The Gospel is of First Importance (1 Cor 15:1-5)

1. The gospel is of first importance (15:1-5).
2. The risen Jesus appeared to many (15:6-11).

The gospel--which is of first importance--must be kept as of first importance--i.e. the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection (1 Cor 15:3-4). We Christians "know" that the gospel is important. But what moves us emotionally? Is it something else--a good thing associated with or in corollary with the gospel, such as good works or charitable acts of service. UBF's emphasis is "live a life of mission through [1:1] Bible study" extrapolated from many many different verses (Gen 1:28; Isa 6:8; Mt 28:19; Lk 9:23; Jn 21:15; Ac 1:8; 1 Cor 15:58, 2 Tim 2:15; 4:2; Rev 2:4, 10b; etc). "Feeding sheep 1:1" was my mission, my mantra and my motivation for the first 3 decades of my Christian life and formation since 1980. But living a life of mission--which is very good--is NOT the gospel; it's a wonderful directive for our Christian life, but it cannot save anyone--not myself or others--for only the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection saves--that which is of first importance!

• Christ's resurrection is the ultimate eschatological event; it is central to everything.
• There's an element of mystery to the concept of a "spiritual body" (1 Cor 15:44).
• By raising Christ from the dead God set in motion the final overthrow of death itself (1 Cor 15:26).
• Hence the inevitable fact (15:12-28) and nature (15:35-49) of our own [bodily] resurrection.
• 1 Corinthians 15 is one of the great theological treasures of the Christian church.

Denying bodily resurrection (1 Cor 15:12) is the main issue: "Given that you believed in the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15:1,2,11), how is it that some are denying the future bodily resurrection of believers (1 Cor 15:12)?" The issue, as before, is between Paul and them [some--who've influenced the many]. Paul responds in 3 parts:

1. Christ was raised from the dead (15:1-11) to reestablish commonly held ground by emphasizing objective reality of both Christ's death and bodily resurrection. He repeats 2 recent themes (1 Cor 14:33, 36-38) that
1. this is the common ground of all who believe in and preach Christ (1 Cor 15:3-5), and
2. his own apostolic ministry is the source of their life in Christ (1 Cor 15:1-2, 11).
2. Their 2 absurd contradictory positions (15:12-34): belief in Christ's resurrection and denial of their own (1 Cor 15:12). 3 parts revolving around a hypothetical allowance of their position: What if the dead are not raised?
1. It'd mean that Christ was not raised (15:12-19), and if so, then everything is false. They cease to exist as Christians, as both their past and future are predicated on what they now deny.
   
2. He takes up the reverse position (15:20-28). Since Christ HAS been raised from the dead, so will believers (15:20-23). Christ's resurrection is the 1stfruits of the full harvest (1 Cor 15:23), having defeated death itself (1 Cor 15:26), a defeat that the very nature of God demands be brought to consummation.
3. He picks up their position again (1 Cor 15:29) showing how absurd his (1 Cor 15:29-32) and their present activities are if they're right (15:29). All this together argues for the inevitability of a resurrection of believers from the dead.
3. In what form the dead are raised (1 Cor 15:35), not by what power. Answer? Bodily, but in a body adapted to the new conditions of the future. There is both continuity and discontinuity. The present body is earthly, "natural," subject to decay; the raised body is heavenly, "spiritual," and incorruptible (1 Cor 15:42-44). The result is a glorious resurrection-transformation of the dead and the living where the final enemy, death, is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:55-57). Based on Paul's argument (15:35-58) they objected to the raising of corpses--a horribly grotesque idea (1 Cor 15:12, 35). Their conflict with Paul is what it means to be pneumatikos (a Spirit person). Because they received the Spirit, especially the gift of tongues, they had thus already entered true "spirituality" (1 Cor 4:8) and already began an angelic existence (1 Cor 13:1), where the body was unnecessary and unwanted, and finally be discarded altogether. For them, life in the Spirit meant a final ridding oneself of the body (1 Cor 6:13), not because it was evil but because it was inferior and beneath them. So the body being raised would be anathema. They likely also saw the sacraments as the magical way of securing their new existence, which explains why some were being baptized for the dead (1 Cor 15:29)--not because they expected the dead to be raised but because they saw in it a way of offering similar spiritual existence to the departed.

The Resurrection of Believers (15:1-58). The Resurrection of the Body. Paul isn't setting out to prove the resurrection, but he's reasserting the commonly held ground from which he will argue against their assertion that there is no resurrection (1 Cor 15:12). The broad structure/outline:  

1. The Evidence for the Resurrection (15:1-11). Proclaim [kerygma] the Gospel -- the Resurrection of Christ (15:1-11).
2. The Certainty of the Resurrection (15:12-34).
• Denial of the resurrection negates the gospel (15:12-19). What if Christ has NOT been raised? The consequences of no resurrection from the dead.
• But Christ HAS been raised; so all who belong to him will be raised (15:20-28). The centrality of the resurrection in God's program.
• Otherwise, hope, suffering and faithfulness are pointless (15:29-34). Ad hominem arguments for resurrection. Christian life is made purposeful because of the resurrection.
3. The Majesty of the Resurrection Body (15:35-49). Resurrection means transformation of the body.
• What kind of body is the resurrection body? Analogies of seeds and "bodies" (15:35-44). Analogy of Adam and Christ (15:45-49)
4. The Assurance of Triumph (15:50-58). Both the dead and the living will be transformed. The miraculous change resulting in the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, our labor is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58).

The Resurrection of the Body (15:1–58) is the 4th and last contested issue that Paul addresses. It's not to correct aberrant behavior, differing from the 3 previous issues (sex in marriage, idol meat, community worship), but to correct their beliefs about the resurrection, which have behavioral consequences (1 Cor 15:32–34, 58). Their many moral failings are surface symptoms of misunderstanding the very heart of the gospel: the death and resurrection of Christ. To deny the resurrection of the dead is to abandon the most fundamental conviction of the Christian faith, and to believe "in vain" (1 Cor 15:2).

The content of the gospel. Paul saves the weightiest matter for last—like any good teacher. Coming at the end of Paul's long letter, it anchors the whole. Those who say there's no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12) triggers Paul's response. How could they who only recently converted from paganism by Paul's preaching of the crucified and risen Lord have turned so quickly to denying the resurrection?

Bodily resurrection. An "overrealized eschatology" is hypothesized by scholars: They weren't denying the resurrection, but claim to have already attained it, like Hymenaeus and Philetus, who "swerved from the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place" (2 Tim 2:17–18). But ch. 15 doesn't support it. What they objected to was not the future aspect of the resurrection but that it'd be a bodily resurrection. So Paul counters their objections of an embodied resurrection (1 Cor 15:35-37).

They thought of themselves as hyper spiritual Christians (pneumatikoi), rich in every spiritual gift [as seen throughout the letter], and not as debunkers of the gospel. They were so spiritual that the notion of a resurrection body was gross, crass, unrefined, embarrassing. "Resurrection of the dead" means literally "rising of the corpses." For the spiritually refined, this wasn't Christian hope, but a horror story. This'd be particularly true for those with greater education and philosophical sophistication—the higher-status church members infatuated with wisdom, knowledge, and tongues. They create the problems with which Paul wrestles throughout the letter. Paul's future "resurrection of the dead bodies" sounds foolish and grotesque.

Some claim a higher gnosis, a more sophisticated theological understanding of the world, and identify salvation with escape from the physical world and hold the body in contempt. They try to transcend their sexuality by renouncing sexual relations within their marriages, and say, "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other" (1 Cor 6:13a). Paul's response is that, on the contrary, "The body is meant … for the Lord and the Lord for the body; and God raised the Lord and will raise us by his power" (1 Cor 6:13b-14). Now, Paul addresses the issue of resurrection head on.

The fundamental logic of Christianity demands belief in the resurrection of the dead; therefore, Christian hope affirms rather than rejects the body. Proclaiming the resurrection of Christ declares God's triumph over death and the meaningfulness of embodied life. Our future hope must be for a transformed body in the resurrection, not an escape from the embodied state.

Behave biblically. Both major subdivisions conclude with appeals for righteous behavior and faithfulness in doing the Lord's work (1 Cor 15:32b-34, 58). What we do with our bodies in the present time matters. The resurrection of the body is both a warning that you're accountable for what you do with your body, and it's also a promise that your bodily labor is significant (1 Cor 15:58), not meaningless. 

