1 Corinthians 15:18
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
Then those also
This phrase introduces a logical consequence based on the preceding argument. In the context of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is addressing the resurrection of the dead. The word "then" (Greek: ἄρα) serves as a connector, indicating a conclusion drawn from previous statements. Paul is emphasizing the logical implications of denying the resurrection. Historically, the Corinthian church struggled with various doctrinal issues, and Paul is systematically addressing their misunderstandings.

who have fallen asleep
The term "fallen asleep" (Greek: κοιμηθέντες) is a euphemism for death, commonly used in the New Testament. This metaphor reflects the Christian hope in the resurrection, suggesting that death is temporary, akin to sleep. In Jewish and early Christian thought, sleep was a peaceful state, implying rest and the expectation of awakening. This reflects the early Christian belief in the resurrection, contrasting with the finality of death in other contemporary worldviews.

in Christ
The phrase "in Christ" (Greek: ἐν Χριστῷ) is a key theological concept in Pauline writings, denoting a profound spiritual union with Jesus. It signifies that believers are incorporated into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Historically, this union was a radical departure from Jewish and pagan religious practices, emphasizing a personal and communal relationship with the divine. Being "in Christ" assures believers of their participation in the resurrection, as Christ's victory over death is shared with them.

have perished
The word "perished" (Greek: ἀπώλοντο) implies complete destruction or loss. Paul uses this term to underscore the dire consequences if there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection, the hope and faith of those who died "in Christ" would be in vain. This stark statement serves to highlight the centrality of the resurrection in Christian doctrine. Historically, the resurrection was a cornerstone of early Christian preaching, distinguishing it from other religious beliefs of the time. Paul is affirming that the resurrection is essential for the hope of eternal life, and without it, the Christian faith would be meaningless.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, addressing the church in Corinth, a city known for its diverse culture and significant moral challenges.

2. The Corinthian Church
A group of early Christians in Corinth, struggling with issues of doctrine, morality, and unity.

3. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ
A euphemism for believers who have died, emphasizing the hope of resurrection.

4. Resurrection of the Dead
A central theme in 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul defends the reality and importance of the resurrection.

5. Christ's Resurrection
The foundational event for Christian hope and the guarantee of believers' future resurrection.
Teaching Points
The Reality of Resurrection
The resurrection is not just a theological concept but a reality that impacts our understanding of life and death.

Hope Beyond Death
For believers, death is not the end but a transition to eternal life with Christ. This hope should shape our perspective on life and loss.

The Importance of Sound Doctrine
Understanding and affirming the resurrection is crucial for maintaining a biblical worldview and avoiding despair.

Living in Light of Eternity
Our daily lives should reflect the hope and assurance of resurrection, influencing our priorities and actions.

Encouragement in Grief
The promise of resurrection offers comfort and encouragement to those grieving the loss of loved ones in Christ.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the hope of resurrection influence your perspective on death and loss?

2. In what ways can the assurance of resurrection impact your daily decisions and priorities?

3. How can you encourage someone who is grieving with the truth of the resurrection?

4. What are some practical ways to deepen your understanding of the resurrection and its implications for your faith?

5. How does the resurrection of Christ serve as a foundation for your hope and assurance in eternal life?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Paul also uses the term "fallen asleep" to describe deceased believers, emphasizing hope in the resurrection.

John 11:25-26
Jesus declares Himself the resurrection and the life, promising eternal life to those who believe in Him.

Romans 6:5
Paul explains that if we are united with Christ in His death, we will certainly be united with Him in His resurrection.

