The Good News of the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–11)

This has been a sad week in the life of our church. Our final enemy, death, has struck again. Though the saints who have died are in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6–8), sorrow has filled our hearts. And yet, because of the truth revealed in 1 Corinthians 15, our grief is accompanied by hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). That is, the good news of the resurrection—the good news of the new creation—sustains grieving disciples of Jesus Christ. Remembering the gospel (good news) of the resurrection is the light we need to pierce the darkness of devastating loss.

The good news of the resurrection influences how we live and how we die. Apart from the resurrection, of both Christ and Christians, the gospel is no good news at all. Hence Paul writes these 58 verses to ground the church in the good news of the resurrection. We begin our several-study consideration of this chapter by highlighting gospel continuance (vv. 1–2), gospel content (vv. 3–4), and gospel confirmation (vv. 5–11).

Gospel Continuance

Verses 1–2 highlight what we might call gospel continuance: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

Tom Schreiner writes, “Believers begin by means of the gospel and continue to stand in the gospel.” The Corinthian church began well in the gospel, and though they continued to stand in the gospel, nevertheless it is clear that some of them were “wobbling” as they stood (v. 12).

A bad company of resurrection deniers was destabilising the church both in their morals and in their morale (vv. 33–34). So Paul writes to remind them of what they first believed (vv. 1, 11). Remember the axiom, belief effects behaviour. Perhaps much of the bad behaviour Paul has addressed in this letter was the byproduct of erroneous belief about the resurrection, and therefore about the gospel.

Paul charitably addressed his readers as “brothers.” He believed and hoped the best (13:7). And yet he was concerned that they had forgotten the good news he had declared to them. Thus his words, “Now I would remind you … of the gospel I preached to you.” Literally, this reads “the gospel I gospelled to you” or “the good news of the good news I preached to you.”

“I declare to you” is better than “I remind you.” Though Paul was reminding them of the gospel, this serves as a not-so-subtle rebuke: “Hey church, let’s start all over, because you seem to not know the basics of the Christian life—the gospel.”

Paul is going to restate the gospel—God’s good news of what he has done for believing sinners through his Son (vv. 3–4ff). He reminds them how they had received (believed, taken as the “gospel truth”) this message, and how they apparently had been established in this gospel, enabling them to stand acquitted and accepted before God and equipping them to stand against the onslaughts to their faith. In other words, the gospel Paul again declares—the same gospel they had received—was a firm foundation for their faith.

Further, Paul’s gospel was continuing to save them. That is, the gospel not only justified them in the past, but was also the guarantee of their secured justification evidence by their ongoing sanctification. But then Paul adds a most important “if”: “If you hold fast to the word [gospel] I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

The words “hold fast” mean “to retain, to keep something from going away.” It was used metaphorically of keeping a ship heading in the right direction. From the content of this chapter, it is clear that, for some, their faith was heading for a shipwreck because they were denying a central tenant of the gospel: the resurrection (see 1 Timothy 1:19–20; 2 Timothy 2:17–18). If so, to deny the good news of the resurrection will prove them to have “believed in vain,” because they will not have continued in the faith.

The word “vain” occurs four other times in this chapter (vv. 10,14,14,58) but here a different Greek term is used. Rather than “empty,” vain here carries the idea of “without just cause” and refers to the content of what they have believed. The context has to do with the content of the gospel and thus if there is no resurrection then there is no reason for their belief. If the content is wrong, their confession of faith is useless. It will not succeed in making them stand right before God and consequently it will fail in saving them from their sins. As the Reformation Study Bible puts it, “Denying the resurrection of Christ makes our profession of faith useless.” Morris comments, “‘In vain’ refers to the possibility of belief on an inadequate basis…. They have not saving faith.”

By way of application, as we will see, the content of what we believe matters. If our “gospel” is not God’s gospel (Romans 1:1) then we have no gospel. And since God’s gospel is good news about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of the Christian, it matters what we believe about this.

The Christian is called to a life of “believing perseverance.” If we do not hold fast, then we are not being held fast. Hold to the one who holds you. Hold to the one who is risen and who will one day raise you from death.

Those who live like there is no resurrection (and thus no accountability) and yet who profess saving faith in Jesus Christ have “believed in vain.” Seriously, for what are you living? If your feet are firmly planted in the here and now, if you are merely ticking a box of church membership, church attendance, and church “community” then you really are “most to be pitied” (v. 18).

