the humanity and sinfulness of Adam. Similary, resurrection is inevitable as believers receive salvation in Christ.

15:23
Events in order: (a) resurrection of Christ; (b) resurrection of believers at the coming of Christ; (c) destruction of the enemy: dominion, authority and power (spiritual malevolent demonic powers, Eph 1:21; Ro 8:38; Col 1:16; 2:10,15; Eph 3:10; 6:12)

15:25
Christ reigns presently de jure (by right, in principle), ultimately de facto (in fact).

15:27
God will place all things under Christ, including his enemies and death (Ps 110:1, 8:6).

15:29
Problem with "baptism for (in behalf of) the dead": at least 40 solutions, none definitive. Possibly, the Corinthians believed baptism to be necessary for entering God's kingdom so some believers were baptized for others who were believers when they died but had never been baptized (a form of vicarious baptism).

Paul's noncommittal attitude toward it cannot be used to mean approval for such practice.

15:30
On a daily basis Paul faces the reality of death. Paul is indeed crazy to put his life in constant jeopardy for the sake of others, if neither he nor they have hope in resurrection.

15:32
Paul is in Ephesus at that time. In 16:9 he refers to many who oppose him there; "fighting with wild beasts" is probably metaphorical, referring to that struggle, involving also physical danger.

The citation is from Is 22:13; this philosophy is attributed to the Epicureans, a formula for life with loose moral and conduct.

15:33
Keeping company with evil companions can have a corrosive influence on one's own attitudes and behaviour; "company" can mean conversation, evil conversation denying resurrection.

15:34
Those who deny the resurrection ultimately live in ignorance of God. They are the same ones with sinful behaviour. This verse points to a genuine relationship between what one believes about the future and how one behaves in the present.

• Assure victory over sin and death: penalty paid, death conquered, redemption completed
• Symbolize what would happen to believers with ultimate full salvation (Php 3:21)
• Constitute our hope for the future, our resurrection

• Jesus' resurrection is genuine and can be proved "by many infallible proofs" (Ac 1:3, Greek word for proofs means demonstrable proofs). An objective person who examines all evidences carefully would come to the conclusion that resurrection of Jesus is irrefutable. The facts even convinced the truthful non-believing investigators such as Frank Morison who wrote "Who moved the stone?"

 
• Appearance (more than 10 times) after resurrection
• Empty tomb
• No opposition when Peter mentioned it at Pentecost
• Drastic change in the apostles (Jn 7:3-5, Ac 1:14)
• Testimony of the apostles and martyrs; power in the early church