Lessons #535 and 536
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Implications of denial of resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-19)
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
The message of this section that we stated in our last study is Denial of the resurrection of Christ implies that the Christian faith is false, and no one would be eternally saved. Consequently, we considered the first implication of accepting the premise that there is no resurrection absolutely, which is that Christ did not resurrect. We started to consider the second implication of denying the concept of resurrection absolutely which is that the proclaiming of the gospel and resultant faith in Christ have no value if there is no resurrection absolutely. The first part of the second implication is given in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:14 our preaching is useless. We examined the Greek word (kenos) translated “useless” in the NIV and stated that in our verse it has the sense of “vain,” that is, “without any basis, without truth, and without power.” We implied that the second implication is best expounded using the extended meanings of our Greek word. So, we began with the extended meaning of “without basis.” Consequently, we stated that if there is no resurrection absolutely, there is no basis for the Christian message since our gospel message is about one and only one person, Jesus Christ, who is the God man. We, Christians, believe that He is God man but part of the proof that He is God is based on resurrection. Without Jesus Christ being God and man in one person, it does not make sense to preach Him. If He is an ordinary human being who came to talk about God, what then differentiates Him from all the religious founders of this world? However, because there is resurrection, we are justified to proclaim or preach Jesus Christ as the Savior. In other words, one of the bases for preaching the gospel that is about Jesus Christ is because He is God. We ended our last study by promising to continue to expound on the second implication by considering the other two extended meanings of “without truth, and without power” associated with the Greek word translated “useless” in the NIV of verse 14. It is with this further consideration that we begin our study this morning.
We begin by considering the extending meaning of “without truth.” If there is no resurrection absolutely, the Christian message is “without truth.” Truth is an important concept in Apostle Paul’s ministry that he associates with it the gospel. Thus, he described the gospel as the “word of truth” in Ephesians 1:13:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
He used the phrase “truth of the gospel” as he defends the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone in Galatians 2:14:
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
The phrase truth of the gospel is a reference to that invariable content of the gospel that is, that salvation is by faith in Christ alone apart from the works of the law. In the context of Galatians, the apostle in using this phrase truth of the gospel was actually emphasizing that what he preached is the true gospel in contrast to what his opponents were advancing. Hence, the apostle is saying that to ensure the message of the gospel is never corrupted among the Gentiles, he and his team fought those who sought to introduce false issues to the true gospel of Christ. It is because the apostle thought in terms of truth of the gospel that he implies that denying resurrection means a departure from the truth of the Christian faith as he wrote in 2 Timothy 2:18:
who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Truth here refers either to “the Christian faith as a system of belief” or to “an organized body of Christian teaching or doctrine.” The apostle’s assertion that departure from truth involves denial of resurrection implies that if there is no resurrection, there is no truth to the gospel. It is because if there is no resurrection, there is no truth to the gospel of Christ that the enemy of truth, Satan, moved quickly to attack the truth of resurrection. He did this through Jewish authorities who did everything they could to suppress the fact that Jesus resurrected as we read in Matthew 28:11–15:
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
It is true that Satan was the intermediate agent of pushing to cover up the story of resurrection but ultimately, it is God’s plan that was manifested. God’s plan included the religious leaders of Israel at the time of the crucifixion fearing that Jesus would indeed be raised from the dead according to what He said that they arranged for a military guard to guard His tomb as narrated in the record we have in Matthew 27:62–66:
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
The things the chief priests did, the sealing of Jesus’ tomb, and stationing Roman soldiers around it, enable an objective, independent observer who hears their story to recognize how false it is. This is because it is a well-known fact among the ancient people that if a Roman soldier lost a prisoner or a person he was supposed to guard, he would lose his life. This was the reason the Philippian jailer wanted to commit suicide when he thought that the prisoners had escaped when God brought earthquake while Paul and Silas were imprisoned as narrated in Acts 16:27:
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
It is for this same reason that the soldiers that were transporting Paul and other prisoners to Rome wanted the prisoners killed as they faced shipwreck to ensure the soldiers did not escape as we may gather from Acts 27:42:
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.
