Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 15-16.

Once again there is a lot I could write about in today’s passage, but I am going to focus on the topic with which Paul begins the passage.  Paul writes that if we hold firmly to the gospel he preached we will be saved.  He then sums up that gospel.  In some ways I feel like I am covering something here which does not need to be covered, but I have become convinced that the Church often fails because we assume people know the most basic things, which is why I am focusing here today.  Paul gives a quick basic summary of the Gospel of Jesus: Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and on the third day He rose from the dead.  Along with that summary Paul provides some supporting evidence.  He tells us that Scripture tells us that the Messiah, the anointed one of God, must die for our sins (elsewhere in the New Testament, including in other parts of Paul’s letters, this evidence is spelled out).  Paul then writes about those who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus.  He points out that most of those witnesses were still alive at the time of his writing.

Paul goes on to explain the implications of the gospel which he preached.  If Christ has been raised from the dead, then it is reasonable to believe that those who put their faith in Him will be raised as well.  On the other hand, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ was not raised from the dead.  And, if Christ was not raised from the dead, then Paul, and all of those who preached the gospel, was a liar and nothing he taught was of any value.  In fact, if Christ was not raised from the dead our faith and practice is completely worthless.  Paul writes that if there is no resurrection from the dead we should indulge our physical desires because the pleasures of this life are all that there is.  However, if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, then we should stop sinning and live a life dedicated to Him so that we may also be raised from the dead.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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