Philippians 3:10-11
Paul expresses his desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, highlighting the transformative aspect of resurrection hope.
The Exposition and Defence of the ResurrectionJ.R. Thomson 1 Corinthians 15:1-58
Christ's Resurrection the Ground of Belief in Our OwnL Cochrane, A.M.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Consequences of Denying the Resurrection of ChristW. Johnson Fox.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Did Christ Rise?E. Hurndall 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no ResurrectionC. H. Spurgeon.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no Resurrection Christ not RisenM. Dods, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no Resurrection, What Then?G. D. Boardman, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Logical Consequences of Rejecting ChristianityJ. M. Buckley, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Our Lost OnesJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Reverse the PropositionJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Supposing Jesus be not Raised from the Dead, What ThenReuen Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Terrible Conclusions Resulting from the Denial of Two GreD Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
The Certainty of the Resurrection of ChristCanon Diggle.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
What Comes of a Dead ChristA. Maclaren, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Denying the Resurrection from the Dead, and What the Denial InvolvesC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
People
Adam, Cephas, Corinthians, James, Paul, Peter
Places
Corinth, Ephesus
Topics
Addition, Asleep, Christ, Dead, Destruction, Fallen, Follows, Indeed, Lost, Perish, Perished
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 15:12-28

     5110   Paul, teaching of

1 Corinthians 15:17-18

     9022   death, believers

1 Corinthians 15:17-20

     5535   sleep, and death

1 Corinthians 15:17-22

     5288   dead, the

Library
The Image of the Earthly and the Heavenly
Eversley, Easter Day, 1871. 1 Cor. xv. 49. "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." This season of Easter is the most joyful of all the year. It is the most comfortable time, in the true old sense of that word; for it is the season which ought to comfort us most--that is, it gives us strength; strength to live like men, and strength to die like men, when our time comes. Strength to live like men. Strength to fight against the temptation which
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Third Sunday after Easter Second Sermon.
Text: First Corinthians 15, 20-28. 20 But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fourth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 35-50. 35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come? 36 Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die: 37 and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind; 38 but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men,
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fifth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 51-58. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Paul's Witness to Christ's Resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15, 1-10. 1 Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Small Duties and the Great Hope
'But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 10. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; 11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 13. But I would not have
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christian and the Scientific Estimate of Sin
"Christ died for our sins."--I COR. XV. 3. Nothing is more characteristic of Christianity than its estimate of human sin. Historically, no doubt, this is due to the fact that the Lord and Master of Christians died "on account of sins." His death was due, as we have seen, both to the actual, definite sins of His contemporaries, and also to the irreconcilable opposition between His sinless life and the universal presence of sin in the world into which He came. But it is with the Christian estimate
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

Outward and Inward Morality
OUTWARD AND INWARD MORALITY I Cor. xv. 10.--"The Grace of God." Grace is from God, and works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a light which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The Divine Light permeates the soul, and lifts it above the turmoil of temporal things to rest in God. The soul cannot progress except with the light which God has given it as a nuptial gift; love works the likeness of God into the soul. The peace, freedom and blessedness of all
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

April the Sixth First-Hand Knowledge of Christ
"Last of all He was seen of me also." --1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11. And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also found the dynamic of the immortal hope. "Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