A person who understood the seriousness of the implication of Roman guards allowing the body of Jesus to be removed from His sealed tomb would recognize how false the claim of the Jewish religious leader was. It defies the imagination that the disciples who deserted Jesus because they were frightened would have wanted to battle with Roman guards to remove His body from the tomb and for what purpose. The women who went to the tomb of Jesus did not desert Him since they were with Him at the time of His crucifixion and burial. Furthermore, there no is indication that the religious leaders instructed their people to scour the city of Jerusalem and beyond to look for the body of Jesus or to put word out to arrest the disciples so they could produce the body of Jesus, these religious leaders asserted was stolen. So, the efforts of the Israel’s religious leaders to conceal the fact of resurrection indeed prove Jesus’ resurrection. Hence, resurrection of Jesus is true but if it were not so, our gospel message would have been devoid of truth. The point is that if there was no resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gospel message would be false and in fact, Christianity would not have a message to preach to the world about salvation or how to get right with God. With this comment, we have expounded the implication of the extended meaning “without truth” of the Greek word translated “useless” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 15:14 so we move to the last extended meaning.
The last extended meaning of the Greek word translated “useless” in 1 Corinthians 15:14 is “without power.” This meaning implies that if there is no resurrection then there is no power to the gospel message. This would directly conflict with the assertions of Apostle Paul when he declared of the power of God associated with the gospel in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
The apostle declared he would not be ashamed of the gospel message that most certainly includes the important fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ because it has the backing of God’s power. The apostle also referred to the concept of “power of God” in describing the gospel message using the phrase “message of the cross” for the gospel as the apostle had previously written to the Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
If there is no resurrection, not only is the power that actually brings about salvation nonexistent but also there is no power to preach the gospel. Those who advocate their religions outside the Christian faith do so often with trickery or by force or both. However, because Jesus resurrected from the dead, believers could tap the power of the Holy Spirit He promised to those who preach the gospel message in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Anyway, the point is that if there is no resurrection, there is no power in the gospel presentation to effect the salvation of anyone. Furthermore, there is no power of the Holy Spirit to enable those who preach it. Anyhow, the first part of the second implication as we have expounded is that if there is no resurrection, there is no basis for the Christian message, there is no truth, and there is no power to the gospel message to transform lives. This brings us to the second part of the second implication of denying resurrection absolutely.
The second part of the implication of denying resurrection absolutely is that that means belief in Christ has no value as that is implied in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:14 so is your faith.
The word “faith” is translated from a Greek word (pistis) although often translated “faith” has several other meanings. The word may mean faithfulness and or commitment. It is in the sense of faithfulness that the word is used by our Lord Jesus to rebuke the Jews of focusing on the practice of tithing as authorized in the OT while ignoring the more important aspect of the law such as justice and mercy as stated in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
It is in the sense of commitment that the word is used of God in Romans 3:3:
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
The verbal phrase nullify God’s faithfulness can also be translated nullify the commitment of God so it is clear that the Greek word translated faith can mean “faithfulness” or “commitment.”
The Greek word translated “faith” can mean faith in the active sense of believing or trusting in someone; the kind of believing that brings salvation. It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to describe “faith righteousness” instead of “law righteousness” in Romans 3:22:
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
Here the apostle indicates that there is a righteousness that comes by trusting Jesus Christ or believing in Him. It is in the sense of “confidence” that the word “faith” is used in 1 Peter 1:21:
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Apostle Peter indicates that the recipients of his epistle have confidence in God.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated faith is “true piety” or “genuine devotion” or even “firm commitment.” Stephen was described as one who had a genuine devotion or firm commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ in that he did not waver in what he believed but was fully devoted to the Lord. This is the sense of the word “faith” in Acts 6:5:
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
It is in this sense of true piety or genuine devotion or firm commitment that Apostle Paul used our Greek word in his thanksgiving on behalf of the Roman Christians in Romans 1:8:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
The apostle was not thanking God on behalf of the Romans for the fact that they have faith in Christ as believers but for the quality of their faith in which case it was their genuine devotion to Christ that caused him to thank God on their behalf.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is as an important virtue that Christians should have, or they have as a result of believing in Christ or as a result of the Holy Spirit operating in them. So, it is used to describe “faithfulness” that is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
That faith refers to an important Christian virtue is evident in the fact that it is often associated with the virtue of love and so the apostle used it in his epistle to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:13:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
This sense of Christian virtue in the Greek word translated “faith” is also evident in the apostle’s commendation of Philemon in Philemon 5:
because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” in our primary passage of study is a reference to a religious movement such as the Christian faith, which is essentially the same as “the Christian religion.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it in Galatians 1:23:
They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
Paul’s former effort was focused on exterminating Christians and so the Christian movement. Thus, what he tried to destroy is not so much the preaching of the gospel but the Christian movement since if he stopped the movement then he would have destroyed the Christian religion. Of course, that was not to be the case as he was converted and became one of the most fervent advocates of the Christian movement.
