1 Corinthians 15:17

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
if	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
Christ	Χριστὸς Christos	G5547	anointed · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
be	ἐγήγερται, egēgertai	G1453	to waken (transitively or intransitively) · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
raised	ἐγείρω egeírō	G1453	to waken (transitively or intransitively)
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
faith	πίστις pistis	G4102	persuasion · noun — nominative singular feminine
vain	ματαία mataia	G3152	empty · adjective — nominative singular feminine
are	ἐστέ esté	G2075	ye are
yet	ἔτι eti	G2089	"yet · adverb
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
sins	ἁμαρτίαις hamartiais	G266	a sin (properly abstract) · noun — dative plural feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by t…
1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1 Peter 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Romans 8:33-34 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Having confirmed the truth of our Saviour's resurrection, the apostle goes on to refute those among the Corinthians who said there would be none: If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Co1 15:12. It seems from this passage, and the course of the argument, there were some among the Corinthians who thought the resurrection an impossibility. This was a common sentiment among the heathens. But against this the apostle produces an incontestable fact, namely, the resurrection of Christ; and he goes on to argue against them from the absurdities that must follow from their principle. As, I. If there be (can be) no resurrect…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:17

vain--Ye are, by the very fact (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 in the disembodied state which is here referred to), from which Christ's resurrection is our justification (Rom 4:25): "saved by his life" (Rom 5:10).

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:17

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.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:17

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain,.... As before in 1 Corinthians 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…

The Church Fathers

If Christ lied about his resurrection, then he lied about his claim to forgive our sins also.
— Pelagius, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

If the cross is an illusion, the resurrection is an illusion also, and "if Christ has not risen, we are still in our sins." If the cross is an illusion, the ascension is also an illusion, and everything, finally, becomes unsubstantial.
— Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 13

"And if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain." With whatever is clear and confessed, he keeps on surrounding the resurrection of Christ, by means of the stronger point making even that which seems to be weak and doubtful, strong and clear. "Ye are yet in your sins." For if He was not raised, neither did He die; and if He died not, neither did He take away sin: His death being the taking away of sin. "For behold," saith one, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." But how "taketh away?" By His death. Wherefore also he called him a Lamb, as one slain. But if He rose not again, neither was He slain: and if He was not slain, neither was sin taken away: and if it was not taken away, ye are in it: and if ye are in it, we have preached in vain: and if we have preached in vain, ye have believed in vain that ye were reconciled. And besides, death remains immortal, if He did not arise. For if He too was holden of death and loosed not its pains, how released He all others, being as yet Himself holden of it?
— John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 39

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Immortality — Perpetuity of existence. The doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old Testament. It is plainly implied in the writings of Moses (Gen. 5:22, 24; 25:8; 37:35; 47:9; 49:29, comp. Heb. 11:13-16; Ex.…
Immortality · 2:11; — 2:11;
Justification Before God · Under the gospel: By the resurrection of Christ — Under the gospel: By the resurrection of Christ
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Resurrection Of Christ, The · Was necessary to: Forgiveness of sins — Was necessary to: Forgiveness of sins
Resurrection, The · Certainty of, proved by the resurrection of Christ — Certainty of, proved by the resurrection of Christ

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 15:17

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:17

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:17

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 15:17

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:17

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:17

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 15:11-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 15:14-18