The Mission

The Resurrection Clarifies All Scripture Truth

Among the Corinthian believers, some had gone so far as to deny the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul countered this heresy with a very plain testimony about the unmistakable evidence of Christ’s resurrection. He “rose again the third day,” and then “He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” 4TC 166.4

“If there is no resurrection of the dead,” Paul argued, “then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ... For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” 4TC 166.5

“I tell you a mystery,” he wrote. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 4TC 166.6

The apostle tried to draw the attention of the Corinthian believers to things that would lift them up from the selfish and the sensual and would glorify life with the hope of immortality. “My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 4TC 167.1

In this way the apostle spoke plainly, yet in love. Light was shining from the throne of God to reveal the hidden sins that were defiling their lives. How would they receive it? 4TC 167.2

Paul dreaded any further division and sometimes wished he could call his words back. Those who have felt responsible for churches or institutions can appreciate how he felt—depressed and self-accusing. Servants of God who bear the burden of His work for this time know something of the same experience of labor, conflict, and anxious care. Troubled by divisions in the church, realizing the danger of churches that tolerated dreadful sins, compelled to speak plain, hard truths in reproof of sin, Paul was at the same time weighed down with fear that he might have dealt too harshly with them. Anxiously he waited for some news about how they had received his message. 4TC 167.3