So, just what was this word which Paul preached to them? It was the gospel (euaggelizo), the content of which he details in vv. 3–4.

Gospel Content

If the believer will continue to believe in the gospel, to stand in the gospel, and to continually be saved by the gospel, the believer must know the gospel. Paul is crystal clear in his explanation of the gospel content: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

The Deliverance of the Gospel

“For I delivered to you as of first importance” (v. 3). Paul “committed” or “handed over into the hands” of the Corinthians that which was central (“first importance”) for them to know: the gospel (Acts 18).

The word translated “delivered” connotes “to hand over for safe keeping.” They were not only to believe this message but also to guard it. They had a stewardship of the gospel. As does every local church today.

The Doctrine of the Gospel

Paul then details the doctrine of the gospel: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (vv. 3–4).

Christ Crucified

In 2:2, Paul said that his message was Jesus Christ crucified. The cross of Jesus Christ is central to the gospel. If Jesus did not die for our sins, there is no good news. Our epitaph would simply be, “Life is hard, then we die, and then we die again, the second death under God’s eternal condemnation.” But because Jesus died for our sins, because he died as God’s appointed substitutionary sacrifice for sinners, we have the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. In his death on the cross, Jesus became a curse for those who would repent and trust him alone for forgiveness and reconciliation. He suffered God’s wrath for chosen sinners (propitiation). He fulfilled God’s prescribed and published justice against sin and sinners, that is, death, both physical and spiritual (Romans 6:23).

Paul says that the death of Jesus Christ for our sins was “in accordance with the Scriptures,” which means that the Scriptures as a whole point to this (Luke 24:25–27).

On several occasions, Jesus told his disciples of his imminent death, as well as of his subsequent resurrection (Mark 8:31; 9:31). But the Old Testament pointed to his substitutionary death for sinners, from the first announcement (Genesis 3:15), through the sacrificial-priestly system, as well as clear references such as Isaiah 53:3–4, 11–12. In other words, the gospel truth is grounded in God’s revealed plan. It was his foremost plan, not a mere afterthought. The gospel is grounded in the word of God. There is nothing more reliable than that. In a world that denies absolutes, Christians have received the absolute truth.

Paul’s next statement—“that he was buried”—is the verification of Jesus’ death. Jesus was buried (entombed) precisely because he died and was therefore dead—for sinners.

Paul has made much of Christ and his cross work throughout this epistle, most densely in the opening two chapters. If we will experience the good news that we are forgiven by and reconciled to God, if we will continue to stand amid all the bad news of this fallen world, if we will continue to be saved from the power, pleasures and, one day, the presence of sin, we must persevere in believing that Jesus truly died for our sin. Each of us must be able to say wholeheartedly, “Jesus died for my sins.”

Christ Resurrected

Too frequently, when Christians are asked about the content of the gospel, they speak of the death of Jesus Christ without including his resurrection. If there was no resurrection, then this is barely good news, for several reasons, not the least which is that what Jesus claimed to accomplish (“It is finished” [John 19:30]) would prove to be a false claim. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the vindication of what he accomplished and the surety that it can be applied (Romans 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:16; see Acts 17:31).

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is crucial to his cross work. To preach Jesus Christ crucified (2:2) is to preach him risen, indeed.

As Paul will argue, the resurrection of Jesus is the surety of the believer’s resurrection. If you believe the gospel then, by extension, you will believe in the good news of the Christian’s resurrection. Because Jesus defeated death, so will those who trust in him. The corollary is inseparable.

Let me observe at this point, again, how central the gospel message is to the everyday existence of the Christian. The gospel gives us hope, not only in this life but much more for God’s new creation after death. The gospel is not merely about becoming a new creation in our fallen bodies, but it promises the good and glorious news of a new creation in risen, with glorified bodies that will never be subjected to another fall. That is hopeful. That is gospel.

When Paul writes that Jesus “was raised on the third day,” he uses the perfect tense, which indicates a once-for-all act with continued results. That is, Jesus was raised and he remains raised!

There are accounts in Scripture of people dying and being resurrected but who, in each case, died again and whose bodies decayed in the ground. Not so with Jesus. When God the Father and God the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, they raised him to die no more (Psalm 16). We recently celebrated this on Ascension Day. Jesus is very much alive, seated at the right hand of the Father. He has an “indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16). What life-altering good news!

As with Christ’s death, so his resurrection was in accordance with the Scriptures. Again, there is a thread of teaching in Scripture pointing to a risen Messiah.

