Untitled Sermon

Eternal Hope: The Power of the Resurrection

Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-34

Summary: In 1 Corinthians 15:1-34, Paul affirms the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, emphasizing its critical importance for the faith of believers and the hope it brings. He addresses misconceptions about the resurrection, provides evidence, and clarifies its implications for Christians' future and present lives.

Application: This message emphasizes that the resurrection is not just an event in history, but a transformative truth that offers Christians hope, purpose, and assurance of eternal life. Understanding the resurrection empowers believers to face challenges and struggles with confidence, knowing that death is not the end, but a gateway to eternal life with God.

Teaching: The sermon will teach that the resurrection of Jesus is foundational to the Christian faith. It assures believers of their own resurrection and encourages them to live in light of this truth, with steadfastness in their faith and hope amid life's difficulties.

How this passage could point to Christ: Throughout Scripture, the resurrection of Christ is central to God's plan of redemption. It fulfills Old Testament prophecies, demonstrates Christ's victory over sin and death, and anticipates the future resurrection believers will experience, connecting the narrative arc of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Big Idea: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of Christian faith, granting us hope and assurance for the future, empowering us to live boldly in the present.

Recommended Study: I recommend exploring the resurrection narrative across the Gospels in your Logos library, focusing on the different accounts and their theological implications. Pay particular attention to Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 15 regarding the consequences of denying the resurrection and the implications for Christian morality and hope. Consider examining individual theological interpretations of resurrection in early church writings to better contextualize Paul's views.

1. Pillar of Our Faith

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Perhaps you could begin by reinforcing the foundational truth of the Gospel Paul presents: Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Highlight how the resurrection is a crucial element in the Gospel message—a historical fact attested by many witnesses. Emphasize the credibility and transformative power of the resurrection as the cornerstone of our faith, which assures us of victory over sin and death. This understanding should embolden believers to hold firmly to their faith, recognizing the divine power at work in their lives through this central truth.

2. Purpose Through Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

You could explore Paul's argument against those who deny the resurrection of the dead. He stresses the logical implications of such a view: if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching and faith are worthless. By reflecting on this point, stress that the resurrection is vital not only for historical validation but for giving purpose and meaning to our faith. Encourage believers to see the resurrection as the bedrock of hope, ensuring that our faith is not in vain and that we have assurance of life beyond death.

3. Promise of Our Victory

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Discuss the triumphant reality that Christ indeed has been raised from the dead, becoming the firstfruits of those who have died. Maybe highlight the sequence of resurrection: Christ first and then believers at His return. This reveals God's ultimate plan to defeat death and establish His eternal kingdom. Encourage your listeners to live in light of this glorious future with unwavering hope, knowing that Christ’s resurrection assures our future resurrection and victory over death, which should inspire a resilient and triumphant faith.

4. Power for Living Now

1 Corinthians 15:29-34

Reflect on the practical implications of the resurrection for daily life and conduct. Stress how belief in the resurrection encourages ethical living and perseverance amid trials. Perhaps emphasize the warning against complacency and the call to live purposefully, knowing that our faith has eternal consequences. Urge believers to wake up to righteousness, driven by the knowledge of the resurrection, and live lives that reflect their confident hope in Christ’s return and eternal life.

Heathenism is hopeless to afford any comfort to the bereaved. Fallen Asleep, Volume 46, Sermon #2659 -1 Corinthians 15:6

Charles Spurgeon

Though he be one Being, God has many names, being called according to the variety of outward conditions of things, which he is always changing. So 1 Corinthians (8:4)—“There is none other God but one.”

Aristotle

Oh, if we could not die, it would be indeed horrible! Who wants to be chained to this poor life for a century or longer? Fallen Asleep, Volume 46, Sermon #2659 -1 Corinthians 15:6

Charles Spurgeon

1) What were Corinth and the church of God in Corinth like? (2) Who was Paul and what were his aims in writing to the Corinthians? And (3) how then should we read 1 Corinthians?

Roy E. Ciampa; Brian S. Rosner

Every Christian should be looking to the Lord for something to do in the kingdom of God, and everyone ought to be asking God to honor him with a job too big for him.… I think it may be safely said that God is still looking for men who know their own insufficiencies so well that He can perform the miraculous through them.… This is a principle so true of us all in our human experiences. Whenever I think I can stand up and say, “I am now strong enough, sufficient enough—I can do it!” then God fades out, and there comes only grief and woe and sterility and fruitlessness and finally, eclipse. Exodus 3:11; 1 Corinthians 10:11–12; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; 2 Corinthians 3:5–6; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7 The Tozer Pulpit, Volume 1, Book 1, 66, 67.

