40The Evidence for  Christ’s  Resurrection (15:1-11)

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which 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 according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit 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 did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (15:1-11)

Unlike most of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 is devoted entirely to doctrine, and to a single doctrine at that. In these 58 verses Paul gives the most extensive treatment of the resurrection in all of Scripture.

Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.

The resurrection was the focal point of every other truth Christ taught. He taught His disciples that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31; cf. 9:9, 31). He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25). The first two sermons preached after Pentecost both focused on the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:14-36; 3:12-26). Because of that truth the heart-broken followers of the crucified Rabbi were turned into the courageous witnesses and martyrs who, in a few years, spread the gospel across the Roman empire and beyond. Belief in the resurrection, the truth that this life is only a prelude to the life to come for those who trust in Jesus Christ, could not be obliterated by ridicule, prison, torture, or even death. No fear or dread in this life can quench the hope and joy of an assured life to come.

True New Testament Christianity is a religion of the resurrection. John Locke, the 18th-century British philosopher, said, “Our Saviour’s resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity, so great that His being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it.”

Because it is the cornerstone of the gospel, the resurrection has been the target of Satan’s greatest attacks against the church. If the resurrection is eliminated, the life-giving power of the gospel is eliminated, the deity of Christ is eliminated, salvation from sin is eliminated, and eternal life is eliminated. “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). If Christ did not live past the grave, those who trust in Him surely cannot hope to do so.

Without the resurrection salvation could not have been provided, and without belief in the resurrection salvation cannot be received. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9). It is not possible, therefore, to be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The doctrinal problem on which this chapter focuses was not the Corinthians’ disbelief in Christ’s resurrection but confusion about their own. Paul was not trying to convince them that Christ rose from the dead but that one day they, too, would be raised with Him to eternal life. Nevertheless, to lay the foundation, in the first eleven verses he reviews the evidences for Jesus’ resurrection, a truth he acknowledges they already believed (vv. 1, 11). The five evidences, or testimonies, he presents are: the church; the Scriptures; the eyewitnesses; a special witness, the apostle himself; and the common message.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. (15:12)

The first testimony is not stated explicitly but is implied. The very fact that the Corinthian Christians themselves, and all other Christians everywhere, had received the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ and had been miraculously changed, was in itself a strong evidence of the power of the gospel, which power is in the resurrection of Christ.

By addressing them again as brethren (cf. 1:10; 2:1; 3:1; 10:1; etc.) Paul assures those to whom he writes that he recognizes them to be fellow Christians. The term not only expresses his spiritual identity with them but also his love (cf. 15:58).

The apostle tells them that what he is about to say is nothing new to them, but is simply the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received. Not until verses 3-4 does he specify what the heart of the gospel is: “that Christ died for our sins,… and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day.” The point of the first two verses is that the Corinthian believers were themselves living evidence that this doctrine was true. The fact that they came out of the spiritual blindness and deadness of Judaism or paganism and into the light and life of Christ testified to the power of the gospel, and therefore to the power of the resurrection. It also testified that they already believed in the truth of Christ’s resurrection. It was the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that Paul had preached to them, that they had received, and in which he assures them they now stand and by which they are saved, delivered from sin’s power and condemnation. Because of the reality of Christ’s resurrection and of their trust in it, they were now a part of His church and thereby were evidence of the power of that resurrection.

Paul’s qualifying phrase—if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain—does not teach that true believers are in danger of losing their salvation, but it is a warning against non-saving faith. So a clearer rendering would be,” … if you hold fast what I preached to you, unless your faith is worthless or unless you believed without effect.” The Corinthians’ holding fast to what Paul had preached (see 11:2) was the result of and an evidence of their genuine salvation, just as their salvation and new life were an evidence of the power of Christ’s resurrection. It must be recognized, however, that some lacked the true saving faith, and thus did not continue to obey the Word of God.

Paul’s teaching about the security of believers was unambiguous. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30; cf. vv. 35-39; 5:9-10; 9:23; 1 Cor. 2:7; etc.). It is only by God’s power that we are saved and only by His power that we are kept saved. Our salvation is kept by Christ’s holding us fast, not primarily by our holding Him fast. Our holding onto Him is evidence that He is holding onto us.

