Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: 1 CORINTHIANS #21 - 15:12-34)
B. 15:12-34 RESURRECTION: AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE GOSPEL
1. 15:12-19 CHRIST'S RESURRECTON: BASIS FOR OUR RESURRECTION
a. 15:12 CHRIST'S RESURRECTION: PROOF THAT WE TOO SHALL RISE
Ei de ChrisTOS keRUSse-tai [2784]HOti ek neKRON [3498]eGEger-tai [1453],
Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from thedead,
pos LEgou-sin en huMIN tiNES HOti aNASta-sis [386]neKRON ouk EStin?
how say some among you that thereis no resurrection of thedead?
b. 15:13-14 CHRIST'S RESURRECTION: ESSENTIAL LEST GOSPEL IN VAIN
ei de aNAsta-sis neKRON ouk EStin, ouDE ChrisTOS eGEger-tai:
But if thereis no resurrection of thedead, neither has Christ been raised:
ei de ChrisTOS ouk eGEger-tai, keNON Ara to KErug-ma [2782]heMON, keNEkai hePIStis heMON.
14and if Christ has not been raised, then is our preaching void, and our faith also is void.
c. 15:15 APOSTLES: FALSE WITNESSES IF CHRIST ROSE NOT
heu-risKOme-tha de kai pseu-doMARtu-res [5575] tou TheOU;
Yes, we are found false witnesses of :God;
HOti e-mar-tuREsa-men [3140] kaTA tou TheOU HOti Egei-ren ton ChrisTON:
because we witnessed for :God that he raised the Christ:
hon ouk Egei-ren, EIper Ara neKROI ouk eGEIron-tai.
whom he raised not, if so be that thedead are not raised.
d. 15:16-17 VANITY OF FAITH: IF CHRIST ROSE NOT
ei gar neKROI ouk eGEIron-tai, ouDE ChrisTOS eGEger-tai:
For if thedead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised:
ei de ChrisTOS ouk eGEger-tai, maTAIa [3152]hePIStis huMON esTIN; Eti esTE en tais ha-marTIais huMON.
17and if Christ has not been raised, your :faith is vain;you are yet in your :sins.
e. 15:18 Then also those fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
Ara kai hoi koi-meTHENtes [2837]en ChrisTOaPOlon-to [622].
f. 15:19 CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS ESSENTIAL FOR OUR FUTURE
ei en tezo-E[2222]TAUteen ChrisTOel-piKOtes [1679]esMEN MOnon,
If we have in this :life only hoped in Christ,
e-le-eiNOte-roi [1652]PANton anTHROpon esMEN.
we are of all men rather pitiable.
2. 15:20-28 ORDER OF EVENTS PRIOR TO AND AFTER RESURRECTION
a. 15:20 But now has Christ been raised from thedead, first fruit of those asleep.
NuNI de ChrisTOS eGEger-tai ek neKRON, a-parCHE[536]ton ke-koi-meMEnon [2837].
b. 15:21 For since by man isdeath, by man isalso resurrection of thedead.
e-peiDEgar di' anTHROpou THAna-tos, kai di' anTHROpou aNAsta-sis neKRON.
c. 15:22 ADAM BROUGHT DEATH: CHRIST BRINGS LIFE
HOSper gar en toA-DAM PANtes a-poTHNEskou-sin [599],
For as in :Adam all die,
HOUtos kai en toChrisTOPANtes zo-o-poi-eTHNEson-tai [2227].
so also in the Christ shall all be made alive.
d. 15:23 CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS FIRST IN ORDER: THEN OURS
HEkas-tos de en toiDIoTAGma-ti [5001]: a-parCHE[536]ChrisTOS;
But each in his:own order: Christ a first fruit;
Epei-ta hoi tou ChrisTOU, en tepa-rouSIa [3952]auTOU.
then they that arethe Christ's, at his :presence.
e. 15:24 AFTER OUR RESURRECTION, GOD BECOMES ALL IN ALL
EIta to TElos [5056], HOtan pa-ra-diDO[3860]ten ba-siLEIan [932] toTheOkai paTRI;
Then the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to the God and Father;
HOtan ka-tarGEse[2673]PAsan arCHEN [746]kai PAsan e-xouSIan [1849]kai DUna-min [1411].
when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
f. 15:25 For he must reign, till he put all his :enemies under his :feet.
dei gar auTON ba-siLEUein [935], Achri hou thePANtas tous echTHROUS [2190]huPO tous POdas auTOU.
g. 15:26 Theenemy to be abolished last is:death.
EScha-tos echTHROS [2190]ka-tarGEItai [2673]ho THAna-tos [2288].
h. 15:27a. For, He subjected all things under his :feet.
PANta gar huPEta-xen [5293]huPO tous POdas auTOU.
i.. 15:27b CHRIST IS NOT SUBJECT TO ANYTHING
HOtan de EIpe HOti PANta hu-poTEtak-tai [5293],
But when he says that all the thingsare subjected,
DElon HOti ekTOS tou hu-poTAxan-tos auTOta PANta.
it isevident that he is excepted who did subject :all things to him.
j. 15:28 AFTER OUR RESURRECTION, CHRIST WILL SUBJECT HIMSELF TO GOD
HOtan de hu-po-taGEauTOta PANta, TOte kai auTOS ho huiOS hu-po-taGEse-tai
And when all the thingshave been subjected to him, then also the Son shall himself be subjected to him
tohu-poTAxan-ti auTOta PANta, HIna eho TheOS PANta en PAsin.
that did subject all the thingsto him, that :God be all in all.
3. 15:29-34 APART FROM RESURRECTION, HOLY LIVING IS FUTILE
a. 15:29a Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead?
E-PEI ti poiEsou-sin hoi bap-tiZOme-noi [907]huPER ton neKRON?
b. 15:29b-30 IF NO RESURRECTION, BAPTISM IS MEANINGLESS
ei HOlos neKROI ouk eGEIron-tai [1453], ti kai bapTIzon-tai huPER auTON?
If thedead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
ti kai heMEIS kin-duNEUo-men [2793]PAsan HOran [5610]?
30why are WE also in peril every hour?
c. 15:31 PAUL MAKES HIS BAPTISM VALID DAILY
kath' heMEran a-poTHNESko[599], neten hu-meTEran KAUche-sin [2746], a-delPHOI,
I protest by your glorying, brethren,
hen Echoen ChrisTOIeSOU toKuRIoheMON.
which I have in Christ Jesus our :Lord, I die daily.
d. 15:32a If :after man's manner I fought beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me?
ei kaTA ANthro-pon e-the-ri-oMAche-sa [2341]en E-PHEso, ti moi to Ophe-los [3786]?
e. 15:32b If thedead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
ei neKROI ouk eGEIron-tai, PHAgo-men [5315]kai PIo-men [4095], AUri-on gar a-poTHESko-men [599].
f. 15:33 Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.
meplaNASthe [4105]: PHTHEIrou-sin [5351]EthechresTA ho-miLIai [3657]kaKAI.
g. 15:34 WITHOUT RESURRECTION KNOWLEDGE, WE ARE TEMPTED TO SIN
ekNEpsa-te [1594]diKAIos [1345], kai meha-marTAne-te [264];
Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not;
ag-noSIan [56]gar TheOU tiNES Echou-sin: pros en-troPEN [1791] huMIN laLO.
for some have no knowledge of God: I speak to shame you.
NOTE: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. Our Lord Jesus knew what He was doing when He chose Paul to be His apostle to the Gentiles. For though He was able through the fully submitted Paul to say exactly what He wanted this primarily Gentile church to hear - yet at the same time He was able to use all the natural giftings of Paul to say His word through him! Thisis the miracle of the infallible inspiration of the 66 books of our Bible. It is Godusing mento infallibly set forth His thinkingon all subjects expressed. Bible Numerics undergirds and confirms this great miracle.
This particular passage shows forth this rare combination of God speaking through man to express the tremendous importance of Christ's resurrection as the basis of ours to follow.
15:22 became a rare verse to answer George Hawtin's dilemma. How could one man answer the need of every
man of the human race? But if one man, Adam, brought sin's contamination into the entire human race, then God could use one man, His only begotten Son, to atone for all what Adam introduced into our human race!
Scriptures clearly teach that God is the Father of the spirits of all men. It matters not our racial background as human beings - we are all of one family. We are all of one blood. Each individual can safely receive blood transfusions from any other individual of the human race. (Of course, differences in blood types must still be considered.)
According to spiritand according to blood, I am brother to every other member of the human race. Then when we enter the Kingdom of God by justification by faith, we enter into another and higher dimension.
15:29-34. The Lord's final concluding thought here through Paul is clear. The resurrection of Christ and His Ascension, and the Father sending the Holy Spirit through the Son, successfully erases the futility that otherwise would render holy living impossible.
And of course, the difficult passage of 15:29-30 and baptism for the dead - finds answer through the above. Various commentators have clearly seen how to make clear and simple this passage, and it is notthe Mormon answer.
Then - 15:33-34 shows that we must fellowship with friends who are vertically related with God and Christ - and horizontally one with another - in the light of this passage. Friends notrelated by verticalcovenant with God, and horizontalcovenant with one another - will have their morals in jeopardy. - J.A.W.