A review

1Now, brothers, I want to add information to the Gospel that I proclaimed to you, that you also received, and in which you stand;

2through which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word that I proclaimed to you—unless you believed in vain. ¹⁹⁷

3Because I transmitted to you at first that which I also received: ¹⁹⁸that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. ¹⁹⁹

6After that He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, while some have fallen asleep. ²⁰⁰

7After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

8And last of all He was seen by me also, like one born out of season.

9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain; in fact, I have worked harder than all of them—well, not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

11So whether it was I or they, thus we preached and thus you believed.

Resurrection is a fact

12Now if Christ is being proclaimed as having been raised from among the dead, how can some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is empty, and so is your faith!

15Further, we are even discovered to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified about God that He raised the Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

16For if no dead are raised, neither has Christ been raised.

17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.

18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19If it is only for this life that we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. ²⁰¹

The sequence of events

20But indeed, Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also came through a man. ²⁰²

22For as all in Adam are dying, so also all in the Christ will be made alive. ²⁰³

23But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ at His coming;

24then the end, ²⁰⁴when He hands over the Kingdom to the God and Father, whenever He puts an end to every ruler and all authority and power.

25Because it is necessary that He reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.

26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁰⁵

27For “He has put all things under His feet.” ²⁰⁶But when it says that all things have been subordinated, it is obvious that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

28Now whenever all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

Consequences of denial

29Otherwise, what will they do who are being baptized in place of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, just why are they being baptized in the place of the dead? ²⁰⁷

30And why do we face danger every hour?

31I die every day ²⁰⁸—so I affirm by the boasting about you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

32If I fought human ‘animals’ in Ephesus, ²⁰⁹what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ²¹⁰

33Stop kidding yourselves: evil associations corrupt good habits.

34Sober up righteously, and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. ²¹¹

A philosophical objection

35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

36Ignorant, what you plant is not brought to life unless it dies.

37And what you plant is a bare seed (perhaps of wheat or some one of the others); you do not plant the body that it will become.

38But God gives it a body just as He determined, to each of the seeds its own body.

39All flesh is not the same flesh: that of humans is one kind, and the flesh of animals is another, ²¹²that of fish is another, that of birds is yet another.

40There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, while that of the earthly is another.

41There is one splendor of the sun, another splendor of the moon, and another splendor of the stars; and star differs from star in brightness.

42The resurrection of the dead is like that: the body is ‘planted’ in deterioration and it is raised in incorruptibility;

43it is ‘planted’ in dishonor and it is raised in glory; it is ‘planted’ in weakness and it is raised in power;

44it is ‘planted’ a natural body and it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. ²¹³

45So also it is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; ²¹⁴the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.

47The first man was of the earth, of soil; the second man was the Lord ²¹⁵from heaven.

48As was the earth-man, just so are the earth-people; and as was the heaven-man, just so are the heaven-people.

49And just as we have borne the image of the earth-man, we should also bear the image of the heaven-man. ²¹⁶

Our turn is coming

50Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither will deterioration inherit incorruptibility.

51And now, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed

52—in a split second, in an eye twinkle, at the last trumpet—the trumpet will blast and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

53Because this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.

54So whenever this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality, then this written word will happen: “Death has been swallowed down into victory.” ²¹⁷

55“Where, O Death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?” ²¹⁸

56The stinger of death is sin, and the adjunct of sin is the law.

57Now thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

58So then, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.