^{I Corinthians 15:12-17 The Amplfied Bible}

¹² But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;

¹⁴ And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).

¹⁵ We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.

¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;

¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];

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¹² But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;

 

The Sadducees did not believe the existence of spirits and in the resurrection.  It is likely that the Jewish contingency in Corinth contained some Sadducees as they were the primary voices that opposed the notion of a resurrection. Consequently, if Jesus rose from the dead, and they agreed that THAT had happened, but there was still no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then it would be false to say that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was the "first fruit" resurrection.  So, if according to their belief, there was no resurrection of the dead, then there was no first fruit resurrection.

¹⁴ And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).

Without the FACT of the resurrection, there is no victory over death. Without Jesus’ demonstration that He conquered death, the judgment of man would still stand.  However, as the Innocent One was being judged for the guilty, Divine justice was compelled to exonerate him personally, and demonstrate that death had no holding power over Him! Jesus conquered sin and death by the resurrection. Therefore, if Jesus is not risen from the dead, then the gospel is powerless.  It is just a bogus message that contains no genuine hope; and without hope, there can be no faith; or faith is the substance of things hoped for…

 

¹⁵ We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.

¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;

¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];

 

Everything works together. If Jesus is not raised from the dead, there is no hope of a general resurrection of the dead. If there is not going to be a general resurrection of the dead, then neither did Jesus ever revive after his crucifixion, and the message of the Gospel is a lie, and its preachers, false witnesses.

 

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, the power of sin and death has not been overcome; and we are still gripped by their power; and we have only the condemnation of God to face upon our own death.  The sentence of judgment that is upon every soul that has sinned is death. The only redemption from that verdict is based upon the One who has experienced the execution of our sentence as a voluntary, innocent, sacrifice; and the resurrection of that One to show openly and plainly that He has obtained the redemption for mankind.  No resurrection?  No redemption. Plain and simple.

-Vijay Armanath