Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 15:17
And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.
17. your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins ] Christ came, not only to make reconciliation for sin, but to free us from it. Cf. Rom 6:11-23; Rom 8:2. And this He did by proclaiming a Life. He first conquered sin Himself. Then He offered the acceptable Sacrifice of His pure and unpolluted life to God in the place of our corrupt and sinful lives. And then, having at once vindicated the righteousness of God’s law and fulfilled it, He arose from the dead. Having thus led sin and death captive, He redeemed us from the power of both by imparting His own Life to all who would enter into covenant with Him. Thus the Resurrection of Christ was the triumph of humanity (see 1Co 15:21) over sin and death; the reversal of the sentence, ‘the soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Had He not risen from the dead, humanity had not triumphed, the sentence had not been reversed, man had not been delivered from the yoke of sin, and therefore those who had ‘fallen asleep’ could never wake again. “None of these things would have taken place, had He not emerged victor from the conflict by rising again.” Calvin.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Your faith is vain, – 1Co 15:14. The meaning of this passage here is, that their faith was vain, because, if Christ was not raised up, they were yet unpardoned sinners. The pardon of sin was connected with the belief of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and, if he was not raised, they were still in a state of sin.
Ye are yet in your sins – Your sins are yet unpardoned. They can be forgiven only by faith in him, and by the efficacy of his blood. But if he was not raised, he was an impostor; and, of course, all your hopes of pardon by him, and through him, must be vain. The argument in this verse consists in an appeal to their Christian experience and their hopes. It may be thus expressed:
(1) You have reason to believe that your sins are forgiven. You cherish that belief on evidence that is satisfactory to you. But if Christ is not raised, that cannot be true. He was an impostor, and sins cannot be forgiven by him. As you are not, and cannot be prepared to admit that your sins are not forgiven, you cannot admit a doctrine which involves that.
(2) You have evidence that you are not under the dominion of sin. You have repented of it; have forsaken it; and are leading a holy life. You know that, and cannot be induced to doubt this fact. But all that is to be traced to the doctrine that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. It is only by believing that, and the doctrines which are connected with it, that the power of sin in the heart has been destroyed. And as you cannot doubt that under the influence of that truth you have been enabled to break off from your sins, so you cannot admit a doctrine which would involve it as a consequence that you are yet under the condemnation and the dominion of sin. You must believe, therefore, that the Lord Jesus rose; and that, if he rose, others will also. This argument is good also now, just so far as there is evidence that, through the belief of a risen Saviour, the dominion of sin has been broken; and every Christian is, therefore, in an important sense, a witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, a living proof that a system which can work so great changes, and produce such evidence that sins are forgiven as are furnished in the conversion of sinners, must be from God; and, of course, that the work of the Lord Jesus was accepted, and that he was raised up from the dead.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Ye are yet in your sins.] If Christ has not risen from the dead, there is no proof that he has not been justly put to death. If he were a malefactor, God would not work a miracle to raise him from the dead. If he has not been raised from the dead, there is a presumption that he has been put to death justly; and, if so, consequently he has made no atonement; and ye are yet in your sins-under the power, guilt, and condemnation of them. All this reasoning of the apostle goes to prove that at Corinth, even among those false teachers, the innocency of our Lord was allowed, and the reality of his resurrection not questioned.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That is, ye are yet in your estate of nature, under the guilt and condemning power of your sins, which are not yet pardoned to you; for no sins are remitted, but upon believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, which none can do, if Christ be not risen from the dead; for by that he was declared to be the Son of God with power, Rom 1:4; his death declared him to be truly man, it was his resurrection that manifested him to be truly God, God over all blessed for ever, and so the proper object of peoples faith.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. vainYe are, by the veryfact (supposing the case to be as the skeptics maintained),frustrated of all which “your faith” appropriates:Ye are still under the everlasting condemnation of your sins (even inthe disembodied state which is here referred to), from whichChrist’s resurrection is our justification (Ro4:25): “saved by his life” (Ro5:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain,…. As before in 1Co 15:14 not only the doctrine of faith, but the grace of faith in Christ; even that faith, which is the faith of God’s elect; the pure gift of his grace, and the operation of his power; which Christ is the object, author, and finisher of; and which he prays for, that it may not fail; and to which salvation is so often promised in the sacred Scriptures; and yet is vain, than which nothing can be more absurd: it follows,
ye are yet in your sins: in a state of nature and unregeneracy, under the power and dominion of sin, being neither regenerated nor sanctified; for regeneration is owing to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and is a branch of the power, virtue, and efficacy of it: but if Christ is not risen, there never was, is, or will be any such thing as regeneration and sanctification; things, if ever wrought by the Spirit, are done by him in virtue, and in imitation of the resurrection, as well as the death of Christ: moreover, if Christ is not risen, his people are under the guilt of their sins; there is no expiation nor remission of them, nor justification from them; for though he was delivered as a sacrifice to atone for their offences, and his blood was shed to obtain the forgiveness of their sins, yet he must be raised again for their justification, and be exalted as a Prince and a Saviour, as to give repentance, so remission of sins, or they will never enjoy these blessings; for notwithstanding his sufferings and death, if he lies under the power of the grave, they must remain under the power and guilt of sin, and be liable to everlasting punishment for it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vain (). Old word from adverb (Mt 15:9), devoid of truth, a lie. Stronger word than in verse 14.
