Talk of JESUS . com

Category: Epistles – Is his letter to our church?

Epistle of Paul to the Romans 1 - the Apostles sends a church letter to Rome and the local saints of area churches
Epistle of Paul to the Romans

Epistles ἐπιστολή or Letters

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians 

Don’t  miss our recent FEATURED SERIES

JUNE 2024 – 2025 —

1 CORINTHIANS 

———————————————————-

Letters – Is he writing to me?
The short answer: YES.

In their epistles or 1st century church letters the Apostles and other men sent out by Jesus build up the saints [small – ‘s’] or members of local first century churches.

A Disciple or other witness of JESUS would write it. Messengers then delivered these church letters to many isolated worshipers.

Followers of Jesus Christ receive these letters as a major encouragement to their personal faith. Then leaders read them to worshipers of their church.

Although the Epistles 0r Letters to the Church were originally written to churches of the first century,

Romans through Jude will seem like letters to your 21st century church.

  • What do Peter, Paul, John and others tell us we must do?
  • Is he talking about an issue in your 21st c. church as well?
  • How does the writer’s advice, warning, or encouragement to the 1st c. believers apply to you as well
  • Is the writer of this letter talking about something you need to address in your 21st century ‘christian’ life?

Contemporary Application of the Letters (Epistles)

Most New Testament writers take on specific issues confronting faithful followers of Jesus Christ. These same issues continue to confront believers until the Lord’s coming again in these last days.

Certainly Christ our Lord will come again to those God has chosen for eternal life.

Believers currently suffer more than most of you who know Christ in your local church can imagine.

In other lands Christians continue to suffer by the hand of the ungodly.
Go into all the world

A 21st century Common Era church can see and hear nearly any atrocity of man or artificial imagination of sinful man’s mind, yet ‘christians‘ dare not speak of any absolute truth of the Lord God or talk of JESUS CHRIST.

Will YOU comment on Scripture and share the Gospel?

I invite you to read the inspired word of Scripture written in these LETTERS TO THE CHURCH.

YES, He IS writing to YOU.

Beloved brother or sister in Christ Jesus,

Will you read this ‘CHURCH LETTER’ and talk of JESUS through your comment, sharing and email to me about this ‘Letter to you?”

Roger@talkofJesus.com

  • Death Put Under the Authority of God —Resurrection — in Order

    Death Put Under the Authority of God —Resurrection — in Order

    For God has put everything under his feet.

    1 Corinthians 15:27a CSB

    How can this include DEATH?

    Is death not the antithesis of LIFE —decay into deep darkness the defeat of created man?

    How can the resurrection of the dead — even those martyred in Christ — take place?

    The Apostle Paul continues to address the concerns of the Corinthian church putting all things in order and now addressing THE END.

    The Order of Resurrection

    The apostle to the gentiles (Hellenists, that is, Greeks including Corinthians) began his logical argument with
    The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection and logically continued to connect those facts.

    And Now the News – Resurrection of the Dead

    LAST TIME, we ended with Paul’s astounding opening statement about death and resurrection about an ORDER of the Resurrection:

    Then comes the end…

    1 Corinthians 15:24a CSB

    I stumbled over it. Do you?

    THE END…

    Isn’t DEATH, after all, the end?

    And in the end
    The love you take
    Is equal to the love
    You make…

    “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,
    All good children go to heaven…
    Everybody’s laughing
    Everybody’s happy
    Here come the Sun King…

    Of course, we all have much anti-Christ philosophy replaying in the mortal minds of our imaginings (it isn’t hard to do..).

    The cultural challenges of the resurrection were no less for Paul and the Corinthians than the Promethean philosophical objections of the 20th century and this Common Era. 

    AGAIN, as we first addressed in the Facts:

    Cultural ‘science‘ of Promethean Logic

    Prometheus, in Greek religion, one of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Forethinker. In common belief he developed into a master craftsman, and in this connection he was associated with fire and the creation of mortals.

