The Resurrection of Christ
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Now I would remind you, brothers,a of the gospel 1I preached to you, which you received, 2in which you stand,
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and by which 3you are being saved, if you 4hold fast to the word I preached to you--5unless you believed in vain.
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For 6I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died 7for our sins 8in accordance with the Scriptures,
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Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
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Last of all, as to one untimely born, 15he appeared also to me.
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For 16I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because 17I persecuted the church of God.
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But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, 18I worked harder than any of them, 19though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
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Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
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Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, 20how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
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But if there is no resurrection of the dead, 21then not even Christ has been raised.
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And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
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We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that 22he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
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For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
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And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and 23you are still in your sins.
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Then those also who 24have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
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But in fact 26Christ has been raised from the dead, 27the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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For 30as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
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But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then 31at his coming 32those who belong to Christ.
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Then comes the end, when he delivers 33the kingdom to God the Father after destroying 34every rule and every authority and power.
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For he must reign 35until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
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The last enemy to be 36destroyed is death.
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For 37"Godc has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.
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When 38all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that 39God may be all in all.
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Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
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Why are we 40in danger every hour?
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I protest, brothers, by 41my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, 42I die every day!
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What do I gain if, humanly speaking, 43I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, 44"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
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47Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For 48some have no knowledge of God. 49I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
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But someone will ask, 50"How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
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You foolish person! 51What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
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And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
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But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
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For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
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There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.
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There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
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52So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
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It is sown in dishonor; 53it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
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It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
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Thus it is written, 54"The first man Adam became a living being";e55the last Adam became a 56life-giving spirit.
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But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
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As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, 60so also are those who are of heaven.
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Just 61as we have borne the image of the man of dust, 62we shallf also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Mystery and Victory
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I tell you this, brothers: 63flesh and blood 64cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
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in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For 67the trumpet will sound, and 68the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
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For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and 69this mortal body must put on immortality.
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When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 70"Death is swallowed up in victory."
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71"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
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The sting of death is sin, and 72the power of sin is the law.
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But thanks be to God, 73who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)