April the Seventh if Christ were Dead!
1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26. "If Christ be not risen!" That is the most appalling "if" which can be flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade! "Your faith is vain." It has no more strength and permanency than Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Paul's Estimate of Himself
'By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.'--1 COR. xv. 10. The Apostle was, all his life, under the hateful necessity of vindicating his character and Apostleship. Thus here, though his main purpose in the context is simply to declare the Gospel which he preached, he is obliged to turn aside in order to assert, and to back up his assertion, that there was no sort of difference between him and the other recognised teachers of Christian truth. He
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Unity of Apostolic Teaching
Whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.'--1 COR. xv. 11. Party spirit and faction were the curses of Greek civic life, and they had crept into at least one of the Greek churches--that in the luxurious and powerful city of Corinth. We know that there was a very considerable body of antagonists to Paul, who ranked themselves under the banner of Apollos or of Cephas i.e. Peter. Therefore, Paul, keenly conscious that he was speaking to some unfriendly critics, hastens in the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Certainty and Joy of the Resurrection
'But now is Christ risen from the dead ... the first fruits of them that slept.'--1 COR. xv. 20. The Apostle has been contemplating the long train of dismal consequences which he sees would arise if we only had a dead Christ. He thinks that he, the Apostle, would have nothing to preach, and we, nothing to believe. He thinks that all hope of deliverance from sin would fade away. He thinks that the one fact which gives assurance of immortality having vanished, the dead who had nurtured the assurance
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Remaining and Falling Asleep
'After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.'--1 COR. xv. 6. There were, then, some five-and-twenty years after the Resurrection, several hundred disciples who were known amongst the churches as having been eyewitnesses of the risen Saviour. The greater part survived; some, evidently a very few, had died. The proportion of the living to the dead, after five-and-twenty years, is generally the opposite.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Death of Death
'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. 21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.... 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51. Behold, I shew 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 trump, (for the trumpet shall sound;) and the dead shall
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Power of the Resurrection
'I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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.'--1 COR. xv. 3, 4. Christmas day is probably not the true anniversary of the Nativity, but Easter is certainly that of the Resurrection. The season is appropriate. In the climate of Palestine the first fruits of the harvest were ready at the Passover for presentation in the Temple.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

On the Atonement.
"How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."-1 Cor. xv. 3. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."-2 Cor. v. 21. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."-Rom. v. 8. "The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness' sake: he will magnify the law and make it honorable."-Isa. xlii. 21. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood,
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

Victory Over Death.
Preached May 16, 1852. VICTORY OVER DEATH. "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."--1 Cor. xv. 56, 57. On Sunday last I endeavoured to bring before you the subject of that which Scripture calls the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. The two points on which we were trying to get clear notions were these: what is meant by being under the law, and what is meant by being free from the law? When
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Thoughts on the Last Battle
When I select such a text as this, I feel that I cannot preach from it. The thought o'ermasters me; my words do stagger; there are no utterances that are great enough to convey the mighty meaning of this wondrous text. If I had the eloquence of all men united in one, if I could speak as never man spake (with the exception of that one godlike man of Nazareth), I could not compass so vast a subject as this. I will not therefore pretend to do so, but offer you such thoughts as my mind is capable of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

"Alas for Us, if Thou Wert All, and Nought Beyond, O Earth"
We will try and handle our text this morning in this way. First, we are not of all men most miserable; but secondly, without the hope of another life we should be--that we are prepared to confess--because thirdly, our chief joy lies in the hope of a life to come; and thus, fourthly, the future influences the present; and so, in the last place, we may to-day judge what our future is to be. I. First then, WE ARE NOT OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE. Who ventures to say we are? He who will have the hardihood
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

A Leap Year Sermon *
"One born out of due time."--1 Corinthians 15:8. PAUL THUS DESCRIBES himself. It was necessary that Paul, as an apostle, should have seen the Lord. He was not converted at the time of Christ's ascension; yet he was made an apostle, for the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the way, as he was going to Damascus, to persecute the saints of God. When he looked upon himself as thus put in, as it were, at the end of the apostles, he spoke of himself in the most depreciating terms, calling himself "one born
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

Resurgam
I propose this morning, as God shall enable, to listen to that voice of spring, proclaiming the doctrine of the resurrection, a meditation all the more appropriate from the fact, that the Sabbath before last we considered the subject of Death, and I hope that then very solemn impressions were made upon our minds. May the like impressions now return, accompanied with more joyous ones, when we shall look beyond the grave, through the valley of the shadow of death, to that bright light in the distance--the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

28TH DAY. A Joyful Resurrection.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "This corruptible must put on incorruption."--1 COR. xv. 53. A Joyful Resurrection. Marvel of marvels? The sleeping ashes of the sepulchre starting at the tones of the archangel's trumpet!--the dishonoured dust, rising a glorified body, like its risen Lord's? At death, the soul's bliss is perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of the valley. But tread lightly on that grave,
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

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