A professing Christian who holds to orthodox doctrine and living and then fully rejects it proves that his salvation was never real. He is able to let go of the things of God because he is doing the holding. He does not belong to God and therefore God’s power cannot keep him. Such a person does not hold fast the word because his faith is in vain. It was never real. He cannot hold fast because he is not held fast.

Our Lord repeatedly spoke of sham believers who had useless, non-saving faith. The parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-23) tells us that some of the seeds of the gospel fall on shallow or weedy soil, and that tares often look like wheat, but are not (13:24-30, 34-43). Jesus spoke of many kinds of fish being caught in the same net, with the good being kept and the bad being thrown away (13:47-50). He spoke of houses without foundations (7:24-27), virgins without oil for their lamps, and servants who wasted their talents and so were “cast out” (25:1-30). He warned of gates and paths that seem right, but that lead to destruction (7:13-14).

Some of the Corinthians apparently had intellectually and/or outwardly acknowledged Jesus’ lordship, saviorhood, and resurrection, but had not trusted in Him or committed themselves to Him. They believed only as the demons believe (James 2:19). They acknowledged Christ, but they had not received Him, did not stand in Him, were not saved by Him, and did not hold fast to His word, which Paul had preached to them. As Jesus made clear in the illustrations just cited above, many people make positive responses of one sort or another to the gospel, but only genuine faith in Jesus Christ results in salvation.

Many people have useless faith. “Many” will say, “Lord, Lord,” in the day of judgment, but be excluded because of their empty, sham faith (Matt. 7:22-23; 25:11-12). Those who forsake Christ and His church prove that they never really belonged to Him or to His true Body (cf. 1 John 2:19). It is those who “abide in My word,” Jesus said, those who hold fast the word, who “are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31; cf. 2 Cor. 13:5; 2 John 9). The truly justified and righteous not only are saved by faith but continue to “live by faith” (Heb. 10:38). Obedience and continuous faithfulness mark the redeemed.

The fact that, despite their great immaturity and many weaknesses, the Corinthian church even continued to exist was a strong testimony to the power of the gospel. Who but the risen, living Christ could have taken extortioners, thieves, adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, liars, idolaters, and such thoroughly worldly pagans and transformed them into a community of the redeemed? Despite their shortcomings and failures, and despite the presence of false followers in their assembly, Christ lived in and through the true saints. Paul was ashamed of much of what they did and did not do, but he was not ashamed to call them brethren.

Though it is largely a subjective proof, the endurance of the church of Jesus Christ through 2,000 years is evidence of His resurrection reality. His church and His Word have survived skepticism, persecution, heresy, unfaithfulness, and disobedience. Critics have denounced the resurrection as a hoax and fabrication, but have never explained the power of such a fabrication to produce men and women who gave up everything, including their freedom and lives when necessary, to love and to follow a dead Lord! His living church is evidence that Christ Himself is alive; and He could be alive only if He had been raised from the dead.

H. D. A. Major, former principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford, has written,

Church historian Kenneth Scott Latourette wrote in History of the Expansion of Christianity,

A follower of Buddha writes of that religious leader, “When Buddha died it was with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains.” Mohammed died at Medina on June 8,632, at the age of 61, and his tomb there is visited yearly by tens of thousands of Muslims. But they come to mourn his death, not to celebrate his resurrection. Yet the church of Jesus Christ, not just on Easter Sunday but at every service of immersion baptism, celebrates the victory of her Lord over death and the grave.

THE TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (15:3-4)

The second evidence for Christ’s resurrection was the Old Testament, the Scriptures of Judaism and of the early church. The Old Testament clearly predicted Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. When Paul says I delivered to you, he means he brought authoritative teaching, not something of his own origination. He did not design it, he only delivered what God had authored.

To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said,” ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:25-27). When the unbelieving Jews asked for a sign of Jesus’ messiahship, He responded, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39-40).

At Pentecost Peter quoted from Psalm 16 and then commented that David, the author of the psalm, “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay” (Acts 2:25-31). Paul proclaimed before King Agrippa, “And so, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22-23).

