1 Corinthians 15 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 53-55
Location
Written to the church in Corinth, a major Roman port city in Greece (Achaia)
Audience
The Christian church in Corinth, composed of both Jewish and Gentile converts, predominantly from lower social classes with some wealthy members
Situation
Paul addresses a theological crisis where some Corinthian believers were denying the resurrection of the dead, possibly influenced by Greek philosophical dualism that viewed the body negatively and bodily resurrection as impossible or undesirable.
Key Background
Corinth was a cosmopolitan city heavily influenced by Greek philosophy and Roman culture, where concepts of bodily resurrection were generally considered foolish. Paul had founded this church during his second missionary journey (Acts 18) and maintained contact through letters and messengers. The Corinthian church struggled with various issues including divisions, immorality, and confusion about spiritual matters, often reflecting tensions between their pagan backgrounds and Christian faith.
Now let me remind you, and of the I shared with you — the message you received, the one you've taken your stand on,
and through which you are being — if you hold on to the message exactly as I shared it with you. Otherwise, your was for nothing.
Because the most important thing I passed on to you was what I also received: that the died for our exactly as the said he would,
that he was buried, and that he was on the third day, exactly as the Scriptures said,
and that he to Peter, and then to the
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once — most of them are still alive today, though some have
Then he appeared to then to all the
And last of all, as if to someone at the he appeared to me too.
Because I'm the least of the apostles — I don't even deserve to be called an apostle, since I the of
But by God's I am what I am — and his toward me wasn't wasted. I actually worked harder than all of them, though it wasn't really me — it was God's working through me.
So whether it was me or them, this is what we all and this is what you trusted.
Now if the message we proclaimed is that the One has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say there's no such thing as from the dead?
If there's no resurrection from the dead, then not even the One has been raised.
And if the One hasn't been raised, then everything we've proclaimed is — and so is your trust.
What's more, we'd be exposed as liars about God, because we about God that he raised the One — which he didn't do, if in fact the dead aren't raised.
Because if the dead aren't raised, then the One hasn't been raised either.
And if the One hasn't been raised, trust is pointless — you're still in
And then even those who trusting in the One are simply
If our hope in the One is only for this life, we are the most people on earth.
But the truth is, the One has been raised from the dead — the to in a of all who have died.
Because since death came through a being, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a being.
Just as everyone dies because of their connection to everyone will be because of their connection to the One.
But each in their the One as the first of the harvest, and then those who belong to him when he
Then the end will come, when he hands over the to God the Father after he has every ruler, every and every power.
Because he must reign until he has put all enemies
The last enemy to be dismantled is itself.
Because God "put everything under his feet." Now when it says "everything" has been put under him, obviously this doesn't include God himself, who put everything under the One.
And when has been made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be made subject to the one who put under him, so that God may be to
Otherwise, what will the people who are being on of the accomplish? If the aren't raised at all, why are people being for them?
And why do we put ourselves in danger every hour?
I face death every single day — I swear it by the pride I have in you through the One Jesus, our
If I fought in just for human reasons, what did I gain? If the dead aren't raised, then "let's eat and drink, because tomorrow we die."
Don't be fooled:
up and start thinking straight. Stop Some of you are completely ignorant of — I say this to your shame.
But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body do they come back with?"
What a question! When you plant a seed, it doesn't come to life unless it first dies.
And what you plant isn't the body that will eventually grow — it's just a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else.
But God gives it the body he wants it to have, and to each kind of seed its own body.
Not all is the same: humans have one kind of animals have another, birds another, and fish another.
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the of the heavenly is one thing, and the of the earthly is another.
The sun has one kind of brilliance, the moon another, and the stars another — and even star differs from star in brilliance.
That's what the resurrection of the dead is like. What's planted in the ground — what's raised will.
What's planted is — what's raised is What's planted is weak — what's raised is powerful.
What's planted is a — what's raised is a If there's a there's also a
That's why Scripture says, "The first man, Adam, became a being" — but the last Adam became a
The spiritual didn't come first — the natural came first, and then the spiritual.
The first man was made from the of the The second man is from heaven.
People made from dust are like the man of dust, and people from heaven are like the man from heaven.
And just as we've carried the of the man made from dust, we will also carry the of the man from heaven.
Here's what I'm telling you, brothers and sisters: and can't God's kingdom, and what decays can't what never decays.