Ye are yet in your sins ( ). Because the death of Christ has no atoning value if he did not rise from the dead. In that case he was only a man like other men and did not die for our sins (verse 3).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Vain [] . A different word, signifying fruitless. The difference is between reality and result.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And if Christ be not raised,” (ei de christos ouk egegertai) “Moreover, if Christ has not been raised.” The hypothetical or supposition consequences of a non-risen Christ are calamitous, destructive of any hope of salvation, now or hereafter, Joh 14:3.
2) “Your faith is vain;” (mataia he pistis humon [estin] ) “Useless, or of no benefit or practical value, is your faith.” The legal term is “null and void,” concerning one’s faith for present and future deliverance from sin and death, if the resurrection is a hoax.
3) “Ye are yet in your sins.” (eti este en tais hamortiais humon) “Ye are-still in your sins.” The Christ who “died for our sins,” also arose for our justification and to intercede and mediate for us. If He did not come forth, then His claims to mediation are also farcical. See? Heb 1:3; Heb 7:25,
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. Ye are yet in your sins For although Christ by his death atoned for our sins, that they might no more be imputed to us in the judgment of God, and has
crucified our old man, that its lusts might no longer reign in us, (Rom 6:6😉
and, in fine, has
by death destroyed the power of death, and the devil himself, (Heb 2:14😉
yet there would have been none of all these things, if he had not, by rising again, come off victorious. Hence, if the resurrection is overthrown, the dominion of sin is set up anew.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. In your sins If Christ is still dead, and Christianity is nothing, we are in a pagan or Jewish condition. We have no deliverance from sin; neither by Christ, nor from the expiations that Judaism or paganism professes to offer. Both these systems had their sense of sin, and their sacrifices and lustrations for it. But if Christ rose not, ye Christians, wholly without expiation, are yet in your sins.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 15:17. Ye are yet in your sins. The word sin is frequently used for the punishment due to sin; and in that sense it should be understood here: “Ye are yet liable to the punishment of your sins.” It is the constant tenor of scripture, that atonement for the sins of the world was made by our great High-priest uponthe cross; that his death was our ransom, and his blood the price paid for it: so that when we consider the ransom, which includes our justification, with respect to Christ, the author of it, it must be ascribed to his death and passion;but as to ourselves, our title and interest in this common salvation being grounded in faith, our justification, though purchased by the blood of Christ, must be appropriated to ourselves through faith in that blood. For the same Apostle who has told us that we are justified freely through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, has likewise told us, that God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. For this reason we are said to be justified by faith; not that our faith is the purchase of justification, which we owe to the blood of Christ alone; but because through faith we obtain the benefit of the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. Now, though the death of Christ was the reconciling of the world to God, yet the resurrection of Christ is the crowning point of our hope and faith in him; even of our faith in his blood, by which he made a propitiation for our sins: and therefore, although Christ died for our offences, and made atonement for our sins, yet since our faith in his death, and our hope in his blood, (by which hope and faith we are justified,) are built upon the truth and credit of his resurrection, it is very properly said that he rose again for our justification. For the death of Christ would have been no justification to us, nor could we have had hope or faith in it, but for the power and glory of the resurrection, which has wiped awaythe scandal and ignominy of the cross, and made it both a divine and rational act of faith to hope for life and immortality from him, who himself once died upon the tree. Thus we learn from St. Paul, that if Christ be not risen, our faith is in vain; we are yet in our sins. Whence we gather that faith in the death of Christ, not grounded on the assurance of his resurrection, is a vain faith, and such a one as cannot deliver us from our sins: nay, that the death of Christ could not have been a propitiation for sin without his resurrection, he expressly teaches in the next verse:Then they also, which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 15:17-18 . Solemnly now also the other conclusion from the ., already expressed in 1Co 15:14 , is once more exhibited, but in such a way that its tragical form stands out still more awfully ( and . . .), and has a new startling feature added to it by reference to the lot of the departe.
] vain, fruitless , put first with emphasis, as is afterwards. Comp. 1Co 15:14 . The meaning of the word may be the same as in 1Co 15:14 (comp. , Plato, Legg. ii. p. 654 E; Herod. iii. 56; , Plato, Soph . p. 231 B; , Eur. Iph. T. 628, and the like, Isa 59:4 ; Eccles. 31:5; Act 14:15 ; 1Co 3:20 ), to which Hofmann, too, ultimately comes in substance, explaining the of their having comforted themselves groundlessly with that which has no truth. But what follows shows that resultlessness , the missing of the aim , is denoted here (comp. Tit 3:9 ; Plato, Tim . p. 40 D, Legg. v. p. 735 B; Polyb. vi. 25. 6; 4Ma 6:10 ). This, namely, has its character brought out in an awful manner by . . .: then ye are still in your sins i.e. then ye are not yet set free from your (pre-Christian) sins , not yet delivered from the obligation of their guilt. For if Christ is not risen, then also the reconciliation with God and justification have not taken place; without His resurrection His death would not be a redemptive death. [39] Rom 4:25 , and see on 1Co 15:14 . Regarding the expression, comp. 3 Esdr. 8:76; Thuc. i. 78. See also Joh 8:21 ; Joh 8:24 ; Joh 9:41 .
. . . .] a new consequence of . . , but further inferred by from the immediately preceding . . : then those also who have fallen asleep are accordingly (since they, too, can have obtained no propitiation), et.
.] Observe the aorist: who fell asleep , which expresses the death of the individuals as it took place at different times. It is otherwise at 1Co 15:20 ; comp. 1Th 4:14 f.
] for they died [40] so, that they during their dying were not out of Christ, but through faith in Him were in living fellowship with Him. Comp. 1Th 4:16 ; Rev 14:13 . We are neither, with Grotius (comp. as early interpreters as Chrysostom and Theodoret), to think simply of the martyrs ( = propter ), nor, with Calovius, widening the historical meaning on dogmatic grounds, to include the believers of the Old Testament (even Adam), for both are without support in the context; but to think of the Christians deceased .
] they are destroyed , because in their death they have become liable to the state of punishment in Hades (see on Luk 16:23 ), seeing that they have, in fact, died without expiation of their sins. That this does not mean: they have become annihilated (Menochius, Bengel, Heydenreich, and others), is clear from . . ., of which, in respect of the dead, the in Hades is the consequence.
[39] Comp. Weiss, bibl. Theol . p. 329.
[40] is the habitually used New Testament euphemism for dying (comp. vv. 6, 11, 30), and in no way justifies the unscriptural assumption of a sleep of the soul, in which Paul is held to have believed. See against this, Delitzsch, Psychol . p. 419 ff. In the euphemistic character of that expression, however, which classic writers also have (Jacobs, ad Del. epigr . viii. 2), lies the reason why he never uses it of the death of Christ . This was recognised as early as by Photius, who aptly remarks, Quaest. Amphiloch 187: , , . , , . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1991
THE NECESSITY OF CHRISTS RESURRECTION
1Co 15:17-18. If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins: then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
THE wisest among the heathen philosophers could not speak with any certainty respecting the future existence of the soul: they could only form conjectures respecting it; so little could unassisted reason do towards the ascertaining of this most important point. As for the resurrection of the body, they deemed it ridiculous and absurd; and considered it as impossible that atoms, so widely dispersed and so variously combined, should ever be reduced to their original form. The Gospel, however, has brought life and immortality to light; and assured us, not only that every soul shall exist in a future world, but that the bodies of men also shall rise out of their graves, and be re-united each to that very soul that once inhabited it. Nevertheless, some, who made a profession of Christianity, were still blinded by the prejudices which they had formerly imbibed. Hence they explained the doctrine of the resurrection in a figurative manner; and said, that it was passed already. The Apostle, therefore, set himself to counteract this dangerous delusion, by proving that there should indeed be a resurrection of the body This he proved from what was fully believed among them, the resurrection of Christ: he shewed, that, if Christ was actually risen, there could be no reason why we should not rise in like manner; but that, on the contrary, his resurrection was a pattern and an earnest of ours. In order to give additional weight to this argument, he proves incontestibly that Christ himself had risen; he proves it, I say, by an appeal to numberless living witnesses who had seen him: and then he sets before them three most tremendous consequences which would follow, on a supposition that he was not risen: If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins; then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. This argument of the Apostles being of the greatest importance, we will endeavour,
I.
To confirm;
II.
To improve it.
I.
To confirm his argumentIt consists of three parts, which he mentions as consequences that will follow from a denial of Christs resurrection
1.
If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain
The Christian, as long as he is in the world, is called to the exercise of faith: he walks by faith, and not by sight: he lives upon a Saviour whom he has never seen with his bodily eyes, and receives a supply of every want out of his fulness. By faith we view Jesus as a surety: we consider him as having discharged our debt: this is the ground on which we hope that our sins shall never be put to our account. We believe what the Scripture says, that it was exacted of him and he was made answerable; and that his death was a sufficient compensation for the debt which we had incurred. But what proof have we that he has paid the debt, if he be not risen? We may suppose that he undertook to pay it; and that he laid down his life in order to pay it; but this will by no means prove that he has fully satisfied the demands of law and justice. If a man that has become our surety remain in prison, it is a sign that he has not made good the payment which he had taken upon himself; but if he be set free, we then conclude that the creditors have been satisfied. So, if Christ had yet been confined in the prison of the grave, we might have concluded that the debt was yet unpaid; and consequently, our faith in him as our surety would have been vain and delusive: for, notwithstanding all which Jesus might have done for us, there would yet have remained some part of the debt to be discharged by us, and we must therefore have despaired of ever obtaining happiness in the eternal world.
Again: By faith we view Jesus as an Advocate. We are still offending daily in many things; so that, notwithstanding we have been reconciled to God, we should soon provoke him to withdraw his mercy from us, and to shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure. But the Scripture says, that, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. By faith, we look to him to intercede for us; to plead our cause; and to maintain our peace with God. But what ground have we for such a hope if Christ be not risen? Instead of being in heaven to plead our cause, he still lies in the bowels of the earth: instead of living to promote our interests, he is no better than a senseless and inanimate corpse. How vain therefore must be our expectations, when we indulge the thought of his prevailing intercessions! We are but buoying up ourselves with groundless hopes, and weaving a web which shall soon be swept away by the besom of destruction.
Once more:By faith we view Jesus as a Head of all vital influences. The Scripture speaks of him as the vine, and us as the branches; and represents him as Head over all things to the Church. We look therefore to him that we may receive out of his fulness: we expect grace and peace from him to be communicated to us in the hour of need: we consider ourselves as withered branches, when separated from him, and as no longer having a capacity to bring forth any fruit than while we are united to him, and derive sap and nourishment from him. But what a delusion must this be, if Christ be not risen! If he be not risen, he is still dead: and how can that which is destitute of life impart life to us? What can we possibly receive from him if he be still imprisoned in the grave? We see, then, that whether we regard him as our Surety, our Advocate, or our Head, our faith is vain if he be not risen; yea, we are left under the most deplorable error and delusion that ever engrossed the mind of man.
The next consequence that would follow upon a denial of Christs resurrection would be, that we should be yet in our sins.
It is the believers privilege to be free from sin, and to stand in the presence of God without spot or blemish. But this removal of his sins depends upon various circumstances, which are grounded upon the resurrrection of Christ.
In the first place, the removal of our sins depends on the truth of our Lords mission: and the truth of his mission stands or falls with his resurrection. Our Lord constantly spoke of his resurrection on the third day as the grand proof which should be given of his Divine mission. Whether he spoke to friends or enemies, still this he proposed as the test whereby to try the truth of all he said; insomuch that his enemies were peculiarly solicitous to prevent, if possible, the accomplishment of these predictions; knowing that, if they should be fulfilled, the authority of his mission would be fully established. Now let us suppose for a moment that Christ had not risen, what must we have concluded? Surely, that he was an impostor; that he had deceived his followers by specious pretences; and that, so far from being able to remove our guilt, he perished under the weight of his own most accumulated wickedness.
Again: The removal of our sins depends on the acceptance of his sacrifice. He offered himself as a sacrifice to God, in order that he might expiate our offences; and on the acceptance of this, our eternal happiness depends: if God receive it as an offering of a sweet-smelling savour, we may hope he will be propitious to us on account of it; but if he do not declare himself well-pleased with it, we are left altogether without a remedy. Now how shall it be known whether God has accepted it or not? If we are to judge by the circumstances of our Lords death, we should rather conclude that the Father took no pleasure in him, since our Lord himself so bitterly complained of the dereliction which he experienced in the very hour of his extremity. We must judge therefore by his resurrection: and that this was to be the test is evident from the sacrifices which were under the law. It was not consistent with the Divine will that the beasts that were sacrificed should be restored to life; but yet this was done in a figure: for one goat was slain to expiate sin by his blood, and another goat was sent away into the wilderness, laden with the iniquities of all the people. So when birds were offered; one was slain, and another was dipped in the blood of that which was slain, and then let loose into the air. These were types of our Saviour, who was first to be slain, and then to be raised from the dead, and ascend into the highest heavens; and if he had not risen, we should have had no proof whatever that his sacrifice was accepted. Yet on the acceptance of this sacrifice the removal of our sins entirely depended; so that if Christ be not risen, we must be yet in our sins.
Once more: The removal of our sins depends on our Lords execution of his office. Our Lord undertook the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; and though he did in part fulfil these offices on earth, yet he fulfilled them only in part; the principal accomplishment of them remained to take place after he should be seated in heaven: he was then, as the great Prophet of the Church, to reveal the will of God more fully, and teach by his Spirit those, who, for want of a divine illumination, could not comprehend the truths he had delivered. As the great High Priest, he was to enter within the vail: it was not sufficient that the high priest offered the sacrifice on the day of atonement; he was also to carry the blood into the holy of holies, to sprinkle it on the mercy-seat, to offer incense, and then to come out and bless the people. So, our Lord was under a necessity of rising again, that he might enter into heaven with his own blood, that he might there present it before the mercy-seat; and that, after offering the incense of his continual intercession, he might, in due time, come forth to bless the people. As a King, also, he had only as yet asserted his kingly office and authority; it was necessary therefore that he should go to the right hand of God, and there sit till all his enemies should be made his footstool. Now, if he did not rise, he cannot execute any of these offices; and yet upon the execution of them depends the removal of our sins: so then, if he be not risen, we are yet in our sins.
We see therefore, that, as the removal of our sins depends on the truth of his mission, the acceptance of his sacrifice, and the execution of his offices; and as all these depend on his resurrection, we must, if he be not risen, be yet in our sins.
A third consequence that would follow from the denial of Christs resurrection is, that they also who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished. Death to the believer is only as a sleep; it has lost its sting: and as he commends himself to the Divine protection when he lies down upon his bed, so he commits his departing spirit into his Saviours hands, and falls asleep in Christ; and while his body lies mouldering in the dust, his soul is carried by angels into Abrahams bosom: but if Christ be not risen, all who from the beginning of the world have fallen asleep in Christ have perished: either their souls have been annihilated at their separation from the body; or rather they have become the monuments of Gods wrath and indignation.
For, in the first place, all that have fallen asleep in Christ, have, on a supposition that Christ is not risen, built their hopes on a sandy foundation. They have relied wholly on the merit of Christs blood, and expected justification only through his obedience unto death: and, as they have trusted in his righteousness, so have they gloried in his strength; not going forth against any enemy, but in his name, and in reliance upon his grace: nor have they trusted in any thing but in his continual intercession for maintaining their peace with God. In short, they have made Christ their only foundation, on whom they have built all their hopes. Now if Christ be not risen, that foundation has failed them, and consequently all the superstructure must fall to the ground: so that, notwithstanding all their affiance in him, they are perished; yea, though they committed their departing spirits into his hands, they were not saved: for he could not help them; he could not hear their prayer: in trusting to him they trusted only to a broken reed, which now pierces them through with unutterable and everlasting anguish.
