FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21
1 Corinthians 15:12-18
Romans 5:12-21

“But if there be no resurrection …”

THE NECESSITY OF THE RESURRECTION

Paul now sought to establish the necessity of the resurrection with a series of conditional clauses. Each one dealt with a serious implication that would arise if there was no resurrection.

1. Some claimed that there would be no future resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:13). If that was true, it would mean that Christ had not risen from the dead. However, this does not square with the evidences presented by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

2. If Christ indeed be not risen from the dead, the implication is that all preaching is but a useless and futile exercise (1 Cor 15:14a).

3. If Christ be not risen from the dead, the gospel would be an empty message, and our faith in it is vain (1 Cor 15:14b).

4. If Christ be not risen from the dead, it would mean that God did not accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That would make all Apostles and preachers of the gospel liars (1 Cor 15:15).

5. If Christ be not risen from the dead, it would mean that all men would still be in their sins (1 Cor 15:17). All who had died believing in the gospel would also be eternally condemned (i.e. there is no eternal life).

Thus, we see that the resurrection is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith. Take the doctrine of the resurrection away and our faith would collapse like a pack of cards! This is the reason why the Fundamentalists contended zealously against the Modernists in the late nineteenth century. Many of the Modernists denied the reality of miracles and the resurrection. With such Modernistic teachings, there would be no true saving faith in the churches. No resurrection, no gospel. No gospel, no salvation.

THOUGHT: The resurrection is fundamental to the Christian faith.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank Thee that Christ has risen from the dead.