Paul learned that "some" of them deny the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12) likely by informants (1 Cor 1:11; 5:1; 11:18). That some take this position, while others aren't is one more cause of division in the church. To overcome this division, Paul treats the issue with great rhetorical skill: he begins by reminding them of common tradition, expecting to gain their assent to his recapitulation of the basic kerygma, the foundation on which he constructs his argument.

The Resurrection of the Dead Is Constitutive of the Gospel (15:1–34). The kerygma proclaims the resurrection of Christ (15:1–11). Paul begins by reminding them of the gospel he originally proclaimed to them. "Passing on" and "receiving" (1 Cor 15:1,3) is employed earlier in describing the transmission of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:23). The carefully balanced structure indicates that Paul is quoting an early confessional formula (1 Cor 15:3b-5). He "received" this tradition presumably from the witnesses (1 Cor 15:5–7). This suggests that the confession is probably datable to around the time of Paul's call to apostleship—within about 3 yrs after Jesus was crucified. These opening vs. thus show how the gospel was preached in the 1st generation of Christians.

"The resurrection of the dead" is a matter "of first importance" (1 Cor 15:3). It's not some speculation that can be set aside by those who claim more sophisticated knowledge. It's an integral part of the euaggelion ("good news") on which those who believe take their stand (1 Cor 15:11; Gal 1:11). The resurrection of Jesus and his appearance to many witnesses is at the heart of the gospel proclaimed in the church; without this foundational truth, there'd be no church because there'd be no gospel. Those who hold fast to this truth are saved by it—unless [foreshadowing 15:12–19], the whole thing is a sham and their faith is "in vain" (1 Cor 15:2; 10, 14, 17, 58). The confession consists of 4 clauses. The 1st and 3rd are the fundamental faith affirmations, while the 2nd and 4th fill out the story of Christ's death and resurrection and provide supporting warrants for the fundamental claims in the other two clauses. The structure is as follows. Paul handed on the tradition:

1. that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures 
2. and that he was buried,
3. and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
4. and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Cor. 3b-5)

According to Scripture is how the 2 central events of Christ's death and resurrection occurred. This early creed specifies that the world transforming story of Jesus' passion and resurrection must be interpreted in light of Scripture: the earliest church understood the gospel as the continuation and fulfillment of God's dealings with Israel, and must be found in relation to the Law and the prophets (Rom 1:2; 3:21; Lk 24:44–47), though it doesn't stipulate which Scripture.

Christ's death "for our sins" recalls the suffering servant (Isa 53:5–6, 11–12), but it doesn't explain how the death of Christ was vicariously effective to deal with sins, or that the resurrection of Jesus was "according to the Scriptures." "The third day" suggests Hos 6:2 or Jon 1:17. More likely, "according to the Scriptures" modifies the verb "was raised" rather than the 3rd day (the similar syntax in 1 Mace 7:16). So, it's, "and that he was raised in accordance with the Scriptures, on the third day." Then the Scriptures are probably the Psalms that praise God for deliverance of the righteous sufferer (Ps 16 in Acts 2:24–32). Ps 16 prefigures "the resurrection of the Christ" (Acts 2:31): "… my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, Or let your Holy One experience corruption" (Ps 16:9b-10, Ac 2:26b-27). [Paul's letters suggest that the Psalms were understood very early as referring to the Messiah ( = Christ). (Ps 69:9 in Rom 15:1–3; Ps 110 and 8 in 1 Cor 15:24–28). This is the primary context in which the references to the Scriptures in 1 Cor 15:3–4 should be understood.]

Jesus remains risen. Christ's burial (1 Cor 15:4) confirms the reality and human finality of his death. The resurrection appearances (1 Cor 15:5--where the traditional confessional formula ends) confirm that he really was raised from the dead. [Not mentioning the empty tomb shows that it wasn't a part of the traditional kerygma. It certainly doesn't mean that Paul or other Christians conceived of a "resurrection from the dead" in which the body remained in the tomb.] The perfect passive verb "he was raised" [eggertai] (1 Cor 15:4) indicates that God is the one who raised him up, and the perfect tense (cf. the aorist forms "died" and "was buried") indicates that he remains risen. Thus, the confessional formula doesn't just narrate past events: It proclaims Christ as risen Lord.