Again: If Christ be not risen, they are perished; because, however zealous they were of good works, their works were not sufficient to justify them before God. We cannot indeed conceive more eminent piety than Abraham discovered in leaving his country and sacrificing his own son; or than David manifested in his incessant praises and thanksgivings; or than Stephen shewed when laying down his life for Christ, and praying for his murderers. And yet behold what the text asserts; they all are perished if Christ be not risen. The reason is plain: they were transgressors of Gods law; as transgressors, they were subject to the curse and condemnation of the law; nor could any thing less than an infinitely valuable atonement remove that curse. In vain they prayed; in vain they strove; in vain they endeavoured to do the will of God; in vain they laid down their lives for his sake; they were under the curse; and cursed they must be, if Christ did not become their Saviour. But he could not become a Saviour to them if he did not rise; and therefore, if he be not risen, they are all, without exception, perished. They are perished; first, because their foundation failed them; and next, because, that having failed, no hope remained to them from any thing which they themselves could do. It is now plain, I trust, that the consequences which the Apostle states as following a denial of our Lords resurrection are true, and that his argument is strictly just. Having therefore confirmed his argument, we proceed,
II.
To improve it
It will be to little purpose to know the force of the Apostles reasoning, unless we deduce from it those practical inferences which may bring it home to our hearts and consciences.
First, then, We may see from hence how ignorant they are that seek salvation by works!
The generality of mankind are hoping to be saved for something which they have done, or something which they intend to do: indeed even those who have lived in all manner of evil tempers and sensual indulgences are yet often so blind, as to be the most strenuous in contending for the merit of good works, and in crying out against those who speak of salvation by faith. But do these people fancy themselves wiser and better than all the saints of old? Will any one say that Stephen was not an eminently pious man? Was he not chosen out by the people, because he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost? Was he not endued with peculiar gifts, insomuch that his adversaries could not resist the spirit and wisdom with which he spake? Did he not also manifest a peculiar excellence of disposition? Did he not with all fidelity charge the peoples sins upon them? and, when they were in the very act of stoning him, did he not, after the example of our Lord, pray for his murderers? Did he not willingly seal the truth with his blood? Was he not so highly honoured of God that his face was made to shine like the face of an angel? and was he not, even while in the body, favoured with a sight of God, and of Christ, as standing at the right hand of God? Say now, Where shall we find a man that bids more fair to be saved by his works than he? yet was he saved by his works? or could he be saved by his works? No. Notwithstanding all his works, he needed the blood of Christ to cleanse him from sin: he needed Christ, as his Advocate and Strength, his Saviour and his all; and if Christ be not in a capacity to save him, he is perished. Nor have his works availed him any thing more than to lessen in some degree the condemnation he would otherwise have endured. Who then art thou that seekest to be justified by thy works? Art thou as eminent as Stephen? if not, how canst thou hope to be saved, when even he, if he had no better ground of confidence than his own works, must have perished? Or suppose that thou wert as good as he, still thou must meet with the same fate; thou must perish, and that eternally, if thou rely on any thing but a crucified and exalted Saviour. Oh, then, blush at your ignorance, ye proud, self-justifying sinners! See how Satan has blinded your eyes! See how far ye are from the way of salvation! Oh, let me beseech you for Christs sake, and for your souls sake, to renounce all your self-righteous hopes and endeavours, and to rely on him who alone can save you, and who is able to save you to the uttermost.
Secondly. We may see from hence how miserable is the state of unbelievers!
By unbelievers, we mean, not only those who deliberately reject Christ, but all who do not actually enjoy an interest in him. Now these persons, whatever they may think of themselves, and however they may bless themselves because of the abundance of earthly things which they possess, are in as miserable a state as can well be conceived: for, as they have no interest in Christ, it is eventually the same to them as if he had never risen: only with this difference, that their guilt is much greater by neglecting the Saviour, than it could have been without such an aggravation. What then is their state? precisely that mentioned in the text; their faith, as far as they have any, is all vain: even though they assent to all which is spoken concerning Christ, tis all in vain: They are yet in their sins; all the load of their iniquities lies upon them, and the curse of God hangeth over their devoted head. They will also perish whenever they die; there cannot possibly be any admission for them into heaven: perish they must; and remain for ever the monuments of Gods displeasure. And now say, is not this a miserable state? What though a man have a large estate, can that make him happy? What though he have a form of godliness, can that make him happy! No: he must have an interest in Christ, or he will be a poor miserable wretch forever. Oh! my brethren, seek an interest in this risen Saviour: think of him, not only as dying for your offences, but as risen again for your justification: and be assured, that, as you shall be reconciled to God by the death of his Son, so, much more, being reconciled, you shall be saved by his life. Do not conclude too hastily that you have an interest in the Saviour: see whether you are risen with him through a faith of the operation of God? and never rest till you can say, I know in whom I have believed.
Lastly. We see from hence how happy is the state of true believers! The resurrection of Christ, which is the foundation of all their hopes, is proved beyond a possibility of doubt: the very means taken to conceal it are among the most convincing proofs of its reality. On the very same basis, your hopes are founded: he has said, Because I live, ye shall live also. Think then with yourselves, that at this moment, your faith, so far from being in vain, avails for all the purposes for which it is exercised: it secures your interest in Christ as your Surety, Advocate, and Head; and brings in an abundance of all spiritual blessings to your soul. Instead of being in your sins, they are put away from you as far as the east is from the west; nor shall they evermore be remembered against you. God has already said concerning every such soul, as he did concerning Joshua; Take away the filthy garments from him: behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. FurtherWhen you die, you will not perish with the ungodly world, but will go to take possession of a kingdom. You will have a crown of glory on your head, and a golden harp in your hand: you will be seated on your Saviours throne; and shall sing his praises for evermore. Happy soul! what manner of love is this wherewith the Father hath loved thee! Hail, thou that art highly favoured of the Lord! Rejoice, rejoice, thou servant of the Most High God! Thy Saviour, possessed of all power in heaven and in earth, watches over thee continually: he gives his angels charge over thee: he gives thee every thing that is for thy good: and though perhaps he deals with thee not exactly as thou mightest wish, he is daily preparing thee for glory, and making thee meet for thine inheritance. Oh, then, love and serve this risen Saviour; and set your affections on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Let it be your endeavour to keep your conversation in heaven: and while you are living upon the Saviours fulness, oh, strive to live to the glory of his name. Thus will you adorn your holy profession; and when he shall come again to receive you to himself, he will welcome you with these delightful words, Come, thou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for thee, from the foundation of the world!
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Ver. 17. Ye are yet in your sins ] Rom 4:25 . If he had not been let out of prison, our debt had remained upon us. But God sent his angel to roll away the stone, as the judge sends an officer to fetch one out of prison, and to release him. And this is the strength of our Saviour’s reason, Joh 16:10 . The Spirit shall convince the world of righteousness (that I am Jehovah their righteousness), because I go to the Father, which I could not have done, unless you were acquitted of all your sins.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17, 18 .] Repetition of the consequence already mentioned in 1Co 15:14 , but fuller, and with more reference to its present and future calamitous results.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
17. ] from , and thus more directly pointing at the frustration of all on which faith relies as accomplished, e.g. the removal of the guilt and power of sin; and of all to which hope looks forward, e.g. bliss after death for those who die in Christ. This is so, because Christ’s Resurrection accomplished our justification ( Rom 4:25 ), and, through justification, our future bliss , even in the disembodied state (for that seems here to be treated of).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 15:17-18 unfold this latter consequence in a form parl [2326] to the former: (1Co 15:14 ). For (syn [2327] with , Jas 2:20 ; with , Tit 3:9 ), see note on (1Co 15:14 ); a faith is “frustrate,” “null and void,” “which does not save from sin ; now “Christ died for our sins” (1Co 15:3 ), but His resurrection makes His death valid, publishing it to men as accepted by God and availing for redemption (Rom 4:25 ; Rom 8:33 f., 1Co 10:9 ; Luk 24:46 f.; Act 13:32-38 observe the ); it is hereby that “God gives the victory”over both sin and death (1Co 15:57 ). ln Christ’s resurrection is the seal of our justification, and the spring of our sanctification (Rom 6:4-11 ); both are wanting, if He is still in the grave. The absence of both is implied in being “yet in your sins” unforgiven, unrenewed. Now this is contrary to experience (1Co 1:30 , 1Co 6:11 ); the Cor [2328] readers know themselves to be saved men, as Paul and the App. know themselves to be honest men (1Co 15:15 ). P. leaves the inference, which observes the strict method of the modus tollens , to the consciousness of his readers (cf. 1Co 15:20 ): “We are true witnesses, you are redeemed believers; on both accounts it is certain that Christ has risen, and therefore that there is a resurrection of the dead”. A further miserable consequence of the negative dogma emerges from the last: . “Then also those that were laid to sleep in Christ perished!” perished (ptp [2329] and vb [2330] both aor [2331] ) when we laid them to rest, and with the “perishing” which befalls those “yet in their sins” ( cf. 1Co 1:18 , 1Co 8:11 , Rom 2:12 ; Rom 6:23 , etc.; also Joh 8:21 ; Joh 8:24 ). They were “put to sleep in Christ ” ( cf. 1Th 4:14 ), as the sense of His presence and the promises of His gospel turned their death into sleep (Joh 11:2 , etc.). The of being lulled to sleep when falling into utter ruin! They thought “the sting of death” drawn (1Co 15:56 ), and lay down to rest untroubled: cruelly deceived! For the unclassical position of , see Wr [2332] , p. 699.