    Source: Britannica

    Perhaps they also hope against hope that these things aren’t really so..

    in a self-deceived way..

    the problem here is not merely cognitive..

    but.. Promethean…

    from WARRANTED CHRISTIAN BELIEF PP290-294

    NO – Death is NOT ‘The End.’

    The Apostle Paul will address this — DEATH and its threats did not phase him and should not prevent those possibly facing martyrdom for claiming Jesus Christ and the resurrection to the crowds of Corinth.

    What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?

    If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

    1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV

    Paul has emphasized order in worship and now, the Apostle even presents an order in the resurrection of the dead, rather than random godless chaos without form.

    1 Corinthians 15: 

    King James Version

    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

    1 Cor 15:3-4 KJV

    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

    v. 20

    AND what were the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Twelve sent to some with the Gospel?

    The Fruit of Faith (an illustration from a parable of Jesus)

    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

    But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

    from Gospel of Luke 12:19-20 KJV

    And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:

    Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

    Gospel of Luke 12:4-5 KJV – Jesus on death and judgment 

    Some foreboding in our Lord's call to stand up to death — is there not?

    Saul of Tarsus & the fearless witness of Paul

    When Paul had met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, Christ’s new apostle to the gentiles came to understand the reality of WHY those Saul had previously persecuted and killed had not changed their testimony — even as these saints of Ephesus or Corinth faced mortal death.

    (And remember Stephen as he was stoned to death in Jerusalem?)

    Just three or four years after he writes to the Corinthians, Paul also will witness the resurrection to King Herod Agrippa II, hearing his case brought by the Jews until Paul appeals to Caesar.

    Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

    Acts of the Apostles 26:22-23 NKJV

    Christ the firstfruits of Resurrection

    For as in Adam all die, even so 

    in Christ shall all be made alive.

    But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

    1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV

    WHAT AN ILLUSTRATON! — āḏām [man – אָדָם] — made in the image of God — now mortal and re-destined to dust — in Christ (and Christ alone) redeemed and revived from DEATH — death, common to every creature made alive for a time by God.

    Let me explain the REIGN of Christ, Paul reasons:

    Once again, in the more AUTHORITIVE-sounding King James Version, let's examine Paul's text in words provoking push-back from Christians unaccustomed to such absolute authority of a most-powerful King.

    Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;

    when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

    For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

    1 Corinthians 15:24-25 KJV

    IS this the JESUS we know?

    Afterward —The Whole Harvest

    At the same time the wicked shall rise also. But they are not taken here into the account.

    v. 23

    Then — After the resurrection and the general judgment. Cometh the end — Of the world..

    When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father, and he (the Father) shall have abolished all adverse rule, authority and power — Not that the Father will then begin to reign without the Son, nor will the Son then cease to reign…

    But this is spoken of the Son’s mediatorial kingdom.. which will then commence.

    John Wesley; Parallel Commentary on the NEW TESTAMENT, p.580

    John Wesley provides explanation and delineation of the roles of the Father and of the Son — in the time between the resurrection of ALL the dead and prior to the Judgment — and until the end. 

    The King James Bible Commentary provides additional insight into Paul's explanation to the Corinthians of the end time.

    ” The logic is inescapable.

    KJB Commentary on 1 COR 15:14 , p.1496

    If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain.

    The proclamation of the Gospel (vs.1-11) is hollow. Not only that, but your faith is .. ‘groundless.’

    Faith in a dead saviour is both preposterous and pathetic.

    ibid. 

    Much in the way Wesley's explanation of 'Who does what?' helps us, the KJB commentary also guides our understanding of the order of THE END [vs.23-26].

    The end refers to he end of the kingdom of God. At that time he will have put down all rule.

