Life after Death

1 Corinthians 15

¹Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

²by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

⁶After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

⁷After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

⁸Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

¹¹Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

¹⁴And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

¹⁵Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

¹⁶For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

¹⁷And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

¹⁸Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹⁹If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

²⁰But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

²³But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

²⁴Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

²⁶The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

²⁷For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

²⁸Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

³⁰And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?

³¹I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

³²If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”