A. W. Tozer

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians while he was in Ephesus, some time before Pentecost (16:8), probably during his last year—that is, early in 55, with 2 Corinthians being complete within the next year or so.

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

Jesus “appeared to James, then to all the apostles”—and James believed (1 Corinthians 15:7)

R. Kent Hughes

When self whispers an assurance to you that you are different—look out! “You are different,” self whispers, and then adds the proof. “You have given up enough things to make you a separated Christian. You love the old hymns, and you can’t stand the modern nonsense. You have a good standard—none of those movies and none of this modern stuff for you!” You don’t really know what is happening to you, but you are feeling pretty good about everything by this time. But the good feeling is strictly from being coddled and comforted and scratched by a self that has refused to die. Self-trust is still there—and you thought it had gone! Romans 7:18; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7; 1 Timothy 1:12–15 I Talk Back to the Devil, 125.

A. W. Tozer

First Corinthians 15:7 indicates that Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection!

Warren W. Wiersbe

Every man is as holy as he really wants to be. But the want must be all-compelling. Leviticus 19:2; 2 Corinthians 7:11; 1 Peter 1:14–16; 1 John 3:2–3 Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 38.

A. W. Tozer

“Christ’s death was the death of all in the sense that they should have died; the penalty of their sins was borne by him (1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:20); He died in their place.”

David E. Garland

First and foremost 1 Corinthians is a letter directed at the reformation of conduct.

Leon Lamb Morris

Whatever you are doing, in company or alone, do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Otherwise, it is unacceptable to God.

Richard Baxter (Puritan Divine)

The resurrection body Saint Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 15 and which Jesus assumed for forty days on earth between His Resurrection and His Ascension is a different kind of body: it is solid.

Peter Kreeft

The work of a minister is, in fine, altogether too difficult for any man. He is driven to God for wisdom. He must seek the mind of Christ and throw himself on the Holy Spirit for spiritual power and mental acumen equal to the task. Jeremiah 9:23–24; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; 2 Corinthians 3:5–6; Philippians 2:12–13 Of God and Men, 24.

A. W. Tozer

Those two affirmations—the atoning death of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–5)—became the pillars of the Christian faith.

Everett Ferguson

One thing the resurrection teaches us is that we must not trust appearances. The leafless tree says by its appearance that there will be no second spring. The body in Joseph’s new tomb appears to signify the end of everything for Christ and His disciples. The limp form of a newly dead believer suggests everlasting defeat. Yet how wrong are all these appearances. The tree will bloom again. Christ arose the third day according to the Scriptures, and the Christian will rise at the shout of the Lord and the voice of the archangel. 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; 1 Corinthians 15:51–57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 This World: Playground or Battleground?, 61.

A. W. Tozer

Much religious work is being done these days that is not owned by our Lord and will not be accepted or rewarded in that great day. Superior human gifts are being mistaken for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and neither they who exercise these gifts nor the Christian public before whom they are exercised are aware of the deception. Never has there been more activity in religious circles and, I confidently believe, never has there been so little of God and so much of the flesh. Such work is a snare because it keeps us busy and at the same time prevents us from discovering that it is our work and not God’s. 1 Corinthians 3:12–14; 1 Corinthians 4:3–5; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; Philippians 2:12–13; Colossians 1:28–29; 1 Timothy 4:7, 8 The Size of the Soul, 42.

A. W. Tozer

First, no list, including the one immediately before us in 1 Corinthians 12:8–11, is meant to be exhaustive.

D. A. Carson

Whereas the gospel I grew up with was basically “sin management,” the gospel Paul is describing [in 1 Corinthians 15] is a solution to “sin” in order to “defeat” the bigger problem or enemy: “death.”

Scot McKnight

In light of all this, the most plausible outline divides the book into either seven or eight sections: either 1–3; 4–7; 8:1–11:14; 11:15–14:20; 15–16; 17:1–21:8; 21:9–22:21 or 1–3; 4–7; 8:1–11:14; 11:15–14:20; 15–16; 17:1–19:10; 19:11–21:8; 21:9–22:21.