Jesus, Peter, and Paul quoted or referred to such Old Testament passages as Genesis 22:8, 14; Psalm 16:8-11; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; and Hosea 6:2. Over and over again, either directly or indirectly, literally or in figures of speech, the Old Testament foretold Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. No Jew who believed and understood the Scriptures, referring to what we now call the Old Testament, should have been surprised that the Messiah was ordained to die, be buried, and then resurrected. Twice Paul repeats the phrase according to the Scriptures, to emphasize that this is no new thing, and no contradiction of true Jewish belief.

THE TESTIMONY OF EYEWITNESSES

And that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (15:5-7)

Throughout history the testimony of responsible and honest eyewitnesses has been considered one of the most reliable forms of evidence in a court of law Paul’s third evidence for Christ’s resurrection is in that form.

Lawyer Sir Edward Clarke said,

The historian Thomas Arnold of Oxford has written,

JESUS’ APPEARANCE TO PETER

It is significant that Paul says that Jesus appeared to those who saw Him after the resurrection. Until He revealed His identity to them, not even Mary Magdelene (John 20:14-16), the two disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:15, 31), or the disciples gathered together on Easter evening (John 20:19-20) recognized Him. The gospel accounts consistently speak of Jesus’ appearing or manifesting Himself after His resurrection (Matt. 28:9; Mark 16:9, 12, 14; Luke 24:31-39; John 21:1; etc.). He was recognized only by those to whom He chose to reveal Himself, and there is no record that He revealed Himself to any other than His followers.

One of the requirements for apostleship was having seen the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22), and the first apostle to whom He appeared was Cephas, that is, Peter. We are not told the exact time or occasion for that appearance. We only know that it was sometime after His appearance to Mary and before His appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:34). We are not told why the Lord appeared to Peter first or separately, but it possibly was because of Peter’s great remorse over having denied his Lord, and because his role as a leader among the apostles and in the primitive church until the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). In going to Peter first, Jesus emphasized His grace. Peter had forsaken the Lord, but the Lord had not forsaken him. Christ did not appear to Peter because Peter deserved to see Him most, but perhaps because Peter needed to see Him most. Peter was the Lord’s spokesman at Pentecost and was crucially used in the expansion of the church for several years. As such he was the prime witness to the resurrected Christ.

JESUS’ APPEARANCE TO THE TWELVE

Jesus next appeared to the twelve. As mentioned above, He appeared to the eleven disciples (though still often referred to as “the twelve” even before Judas was replaced) as they were fearfully assembled on Easter evening (John 20:19; Luke 24:36).

The apostles laid the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), which from the beginning based its beliefs and practices on their teaching (Acts 2:42). Those men whom the Lord used to establish His church on earth all saw Him in His resurrected body (Acts 1:22). They were capable, honest, and reliable witnesses to the most important event of history.

JESUS’ APPEARANCE TO THE FIVE HUNDRED

After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time. The quality of specific witnesses is represented by the apostles, all of whom were known by name and could easily be questioned. The quantity of witnesses is seen in the five hundred brethren who all saw the risen Christ at one time. Scripture gives no indication of who those people were, or where Jesus appeared to them, but they were surely well known in the early church, and, like the twelve, would often have been questioned about seeing the risen Savior. Even at the time of Paul’s writing, more than two decades later, most of the witnesses were still alive. They remain until now, he adds, but some have fallen asleep, that is, died.

At the same time and same place five hundred witnesses saw Jesus alive after His resurrection!

JESUS APPEARANCE TO JAMES

We are not told to which James Christ then … appeared. Two of the apostles, one the son of Zebedee and the other the son of Alphaeus, were named James (Mark 3:17-18). I am inclined to believe, however, that this James was the half-brother of the Lord, the author of the letter of James and a key leader in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13-21).

James originally was a skeptic. Like his brothers he did not at first believe that Jesus was the Messiah (John 7:5). But now this member of Jesus’ own household, this one who for several years did not recognize Jesus as the Christ, was a witness, a powerful and convincing witness, to His resurrection. Perhaps, as with Paul, it was the experience of seeing the resurrected Christ that finally brought James to saving faith. In any case, the convincing testimony of a family member and former unbeliever was added to that of the apostles and the five hundred.

“Over a period of forty days” (Acts 1:3), between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus appeared to all the apostles on other occasions that are not specified (see John 21:1-14).

