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Study This Verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers 1 Corinthians 15:12–19.
Having confirmed the truth of our Saviour's resurrection, the apostle goes on to refute those among the Corinthians who said there would be none: If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Co1 15:12. It seems from this passage, and the course of the argument, there were some among the Corinthians who thought the resurrection an impossibility. This was a common sentiment among the heathens. But against this the apostle produces an incontestable fact, namely, the resurrection of Christ; and he goes on to argue against them from the absurdities that must follow from their principle. As,
I.If there be (can be) no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen (Co1 15:13); and again, "If the dead rise not, cannot be raised or recovered to life, then is Christ not raised, Co1 15:16. And yet it was foretold in ancient prophecies that he should rise; and it has been proved by multitudes of eye-witnesses that he had risen. And will you say, will any among you dare to say, that is not, cannot be, which God long ago said should be, and which is now undoubted matter of fact?"
II.It would follow hereupon that the preaching and faith of the gospel would be vain:
If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith vain, Co1 15:14. This supposition admitted, would destroy the principal evidence of Christianity; and so, 1. Make preaching vain. "We apostles should be found false witnesses of God; we pretend to be God's witnesses for truth, and to work miracles by his power in confirmation of it, and are all the while deceivers, liars for God, if in his name, and by power received from him, we go forth, and publish and assert a thing false in fact, and impossible to be true. And does not this make us the vainest men in the world, and our office and ministry the vainest and most useless thing in the world? What end could we propose to ourselves in undertaking this hard and hazardous service, if we knew our religion stood on no better foundation, nay, if we were not well assured of the contrary? What should we preach for? Would not our labour be wholly in vain? We can have no very favourable expectations in this life; and we could have none beyond it. If Christ be not raised, the gospel is a jest; it is chaff and emptiness." 2. This supposition would make the faith of Christians vain, as well as the labours of ministers: If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins (Co1 15:17), yet under the guilt and condemnation of sin, because it is through his death and sacrifice for sin alone that forgiveness is to be had. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, Eph 1:7. No remission of sins is to be had but through the shedding of his blood. And had his blood been shed, and his life taken away, without ever being restored, what evidence could we have had that through him we should have justification and eternal life? Had he remained under the power of death, how could he have delivered us from its power? And how vain a thing is faith in him, upon this supposition! He must rise for our justification who was delivered for our sins, or in vain we look for any such benefit by him. There had been no justification nor salvation if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no signification, if he be still among the dead?
III.Another absurdity following from this supposition is that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
if there be no resurrection, they cannot rise, and therefore are lost, even those who have died in the Christian faith, and for it. It is plain from this that those among the Corinthians who denied the resurrection meant thereby a state of future retribution, and not merely the revival of the flesh; they took death to be the destruction and extinction of the man, and not merely of the bodily life; for otherwise the apostle could not infer the utter loss of those who slept in Jesus, from the supposition that they would never rise more or that they had no hopes in Christ after life; for they might have hope of happiness for their minds if these survived their bodies, and this would prevent the limiting of their hopes in Christ to this life only. "Upon supposition there is no resurrection in your sense, no after-state and life, then dead Christians are quite lost. How vain a thing were our faith and religion upon this supposition!" And this,
IV.Would infer that Christ's ministers and servants were of all men most miserable, as having hope in him in this life only (Co1 15:19), which is another absurdity that would follow from asserting no resurrection. Their condition who hope in Christ would be worse than that of other men. Who hope in Christ. Note, All who believe in Christ have hope in him; all who believe in him as a Redeemer hope for redemption and salvation by him; but if there be no resurrection, or state of future recompence (which was intended by those who denied the resurrection at Corinth), their hope in him must be limited to this life: and, if all their hopes in Christ lie within the compass of this life, they are in a much worse condition than the rest of mankind, especially at that time, and under those circumstances, in which the apostles wrote; for then they had no countenance nor protection from the rulers of the world, but were hated and persecuted by all men. Preachers and private Christians therefore had a hard lot if in this life only they had hope in Christ. Better be any thing than a Christian upon these terms; for in this world they are hated, and hunted, and abused, stripped of all worldly comforts and exposed to all manner of sufferings: they fare much harder than other men in this life, and yet have no further nor better hopes. And is it not absurd for one who believes in Christ to admit a principle that involves so absurd an inference? Can that man have faith in Christ who can believe concerning him that he will leave his faithful servants, whether ministers or others, in a worse state than his enemies? Note, It were a gross absurdity in a Christian to admit the supposition of no resurrection or future state. It would leave no hope beyond this world, and would frequently make his condition the worst in the world. Indeed, the Christian is by his religion crucified to this world, and taught to live upon the hope of another. Carnal pleasures are insipid to him in a great degree; and spiritual and heavenly pleasures are those which he affects and pants after. How sad is his case indeed, if he must be dead to worldly pleasures and yet never hope for any better!
Historical interpretation
Historical Reception
3 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
And not hereby alone doth he show the impiety of these evil doctrines, but he further contends earnestly against them, saying,
"Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we witnessed of Him that He raised up Christ; whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised."
But if this be absurd, (for it is a charge against God and a calumny,) and He raised Him not, as ye say, not only this, but other absurdities too will follow.
Our preaching would not just be pointless, it would be downright false, if this were the case.
If a lie directed against the temporal life of another is detestable, how much more so is one prejudicial to his eternal life. Such is every lie voiced in the teaching of religion. On that account, the apostle terms it false witness if anyone lies about Christ, even in what might seem to pertain to his praise.
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Summary
In 1 Corinthians 15:15, the Apostle Paul continues his forceful argument for the bodily resurrection of Christ and all believers, asserting the profound and devastating implications if this foundational truth were denied. He contends that if the dead are not raised, then he and the other apostles, who have consistently proclaimed that God raised Christ from the dead, would be exposed as "false witnesses of God," having misrepresented the very character and power of the Almighty. This verse underscores the absolute necessity of Christ's resurrection as the bedrock upon which the entire Christian faith, and the integrity of its apostolic proclamation, stands or falls.
Context
Literary Context
This verse is situated within the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, which is entirely dedicated to Paul's comprehensive defense of the resurrection. Paul addresses a specific theological challenge within the Corinthian church, where some members were denying the resurrection of the dead. He systematically builds his argument, beginning with the historical reality of Christ's resurrection, attested by numerous eyewitnesses. Paul then proceeds to demonstrate the catastrophic logical consequences for Christian faith and preaching if the resurrection is not true. Verses 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 establish the premise that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, rendering their preaching and the Corinthians' faith utterly futile. Verse 15 follows as a direct, severe consequence of this premise, focusing on the integrity of the apostolic witness.
Historical & Cultural Context
The city of Corinth was a bustling, cosmopolitan center, a melting pot of various philosophical and religious ideas. Within this environment, certain Greek philosophical schools, such as Platonism and Epicureanism, held views that were antithetical to the concept of bodily resurrection. Platonism, for instance, often viewed the physical body as a prison for the soul, from which the soul was liberated at death, making a bodily resurrection undesirable or even absurd. Epicureanism, with its emphasis on pleasure and the finality of death, also found no place for a future bodily existence. These prevailing cultural ideas likely influenced some within the Corinthian church, leading them to question or deny the resurrection. Paul's robust defense, therefore, was not merely an internal theological dispute but a direct confrontation with deeply ingrained pagan philosophical assumptions that threatened to undermine the very core of the Gospel.
Key Themes
The verse significantly contributes to several major themes in 1 Corinthians 15 and the broader Pauline corpus. Firstly, it highlights The Integrity of Apostolic Witness. Paul asserts that if Christ was not raised, then he and the other apostles, who consistently testified that God raised Christ (as seen in Acts 2:32 and Acts 4:33), would be "false witnesses of God." This is a grave accusation, implying that their entire mission, message, and personal sacrifice were based on a deliberate lie, thus impugning their character and divine commission. Secondly, it underscores The Centrality of Christ's Resurrection. This doctrine is not peripheral but the absolute bedrock of Christian belief and the Gospel message. Without it, the entire edifice of Christian faith collapses, rendering salvation impossible and hope for the future vain, as Paul further elaborates in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19. Thirdly, Paul employs Logical Consequence as a powerful rhetorical tool. He links the general resurrection of the dead directly to Christ's resurrection, arguing that if the former is impossible, the latter must also be. This ties the hope of believers for their own future resurrection directly to the historical, undeniable event of Christ's victory over death.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This compound word (from pseudēs meaning "false" and mártys meaning "witness") denotes one who bears untrue testimony, specifically in a legal or formal sense. In this context, it implies more than a mere mistake; it suggests a deliberate misrepresentation or even a lie concerning God Himself. For the apostles, whose entire ministry was predicated on bearing witness to Christ, being labeled "false witnesses of God" would be the ultimate indictment, undermining their credibility, authority, and the divine origin of their message. It would mean they were not merely mistaken about an event, but had fundamentally misrepresented God's character, power, and truthfulness.
This verb, used multiple times in the verse, means "to waken" or "to rouse," often from sleep, disease, or death. It can be transitive (God raised Christ) or intransitive (the dead rise). Its repeated use emphasizes the active, divine power involved in bringing someone back from the state of death. The core of Paul's argument hinges on the reality of this "raising up" – if God did not perform this act for Christ, then the apostles' testimony is false, and the very concept of resurrection is invalid.
Referring to the supreme Divinity, "God" here is central to the accusation. The apostles testified of God that He raised Christ. Therefore, if Christ was not raised, the lie is not merely about an event, but about God's direct action and character. To be a "false witness of God" is a profound theological offense, implying that God either lacked the power to raise Christ or that He was complicit in a deception, both of which are blasphemous.
Verse Breakdown
"Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God;"
Paul begins with a strong affirmation ("Yea, and") of the dire conclusion. If the premise (no resurrection of the dead) is true, then the apostles' very identity and mission are compromised. They would be "found" (discovered, exposed) as those who have borne false testimony, not just about a minor detail, but about God Himself. This is a direct challenge to their integrity and the divine authority of their message.