G. K. Beale

It cannot be that my Lord has made me sick of this world, and yet will not give me another. Partnership With Christ, Volume 44, Sermon #2580 -1 Corinthians 1:9

Charles Spurgeon

Great gifts are not great Graces, but great gifts require great Graces to go with them, or else they become a temptation and a snare. Partnership With Christ, Volume 44, Sermon #2580 -1 Corinthians 1:9

Charles Spurgeon

I would rather be among those who are unknown, unsung and unheralded doing something through the Spirit of God that will count even a tiny little bit in the kingdom of God than to be involved in some highly-recognized expression of religious activity across which God will ultimately write the judgment: “This too shall pass!” Exodus 4:10–12; Jeremiah 1:5–8; 1 Corinthians 12:22–25; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 10:10 Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, 32.

A. W. Tozer

Wherever a man is, there is an opportunity for doing a kindness. So 1 Corinthians 4:20:— “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman Moralist and Tragic Poet)

Whatever begins also ends. So 1 Corinthians 7:31:— “The fashion of this world passeth away.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman Moralist and Tragic Poet)

Pauline Epistles include Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

Edward E. Hindson; Elmer Towns

Paul speaks of the future resurrection as a major motive for treating our bodies properly in the present time (1 Corinthians 6:14), and as the reason, not for sitting back and waiting for it all to happen, but for working hard in the present, knowing that nothing done in the Lord, in the power of the Spirit, in the present time will be wasted in God’s future (1 Corinthians 15:58)

N. T. Wright

Grudem bases his definition of prophecy in Paul on a detailed study of 1 Corinthians 14:29–30: prophecy is the reception and subsequent transmission of spontaneous, divinely originating revelation.

D. A. Carson

The hope of resurrection is based, as it is later in 1 Corinthians 15, on the assurance that Jesus died and rose.

Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Professor)

One principle that is evident in the New Testament, and particularly in 1 Corinthians, is the value of order.

Millard J. Erickson

Attention has recently been focused upon the fact that ministers suffer a disproportionately high number of nervous breakdowns compared with other men. The reasons are many, and for the most part they reflect credit on the men of God. Still I wonder if it is all necessary. I wonder whether we who claim to be sons of the new creation are not allowing ourselves to be cheated out of our heritage. Surely it should not be necessary to do spiritual work in the strength of our natural talents. God has provided supernatural energies for supernatural tasks. The attempt to do the work of the Spirit without the Spirit’s enabling may explain the propensity to nervous collapse on the part of Christian ministers. John 15:1–7; 1 Corinthians 2:1–5; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 The Size of the Soul, 157, 158.

A. W. Tozer

At least two things burst on Saul’s conscience. First, Jesus Christ was alive! Verse 17 of our text, as well as 1 Corinthians 15:8, indicates that Saul actually saw Christ.

R. Kent Hughes

The events described here and in the parallel passage, 1 Corinthians 15, differ considerably from those that will accompany Christ’s return to the earth to set up His earthly kingdom (Rev. 19:11–21). This difference substantiates the distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming.

Thomas L. Constable

Everyone who believes in that good news is saved, for that truth, and that alone, is the Gospel of the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:2).

Charles Caldwell Ryrie

There is nobody outside the danger of vice, except the man who has wholly driven it from him. So 1 Corinthians 10:12:— “Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman Moralist and Tragic Poet)

Tozer once warned Christian believers not to read the Bible as they would another piece of literature or a textbook. “I have always felt that when we read and study the Word of God, we should have great expectations,” he explained. “We should ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the person, the glory and the eternal ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.” John 16:13–15; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10 Jesus, Author of Our Faith, 1.

A. W. Tozer

1 Corinthians 15 is the genesis of the great Christian creeds.

Scot McKnight

Thus, when Paul presupposes in 1 Corinthians 14:30 that the gift of prophecy depends on revelation, we are not limited to a form of authoritative revelation that threatens the finality of the canon.

D. A. Carson

1 Corinthians 15:5), but the fact that he appeared to Peter first is important.

Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Professor)

The Apostle Paul talked about the carnal Christians of Corinth, and he labored and prayed and wept over the carnality of those Christians. This describes most evangelicals today: carnal, immature, without miracles, without wonders, lacking a wonderful sense of the presence of the Lord, held together by social activities and nothing else. 1 Corinthians 3:1–3; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 12:20–21 Rut, Rot or Revival: The Condition of the Church, 89.

A. W. Tozer

The Apostle Paul says, ‘Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners’ (1 Corinthians 15:33). He means that wrong teaching is desperately dangerous. The Christian Warfare, 113

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

There he began an enormously fruitful ministry of two and a half years (probably the autumn of 52 to the spring of 55). During that period he wrote 1 Corinthians.

