1 Corinthians 15

Paul reminds the Corinthians of the euangelion, "gospel," that he preached, they received, and in which they stand. Salvation is linked with holding firmly to the message unless their believing was "in vain." Verses 3-5 employ the technical language of receiving and delivering tradition, suggesting that Paul is transmitting material formulated before this letter and probably before his Corinthian mission. The repeated "according to the Scriptures" interprets Christ's death and resurrection within Israel's scriptural story rather than identifying one exclusive proof text.

The sequence "Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared" combines interpretation, burial, resurrection, and appearances. The perfect passive egegertai, "has been raised," presents resurrection as God's act with continuing consequences. The appearances to Cephas, the Twelve, more than five hundred, James, all the apostles, and finally Paul function as testimony to the risen Christ. The identity and circumstances of the appearance to the five hundred are otherwise unknown.

Paul's description of himself as an ektrōma, often translated "one untimely born," probably emphasizes the abnormal timing of his encounter with Christ. He calls himself the least of the apostles because he persecuted God's church, yet attributes his subsequent labor to divine grace. The paragraph ends by subordinating differences among apostolic witnesses to a shared proclamation: whether Paul or the others preached, this was the gospel the Corinthians believed.

1 Corinthians 15 addresses the resurrection, apparently because some Corinthians were denying a future resurrection of the dead. Paul begins by restating the gospel tradition he had previously delivered: Christ died for sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to numerous witnesses. He then argues that Christ's resurrection and the resurrection of believers are inseparable; denying the latter undermines the former and empties Christian proclamation, faith, and hope.

The chapter moves from historical and theological argument in verses 1-34 to the nature of the resurrection body in verses 35-58. Paul uses analogies from seed, differing kinds of bodies, and Adam to explain continuity and transformation between present embodied existence and resurrection life. The climax announces a mystery: both the dead and the living will be transformed when mortality puts on immortality. Scriptural citations from Isaiah and Hosea then interpret resurrection as God's victory over death, bringing the chapter to an eschatological and theological conclusion.