Scripture to Read: 1 Corinthians 15:15–17
God had Paul continue to lay out the consequences of believing that there would be no glorified bodily resurrection for Christians. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:15–17, “Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” God had Paul proclaim that if the resurrection was not real, then Paul was the one who was the false teacher. Not only that, but if Paul was the false teacher, he also had totally misrepresented God through his false teachings about the resurrection. God had Paul repeat the fact that if there is no resurrection then that meant that Christ was never raised from the dead by God the Father. So, not only was the message that Paul had preached to them worthless, but the faith they had placed in Christ as Lord and Savior would be useless and worthless. And, if their faith in Christ had become worthless, that would mean that all the followers of Christ in Corinth would still have been dead in their sins. Again, believing in any kind of false teachings can result in devastating consequences. God, through Paul, gave the believers in Corinth a needed wake-up call to their false beliefs about the glorified bodily resurrection. God will do the same for us if we’re led astray.
Challenge & Application
Why would Paul have been considered a false teacher if the resurrection was not real?
How have you seen false teachings creep into many churches across the world today?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!