    27-28 .. However two facts must be accounted for here:

    • First, when Paul say s that the Son is subject to the Father he is not speaking of the Son in terms of his essence, but in terms of his function, or ministry, as the incarnate Son.
    • Second.. At this present time the administration of the messianic kingdom is given to the Son.
      • However, at the conclusion of the messianic kingdom this function will be returned to the triune God that God may be all in all.

    ibid.

    WE don’t trust God, because of many who have claimed God — or Christ Jesus — in ways worthy of our suspicion.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    The Apostle Paul is trying to show the Corinthians (and us) something about the order of God we do not understand, as well as the Authority all flesh tends to resist.

    ὑποτάσσω – ‘Put under’ (in order)

    Believe only Scripture and an order of the resurrection makes sense in the redemptive providential plan of God.

    Misapply portions of the Gospel or add an oversimplified imagined LIFE after death without consequence for opposing God and your gospel claims will prove false — Promethean in the sense that you know that it can NOT be true (but you continue to hope that it is).

    Take a look at the Biblical use of the word — hypotassō — primarily a military term that Paul uses NINE TIMES here IN TWO VERSES:

    1 Corinthians 15:25-28 — For He must reign…

    v.26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

    For he hath put G5293 all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under G5293 him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put G5293 all things under G5293 him.

    And when all things shall be subdued G5293 unto him, then shall G5293 the Son also himself be subject G5293 unto him that put G5293 all things under G5293 him, that God may be all in all.

    1 Corinthians 15:27-28 KJV — Lexicon :: Strong’s G5293 – hypotassō

    How does New Testament Scripture use this term [ὑποτάσσω]?

    • to arrange under, to subordinate
    • to subject, put in subjection
    • to subject one’s self, obey
    • to submit to one’s control
    • to yield to one’s admonition or advice
    • to obey, be subject
    Personally, most of us (including Christians) do not like any part of this kind of order.

    Let every soul be subject G5293 unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

    Romans 13:1 KJV

    How are YOU, dear saint of Christ, doing with that?

    YES, the Apostle Paul — put under Christ — obediently presents the resurrection of the body in order.

    NEXT, he will talk about the resurrection body. And shortly Paul will urge the saints of Corinth to submit to those who have labored with the Apostle bringing forth the firstfruits of Achaia [16:15-16].

    What do you think?

    (logically and Biblically, of course) about the order of DEATH and the Resurrection?

    Are you prepared to die daily (along with Paul) for the Lord Christ Jesus?

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

  • And Now the News – Resurrection of the Dead

    And Now the News – Resurrection of the Dead

    Paul first establishes the indisputable facts of the Resurrection of Christ supported by evidence.

    And Now the News – Just the Facts

    the Logic of Christ’s Resurrection

    The FACTS established, now the Apostle to the Gentiles must convince believing Corinthians influenced by cultural ‘scientists of Promethean logic‘ about the truth of the nature of the resurrection of the dead.

    • How can worshippers of myths — a myriad of made-up gods and goddesses — purport LOGIC as truth?
    • How can we present the resurrection of the dead as truth rather than myth (upon which Greek religion tenuously stands)?

    This is Paul’s cultural challenge — and ours.

    Resurrection is Key to the Gospel

    Even Jerusalem’s Sadducees denied the truth and evidence of the resurrection.

    Certainly many Greek worshippers of pagan gods held philosophies allowing the evil of the body to coexistence with a soul (hopefully) worthy of heaven.

    Paul had encountered such opposition in Athens just before he arrived in Corinth to preach.

    Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked...

    Acts of the Apostles 17:32a

    Easter or Resurrection Sunday is the day the tomb of Jesus is found empty and when the risen Messiah appears risen after His crucifixion on a Corss

    Note that this mocking at mention of the resurrection is similar to that in Jerusalem at the time many Jews received the Holy Spirit.

    They believe these things, but hate them; and they also hate God.

    WARRANTED CHRISTIAN BELIEF P.291

    Is it not so? Hasn’t this hatred of God also been your experience simply at the mention of Jesus Christ?

