The passage
      v12. In the opening verse Paul states, for the first time, the substance of the false belief held by some of the members of the Corinthian church. They came to believe that "there is no resurrection of the dead." They obviously believed in the Greek notion of a spirit afterlife where the soul leaves the body after death, but did not believe in a bodily resurrection of the dead. Paul questions how it is that the Corinthians doubt the notion of a bodily resurrection when the gospel they believe in rests on the truth that Christ bodily rose from the grave.
      v13-14. In v20-28 Paul makes a connection with v1-11. The gospel, in which the Corinthians believed, focuses on the resurrection of Christ, whose life-giving power gives life to their being, both now and in the future. In this section, v12-19, Paul sets the stage for the loss of this "life". If the dead are not raised then, by implication, Christ was not raised, v13. If Christ is not risen, then the gospel is a worthless message, and a useless focus for faith, v14.
      v15-16 Paul now extends the argument further. If Christ has not been raised (on the basis of their argument that the dead are not raised) then the apostolic gospel is a lie. Worse than that, it is a lie which implicates God. The gospel proclaims that Christ was raised, implying that God did the raising. The resurrection is a vindication of Christ's work on the cross and an effectual application of that work, both for Christ and for those who believe in him. Yet, if Christ is not risen, it is all a lie, a lie which implicates God.
      v17. Paul goes on to draw out another implication of their position. If Christ has not been raised, then "you are still in your sins." To deny the resurrection is to undermine Christ's redemptive work which rests on both the cross and an empty tomb.
      v18. And what of those who have already died? Their end is clear. If our justification is realized through the resurrection of Jesus, and yet Jesus has not risen from the dead, then those who have already died are lost in their sinfulness and therefore lost eternally.
      v19. Paul now comes to his final punch line. For a believer to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the resurrection of Christ. By taking this stance, not only have they set aside the hope of their future resurrection, but they have lost their present hope in Christ; they have lost forgiveness of sins, their right-standing in the sight of God and their eternal salvation.

The resurrection of the dead
      When it comes to the resurrection of the dead, Christians end up taking numerous positions. Popular thought has us rising as a spirit from the body after we die. We float about as ghosts, go to the spirit world, go to purgatory, or hell, go to heaven, or go to be with Jesus. At the other end of the spectrum, liberal theologians, such as Willi Marxsen, see the resurrection of Jesus as a theological interpretation rather than a historical event. Jesus, the source of life, becomes alive in the minds of those who believe in him. So, a general resurrection in some future day, is but a theological statement, a belief in a life-giving God.
      Against such woolly notions, the apostle Paul establishes an integral link between the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection. The failure of the Corinthians to take the bodily resurrection of Christ seriously had led to their denial of a bodily resurrection of believers, a stance which served to undermine their very salvation. To devalue the factual nature of Christ's resurrection is to undermine our own eternal salvation.
      We can easily devalue the resurrection of Christ. Like Willi Marxsen and his ilk, we can deny the historical resurrection of Jesus. Sadly, this is not an uncommon stance in Christian circles. If we are going to take the apostle Paul's argument seriously, to deny a bodily resurrection of the dead is to deny the substance of our faith. It is to call into question the validity of our salvation, because our justification is effected through the resurrection of Christ.
      We can also devalue the resurrection of Christ by inadvertently leaving the truth of the resurrection out of the gospel. This is not an unusual practice. A gospel message which fails to proclaim the bodily resurrection of Christ may well invalidate the salvation of those who respond to it. If the seeker does not believe in a risen saviour, how are they saved? The life-giving power of Christ's resurrection is available to those who rely on a risen Lord.
      The message of the cross, of a crucified Christ (messiah), which is a "stumbling block" to some and "foolishness" to others, involves both a dying and a rising. When we hear and believe that message we are saved. We are saved through our identification with Christ in both his death and resurrection.
      Here then is the gospel - "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." If we fail to grasp the centrality of Jesus' resurrection, we endanger our salvation. If we fail to proclaim his resurrection, we endanger the salvation of those who hear.

      We need to note that this passage does confront the commonly held platonic idea of the spirit leaving the body after death and going to heaven. It is probably true to say that most Christians hold this view and that those who have lost loved ones can be upset by any challenge to it.
      The Bible is quite clear that the resurrection of deceased believers occurs at the return of Christ, so we really are teaching heresy if we promote a platonic myth. We may find comfort in the fact that time is part of the creation and that God is not subject to it, and that therefore, those "asleep" in Christ are similarly not bound by it. It was therefore quite proper for Jesus to say to the thief on the cross, "this evening you will be with me in paradise", even though in time terms the thief still awaits his resurrection. In his experience, it is (will be!) that evening. So, there is a sense where all of us, alive and "sleeping", look to this evening. In fact, we are probably on safer ground if we see ourselves even now, raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms, Eph.2:6.

v12
      ek nekrwn eghgertai "has been raised from the dead" - from among the dead he has been raised. We can see from this verse that "some" anti Pauline teachers in the Corinthian church had spoken against a physical/bodily resurrection of the dead. Of course, Paul doesn't believe in a limited physical resurrection, as if what we are now will be what we are then. Indeed, there will be a wondrous metamorphosis of the body into the resurrection body, cf. v42-50. Yet, he does argue for a real physical rising. His argument is that Jesus rose from among the dead, and his rising was bodily.

v17
      eti este en taiV aJmartiaiV uJmwn "you are still in your sins" - Paul draws out an interesting implication when he links the resurrection of Christ with the forgiveness of sin, for as the gospel clearly states, "Christ died for our sins". At first sight, the washing away of sin, forgiveness and thus, right standing in the sight of God, is achieved by the death of Jesus, not by his resurrection to life. Yet not so, the forgiveness of sins is certainly achieved by Christ's sacrificial death, yet its life giving power is made effective through the resurrection of Christ. Justification is achieved for the believer through the resurrection of Christ, Rom.4:25, 5:10. His rising to life releases a life-giving power which both justifies and sanctifies the believer. His life saves us. To deny his resurrection is to undermine salvation itself.

v18
      oiJ koimhqenteV en Cristw/ "fallen asleep in Christ" - having fallen asleep in Christ. This is a very beautiful description of the dead. The Seventh Day Adventists teach "Soul Sleep" which is not quite in line with the scriptures, but none the less does capture the status of those who have died as believers. Rather than "sleep" in the grave, we "sleep" in the arms of Jesus. He knows us, cares for us, loves us and in the last day he will gather us up into his kingdom. To imagine ourselves sleeping in his arms is a Biblically correct and comforting way to describe the state of a deceased loved-one.