In Accordance with the Scriptures

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. 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But 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, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. I Corinthians 15:1-11

Having gone to great lengths with their housekeeping issues in this epistle to the Corinthian saints, Paul now reminds them of the gospel he preached and they received, before launching into the doctrine of the resurrection(s). The word gospel means “good news.” The good news is that the Messiah has  come and fulfilled the plan of God for man’s salvation. Paul “makes known” to them again what they have believed in, thereby receiving eternal life, and in which they stand. The perfect tense of the verb “stand” means forever. Eternal security. They have received eternal life at the moment they believed in Jesus. They are continually “being saved” or delivered from the world system, by holding on to their faith in the word Paul preached. They, or someone they know, has denied the reality of the resurrection. If there were no resurrection, “you have believed in vain.”

Of first importance in Paul’s teaching is this: 1. Christ died as the propitiation for our sins, as the scriptures taught. 2. He was buried--proof that His human body had died. 3. He has been raised—perfect tense of the verb “raised” means he was raised once and remains alive forever. This is all according to the scriptures. Again, the principle: if it contradicts the written Word of God it is not the plan of God. Jesus executed His Father’s perfect plan. That is what he came to do.

The long list of eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection included Peter (Cephas) and all of the apostles, then hundreds, many of whom were still living to attest to it 25 years later. There was a meeting with James, the Lord’s brother, then again to all the apostles. Then to Paul…too late to have had the close companionship with Jesus the original apostles had enjoyed, and had thereby been somewhat prepared for the life of service. Too early to be included with the eventual salvation of Israel that Paul knew would be coming in the latter days. “Untimely born,” a man unique to the position he was given, when he, too, saw the resurrected Lord Jesus. It was sudden and unexpected, but Paul never had any doubt who it was. He who had been a vicious persecutor of Christians instantly became a member of the Body of Christ.

Note from J. Vernon McGee: There is no gospel without the resurrection. Jesus died, was buried, was resurrected, according to the scriptures. That’s the gospel. The gospel is not the sermon on the Mount or the Ten Commandments.

Greeks didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body. They considered the body the source of everything that is wrong with humanity and thought that bodily death was a good riddance. The truth of Jesus’ resurrection, therefore, was difficult for the Greek believers to absorb, even though they accepted the death and burial. Paul wanted them to understand there is no salvation without the resurrection, also. The physical body must die, to be sure, and the old sin nature dies with it. In resurrection, though, we are raised incorruptible, in a perfect body like that of our Lord. It is part of the whole grace package. It is what will make us acceptable in heaven. The Father planned it. The Son executed it. The Holy Spirit helps us to comprehend it. The apostle Paul worked hard to preach this truth to everyone he could reach.