¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,^v how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?^w ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.^C ¹⁵Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses^x about God, because we have testified^y wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ^z have also perished. ¹⁹If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

CHRIST’S RESURRECTION GUARANTEES OURS

²⁰But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits^aa of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death^ab came through a man,^ac the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.^ad ²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.^ae

²³But each in his own order:^af Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

Read in Logos

1 Corinthians 15:19–20: If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Footnotes

COr proclamation is useless, and your faith also is useless, or proclamation is empty, and your faith also is empty

Cross references

v Mt 17:9
w Mt 22:23; Mk 12:18; Lk 20:27; Ac 23:8; 2Tm 2:18
x Mt 26:60
y Jn 15:26
z 1Th 4:16; 1Pt 5:14
aa Ex 23:19; Lv 2:12; Rm 8:23; Col 1:18
ab Mt 10:21; Jn 8:51; Php 3:10
ac Gn 3:1–7; Rm 5:12–14
ad Mt 28:5–6; Mk 16:6; Lk 24:5–8,34; Jn 11:25; 20:9,15–18
ae Rm 14:9
af 1Th 4:17