1 Corinthians 15

Q&A

1. a. What is Paul declaring here? 15:1
   b. What are we to stand fast in? 15:1
   c. What must we hold fast to? 15:2
   d. What will save us? 15:2
   e. If you do not hold fast to the word, will you have believed in vain (meaning: for nothing)? 15:2
   
   • ¹ Moreover, brethren,
     I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you,
     which also you received
     and in which you stand,
   • ² by which also you are saved,
     if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—
     unless you believed in vain.
2. a. What did Paul deliver first of all, according to the Scriptures? 15:3
   b. After Jesus was raised from the dead, who did He appear to? 15:4
   c. Law of all, who was Jesus seen by? 15:
   
   • ³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 5-8
     that Christ died
     for our sins
     according to the Scriptures,
   • ⁴ and that He was buried,
     and that He rose again the third day
     according to the Scriptures,
   • ⁵ and that He was seen by Cephas,
     then by the twelve.
   • ⁶ After 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.
   • ⁷ After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
   • ⁸ Then last of all He was seen by me also,
     as by one born out of due time.
3. a. Why did Paul say that he was not worthy to be called an apostle? 15:9
   b. What did he say in this passage about God's grace? 15:10
   c. What did God's grace enable Paul to do more than the others? 15:10
   
   • ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles,
     who am not worthy to be called an apostle,
     because I persecuted the church of God.
   • ¹⁰ But 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.
   • ¹¹ Therefore, whether it was I or they,
     so we preach and so you believed.
4. a. If there is no resurrection, has Christ risen? 15:12
   b. If Christ has not risen, what does that do to your faith? 15:14
   c. If the dead do not rise, would that make the apostles to be false witnesses? 15:15
   d. If the dead do not rise, has Christ risen? 15:16
   e. If Christ is not risen, what are you still in? 15:17
   f. What would that say about those who have already died (fallen asleep)? 15:18
   g. If our hope in Christ is only in this life, are we to be pitied? 15:19
   
   • ¹² Now 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?
   • ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
     then Christ is not risen.
   • ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen,
     then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
   • ¹⁵ Yes, 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.
   • ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise,
     then Christ is not risen.
   • ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen,
     your faith is futile;
     you are still in your sins!
   • ¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ
     have perished.
   • ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
     we are of all men the most pitiable.
5. a. Since Christ has risen from the dead, who has He become the firstfruits of? 15:20
   b. How did death come? 15:21
   c. How did the resurrection of the dead come? 15:21
   
   • ²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead,
     and has become the firstfruits
     of those who have fallen asleep.
   • ²¹ For since by man came death,
     by Man also came
     the resurrection of the dead.
6. a. Who caused all to die? 15:22
   b. Who will be made alive in Christ?  15:22
   c. Who is the firstfruits?   15:23
   d. Who will be made alive at His coming?  15:23
   
   • ²² For as in Adam all die,
     even so
     in Christ
     all shall be made alive.
   • ²³ But each one in his own order:
     Christ the firstfruits,
     afterward those who are Christ’s
     at His coming.
7. a. What will He do, when the end comes?  15:24
   b. What will He put an end to? 15:24
   
   • ²⁴ Then 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.
8. a. What will He put under His feet? 15:25
   b. What is the last enemy to be destroyed? 15:26
   c. What will be put under the feet of Jesus? 15:27
   d. When all things are made subject to the Son, is God excepted (excepted means not included)? 15:27
   e. Who will He Himself, subject all things to? 15:28
   f. Who will be all, in all? 15:28
   
   • ²⁵ For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
   • ²⁶ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
   • ²⁷ For “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.
   • ²⁸ Now 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.
   • ²⁹ Otherwise, 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?
9. a. What did Paul say he did daily? 15:31
   b. How had he fought at Ephesus? 15:32
   c. If the dead do not rise, what advantage would that have been to Paul? 15:32
   d. What did he sarcastically say about "eating and drinking?" 15:32
   