"because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:"
This clause provides the specific reason for the accusation of false witness. The apostles' central message, their consistent proclamation, was that God, by His own power, had raised Jesus Christ from the dead. This was not a secondary point but the very heart of the Gospel they preached (e.g., Romans 1:3-4). If this historical event did not occur, then their entire testimony about God's power, His plan of salvation, and Christ's identity is a fabrication.
"whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not."
This final clause presents the conditional premise that underpins the entire argument. Paul asserts that if the general resurrection of the dead is impossible ("if so be that the dead rise not"), then it logically follows that God did not, and could not, have raised Christ. This links Christ's resurrection inextricably to the broader doctrine of the resurrection of all believers, making it clear that the two stand or fall together. The denial of one necessitates the denial of the other, leading to the conclusion that the apostles' testimony about Christ's resurrection would be utterly false.
Literary Devices
Paul masterfully employs several literary devices to drive home his argument. The primary device is a Hypothetical Argument or Conditional Clause, signaled by "if so be that the dead rise not." This allows Paul to explore the logical consequences of a premise he fundamentally rejects, demonstrating its absurdity. Closely related is Reductio ad Absurdum, where Paul takes the Corinthians' denial of the resurrection to its logical, devastating, and unacceptable conclusion: if there is no resurrection, then the apostles are liars, God is misrepresented, and faith is futile. This forces his audience to confront the full implications of their skepticism. While not a direct question, the statement "we are found false witnesses of God" functions as a powerful Rhetorical Statement, designed to shock and persuade by highlighting the profound moral and theological crisis that would ensue. Finally, there is a strong sense of Antithesis or Contrast implied throughout the passage, contrasting the truth of God's power and the apostles' genuine witness with the horrifying alternative of falsehood and deception.
Theological and Thematic Connections
This verse profoundly impacts our understanding of God's character, the nature of truth, and the foundation of Christian hope. It asserts that God is a God of truth and power, incapable of being associated with falsehood or weakness. If Christ was not raised, it would not only mean the apostles were liars, but that God Himself was either unable to raise Him or was somehow part of a grand deception, which is antithetical to His revealed nature. The resurrection is thus presented as the ultimate validation of God's promises and Christ's identity, ensuring the integrity of the divine witness. It underscores that the Gospel is not based on human speculation or wishful thinking, but on historical fact and divine action.
Reflection and Application
For believers today, 1 Corinthians 15:15 serves as a powerful and sobering reminder of the non-negotiable truth of Christ's resurrection. Our faith is not built on a myth, a moral philosophy, or an inspiring story, but on the historical, verifiable fact of Jesus' triumph over death. This verse compels us to recognize that the entire edifice of Christian doctrine, our hope for salvation, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, hinges entirely on the reality of a resurrected Christ. It reinforces the call to boldly proclaim this truth, knowing that our witness is not based on human invention but on God's mighty act. It should instill in us a profound gratitude for the certainty of our hope and equip us to defend the Gospel against skepticism, understanding that to deny the resurrection is to fundamentally undermine the very nature of God and the authenticity of His revelation.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is Paul so insistent that the apostles would be "false witnesses of God" if Christ did not rise?
Paul's insistence highlights the absolute centrality of Christ's resurrection to the Christian faith and the integrity of its proclamation. If Christ was not raised, then the apostles' core message—that God raised Jesus from the dead—would be a lie. This would mean they were not merely mistaken, but actively misrepresenting God's character and power. Such a deception would invalidate their entire ministry, their suffering for the Gospel, and their claim to be divinely appointed messengers. It would imply that the God they proclaimed was either powerless to raise His Son or was somehow party to a massive falsehood, which is blasphemous. Therefore, for Paul, the truth of the resurrection is inextricably linked to the truthfulness of God Himself and the credibility of His chosen witnesses.
What does "if so be that the dead rise not" imply about the general resurrection?
This phrase is a crucial conditional clause that links Christ's resurrection to the general resurrection of all believers. Paul is arguing by reductio ad absurdum: if you deny the possibility of a general resurrection of the dead, then you must logically deny Christ's resurrection as well. He is not questioning the general resurrection, but rather showing the inescapable consequence of denying it. If death is the ultimate end for all humanity, then Christ, being fully human, could not have overcome it. Therefore, the hope for our own future resurrection is directly tied to the historical reality of Christ's triumph over death, as He is the "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
1 Corinthians 15:15, while highlighting the apostles' witness, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the Person and work of Jesus Himself. The verse implicitly points to Christ as the very object of the apostles' testimony and the embodiment of God's resurrecting power. His resurrection is not merely an event; it is the definitive declaration of His divine Sonship and His absolute victory over sin, death, and the grave (Romans 1:3-4). If Christ had not been raised, His claims to be the Son of God, the Messiah, and the source of eternal life would have been proven false, just as the apostles' testimony would have been. But because He was raised, He is indeed "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25-26), the one who holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). His resurrection is the foundation of the New Covenant, the guarantee of our justification (Romans 4:25), and the power by which believers are spiritually raised with Him to new life now and will be physically raised in the future (Ephesians 2:5-6 and Colossians 2:12). Thus, the truth of the apostolic witness in 1 Corinthians 15:15 finds its unwavering validation in the living, resurrected Christ.