1 Corinthians 15:3–7

1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15

Of the Resurrection of the Dead. 1 Cor. 15, 1-58.

The facts of Christ's resurrection: V. 3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; v. 4. and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; v. 5. and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve; v. 6. after that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. V. 7. After that He was seen of James, then of all the apostles.

But the Corinthians needed a warning: In what word I preached to you, if you hold fast, unless you believed idly. He had given them the content of the Gospel, as they well knew if they were adhering to it as they should. The power of that word was such as to work conviction in their minds, to give them the continuous benefit of the salvation appropriated to them. It surely could not be that they had believed idly, that their acceptance of the Word of the Gospel was a mere external acceptance, in heedless levity, without serious apprehension of the issues involved! The fulness of salvation and all its benefits is given through the Gospel, but foolishness and frivolousness will lose its glories.

With great emphasis Paul refers to the authenticity of his Gospel, to the fact that God alone was its Author: For I delivered to you in the first place, among the things first in importance, as belonging to the weightiest articles of faith, what also I have received. Whether Paul refers here to direct revelation or to his first lessons in Christian faith from the mouth of his teachers, is immaterial.

These first and most important articles of faith are that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He arose on the third day, according to the Scriptures.

Note the repetition of the reference which shows that the vicarious death of Christ, His burial, and His glorious resurrection were the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and type, just as Christ was wont to point back to the written Scriptures as telling of His suffering, death, and resurrection, Luke 24, 46. 47.

By His death Christ paid the debt of sin and transgression in full, His burial placed the certainty of His death beyond doubt, and His resurrection on the third day proved the completeness of His redemptive labors. If as much as one sin had not been paid for, as much as one transgression had not been expiated, the resurrection of Christ could not have taken place, the righteousness of God would not have permitted the return to life of Him who had failed in redeeming the world. But His resurrection is a fact, and therefore also our salvation is a fact.

And for this fact the apostle brings the testimony of the eye-witnesses, of men that had seen the risen Lord, for He had been seen by Cephas, Peter, some time on Easter Day, Luke 24, 34, probably in the afternoon.

Then He had been seen by the Twelve, that is, by the eleven disciples or apostles, on the evening of Easter Day, Luke 24, 36; John 20, 19, the appearance of the following Sunday evening being included.

Some time after that Christ was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, at one time, in one big gathering, probably in Galilee, by the entire number of men and women that had come to faith in Him during His earthly ministry. Compare Matthew 26, 32. The hundred and twenty that were present about the time of Pentecost include the brethren that lived in and around Jerusalem. Of those five hundred fortunate eyewitnesses to whom Paul refers, the majority were still living when he penned this letter, some twenty-five years after the event so prominently emphasized here, but some had fallen asleep; as children of the resurrection they had closed their eyes to this world, knowing that they would presently be with their Lord forever.

After that Jesus had been seen by James, the brother of the Lord, afterwards associated with Peter as a pillar of the congregation at Jerusalem, Galataians 1, 19; 2, 9. 12: then He appeared to all the apostles, for the last time, on the day of His ascension, Acts 1, 1–13. And every one of these disciples was a witness to the truth of the resurrection of Christ.