[2326] parallel.
[2327] synonym, synonymous.
[2328] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[2329] participle
[2330] verb
[2331] aorist tense.
[2332] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
vain = to no purpose. Greek. mataios. See Act 14:15. Not the same word as in verses: 1Co 15:2, 1Co 15:10, 1Co 15:14, 1Co 15:58.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17, 18.] Repetition of the consequence already mentioned in 1Co 15:14, but fuller, and with more reference to its present and future calamitous results.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 15:17. , in your sins), even those of blind heathenism; 1Co 15:34, [deprived of the hope of life eternal.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 15:17
1Co 15:17
and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain;-If Christ had not been raised from the dead, their faith in a risen Lord was false and vain.
ye are yet in your sins.-Without the resurrection of Christ, there is no forgiveness of sins. The resurrection is interwoven with the whole scheme of redemption. It lies at the foundation of faith and forgiveness of sins, and without it a confession of faith in Christ is meaningless.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sins
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
your: 1Co 15:2, 1Co 15:14, Rom 4:25
ye are: Eze 33:10, Joh 8:21-24, Act 5:31, Act 13:38, Act 13:39, Rom 5:10, Rom 8:33, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:23-28, Heb 9:22-28, Heb 10:4-12, 1Pe 1:3, 1Pe 1:21
Reciprocal: Ezr 9:15 – in our trespasses Gal 2:21 – Christ
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Vv. 17, 18. Now, if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
Once deny Christ’s resurrection, and there is no more salvation in Him.
The word denotes, as often, the vanity of the thing from the standpoint of its effects, its uselessness. Such is the difference between it and the , vain, of 1Co 15:14. Faith in the resurrection, not taking hold of a real fact (), cannot procure for the believer the salvation he expects (). It is completely to mistake the meaning of this saying, to follow Heinrici and several others, in applying the expression: to be yet in one’s sins, to the moral bondage of sin. The apostle certainly does not mean: If Christ be not really risen, you will not be able to conquer your evil inclinations. Nothing in this Epistle has prepared us for such an idea. It is of the state of condemnation arising from unpardoned sins that he wishes to speak, as is clearly shown by the following verse. The idea is this: Condemnation can only be taken away by the expiatory death of Christ, and expiation would never have taken place if the victim who accomplished it had not been restored to life. As long as the security is not let out of prison, it must be concluded that the debt is not paid. If then Christ did not leave the prison of death, our justification was not obtained by His death; and we are still, we believers, as much as others, condemned. Bonnet rightly says: No one can understand the doctrine of Scripture regarding the resurrection, unless he has clearly present to his mind the intimate and indissoluble relation there is between sin and death. Christ dead without resurrection would be a condemned, not a justified, Christ. How could He justify others?
Hence there follows immediately the disastrous consequence drawn in 1Co 15:18 : the perdition of those who have been seen to die peacefully in the faith of Christ.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. [unjustified– Rom 4:25]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
17. If Christ is not risen, your faith is vain, and you are still in your sins.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 17
Ye are yet in your sins; for all your hopes of pardon rest on the truth of the gospel; and of the evidence of this truth, the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is the foundation.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; {7} ye are {e} yet in your sins.
(7) First, seeing death is the punishment of sin, in vain should we believe that our sins were forgiven us, if they remain: but they do remain, if Christ did not rise from death.
(e) They are yet in their sins who are not sanctified, nor have obtained remission of their sins.