I Corinthians 15:14 – “And if Christ be not risen…”
It has been rightfully stated that every major doctrine of the Bible has a chapter devoted to it. As for the resurrection, I Corinthians 15 is the chapter given to this great subject. All Bible students, as well as the vast majority of atheists, agnostics, and skeptics, know for a fact of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Paul the apostle, in the aforementioned chapter, sets out, not to prove that Christ has risen from the dead; but rather to show to Christians and the rest of the world the awful circumstances that would be true had Christ not risen from the dead. Oh, how dreadful the picture if Jesus Christ is dead! How hopeless the estate of every reader! With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we who are saved have an endless hope; without it, we have a hopeless end! Let us look now at where we would be apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ be not risen, then
Our Preaching is Vain
I Corinthians 15:14 – “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain.”
All preaching is vain if Christ is yet dead. Now, listen carefully. We who believe the Bible know for a fact that all of the Mormons’ preaching is vain. It is useless because it is a lie. There is no so-called “other testament” of Jesus Christ. The God of the Bible was not once a man who elevated to a state of deity. All who preach the message of the “Watchtower” are preaching lies. All of that preaching is vain, or useless.
But Paul is not speaking of the preaching of false prophets when says “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain.” The preaching of false teachers is vain, useless, and worthless whether Christ is risen from the dead or not. Paul says, “If Christ be not risen, then is OUR preaching vain!” Paul considered his own preaching useless and worthless if Christ is yet dead. Paul preached justification by faith, which is right. We are declared righteous because Christ paid off the penalty of our sins when He died, and because He rose from the dead. The resurrection of Christ proves that our sins really are paid for, and that we do not have to die in our sins. Death occurs because of sin. Jesus did not die because of His sins, for He had no sins. Notice:
II Corinthians 5:21 – “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Hebrews 4:15 – “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 7:26 – “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”
I John 3:5 – “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.”
Christ could die for OUR sins because He had no sins of His own for which to die. Should Christ have had sins of His own, He would have died because of His own sins, because the wages of sin is death, according to Romans 6:23. But, since Christ had no sins of His own, He could rightfully pay the penalty of sin for you and me. In addition to paying the penalty of sin for us, death could not hold our Lord in the grave! It is impossible for One who is absolutely untainted by sin to remain in a grave and rot! This is why the Old Testament prophesied that God would not allow the flesh of Jesus Christ to see corruption. Christ could not remain in a grave because His flesh was not defiled by sin. By raising His Son from the dead, the Father shows the world that Christ in no way died for His own sins; He died for ours. And when the Father raised the Son from the dead, He show us all that Christ’s payment of the penalty of sin was accepted. Those who trust Christ’s work on the cross can be justified, or declared innocent, because Christ arose!
Romans 4:24, 25 – “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
“Justification by faith” is the message that Paul preached, and this message is completely false if Christ is dead. Paul readily admits that his message does not work if Christ’s body had rotted.
Your Faith is Also Vain
I Corinthians 15:14 – “…your faith is also vain.”
Paul first states that if Christ is dead, our preaching is vain. Then, he brings out the next point, which is somewhat obvious. If our preaching is vain, then, we have no message in which to place our faith! Faith is non-existent if there is nothing in which to place it! When a person is saved, he is saved by placing faith in the gospel message. Well, if our preaching is vain, then we have nothing in which to place our faith, making our faith vain also. In addition to this, if Christ be not risen, then
We are Found False Witnesses of God
I Corinthians 15:15 – “Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.”
In the first part of this chapter, Paul lists several witnesses who claimed to see Jesus Christ alive AFTER His crucifixion. He names Peter and James. He states then Christ appeared to “the twelve,” meaning the whole group of apostles. He states that Christ was seen by more than five hundred eyewitnesses at one time, most of which were alive at the time of this writing. Finally, Paul states that he himself had seen the resurrection Christ with his own eyes. I stated in the previous post how that ALL of the apostles had suffered physically because they claimed that they had seen the resurrected Saviour. All of them, excepting John the beloved, gave their lives (according to history; not the Bible) for the gospel; that is, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In spite of this undeniable fact that the apostles of our Lord suffered because they preached that they had been eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, Paul readily admits that if Christ is dead, then all of these witnesses, including himself, are liars. Here, Paul puts his own integrity at stake. If Christ is dead, Paul is a liar; John is a liar; Peter is a liar; and our Bible is therefore a lie. The witnesses of Christ’s resurrection are not liars, and have proven it with their own lives. They died for the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, if Christ is dead, then
Ye Are Yet in Your Sins
I Corinthians 15:17 – “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
What an awful statement! There is no such thing as salvation if Christ did not rise from the dead! The fiery hell declared in holy Writ is the unalterable destination of every reader, if Christ is indeed in the grave! Paul has already told us that if Christ is dead, then our message is gone. He goes on to tell us that, if our message is gone, then our faith is consequently gone, for we have nothing in which to place our faith. Now, he continues that thought. If we have nothing in which to place our faith, we must be in our sins and on our way to hell, for salvation is by grace, THROUGH FAITH!
Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace are ye saved, through faith…”
If Christ is dead, the very thought of salvation is a hoax. We are not saved; rather, we are in our sins if Christ has not risen from the dead. But that is not all. If Christ is yet dead, then
They Also which are Fallen Asleep in Christ are Perished
I Corinthians 15:18 – “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”
Christ’s resurrection guarantees that everyone, saved or lost, will come out of their graves. But, if Christ is dead, then those who died as Christians will never live again. But Paul shows in the latter part of this chapter, how that those who belong to Christ will indeed rise again when Christ comes again. That precious saint of God whom we lowered into the ground will come out of that grave, with a body like Christ’s glorious body.
Philippians 3:21 – “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Finally, if Christ is yet in the tomb, then
We are of All Men Most Miserable
I Corinthians 15:19 – “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
Paul has already established that, if Christ is not risen from the dead, then those who died as Christians are dead forever. If that were the case, we would have hope “in this life only.” Now, Paul tells us that “if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable.” There is no better conclusion of our condition had Christ not risen from the dead – we are “most miserable.” We have no gospel in which to place our faith; we have no hope of seeing our loved ones who died as Christians; we have no assurance of any salvation whatsoever. If Christ were dead, then we are lost, on our way to hell, and helpless with no way to amend the situation.
But thanks be to God! I am not miserable! I am not in my sins! I am not in complete despair concerning my Christian brothers and sisters who have gone to be with Christ! My faith is neither useless nor worthless, for there is a valid gospel message in which I have placed it! Knowing that all these things are true, I have complete assurance that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, is alive! He is risen from the dead!
Christ hath risen! Hallelujah!
Blessed morn of life and light;
Lo, the grave is rent asunder,
Death is conquered through His might.
Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Gladness fills the world today;
From the tomb that could not hold Him,
From the tomb that could not hold Him,
See, the stone is rolled away.*
*Fanny J. Crosby