Still another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is “body of teaching” or “doctrine.” It is in this way that the word “faith” is used in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
It is possible that “faith” here can also be interpreted as the Christian faith, but it is more likely the apostle meant Christian doctrine especially because of the expression things taught by demons. It is the sense of doctrine or body of teaching of the Christian faith that “faith” is used in Jude 3:
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
We have considered various meanings of the Greek word translated faith but in our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:14, “faith” refers to “trust in Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel message.”
The apostle’s argument is that if there is no resurrection, the Corinthians or any other person’s trust in Christ is in vain. You see, the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:14 so is your faith is the way the translators of the NIV rendered the Greek sentence to avoid redundancy in the English since more literally the Greek read and your faith (is) in vain. The word “vain” is translated from the same Greek word (kenos) the translators of the NIV rendered “useless” in the preceding sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:14 our preaching is useless. We, of course, indicated that the Greek word in our verse has the sense of “vain,” that is, “without any basis, without truth, and without power.” This extended meaning when applied to the clause of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 15:14 so is your faith, the implication is that if there is no resurrection, faith in Christ is without power to provide eternal life. The Lord Jesus conveyed that belief in Him leads to a person receiving eternal life as we read in John 3:14–15:
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Thus, if there is no resurrection, faith in Christ is powerless to provide eternal life or to cause a person to go from a state of death to life as stated in John 5:24:
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
The point then is if there is no resurrection, there is no value to faith in Christ or the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In any event, the second implication of denying the concept of resurrection absolutely is that the proclaiming of the gospel and resultant faith in Christ have no value.
The third implication of denying the concept of resurrection absolutely is that the apostles and the others in the early church that preached the gospel of Jesus Christ were in fact false witnesses that declared what God did not do. That the apostles and other preachers of the gospel were false witnesses if there is no resurrection absolutely is given in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God.
The third implication the apostle gave as the last in his first set of implications is intended to be an additional implication given in an emphatic manner. This is because the phrase More than that of the NIV is how the translators of the NIV rendered a Greek phrase that consists of two Greek particles. The first Greek particle (de) used is routinely translated “but” to reflect a contrast between clauses but when a simple connective is desired, without contrast being clearly implied, it may be translated “and,” and in certain occurrences the particle may be left untranslated. The second Greek particle (kai) used is often translated “and” in our English versions. However, the Greek conjunction has several other usages. For example, it may be used to emphasize a fact as surprising or unexpected or noteworthy with the meaning “and yet” or “and in spite of that” or “nevertheless.” When the two particles are used together to form a Greek phrase, as in our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:15, the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) states that it is used as “a marker of heightened emphasis” so may be translated “but also, but even.” It may also be simply translated “too, similarly, also.” In our verse, it is used in an emphatic manner to indicate the apostle had more implication that rounds up the first set of implications. Hence, the translation of the phrase in the NIV More than that is appropriate since that simply means there is more implication beyond the two implications, he had already stated in the first set of implications of denying resurrection absolutely in an emphatic manner.
We are sure the apostle was being emphatic as he stated the third implication of denying resurrection absolutely not only because of the Greek phrase rendered in the NIV More than that we have considered but because of the Greek order that the apostle followed as he penned down the third implication. Although there is no strict order to follow in a Greek sentence, but it is not normally the practice to begin a Greek sentence with a verb unless the author wants to focus attention on it. So, because the apostle began verse 15 with a Greek verb, we are more certain that he was being emphatic when he wrote the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God.