   • ³⁰ And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?
   • ³¹ I affirm,
     by the boasting in you
     which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
     I die daily.
   • ³² If, 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!”
10. a. What are we not to be deceived about? 15:33
    b. What are we to be awake to? 15:34
    c. What do some not have the knowledge of? 15:34
    
    • ³³ Do not be deceived:
      “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
    • ³⁴ Awake to righteousness,
      and do not sin;
      for some do not have the knowledge of God.
      I speak this to your shame.
11. a. What will some say? 15:35
    b. What must happen to a grain, before it is made alive? 15:36
    c. When you sow a mere grain, what will it become? 15:37
    d. What does God give to it? 15:38
    
    • ³⁵ But someone will say,
      “How are the dead raised up?
      And with what body do they come?”
    • ³⁶ Foolish one,
      what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
    • ³⁷ And what you sow,
      you do not sow that body that shall be,
      but mere grain—
      perhaps wheat or some other grain.
    • ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He pleases,
      and to each seed its own body.
12. a. What kinds of flesh and bodies are there? 15:39
    b. How do their glories differ? 15:40
    
    • ³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh,
      but there is one kind of flesh of men,
      another flesh of animals,
      another of fish,
      and another of birds.
    • ⁴⁰ There are also celestial bodies
      and terrestrial bodies;
      but the glory of the celestial is one,
      and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
    • ⁴¹ There is one
      glory of the sun,
      another
      glory of the moon,
      and another
      glory of the stars;
      for one star differs
      from another star in glory.
13. a. How is the body sown?  15:42-44
14. b. How is it raised? 15:42-44
    
    • ⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead.
      The body is sown in corruption,
      it is raised in incorruption.
    • ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor,
      it is raised in glory.
      It is sown in weakness,
      it is raised in power.
    • ⁴⁴ It is
      sown a natural body,
      it is
      raised a spiritual body.
      There is
      a natural body,
      and there
      is a spiritual body.
15. a. How was the first Adam, different than the last Adam? 15:45
    b. Did the natural man or the spiritual man come first? 15:46
    c. From what was the first man made? 15:47
    d. Where is the second man from? 15:47
    e. As we have borne the image of the man of dust, whose image shall we also bear? 15:49
    
    • ⁴⁵ And so it is written,
      “The first man
      Adam became a living being.”
      The last
      Adam became a life-giving spirit.
    • ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first,
      but the natural,
      and afterward the spiritual.
    • ⁴⁷ The first man was of the earth,
      made of dust;
      the second Man
      is the Lord from heaven.
    • ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust,
      so also are those who are made of dust;
      and as is the heavenly Man,
      so also are those who are heavenly.
    • ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust,
      we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
16. a. Can flesh and blood inherit the kingdom of God? 15:50
    b. Can corruption inherit incorruption? 15:50
    c. What mystery did Paul reveal to us? 15:51-53
    d. When the dead will be raised, what will happen to them? 15:52
    e. What will this corruptible and mortal put on? 15:53
    
    • ⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren,
      that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
      nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
    • ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery:
      We shall not all sleep,
      but we shall all be changed—
    • ⁵² in a moment,
      in the twinkling of an eye,
      at the last trumpet.
      For the trumpet will sound,
      and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
      and we shall be changed.
    • ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
      and this mortal must put on immortality.
17. a. What will come to pass? 15:54
    b. What will happen to death? 15:54
    c. What is "the sting of death?" 15:55
    d. What is "the strength of death?" 15:55
    e. What has God given to us? 15:57
    f. Why are we to always be abounding in the work of the Lord? 15:58
    
    • ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption,
      and this mortal has put on immortality,
      then shall be brought to pass
      the saying that is written:
      “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
      ⁵⁵ “O Death,
      where is your sting?
      O Hades,
      where is your victory?”
    • ⁵⁶ The sting of death
      is sin,
      and the strength of sin
      is the law.
    • ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God,
      who gives us the victory
      through our Lord Jesus Christ.
    • ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren,
      be steadfast, immovable,
      always abounding
      in the work of the Lord,
      knowing that your labor
      is not in vain in the Lord.