THE TESTIMONY OF A SPECIAL WITNESS

And last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit 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 did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (15:8-10)

The fourth major testimony of Christ’s resurrection was that of the apostle Paul himself, a special and unique witness of the risen Lord. Paul was not among the original apostles, all of whom had been disciples of Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was not among the five hundred other believers who had seen the resurrected Christ. Rather, he had for many years been an unbeliever and a chief persecutor of the church.

He was, however, last of all allowed to see the risen Christ. The Lord’s appearance to Paul not only was postresurrection but postascension, making Paul’s testimony more unique still. It was not during the forty days in which He appeared to all the others but several years later. All the others to whom Christ appeared, except perhaps James, were believers, whereas Paul (then known as Saul) was a violent, hateful unbeliever when the Lord manifested Himself on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-8). There were also other appearances (Acts 18:9-10; 23:11; cf. 2 Cor. 12:1-7).

Jesus appeared to Paul as it were to one untimely born. Ektrōma (untimely born) ordinarily referred to an abortion, miscarriage, or premature birth—a life unable to sustain itself. In Paul’s figure, the term could indicate hopelessness for life without divine intervention, and convey the idea that he was born without hope of meeting Christ. But the use of the term in the sense of an ill-timed birth, too early or too late, seems to fit Paul’s thought best. He came too late to have been one of the twelve. In carrying the idea of unformed, dead, and useless, the term was also used as a term of derision. Before his conversion, which coincided with his vision of the resurrected Lord, Paul was spiritually unformed, dead, and useless, a person to be scorned by God. Even when he was born it was wrong timing. Christ was gone. How could he be an apostle? Yet, by special divine provision, He appeared to me also, Paul testifies.

Though Paul never doubted his apostleship or hesitated to use the authority that office brought, he also never ceased to be amazed that, of all persons, Christ would have called him to that high position. He not only considered himself to be the least of the apostles, but not even fit to be called an apostle, because [he] persecuted the church of God.

Paul knew all of his sins were forgiven, and he was not plagued by feelings of guilt over what he had once done against God’s people. But he could not forget that for which he had been forgiven, and it continually reminded him that by the grace of God I am what I am. That he deserved God’s forgiveness so little was a constant reminder of how graciously His grace is given.

It is possible that Paul’s memory of having persecuted the church of God was a powerful motivation for his being determined that His grace would not prove vain. (Compare his testimony in 1 Tim. 1:12-17.) As is clearly substantiated in the New Testament, Paul was able to truthfully say, I labored even more than all of them. (Compare his commitment as chronicled in 2 Cor. 11:23-12:12.) Yet he was not boasting in his own spirituality or power but in God’s, because, as he hastened to add, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. The same grace responsible for his calling was responsible for his faithfulness. God sovereignly appointed Paul an apostle and sovereignly blessed his apostolic ministry. Paul believed, responded, obeyed, and was continually sensitive to the Lord’s leading and will. But apart from God’s prevenient grace the apostle knew that everything he did would have been in vain and worthless (cf. Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:28-29; etc.).

The truth and power of the resurrected Christ had brought three great changes in Paul. First was deep recognition of sin. For the first time he realized how far his external religious life was from being internally godly. He saw himself as he really was, an enemy of God and a persecutor of His church. Second, he experienced a revolution of character. From a persecutor of the church he became her greatest defender. His life was transformed from one characterized by self-righteous hatred to one characterized by self-giving love. He changed from oppressor to servant, from imprisoner to deliverer, from judge to friend, from a taker of life to a giver of life. Third, he experienced a dramatic redirection of energy. As zealously as he had once opposed God’s redeemed he now served them.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE COMMON MESSAGE

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (15:11)

The last testimony to Christ’s resurrection was that of the common message that every true apostle, prophet, and pastor preached. Whether then it was I or they—Peter, the twelve, the five hundred, James, or anyone else—so we preach and so you believed. Without exception, the preaching and teaching in the early church centered on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Wherever Christ was preached and by whomever He was preached, His resurrection was the pivotal message that was proclaimed. There was no dispute about the truth or the importance of the doctrine, which hardly would have been the case had it been a fabrication.

Except for a few isolated heresies, the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection has not been questioned within the church until our modern age of skepticism and humanism. New Testament Christianity, whether ancient or modern, knows nothing of a gospel whose heart is not the risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.