1 Corinthians 15:1-31

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:7

This James was most likely the half-brother of Jesus. He became the leader of the Jerusalem church (cf. Acts 15:13-21). The apostles as a group included Matthias, who was not one of the 12 original disciples. This probably refers to a collective appearance to all the apostles. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:8

Paul regarded the Lord’s appearance to him on the Damascus road as an equivalent post-resurrection appearance and the Lord’s last one."Paul thinks of himself here as an Israelite whose time to be born again had not come nationally (cp. Matthew 23:39), so that his conversion by the appearing of the Lord in glory (Acts 9:3-6) was an illustration, or instance, before the time of the future national conversion of Israel. See Ezekiel 20:35-38; Hosea 2:14-17; Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 13:6; Romans... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:9

The apostle probably used their view of him as a "freak" to comment on his view of himself in this verse and the next one. Evidently Paul felt himself the least worthy to be an apostle. He did not regard his apostleship as inferior to that of the other apostles, however (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:1 to 2 Corinthians 13:10; Galatians 1:11 to Galatians 2:21). The reason he felt this way was because while the other apostles were building up the church he was tearing it down. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:10

Paul’s apostolic calling was a gracious gift from God. The giving of God’s grace proves vain when it does not elicit the appropriate response of loving service. Paul responded to God’s unusually great grace to him by offering back unusually great service to God. However, he did not view his service as self-generated but the product of God’s continual supply of grace to him. God saved Paul by grace, and Paul served God by God’s grace. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:11

Paul and the other apostles all believed and preached the same gospel. Paul did not proclaim a different message from what Peter, James, and the others did (cf. Galatians 2:1-10). This commonly agreed on message is what the Corinthians had believed when those who had ministered in Corinth had preached to them. By denying the resurrection the Corinthians were following neither Apollos, nor Cephas, nor Christ. They were pursuing a theology of their own.The point of this section of verses was to... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:12

Belief in the resurrection of the body seems to have been difficult for Greeks to accept in other places as well as in Corinth (cf. Acts 17:32; 2 Timothy 2:17-18). Evidently some of the Corinthian Christians were having second thoughts about this doctrine."These deniers apparently believe that those who are truly ’spiritual’ (in the Corinthians’ sense) are already ’reigning with Christ’ in glory (see 1 Corinthians 4:8)." [Note: Furnish, p. 74.] "On the whole the Greek did believe in the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

The negative alternative 15:12-19Paul first appealed to the Corinthians’ logic. In this form of logic, called modus tollens, Paul’s argument was that since Christ was raised there is a resurrection of believers. That Paul had believers in view, rather than all people, seems clear in that he was discussing the hope of believers. Other passages teach the resurrection of other groups of people, even all others (e.g., Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:4-5; Revelation 20:12; et al.). Here it becomes clear... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

2. The certainty of resurrection 15:12-34In the preceding paragraph Paul firmly established that the gospel the Corinthians had believed contained the fact that God had raised Jesus Christ bodily, along with other equally crucial facts. Next he proceeded to show the consequences of rejecting belief in the resurrection of the body."Paul uses reductio ad absurdum: if there is no resurrection (i.e., of believers in the future), then Jesus did not rise (1 Corinthians 15:12-13), a point on which he... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:13-14

Belief in bodily resurrection is foundational to the Christian faith. If the resurrection of the body is impossible, then the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fiction. If He did not rise, the apostles’ preaching rested on a lie, and consequently the Corinthians’ faith would have been valueless and misplaced.This is the first in a series of conditional statements that run through 1 Corinthians 15:19. They are first class conditions in the Greek text, which express the assumption of reality for... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 15:15

If there were no resurrection of the body, the apostles would not just be in error, they would be false witnesses against God. They would be saying something untrue about God, namely, that He raised Jesus Christ when He really had not. This would be a serious charge to make against the man who had founded their church and claimed to represent God. Really by denying the resurrection the unbelieving Corinthians were the false witnesses. read more

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