This may be cryptic, and only retrospectively, but it could be argued that Genesis 3:15 does so (cf. Romans 16:20). Other passages that suggest the resurrection of Christ might be Jonah 1:17 (see John 12:38–41) and Hosea 6:2. Isaiah 53:10 and 12 are notable by implication. Most clearly, Psalm 16:9–11 is confirmed as Messianic in Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:22–32). In summary, Paul is making the point that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is verified by God’s Word.

The gospel is not a manmade invention but is rather the promise of God. And it is by the power of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ informs us that the good news that God saves sinners requires a miracle of life from the dead. It requires God’s power to give life to those spiritually dead. But the resurrection of Jesus also reminds us that Jesus is Lord. The good news is that, though we are rotten lords, God’s appointed Lord Jesus is a great Lord, who never fails.

All of this is important and whole series could be taught on these themes. But Paul wants the Corinthians to remember that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is backed by Scriptural authority. And so are its implications. That is, since God has kept his promise to send the Messiah, to sacrifice the Messiah on our behalf, and to raise the Messiah from the dead, God will keep his promise to raise from the dead all those who have “received,” who “stand,” and who “are being saved” because they have “believed” this good news. Hence the folly and falsity of denying the resurrection of the dead. As Paul will forcefully argue, since Jesus rose from the dead, so will those for whom he died and rose again.

The gospel is good news that believers are saved from their sins. The gospel is good news that we are saved to newness of life. That is, we are saved to be resurrected from the dead into a glorious new creation. The gospel could never be good news if our hope is only in this life. What possible comfort could a resurrection-less “gospel” provide for those who grieve? Yet, because the gospel is true, because Jesus did rise from the dead, they can be comforted knowing that their deceased loved ones, along with every Christian who has ever died, will live again. Like Jesus, they have died to never die again. For those in Christ who have died, the sting of death has been forever removed.

Of course, this begs the question, what evidence is there that Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead? Paul tells us in what follows.

Gospel Confirmation

Just as he mentioned the burial to verify the death of Jesus (which doubly serves to verifies the resurrection), here Paul mentions several post-burial appearances of Jesus to verify that “he was raised on the third day.”

Confirmed by Eyewitnesses

The word “appeared” occurs several times in vv. 5–7. It is a rare word, used only five times in the New Testament, and only once outside of 1 Corinthians (in Acts 1:3 where it refers to the risen Lord appearing to the disciples at various times over the forty days before ascending to the Father). It means “to gaze with eyes wide open at something remarkable.” A risen Lord is indeed remarkable!

But this word also implies scrutiny. The witnesses to the resurrection (Acts 4:33) were not gullible. They were not hallucinating or entertaining wishful delusions but rather they looked upon (and handled) the risen Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1). The risen Lord initiated in-person appearances to hundreds of people, many of whom were significant in the early church, in order to verify that he is risen.

These eyewitnesses encourage us that Christians will visibly see Christians who have died because they too will rise from the dead. Hang on to that gospel hope.

“Cephas” (Peter) is Paul’s first witness, and an important one since he was apparently highly esteemed by many in the Corinthian church (1:12). “The Twelve,” which is a formal title for the band of disciples are mentioned next. Matthias, of course, replaced Judas. The Twelve struggled to believe in the resurrection and their fearful response at Jesus’ crucifixion, followed by their transformation into bold witnesses, testifies to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ—and thus to the resurrection of believers.

“More than five hundred brothers at one time” were likely gathered in Galilee (Matthew 28:16–17) where Jesus appeared in person. One of the most ludicrous denials of the resurrection is the supposition that these hundreds of disciples all experienced the same hallucination that Jesus was alive—at the same time! That might be an even greater miracle than the resurrection! And if there were scoffers in the church of Corinth, they could personally interview most of these witnesses, for Paul says that “most” of them were “still alive” (v. 6).

“James,” the Lord’s brother (Matthew 13:55), the first pastor-teacher of the church in Jerusalem, also received an appearance from Jesus. What a scene that must have been. “Hi James, recognise me? I know that you did not believe I was Messiah when I was alive (John 7:5), but now that I have died and come back to life, you must believe!” And he did believe. He came to know of his elder brother as the ultimate elder brother, who saved him from his sins (Hebrews 2:10–11). If one is looking for a sceptic, look no further than Jesus’ half-brother, James. And yet look at what happened when he met the risen Lord whom he had previously denied.

“All the apostles”, perhaps refers to Jesus’ appearance in the upper room, as recorded in John 20 when “doubting Thomas” was present and no longer doubted!

We can conclude that, both theologically (biblical attestation) and historically, belief in the resurrection of Jesus (and therefore of all Christians) is confirmed as true. The resurrection is “true truth” as Francis Schaeffer often said.

David Prior helpfully comments, “We constantly need to reiterate the heart of the gospel, and that involves taking a firm grip on the historical facts.” We have credible reason to “hold fast” (v. 2) to the word preached and believed.

In a world of bad and terrible and devastating news, keep reiterating the good news. Our gospel is God’s gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ and is therefore credible. To believe the gospel is not to take a leap into the dark, but rather it is to step into the light. The light of truth. As we Christians are confronted with the devastation of death, we must cling to the historic truth of the resurrection of Christ, which assures us of the glorious resurrection of our loved ones, and of ourselves.

Confirmed by Experience

They say that “he who represents himself has a fool for a client.” That may be true in some cases, but not here. Paul’s final witness is himself.

Paul argues the case of his own conversion to confirm the resurrection of Jesus and thereby confirm the resurrection of the Christian.

Having mentioned apostles (v. 7), Paul includes himself in the apostolic witness, yet as one “untimely born.” It is a strange term, implying a miscarriage or an aborted birth. It is argued by some that the term was an abusive term, used to demean someone as being “malformed.” It is possible that Paul’s critics used it to depict him as someone grotesque. Though he claimed to be born again, his critics accused him of being stillborn. Perhaps. I think an argument can be made that Paul is saying that the way he became an apostle was very different than the Twelve. In fact, he says that he is “the least of the apostles,” perhaps because he did not spend three years with Jesus and the Twelve. But he elaborates and says that he is “unworthy to be called an apostle” because he had “persecuted the church of God.” His hands were stained by the blood of martyrs, including Stephen (Acts 7:54–8:1).

Paul’s self-deprecation was not only because of his shame over his former treatment of the risen Lord and his followers, but also because of his awareness of the profundity of God’s saving grace to him. He expresses this in the words, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (v. 10). By God’s grace, the risen Lord, whom he denied as a fraud, pursued him anyway. The risen Lord, whom Stephen saw on the right hand of the Father, reached down and saved his miserable, self-righteous soul. This saving grace by the crucified and now risen and very much alive Lord was not wasted on Paul. It “was not in vain.” This is a different word than the “vain” of v. 2. This word means “empty.” Paul boasts, not in himself, but rather in the Lord, whose grace so filled him with passion for the gospel that he “laboured to the point of exhaustion” (kopiao), more than the other apostles. This was not a statement of a celebrity Christian drawing attention to himself playing the game of one-upmanship. It was the confession of a man who loved much because he was forgiven much (Luke 7:47).

Paul is confirming the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by pointing his readers to the power of the gospel, which is powerful good news because the one to whom the good news points is alive. He is risen. And a risen Lord is able to raise others from both biological and spiritual death.

Paul concludes with a summary statement: “Whether it was the Twelve, or whether it was me, we preach the same gospel, we proclaim the same Jesus crucified and risen, in whom I and in whom you believed.” Therefore, keep on believing. Keep on holding fast to this gospel. The resurrection is true. Your faith is not vain. He is risen. And you will rise as well.

Conclusion

What should we take away from these eleven verses? A lot. But let me funnel it down to three main applications.

Christian, the resurrection of Jesus is good news because of what it secured for us—our justification (Romans 4:25). By Jesus’ death and resurrection, our salvation is secure, forever. Our sins are gone and we will never be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Hold fast to this.

Christian, as Paul will instruct, because Jesus Christ is risen, not only are you justified but you will also be glorified after you die. As death rears its sting-infested head this week, weep with joy assured dead believers will rise from the dead into a glorious eternity, into a sinless new creation, alongside you and me. Let the good news of the resurrection sustain you when perhaps you think nothing can get you through your grief.

Non-Christian, despite all the things with which you have filled your life—money, possessions, recreation, travel, success, health, etc.—you are empty. Your life is vain—it has no reason. Your life is a failure apart from being in a reconciled relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The solution? Confess your rebellion against your Creator. Confess your inability to make things right with God on your own. Turn to Jesus Christ who died for sinners, taking their deserved wrath from God in their place, and trust him who has risen, and who lives to intercede for the forgiveness of sinners. Repent and believe on the living Lord Jesus Christ. Do so today. Do so right now.

AMEN