Resurrection Essential to the Gospel

1Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your standa 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.a 3For I passed on to youa as most important what I also received: that Christ diedb for our sins according to the Scriptures,c 4that he was buried,a that he was raised on the third dayb according to the Scriptures,c 5and that he appeared to Cephas,a then to the Twelve.b 6Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time;a most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James,a then to all the apostles.b 8Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,a a he also appeared to me.b

9For I am the least of the apostles,a not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecutedb the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.a 11Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Resurrection Essential to the Faith

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,a how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?b 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.A 15Moreover, we are found to be false witnessesa about God, because we have testifiedb wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christa have also perished. 19If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

20But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruitsa of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since deatha came through a man,b the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.c 22For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.a

23But each in his own order:a Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end,a when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,b when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.c 25For he must reigna until he puts all his enemies under his feet.b 26The last enemy to be abolished is death.a 27For God has put everything under his feet.a b Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. 28When everything is subject to Christ, then the Sona himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.b

Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience

29Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead?A If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?B 30Why are we in danger every hour? 31I face death every day,a as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesusa as a mere man, what good did that do me?b If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.c d 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34Come to your sensesa a and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.b

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come? ” 36You fool! What you sow does not come to lifea unless it dies. 37And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38But God gives it a body as he wants,a and to each of the seeds its own body. 39Not all flesha is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendora of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. 41There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. 42So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;a 43sown in dishonor,a raised in glory;b sown in weakness, raised in power;c 44sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being;a b the last Adamc became a life-giving spirit. 46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust;a the second man isA from heaven. 48Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.a 49And just as we have borne the imagea of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.b

Victorious Resurrection

50What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesha and bloodb cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 51Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.a For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53For this corruptible body must be clotheda with incorruptibility,b and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. 54When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed upa in victory.b c

55Where, death, is your victory?

Where, death, is your sting?a b

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sina is the law.b 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victorya through our Lord Jesus Christ!

58Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work,a because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.