1 Corinthians 15:12-19

An Empty Hope Without A Resurrected Lord

Since the Corinthian brethren had accepted the fact of Christ's resurrection, as supported by the verses we studied in the last lesson, the apostle wondered why some were saying there was not a resurrection? Anyone denying the general resurrection, had to deny that Jesus was raised (1 Corinthians 15:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

If Jesus was not raised, the preaching of the apostles was in vain. Too, the faith of all who believed that preaching stood on a worthless foundation (Matthew 12:39-40; Romans 1:4). In fact, Paul said their faith was vain, which literally means empty or void. If the dead are not raised, then Christ was not raised. If Christ was not raised, then the apostles had lied about what God had done. They would have been falsely accusing God of doing something he never did (1 Corinthians 15:14-15; Acts 2:32; Acts 17:30-31).

Paul reemphasized the most important part of the argument, which is found in verse 13, by saying Christ cannot be risen if the dead cannot be raised! Without a general resurrection, the faith of those in the Corinthian church was vain and they were still in sin (Romans 4:25; Romans 6:23). Anyone who had already died in the midst of such an empty belief was damned. The apostles had only experienced persecution and death because of their teaching about Jesus as a resurrected Lord. In such a pitiable state, they surely would have abandoned their belief if they had have known it had no support (1 Corinthians 15:16-19).