    Pagan ridicule of the resurrection provides false evidence to their Promethean proofs justifying the sins their flesh-indulged minds.

    This was the challenge of the Apostle Paul in A.D. 55, as it is ours in this Common Era of indulgent inclusion.

    IF Christ is risen..

    Paul has established the indisputable facts of the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now he continues in his key logic of the gospel of resurrection of the body and spirit.

    1 Corinthians 15: –

    “.. this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

    1 COR 15:11b BSB

    : RESURRECTION IS: CERTAIN (15:1-34)

    Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,

    how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

    1 Cor 15:12 ESV

    Paul now addresses those believing doubters of the resurrection influenced by the surrounding pagan culture.

    The Apostle follows a step-by-step logical argument:

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

    1 Cor 15:13 ESV

    These logical Greek Corinthians hear the argument of the Pharisee (Saul of Tarsus) refuting the unbelieving Sadducees.

    — AND Paul has just presented the FACTS and evidence that Christ was raised from the grave after His crucifixion.

    And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

    1 Cor 15:14 ESV

    SO — You are a follower of The Way – a saint of your local church…

    WHY THEN did we preach Christ to you and your fellow saints?

    Is your faith in a myth just vanity? 

    And Paul continues rhetorically challenging the veracity of his own preaching of the Christ and Jesus' resurrection from DEATH on a Roman cross in Judea.

    The apostle of this gospel self-convicts in this alternative scenario concluding:

    We are even found to be misrepresenting God,

    because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

    1 Cor 15:15 ESV

    Heresy!

    What is the Apostle’s proposition?

    YOU — Corinthians — (and YOU, Common Era questioners) — must judge the TRUTH of the RESURRECTION of the dead based on the FACTS & EVIDENCE that the Lord Jesus Christ was the first man raised from death for your sins.

    Why do I make the bold point that this  would be HERESY? 

    Other translations provide a more pointed translation of the Greek that may help us understand the seriousness of Paul's alternative false proposition.

    εὑρισκόμεθα δὲ καὶ ψευδομάρτυρες

    v.15a Moreover we are even found [in a legal sense] to be false witnesses [pseudomartys] of God..

    [This would be false testimony against Almighty God, certainly punishable by death of the mortal body and punishment of their immortal soul.]

    HERESY – αἵρεσις – hairesis

    But the Corinthian saints know that Paul has NOT chosen himself over GOD [Theos].

    The Apostle, however, continues down this logical path of its false-reasoning conclusion.

    Now to the Apostle’s logical connection:

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

    1 Cor 15:16 ESV 
    (Paul has already opened his argument to the court of logic with Christ's resurrection.)

    Then those also who have fallen asleep [koimaō  – a metaphor for death] in Christ have perished [ἀπόλλυμι – .apollymi].

    1 Cor 15:18

    The Perishing Promethean Heretics

    Paul, in providing a clear choice to those who trust in the Way and Truth and Life of Christ, offers a clear logical choice.

    The Apostle had opened his Epistle to the Corinthians clearly stating:

    For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing G622,

    but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written,

    “I WILL DESTROY G622 THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,

    AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”

    1 Corinthians 1:18-19 LSB – Paul, citing Old Testament Scripture

    “Where is the one who is wise?

    Paul had rhetorically asked in the opening of this epistle [1 Cor 1:20].

    νυνί – now, at this very moment

    NOW Paul continues in the only logical conclusion: :

    But now [at this very moment] is Christ risen from the dead

    1 Corinthians 15:20a – KJV [def. Gk. νυνί]

    The Apostle here is emphatic in his belief proclaimed in his closing.

    “But in fact..,” “At this very moment..,” “And now..,

    Christ hath risen out of the dead,” read just a few English translations of Paul’s logical Greek argument.

    Then Paul proclaims the benefits of Christ’s resurrection applied to the death of those in Christ.