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

I believe I had anticipated that it was going to be a pleasure to expound this beautiful and high-soaring Gospel of John. However, I must confess that in my preparation and study a sense of inadequacy has come over me—a feeling of inadequacy so stunning, so almost paralyzing that I am not at this juncture able to call it a pleasure to preach. Perhaps this will be God’s way of reducing the flesh to a minimum and giving the Holy Spirit the best possible opportunity to do His eternal work. Romans 15:18–19; 1 Corinthians 2:1–5; 2 Corinthians 3:5–6; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7 Christ the Eternal Son, 1.

A. W. Tozer

The gospel and the transformation of life (12:1–15:13)

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

I expect to so live and so preach that people can bring their friends to my church and assure them they can believe what they hear from my pulpit. I may be wrong sometimes, but I want always to be honest. 1 Samuel 12:3–4; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Corinthians 7:2 Faith Beyond Reason, 48.

A. W. Tozer

A seat in heaven shall one day be mine; but a chain in hell would have been mine if grace had not changed me. The Fruitless Vine, Volume 3, Sermon #125 - Ezekiel 15:1, 2

Charles Spurgeon

A seat in heaven shall one day be yours; but a chain in hell would have been yours if grace had not changed you. The Fruitless Vine, Volume 3, Sermon #125 - Ezekiel 15:1, 2

Charles Spurgeon

When a man blesses God for the bitter, the Lord often sends him the sweet. If he can praise God in the night, the daylight is not far off. Comforted And Comforting, Volume 45, Sermon #2640 - 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4

Charles Spurgeon

I have argued from both Galatians and 1 Corinthians that the law of Christ should be defined as the law of love.

Thomas Schreiner

Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon are definitely from Paul’s hand.

Walter A. Elwell; Robert W. Yarbrough

It is no more than a religious platitude to say that the trouble with us today is that we have tried to bridge the gulf between two opposites, the world and the Church, and have performed an illicit marriage for which there is no biblical authority. Actually no real union between the world and the Church is possible. When the Church joins up with the world it is the true Church no longer but only a pitiful hybrid thing, an object of smiling contempt to the world and an abomination to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10:21; 2 Corinthians 6:14–15; Ephesians 5:7–8, 11 The Pursuit of Man, 115–116.

A. W. Tozer

On the whole, then, it seems better to link the trip of Galatians 2:1–10 with Acts 11:25–30 than with Acts 15—and that of course means Galatians was most probably written before the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15.

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

1 Corinthians 9 [and] 1 Timothy 1:10.

Douglas J. Moo

Our problems of spiritual coldness and apathy in the churches would quickly disappear if Christian believers generally would confess their great need for rediscovering the loveliness of Jesus Christ, their Savior. Song of Solomon 5:16; 2 Corinthians 5:12–15; Revelation 2:4–5 I Talk Back to the Devil, 65.

A. W. Tozer

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (highly probable)

Michael R. Licona

1 Corinthians 15, “If we as Christians have a hope only for this life, we are of all people most miserable.

Timothy Keller

… I mean spiritual energy of sufficient voltage to produce great saints once again. That breed of mild, harmless Christian grown in our generation is but a poor sample of what the grace of God can do when it operates in power in a human heart. The emotionless act of “acceptg the Lord” practiced among us bears little resemblance to the whirlwind conversions of the past. We need the power that transforms, that fills the soul with a sweet intoxication, that will make a former persecutor to be “beside himself with the love of Christ. We have today theological saints who can (and must) be proved to be saints by an appeal to the Greek original. We need saints whose lives proclaim their sainthood, and who need not run to the concordance for authentication. 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; 2 Corinthians 5:13–17; 2 Corinthians 11–12 Paths to Power, 10.

A. W. Tozer

But as we look at 1 Corinthians 15, we see that the gospel is Israel’s scriptural story coming to realization or completion or fulfilment in the storied life of Jesus as Messiah, as King.

Craig A. Evans; Craig Keener; Eckhard J. Schnabel; Mark Futato; John H. Walton; Michael S. Heiser; Richard S. Briggs; Scot McKnight; Sean McDonough; Warren Carter; Mark L. Strauss; Roy E. Ciampa; Jonathan T. Pennington; David E. Garland; Dan Doriani; Te-Li Lau; Peter Enns; Daniel I. Block

First Corinthians 8:1–13 introduces the problem and its two-pronged solution: freedom in principle to eat when there are no inherently anti-Christian implications involved, but voluntary abstention when other Christians might be damaged by one’s freedom.

