Letters to the Churches

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith.

In that case, we are also exposed as 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.

For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.

Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him.

And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.

If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?

And why do we endanger ourselves every hour?

I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”

You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.