Tyndale Open Study Notes1 Corinthians 15

Paul summarizes the good news about Jesus he preached.

Some church members doubted a future resurrection of the dead. Paul reassures them and addresses their skeptical questions by discussing the nature of a resurrection body.

The main message of the good news is the message of Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection (see 15:3–4; Romans 5:8–10; 6:5–11).

If you hold firmly to the word I preached to you: Those who stay strong in their faith will find salvation (see Matthew 10:22; 24:13; John 15:6; Galatians 5:4; Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 6:4–6; contrast with 1 Corinthians 1:8; Romans 8:38–39; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 6:9).

The main message of the good news is that Christ died for our sins (see Romans 3:24–25; 5:8–10; Galatians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:9–10).

according to the Scriptures: See Psalm 16:10; Hosea 6:2; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; Acts 2:24–32.

• He appeared to Cephas: See Luke 24:34.

• then to the Twelve: See Matthew 28:16–17; Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36; John 20:19.

More than 500 people saw him. We have no other record of this event. Most of these witnesses were still alive when this letter was written (around AD 53–56). People could verify Christ’s resurrection by asking these living eyewitnesses.

Then He appeared to James: This James was almost certainly the brother of Jesus. He became a leader of the Jerusalem church after Jesus died (see Mark 6:3; John 7:1–5; Galatians 1:19; compare Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18).

• as to one of untimely birth: This phrase can refer to a miscarriage or stillbirth. Here it might describe the unusual way Paul converted, the negative view some opponents had of his role as an apostle, or his own feelings of unworthiness to be an apostle. The main focus is on God's extraordinary grace to Paul, who once persecuted Christ’s followers (see Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6; compare Acts 8:3; 9:1–2).

• He appeared to me also: Paul met the risen Christ during his conversion (see 1 Corinthians 9:1; Acts 9:3–6; Galatians 1:15–16).

But by the grace of God: Paul understood God's special favor, or grace, towards him, which led to an extraordinary response. This response was also God working through Paul by his grace (see 2 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27).

The important thing is the message, not the people delivering it (compare1:10–12).

The resurrection of Jesus proves that a future resurrection is real.

Paul argues for a future resurrection.

Some believers in Corinth struggled to accept the Jewish idea of a bodily resurrection. They preferred the Greek idea of the soul's immortality (compare Acts 17:18, 32).

If Christ did not rise from the dead, then the Christian faith is pointless. However, Jesus’ resurrection proves that His sacrifice completely atoned for human sins (see 15:3). Without Christ's resurrection, people remain unforgiven and under God's judgment, still guilty of their sins (see Romans 3:19; Ephesians 2:1–3).

Without eternal life, faithful believers deserve pity more than anyone else because they face persecution and hardship. However, they find joy in looking forward to what comes after this life, just like Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2) and Paul (see 2 Corinthians 4:16–18; Philippians 1:21–23; 3:7–11).

In the Old Testament, people dedicated the first crop to God (see Exodus 23:19). Christ’s resurrection is the first of many resurrections of God’s people (see Colossians 1:18).

Adam's sin contrasts with Christ's resurrection (compare 15:45–49).

Christ is the Lord of everything, including death. However, he is still under the authority of God, his Father.

dominion, authority, and power: This phrase refers to spiritual forces that oppose Christ (compare Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 2:10, 15; 1 Peter 3:22).

• This paraphrase of Psalm 110:1 refers to Jesus (compare Hebrews 1:13).

• God has put everything under His feet: In the ancient Near East, artists showed victorious kings with their feet on the necks of their defeated enemies.

everything has been put under Him: See Psalm 8:6; compare Matthew 22:44.

Some first-century Christians practiced baptism by proxy for dead unbelievers they wanted to save. Paul does not endorse or condemn this practice; he uses it as evidence for belief in resurrection. Early Christian literature does not mention this practice elsewhere.

The apostles risked their lives because they believed in life after death. Without resurrection, their suffering would be meaningless.

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus: Paul uses this phrase to describe his struggles with opponents in Ephesus (see 16:8; Acts 19:23–41; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 4:8–12; 11:23–28). Watching condemned prisoners fight wild beasts and get mauled to death was common entertainment in the Roman world.

"Bad company corrupts good character": This quote comes from the Greek poet Menander, who lived in the 300s BC. Paul uses it as a warning not to follow or listen to people who teach what is false.

some of you are ignorant of God: Paul strongly criticizes those who are proud of their knowledge but doubt the resurrection.

Paul talks about what resurrection bodies are like, possibly answering doubts. In the Greco-Roman world, people often believed the soul was immortal, but not that the body could rise again.

You fool!: Paul’s strong response suggests skepticism. It might also imply that the answer cannot be known.

Just as a plant's shape does not look like its seed, the seed still determines the plant's growth. Similarly, the resurrection body will differ from the current body but will still be recognizable as the same person.

Everything God has made has its own glory. This means each thing has its own beauty and greatness. The resurrection body will also be different. It will not be like anything else.

Resurrection bodies will be very different from our mortal bodies, just as plants differ from the seeds they grow from.

Just as Christ's life-giving Spirit goes beyond natural life, the spiritual body will replace the physical body.

Adam and Christ created two different groups of people. One group is natural and earthly, bound by sin and death. The other group is spiritual and heavenly, cleansed and meant for life. Adam symbolizes the natural, physical body, while Christ represents the spiritual, resurrected body. See also 15:21–22; Romans 5:12–21.

Adam was made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7), showing his earthly origin. This contrasts with Christ's heavenly origin.

• Earthly man: Like Adam, natural human beings face the curse of sin and death. All return to dust (see Genesis 3:19). They all die.

• as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven: Those who belong to Christ share in his eternal spiritual life.

Like Adam, the first man, we have physical bodies in this life. But one day, we will be like Christ, the heavenly man, and experience the kingdom of God with resurrection bodies (compare Romans 6:4–14).

Physical bodies cannot enter God's kingdom. Only a spiritual, resurrected body can fully experience the kingdom (compare John 4:24).

• The good news about Jesus reveals the once unknown secret of resurrection.

• We will not all sleep: Paul might have expected the future resurrection during his own lifetime (compare 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17).

Compare 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17

"Death has been swallowed up in victory": Resurrection defeats the ultimate enemy, death. The power of the Spirit helps believers overcome sin now (see Romans 8:2, 11).

• This quote from (Hosea 13:14 assures believers they need not fear death.

• Death is compared to the sting of a scorpion.

The death and resurrection of Christ end the control of sin and death (see Romans 6:14; 8:2; 10:4).

your labor in the Lord is not in vain: Those who serve him faithfully will receive eternal rewards (see 3:12–15).