Craig Blomberg

I have met two classes of Christians: the proud who imagine they are humble and the humble who are afraid they are proud. There should be another class: the self-forgetful who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest. Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 15:9–10; Philippians 2:3–4 God Tells the Man Who Cares, 157.

A. W. Tozer

The passion and empty-tomb narratives (15:1–16:8)

D. A. Carson; Douglas J. Moo

The more we deny to ourselves, the more the gods supply our wants. So 1 Corinthians 9:25:— “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.”

Horace

Christianity, you see, isn’t a set of ideas. It isn’t a path of spirituality. It isn’t a rule of life. It isn’t a political agenda. It includes, and indeed gives energy to, all those things; but at its very heart it is something different. It is good news about an event which has happened in the world, an event because of which the world can never be the same again. And those who believe it, and live by it, will (thank God!) never be the same again either. That’s what 1 Corinthians 15 is all about.

N. T. Wright

The gods are more powerful than men. So 1 Corinthians (1:25)—“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Homer

Take the passage from Ephesians 5:19. What are those ‘spiritual songs’? I have no doubt whatsoever but that it means singing under the direct inspiration of the Spirit, exactly as you have it in 1 Corinthians 14:15. Christian Conduct, 88

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

“an ancient text like 1 Corinthians cannot be properly understood unless it is read against the background of its historical context and as part of a dialogue with the Corinthian church itself.

Roy E. Ciampa; Brian S. Rosner

There is enough dust on some of your Bibles to write “damnation” with your fingers. The Bible, Volume 1, Sermon #15 - Hosea 8:12

Charles Spurgeon

We shall discover that the secret of Joshua’s victories was not his skill with the sword but his submission to the Word of God (Josh. 1:8) and to the God of the Word (5:13–15).

Warren W. Wiersbe

Brothers, we spoil our music by diverting our thoughts to man. Jubilate, Volume 31, Sermon #1867 - Exodus 15:1, 2

Charles Spurgeon

“Christ died:” that is history. “For our sins:” that is doctrinal truth (1 Corinthians 15:3)—the great fact upon which our salvation rests.

Henry Allen Ironside

It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Self-sufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” John 3:16; John 15:13; 2 Corinthians 5:12–15; 1 John 4:10 The Knowledge of the Holy, 156.

A. W. Tozer

If Ephesians is a letter concerned with the universal church, 1 Corinthians is pointedly concerned with the local church.

David Lowery

O, wither’d is the garland of the war, The soldier’s pole is fallen.1 Antony and Cleopatra. Act iv. Sc. 15.

William Shakespeare

Without the awakening, creative, regenerating work of the Spirit of God in us we are merely “natural” rather than “spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15)

John Piper

I hope our young people never forget the true estimate of honors and of values. Young man, the president of the United States could call you to Washington, commission you as an ambassador of your country and send you off on important missions to other nations—but how much greater for you to be owned and commissioned and empowered and sent from God on His business and for His glory. No king and no president has authority and power enough to bestow that greatest of all honors—to be owned and honored and sent from God! John 1:6–7; 2 Corinthians 5:19–21; 1 Timothy 1:12–15 Christ the Eternal Son, 120.

A. W. Tozer

It does not require that we believe ourselves to be zeros. Such an attitude is simply not scriptural, for Christ’s death on our behalf teaches us that we are of great value (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)

R. Kent Hughes

Paul gives us the precise definition of the Gospel we preach today in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. The Gospel is the good news about the death and resurrection of Christ. He died and He lives—this is the content of the Gospel.

Charles Caldwell Ryrie

1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter of the whole Bible.

Alan F. Johnson

This expedition marks yet another vain attempt by a monarch to silence prophecy. Elijah withstood such threats (cf. 1 Kgs 17:1–24; 18:1–15; 19:1–18; 2 Kgs 1:1–15), and now Elisha must do so. Will God continue to protect his messenger?

Paul R. House

For silence and modesty are the best ornaments of a woman, and to remain quietly within the house. So 1 Corinthians (14:34)—“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak.”

Euripides

Greek word translated “patience” in 1 Corinthians 13:4 refers specifically to patience with people. It literally means “to be long-tempered,” and it speaks of one who could easily retaliate when wronged but chooses not to.