The Greek verse began with a Greek verb (heuriskō) translated in the NIV as we are … found. The Greek verb may mean “to find, discover” something after seeking as it is used in Apostle Paul’s description of his failed effort to locate Titus as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:13:
I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
The word may mean “to find, discover” intellectually through reflection, observation, examination, or investigation as Apostle Paul used it to describe what he found or discovered after a careful reflection about what was taking place within him as we read in Romans 7:21:
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
The word may mean “to obtain,” that is, to attain a state or condition, as it is used to describe what Jesus Christ obtained for us through His sacrificial death on the cross described in Hebrews 9:12:
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
The word may mean “to prove” as it is used by Apostle Peter to describe what trials do for the believer’s faith in 1 Peter 1:7:
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:15, the word means “to prove,” that is, “to be shown” or “to be found.” This means that the apostles and others who preached the gospel have been shown to be something that we will get to later.
The apostle, of course, used a present tense in the Greek implying that the proving or showing to be something is that which would be attempted at regular intervals. In other words, the proving to be something that we will get to shortly is an action that would be contemplated each time the apostles and other gospel preachers preached the gospel that asserts the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle used a passive voice in the Greek, implying that some individuals would be responsible for attempting to prove the apostles to be something that we will get to next. Although the apostle did not clearly state those who would be attempting the proving involved, but the context suggests that the apostle would have had in mind all those critics who reject the concept of resurrection absolutely.
The thing the critics would regularly prove about the apostles and other preachers of the gospel message is given in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:15 to be false witnesses. The expression “false witness” is translated from a Greek word (pseudomartys) that appears only twice in the Greek NT; it means “false witness,” that is, a person who deliberately gives false testimony. Its other occurrence besides our passage is during the trial of Jesus when many false witnesses came to testify against Him as we read in Matthew 26:60:
But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward.
Anyway, the word is used in 1 Corinthians 15:15 in the sense of a person who deliberately gives false testimony.
The false testimony as the apostle indicated would be with regard to God as in the verbal phrase to be false witnesses about God. Literally, the Greek reads false witnesses of God. The Greek form of the word “God” translated of God may be understood to mean “about God” or “from God.” It is probably that the apostle intended for us to understand that because the apostles and others who preach the gospel were sent by God that he was thinking that the “false witnesses” would be witnessing about God as they are from Him.
The word “God” in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:15 we are then found to be false witnesses about God here is a reference to the three members of the Godhead. We say this because all the three members of the Godhead were involved in resurrection. Apostle Paul must have certainly thought of the Lord Jesus who appeared to him with the instruction to preach what he witnessed as he stated, for example, in Acts 26:16:
‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
Nonetheless, the point is that “God” in 1 Corinthians 15:15 we are then found to be false witnesses about God refers to the Godhead without reference to any specific member.
In any case, the apostle provides a reason for some critics attempting to prove the apostles and the others who preached the gospel in the early church to be false witnesses about God and from God. We know that he provided a reason because of the word “for” that begins the next clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.
The word “for” is translated from a Greek word (hoti) that may be used as a marker introducing direct discourse in which case it is not to be rendered into English, but represented by quotation marks as Apostle Paul used it to introduce a quotation from the OT Scripture as he discoursed the problem of speaking in tongues in Corinth as we find in 1 Corinthians 14:21:
In the Law it is written: “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.
The Greek word may be used as a marker of discourse content, whether direct or indirect hence means “that” as the apostle used it in his epistle to the Galatians to declare the truthfulness of what he wrote to them according to Galatians 1:20:
I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
The word may mean “that” as a marker of explanatory clauses as it is used to explain the testimony of God that Apostle John recorded in 1 John 5:11:
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
The translators of the NIV and many of our English versions did not translate our Greek word in this verse but some of the English versions that are more literal did. For example, the sentence And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life in the NIV is translated in the ESV as And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life. Note that that the ESV used the word “that” not translated in the NIV. The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of reason or cause hence means “because”, as it is used in 1 John 3:12:
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
It is in this sense of marker of reason that the Greek word is used in 1 Corinthians 15:15 so that we are certain that what follows is the apostle’s reason for asserting that the critics would attempt to prove the apostles and other preachers of the gospel in the early church as false witnesses.
The reason the apostle provided is that the apostles and others in the early church that preached the gospel declared that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. It is this declaration that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.
The word “testify” is translated from a Greek word (martyreō) that may mean to confirm or attest something on the basis of personal knowledge or belief hence may means “to bear witness, to testify” as Apostle Paul used it to affirm the generosity of the Macedonian churches as we read in 2 Corinthians 8:3:
For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own.