    Christ’s resurrection + the firstfruits

    But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…

    .. Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

    1 Cor 15:20,23b ESV

    Between Paul’s representation of the resurrection of Christ and resurrections of ‘those who belong to Christ’ — (faithful saints of the Church redeemed in Him) — the Apostle points back once more to original sin and the source of death replacing eternal life with God.

    IN THE BEGINNING…

    Jacob de Baker Garden of Eden

    For as in Adam all die…

    Paul proclaims:

    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

    For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

    For as in Adam all die,

    even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

    1 Cor 15:20-22 KJV

    IN THE BEGINNING God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void…

    And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…

    And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed… But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:

    for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

    Genesis 1-2 KJV excerpts

    IN ADAM… ALL DIE.

    IN ABRAHAM & JACOB.. ALL DIE.

    IN MOSES ALL DIE

    and IN DAVID… ALL DIE!

    in Christ all will be made alive.
    For just as in Adam all die,
    so also in Christ all will be made alive.
    But each in his own order:
    Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming,
    those who belong to Christ.

    Then comes the end…

    1 Corinthians 15:22-24a CSB 

    Good NEWS of the Resurrection of the DEAD - To be continued...

  • And Now the News – Just the Facts

    And Now the News – Just the Facts

    Moreover — and as a matter of fact, the Apostle continues — here are the facts of the Gospel of the resurrection and Christ once more (for your logical Greek reasoning).

    Letters & NEWS

    As we have read in the Apostle’s first epistle to the Corinthian saints, letters are personal and recall a connection of love between Paul and those in Corinth.

    I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—

    .. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree..

    1 Corinthians 1:4-10a excerpt ESV

    The Apostle states his obstacles common to the Corinthians — a diverse church in every way — at the outset of his epistle:

    For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

    but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 1:22-23 ESV

    And the Apostle establishes his own authority in Christ — the head of the Church who died for sinners.

    Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.

    1 Corinthians 9:19-20a ESV

    Yet Paul’s pathos and personal connection to the Corinthians appeals to all who love the Lord — Jew and Greek and Romans who worship as saints of one Church — this one in first century Corinth.

    The Parthenon in Athens a place to honor and worship all the gods
    The Parthenon

    Logic

    Recall from our previous look at Paul’s personal letter that even though a remnant of Jews live in Corinth (and the smaller ancient city of Athens), the culture of his audience is Greek.

    Propriety in Worship of the Church – 1 Corinthians 14
    (Even the Romans mimicked worship of the Greek gods and goddesses.)
    Tethys - titan goddess - a grandmother of the goddess Ephyra - namesake of Corinth
    In Greek mythology, Tethys was Consort of Oceanus, father of the river gods and goddesses including a Greek goddess who founded Corinth named Ephyra.

    What’s missing for Greek worshippers?

    The connections between credibility and impact.

    • How can worshippers of myths — a myriad of made-up gods and goddesses — purport LOGIC as truth?

    In fact, the FACTS of logic built on false premises do not add up.

    This is Paul’s cultural challenge — and ours.

    Paul’s personal letter to the Corinthian saints (church).

    The Apostle’s connection of logic to his Greek audience is agape (love).

    “IF I have not love (charity) [agape], I am nothing.

    – 1 Corinthians 13:2

    As for the difference of Paul’s beliefs in God:

    Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand..

    1 Corinthians 15:1 ESV

    Before we list Paul’s FACTS for believers, let’s examine this Greek culture of logic in the light of truth cast upon the temples of many mythical gods and goddesses of Corinth.

    Truths revealed to our minds 

    The following quoted in part from WARRANTED CHRISTIAN BELIEF PP290-294

    What more is there to faith than belief?

    What distinguishes the Christian believer from the demons?

    ——

    “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

    Epistle of James to the Church 2:19 ESV

    They believe these things, but hate them;

    and they also hate God.