John F. MacArthur

Our gifts are not to be measured by the amount we contribute, but by the surplus kept in our own hand. The Best Donation, Volume 37, Sermon #2234 - 2 Corinthians 8:5

Charles Spurgeon

In deliberative rhetoric one is concerned not only with what is expedient but also with what is honorable, which involves the four cardinal virtues: wisdom (cf. 1 Corinthians 1–4), justice (cf. chs. 5–6), courage (cf. chs. 7 and 15), and temperance (cf. chs. 8–14)

Ben Witherington III

But it is a scriptural principle that the blessings that flow from fellowship with God are not confined to the immediate recipients, but extend to others (e.g. Gen. 15:18; 17:7; 18:26ff.; 1 Kgs 15:4; Isa. 37:4)

Leon Lamb Morris

1 Thessalonians and those in 1 Corinthians.

David E. Garland

Galatians is one of the four ‘capital’ epistles of Paul (the others being 1 and 2 Corinthians and Romans) and one of the best authenticated.

Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Professor)

The message of 1 Corinthians 15 is that the resurrection of the body is a cardinal doctrine for which Paul thought it worthwhile to take fifty-eight verses to contend.

Jay E. Adams

The most explicit texts relating directly to the leadership of men in the church are 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 1 Corinthians 14:34–36; 11:2–16.

John Piper; Wayne Grudem

Christ’s reply to Paul’s prayer must be seen as the climax not only of this passage (12:1–10) and of the “Fool’s Speech” (11:1–12:13), but in some ways of the entire Second Letter to the Corinthians.

Paul W. Barnett

Although the Bible is a completed project, our understanding of it is an ongoing process. Just as the Spirit was involved in giving us the Bible, He is also involved in teaching us its meaning (John 16:12–15; 1 Corinthians 2:10–16)

Charles Caldwell Ryrie

1 Corinthians was probably written early in 53 or 54.

Ben Witherington III

Thus, the opening paragraph of 1 Corinthians 15 is a testimony of inestimable value concerning the form in which the gospel was preached in the very first generation of Christianity.

Richard B. Hays

I will give you a little bit of worldly wisdom; it is this,—whenever you do not know what to do, do not do it. Two Choice Assurances, Volume 58, Sermon #3330 - Genesis 15:1, Exodus 33:14

Charles Spurgeon

So, while 1 Corinthians 15 plays practically no part in Berkhof’s view, others find in it a reference to that spectacular moment that has always been inherent in chiliasm, the first resurrection at the beginning of the millennium.

Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer (Theologian)

This is the kind of age and hour when the Lord’s people should be so alert to the hope and promise of His coming that they should get up every morning just like a child on Christmas morning—eager and believing that it should be today! 1 Corinthians 15:51–57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Who Put Jesus on the Cross?, 168.

A. W. Tozer

[Referring to 1 Corinthians 15:] [Paul] sees his own meeting with the risen Jesus as part of the evidence. “He appeared to me also” (v. 8). “You can check all this out for yourselves,” he is saying when he notes that most of the five hundred who had met the risen Jesus on one celebrated occasion were still around (v. 6). . . . Paul is saying, in effect, “The witnesses are there to be questioned.”1162 C. H. Dodd, “The Appearances of the Risen Christ”

C. H. Dodd

In the end we will see that such labors have brought no eternal fruit. Even if these leaders make it to Heaven, their work will be seen to be worthless (1 Corinthians 3:13–15)

R. Kent Hughes

The man of faith is so sure of his position before God that he can quietly allow himself to be overlooked, discredited, deflated, without a tremor of anxiety. He is willing to wait out God’s own good time and let the wisdom of the future judgment reveal his true size and worth. The man of unbelief dare not do this. He is so unsure of himself that he demands immediate and visible proof of his success. His deep unbelief must have the support of present judgment. He looks eagerly for evidence to assure him that he is indeed somebody. And of course this hunger for present approval throws him open to the temptation to inflate his work for the sake of appearances.… If we have faith, we will be concerned only with what God thinks of us. We can smile off man’s opinion, whether it be favorable or unfavorable, and go our God-appointed way in complete confidence. 1 Corinthians 4:2–3; 2 Corinthians 5:12–15; 1 Thessalonians 2:6–7 We Travel an Appointed Way, 114, 115.

A. W. Tozer

What 1 Corinthians 10 is about is the way the Corinthians had overestimated the power of the Lord’s Supper as sacramental food, and had underestimated the purpose of the Lord’s Supper as spiritual fellowship with Christ.

John Piper