The word may mean to affirm in a supportive manner and so it is translated with the meaning “to confirm” as it is used to describe the Lord’s approval of the message of Apostles Paul and Barnabas through miracles according to Acts 14:3:
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Some of our English versions used the word “testified” to translate our Greek word here in Acts although the NJB used the word “attested” in this verse. The word may mean “to declare” as it is used to describe the priesthood of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 7:17:
For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The word may mean “to speak well” of someone as the word is used by Apostle John to describe Demetrius in 3 John 12:
Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:15, it has the sense of “to bear witness,” that is, “to solemnly assert something, offering firsthand authentication of the fact.” The apostle used an aorist tense in the Greek to focus attention not only that the apostles and others that preached the gospel bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the result of their witness is continuing as he wrote this epistle. There is a sense that we can say that the apostle meant to convey that there is no going back concerning the impact of the gospel preached that included asserting that Jesus Christ resurrected.
Anyway, the thing that would have made the apostles and others who preached the gospel in the early church to be false witnesses as it relates to God if there is no resurrection of the dead is that they bore witness to the resurrection of Christ. It is this that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 about God that he raised Christ from the dead. There is a problem with the translation of the clause because of the word about in the NIV. The word is translated from a Greek preposition (kata) that here is subject to two interpretations. It could be used in the sense of reference or regard so rendered “about” or “concerning” as in the NIV. Or it could be used in a hostile sense with the meaning of “against” implying that the witness or testimony given is in contradiction to God. Considering the fact that the apostle is arguing that if there is no resurrection that the apostles would be judged to be false witnesses, it is probably that the apostle meant the sense of contradicting God in that they would be saying something that is not true. Therefore, I agree with those who either interpret the preposition as “against” or “in contradiction.” In any event, the clause about God that he raised Christ from the dead is at the heart of the gospel the apostles and others preached. They emphatically declared that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead since without this element of the gospel the Christian faith rings hollow or the Christian faith is one big lie that has ever been perpetuated in human history. Of course, the Christian faith is not a lie but the ultimate reality.
Be that as it may, the apostle states what would have been true if indeed there were no resurrection absolutely. It is that God did not raise Christ from the dead as stated in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. The word “but” does not appear in the Greek text; it is added by the translators of the NIV probably to show a contrasting statement and to make it easier for the English reader to perceive the contrast implied in the apostle’s argument since the Greek literally reads whom not he raised if indeed (the) dead not are raised.
The apostle was emphatic in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:15 But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. This is because of the Greek words he used. The word “not” used twice in the clause is translated from a Greek particle (ou) that is an objective negative, denying the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek negative (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. The negative the apostle used was in effect to state in an emphatic way what would be true if there were no resurrection of the dead. Another Greek particle (eiper) the apostle used is that used as a marker of an emphatic condition with the meaning “if indeed, if in fact, if after all, since.” Still another Greek particle (ara) used is one that is used in three general ways. It is used as a marker of an inference made on the basis of what precedes with the meaning “so, then, you see.” Thus, the apostle used it to draw inference from his declaration that Abraham believed God and his faith was credited to him as righteousness so that those who believe in the same way are his children as the apostle declared in Galatians 3:7:
Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
Another usage is to express result with the meaning “then, as a result, consequently.” It is in this usage that the apostle used it to express the result of the work of Christ on the cross in which he made it possible for Gentiles to gain access to God the Father and become God’s children as stated in Ephesians 2:19:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.
Still another usage is to express something tentative hence means “perhaps, conceivably” or as a marker of the possibility that something is true with the meaning of “possible.” It is in this sense that the word is used in the rebuke of Simon the Sorcerer by Apostle Peter that commanded him to repent of his evil thoughts as we read in Acts 8:22:
Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
All the same, the last two particles we mentioned formed a phrase that is best translated “if indeed” to express emphasis. The point is that the apostle was quite emphatic that if there is no resurrection absolutely then God did not raise Christ from the dead. This would make the apostles liars in that they attributed to God what He did not do. Hence, the apostle was emphatic in stating the additional implication of the first set of denying resurrection absolutely which is that the apostles and others who preached the gospel in the early church would be false witnesses in that they lied about what God did not do. With this clause the apostle ends the first set of the implications of denying resurrection absolutely. Similarly, let me end our study by reminding you of the message of this section that we have been expounding which is Denial of the resurrection of Christ implies that the Christian faith is false, and no one would be eternally saved.
07/07/23