    WARRANTED CHRISTIAN BELIEF P.291

    Is it not so?

    Hasn’t this hatred of God also been your experience at simply the mention of Jesus Christ?

    Perhaps they also hope against hope that these things aren’t really so..

    in a self-deceived way..

    the problem here is not merely cognitive..

    but.. Promethean..

    ibid.

    Cultural ‘science‘ of Promethean Logic

    Prometheus statue in NYC Rockefeller Center

    COVID-masked Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center NYC, US as seen on the News

    Prometheus, in Greek religion, one of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Forethinker. In common belief he developed into a master craftsman, and in this connection he was associated with fire and the creation of mortals.

    Source: Britannica

    WE must think to the AD 55 Corinthian culture, as well as our own Common Era challenges of preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, in these ‘Promethean‘ terms of logic —scientific facts of the world masked as NEWS.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    The demons, no doubt, are theists and also believe of God that he exists; because they do not trust and love God and do not make his purposes their own.

    ibid. p.294

    Heretics — those who hate God — contend against Christ.

    Gospel Good News

    NOW, after stating that everything must be done in order, the Apostle Paul begins with the facts of the resurrection. AND note that he presents these FACTS as ‘of first importance.’

    Facts:

    For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:

    1 Corinthians 15:3

    that Christ died for our sins.. 

     ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν 
    Christ (christos) -- not simply JESUS or Lord or some other designation of His Person or earthly position.

    The Apostle Paul makes “CHRIST” christos — central to his FACTS to the Corinthians, using this Messianic designation (in Greek) over sixty times in this epistle.

    AND Paul’s protos point reminds us that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

    (the Person of Jesus) Christ ἀποθνῄσκω died [apothnēskō] (as all men and women do) 

    -- AN INDISPUTABLE FACT --

    Then Christ’s apostle to the gentiles reminds:

    ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν

    hyper egō hamartia 

    for our sins

    Christ’s apostle continues logically with a REASON (remember, these are Greeks seeking wisdom in this) for this indisputable fact that Jesus died on a Cross (some twenty years before this).

    And in his logical support of why Christ – the Messiah of the Jews – would do this, the Apostle cites God’s Holy written word:

    “.. according to the Scriptures [γραφή – graphē].

    AND logically following his FACT of Christ’s death Paul adds:

    that he was buried,

    that he was raised on the third day

    in accordance with the Scriptures,

    1 Corinthians 15:4 ESV

    Not such a big deal that Jesus was buried (although many criminals hung on Roman crosses were left as carrion for the carnivorous).

    It is the RESURRECTION of Christ which always ignites the Promethean detractors of truth.

    AND again Paul adds: “in accordance with the Scriptures.”

    NOW Paul logically follows-up from presenting his facts to the truthful testimony of eye witnesses.

    ὁράω – HE appeared:

    1. to Cephas (Peter)
    2. the Twelve (Jesus’ Disciples)
    3. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
    4. to James (Jesus’ half-brother)
    5. then to all the apostles.
    6. the Apostle Paul

    Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

    1 Corinthians 15:8-9 ESV

    We Preached + you believed the facts

    In the Apostle’s ‘reminder’ written to the believing saints of the church in Corinth, Paul begins with just the facts — provides witnesses — and now preaches once more what many had proclaimed in person.

    But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

    On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

    Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

    Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians 15:10-11 ESV

    SINCE ~AD 33 — and for all these years of our Lord since — MANY WITNESSES of One Lord — have Preached and Proclaimed

    Jesus Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and raised from the dead — appearing, in fact, to many witnesses.

    and (when we preached)

    — you believed!

    But the Apostle is NOT FINISHED with this all-important proclamation of the Good FACTS of the Resurrection.

    NEXT, Paul will continue with the certainty of the resurrection of the dead.. and you must consider what this will mean to your own faith and mortal life.

    Talk of JESUS . com

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel