1 Coríntios 15

BLIVRE · Chapter 15/16

1Também irmãos, eu vos declaro o Evangelho, que já vos tenho anunciado, o qual também recebestes, no qual também estais.

2Pelo qual também sois salvos, se retiverdes a palavra naquela maneira, em que eu vos tenho anunciado; a não ser se tenhais crido em vão.

3Porque primeiramente vos entreguei o que também recebi, que Cristo morreu por nossos pecados, segundo as Escrituras;

4E que foi sepultado, e que ressuscitou ao terceiro dia, segundo as Escrituras;

5E que foi visto por Cefas, depois pelos doze.

6Depois foi visto de uma fez por mais de quinhentos irmãos, dos quais a maioria [ainda] vive, e também alguns já dormem.

7Depois foi visto por Tiago; depois por todos os apóstolos.

8E por último de todos também foi visto por mim, como que a um nascido fora do tempo.

9Porque eu sou o menor dos apóstolos, que não sou digno de ser chamado apóstolo, porque persegui a Igreja de Deus.

10Mas pela graça de Deus sou o que sou; e sua graça [concedida] a mim não foi vã; ao invés disso trabalhei muito mais que todos eles; porém não eu, mas a graça de Deus que está comigo.

11Portanto, seja eu, sejam eles, assim pregamos, e assim crestes.

12E se é pregado que Cristo ressuscitou dos mortos, como dizem alguns dentre vós, que não há ressurreição dos mortos?

13E se não há ressurreição dos mortos, [então] Cristo não ressuscitou.

14E se Cristo não ressuscitou, então é vã nossa pregação, e vã também é vossa fé.

15E assim também somos encontrados como falsas testemunhas de Deus; pois testemunhamos de Deus, que ressuscitou a Cristo, ao qual [porém] não ressuscitou, se na verdade os mortos não ressuscitam.

16Porque se os mortos não ressuscitam, [então] Cristo também não ressuscitou.

17E se Cristo não ressuscitou, vossa fé é vá, [e] ainda estais em vossos pecados.

18Portanto também pereceram os que dormiram em Cristo.

19Se nesta vida esperamos somente em Cristo, somos os mais miseráveis de todas as pessoas.

20Mas de fato Cristo ressuscitou dos mortos, [e] foi feito as primícias dos que dormiram.

21Pois dado que a morte [veio] por um homem, também por um homem [veio] a ressurreição dos mortos.

22Porque assim como em Adão todos morrem, assim também em Cristo todos serão vivificados.

23Mas cada um em sua ordem; Cristo, as primícias; depois os que são de Cristo, em sua vinda.

24Depois será o fim, quando entregar o Reino de Deus e ao Pai, quando aniquilar todo domínio, e toda autoridade e poder.

25Porque convém que ele reine, até que tenha posto todos os inimigos debaixo de seus pés.

26O último inimigo, que será aniquilado, [é] a morte.

27Porque ele sujeitou todas as coisas debaixo de seus pés. Porém quando diz que todas as coisas [lhe] estão sujeitas, está claro que se excetua aquele que todas as coisas lhe sujeitou.

28E quando todas as coisas lhe forem sujeitas, então também o mesmo Filho se sujeitará a aquele, que todas as coisas lhe sujeitou, para que Deus seja tudo em todos.

29De outra maneira, que farão os que se batizam pelos mortos, se totalmente os mortos não ressuscitam? Por que, então, se batizam pelos mortos?

30Por que também nós à toda hora estamos em perigo?

31A cada dia eu morro pelo orgulho que tenho por vós, em Cristo Jesus nosso Senhor.

32Se por motivo humano lutei contra feras em Éfeso, qual é o meu proveito? Se os mortos não ressuscitam, comamos e bebamos, que amanhã morreremos.

33Não erreis. As más companhias corrompem os bons costumes.

34Despertai para a justiça, e não pequeis; porque alguns [ainda] não têm o conhecimento de Deus. Eu digo isto para vossa vergonha.

35Mas alguém dirá: Como ressuscitarão os mortos? E com que corpo virão?

36Louco, o que tu semeias não é vivificado, se [primeiro] não morrer.

37E o que semeias, não semeias o corpo que irá brotar, mas o grão nu, como o de trigo, ou de qualquer outro [grão] .

38Mas Deus lhe dá o corpo como quer, e a cada semente seu próprio corpo.

39Toda carne não é a mesma carne; mas uma é a carne humana, e outra a carne dos animais, e outra a dos peixes, e outra a das aves.

40E há corpos celestiais, e corpos terrestres; mas uma é a glória dos celestiais, e outra a dos terrestres.

41Outra é a glória do Sol, e outra a glória da Lua, e outra a glória das estrelas; porque [uma] estrela difere em glória [de outra] estrela.

42Assim também será a ressurreição dos mortos. Semeia-se [o corpo] degradável, ressuscitará capaz de nunca se degradar.

43Semeia-se em desonra, ressuscitará em glória. Semeia-se em fraqueza, ressuscitará em força.

44Semeia-se corpo natural, ressuscitará corpo espiritual. Há corpo animal, e há corpo espiritual.

45Assim também está escrito: O primeiro homem, Adão, foi feito em alma vivente; o último Adão em espírito vivificante.

46Mas não é primeiro o espiritual; mas sim o carnal, depois o espiritual.

47O primeiro homem da terra [é] terrestre; o segundo homem, [que é] o Senhor, [é] do Céu.

48Assim como [é] o terrestre, também [são] os terrestres; e assim como [é] o celestial, também [são] os celestiais.

49E assim como trouxemos a imagem do terrestre, assim também traremos a imagem do celestial.

50Porém isto digo, irmãos, que a carne e o sangue não podem herdar o Reino de Deus, nem o que é degradável herda a capacidade de não se degradar.

51eis que eu vos digo um mistério: nem todos em verdade dormiremos; porém todos seremos transformados.

52Em um momento, em um piscar de olhos, à ultima trombeta; porque a trombeta soará, e os mortos ressuscitarão capazes de não se degradar, e nós seremos transformados.

53Porque é necessário que este [corpo] degradável revista-se da capacidade de não se degradar, e este [corpo] mortal vista a imortalidade.

54E quando este [corpo] se revestir da capacidade de não se degradar, e este [corpo] mortal se vestir de imortalidade, então se cumprirá a palavra que está escrita: Na vitória, a morte é tragada.

55Onde está, ó morte, o teu aguilhão? Onde está, ó Xeol, a tua vitória?

56O aguilhão da morte é o pecado, e a força do pecado é a Lei.

57Mas graças a Deus, que nos dá vitória por meio do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo.

58Portanto, meus amados irmãos, sede firmes, imóveis [e] sempre abundantes na obra do Senhor, sabendo que o vosso trabalho não é vão no Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul presents the core of the gospel: Christ died, was buried, and rose again on the third day, appearing to a number of witnesses. He firmly defends the reality of believers' future resurrection, explaining what the resurrected body will be like.

Explanation

Some in Corinth doubted the resurrection of the dead, possibly influenced by Greek philosophy, which prized the soul and viewed the body as something inferior or disposable. Paul argues that without resurrection, the whole of the Christian faith loses its meaning: if Christ has not risen, preaching is in vain and Christians would still be in their sins. He then describes the resurrection using the analogy of a seed that dies in the ground and sprouts as a new plant — the resurrected body will be real, but transformed, 'spiritual,' and imperishable. The final victory over death is celebrated with triumphant language, quoting Hosea and Isaiah. For today's reader, this chapter upholds the central hope of the Christian faith: death is not the end, and a glorious transformation is reserved for those who are in Christ.

Fun facts

  • The list of witnesses to the resurrection, including 'above five hundred brethren at once' (v. 6), many still alive when Paul wrote, served as an implicit invitation for the Corinthians to check the accounts with real eyewitnesses.
  • The expression 'O death, where is thy sting?' (v. 55) quotes Hosea 13:14, joining Old Testament prophecy with the victory of Christ proclaimed in the New Testament.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Coríntios 15:1Paul opens the letter’s key chapter by reminding them of the basic gospel already preached — the foundation of their faith, which needs to be revisited because some Corinthians doubted the resurrection (v. 12).
  2. 1 Coríntios 15:2Salvation depends on standing firm in this gospel just as it was preached — Paul already warns that if they abandon the idea of the resurrection, they will have believed “in vain.”
  3. 1 Coríntios 15:3“According to the scriptures” shows that Paul is passing on a formula of faith he himself received from others before him: the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ were already being taught as a fixed summary of the Christian message very early on.
  4. 1 Coríntios 15:4Continues Christianity’s oldest creed, quoted by Paul: after dying, Christ was buried and rose again on the third day, all “according to the scriptures” — fulfilling prophecies, not an isolated event.
  5. 1 Coríntios 15:5Lists the first appearances of the risen Jesus: first to Peter (Cephas), then to the twelve apostles — named witnesses that any skeptical Corinthian could, in theory, go check.
  6. 1 Coríntios 15:6Cites a mass appearance, to more than 500 people at once, most of them still alive when Paul writes — an implicit invitation for any doubter to go ask these witnesses.
  7. 1 Coríntios 15:7The list continues: James, Jesus’s brother, who wasn’t a disciple before the resurrection, and then all the apostles — reinforcing that the testimony didn’t come from just one person.
  8. 1 Coríntios 15:8“One born out of due time” is a strong phrase Paul uses to describe himself, someone born at the wrong moment. He saw himself as the last and least prepared of the apostles, since he only met Jesus after the resurrection, and in an abrupt way.
  9. 1 Coríntios 15:9Paul includes himself in the list of witnesses (v. 8) with humility: he considers himself the least of the apostles, not even worthy of that title, for having persecuted the church before believing.
  10. 1 Coríntios 15:10But he credits everything he is to God’s grace, not to his own merit — even having worked harder than the other apostles, he attributes that effort to grace working in him.
  11. 1 Coríntios 15:11It doesn’t matter who preaches, Paul or the other apostles: the message is the same, and it was this message, resurrection included, that the Corinthians believed from the beginning.
  12. 1 Coríntios 15:12Gets to the chapter’s real problem: some in the Corinthian church denied that there was any such thing as resurrection of the dead, even while accepting that Christ had risen — a contradiction Paul takes apart.
  13. 1 Coríntios 15:13The first logical consequence: if there’s no such thing as resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ could have risen, because He too was among the dead.
  14. 1 Coríntios 15:14A second, even more serious consequence: if Christ hasn’t risen, then all of Paul’s preaching and all of the Corinthians’ faith are worthless — they’re empty.
  15. 1 Coríntios 15:15A third consequence: the apostles themselves, including Paul, would have lied about God, claiming something that never happened — a serious accusation against their testimony.
  16. 1 Coríntios 15:16Repeats the argument in reverse order to reinforce it: denying the resurrection of the dead in general necessarily means denying Christ’s specific resurrection too.
  17. 1 Coríntios 15:17A fourth consequence: without the resurrection, faith has no power at all, and the Corinthians would still be stuck in their own sins, with no real solution.
  18. 1 Coríntios 15:18A fifth, very personal consequence: all the Christians who have already died (“fallen asleep in Christ”) would simply be lost, with no hope beyond death.
  19. 1 Coríntios 15:19Sums it up with a harsh line: if the Christian hope were good only for this life, with nothing after it, Christians would be the most pitiable people in the world.
  20. 1 Coríntios 15:20After the chain of “if there were no resurrection,” Paul turns the argument around: but Christ has in fact risen, and He is the “firstfruits” — the first fruit that guarantees the harvest of those who will come after.
  21. 1 Coríntios 15:21Explains with a comparison: just as death entered the world through one man (Adam), the resurrection also comes through one man (Christ) — an answer to the problem created by the fall.
  22. 1 Coríntios 15:22Paul compares Adam and Christ as two representative heads of humanity: just as death entered through everyone’s connection to Adam, new life comes through connection to Christ.
  23. 1 Coríntios 15:23Describes the order of events: first Christ rose; then, at His coming, those who belong to Him will also rise — it doesn’t all happen at once, there’s a sequence.
  24. 1 Coríntios 15:24After that comes the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having defeated every power and force that opposed Him — the final climax of the plan.
  25. 1 Coríntios 15:25Explains why Christ must reign until that moment: His mission includes putting all enemies under His feet, fulfilling a promise the Psalms had already spoken of.
  26. 1 Coríntios 15:26Identifies which of these enemies is the last one to be defeated: death itself — the central subject that drove the whole discussion of the chapter.
  27. 1 Coríntios 15:27Quotes a psalm to confirm that everything has been placed under Christ’s authority, with an obvious exception: God Himself, who gave that authority, isn’t included among the things subject to Him.
  28. 1 Coríntios 15:28In the end, the Son Himself submits to the authority of God the Father, so that God may be recognized as all in all — the final goal of the whole story.
  29. 1 Coríntios 15:29“Baptized for the dead” is one of the most obscure verses in the New Testament — it seems to describe a custom among some Corinthians of being baptized on behalf of relatives who died without baptism. Paul only mentions the practice in passing, without explaining or approving it, so no one can be fully certain what it was.
  30. 1 Coríntios 15:30After discussing the eternal plan, Paul returns to the present: why would he and the other apostles keep risking their lives constantly if there were no hope of resurrection after death?
  31. 1 Coríntios 15:31Reinforces it with a strong personal statement: he faces mortal danger every day because of the apostolic work among the Corinthians — it wouldn’t make sense without the certainty of the resurrection.
  32. 1 Coríntios 15:32“I have fought with beasts at Ephesus” is probably an image for the violent opponents Paul faced there, not a literal fight in the arena. The next line, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,” is a quotation of a Greek saying that sums up a life with no hope of resurrection.
  33. 1 Coríntios 15:33Quotes a popular Greek proverb as a warning: bad company, probably those in the church who denied the resurrection, corrupts the good character of those who spend time with them.
  34. 1 Coríntios 15:34Calls on them to come back to their senses and stop sinning, because some people in the church simply didn’t know God well — a direct rebuke, meant on purpose to cause shame.
  35. 1 Coríntios 15:35Anticipates the practical objection of doubters: how exactly do the dead rise, and with what kind of body would they come back?
  36. 1 Coríntios 15:36A direct, slightly sharp answer: he calls the question “foolish” and uses farming as his answer — a seed only produces new life after it “dies” (is planted and decomposes).
  37. 1 Coríntios 15:37Continues the image: what is planted isn’t the final plant, just a plain seed, like a grain of wheat — the resurrected body will be different from the current one, just as the plant is different from the seed.
  38. 1 Coríntios 15:38God decides the shape of each body, just as He decides the shape of each seed — an argument against the idea that the resurrected body would need to be identical to the current one.
  39. 1 Coríntios 15:39Not all “flesh” is the same: humans, animals, fish, and birds have different kinds of bodies — showing that existing in varied bodily forms is already a normal part of God’s creation.
  40. 1 Coríntios 15:40Besides earthly bodies, there are also heavenly bodies (the sun, moon, and stars, in the thinking of that time), each with its own kind of “glory,” or brightness.
  41. 1 Coríntios 15:41Continues the example: the sun, moon, and stars shine differently from one another — an analogy to say that the resurrected body will also have its own glory, different from the current one.
  42. 1 Coríntios 15:42Applies the whole analogy directly to the resurrection: the body is sown (buried) in corruption, subject to decay, but it rises in incorruption, no longer subject to decay.
  43. 1 Coríntios 15:43Continues the contrasts: sown in dishonor (the decay of death), it rises in glory; sown in weakness, it rises full of strength.
  44. 1 Coríntios 15:44A final contrast: sown as a natural body, subject to physical limitations, it rises as a spiritual body — different, but still a real body, not just a formless soul.
  45. 1 Coríntios 15:45Quotes Genesis to compare Adam and Christ: the first Adam became an ordinary living soul; the “last Adam” (Christ) became a life-giving spirit.
  46. 1 Coríntios 15:46Explains the order: first comes the natural body, ordinary physical life, and only afterward comes the spiritual, the resurrected body — the sequence matters to Paul’s argument.
  47. 1 Coríntios 15:47Contrasts the origin of the two: the first man (Adam) came from the earth, earthy; the second man (Christ) came from heaven.
  48. 1 Coríntios 15:48Just as ordinary people share Adam’s earthly nature, those who belong to Christ will share His heavenly nature.
  49. 1 Coríntios 15:49Just as we carry the “image” of the earthly man (Adam) in this life, one day we will carry the image of the heavenly man (Christ) at the resurrection.
  50. 1 Coríntios 15:50Explains why transformation has to happen: the current physical body, subject to decay, can’t simply enter God’s eternal kingdom without change — a new kind of existence is needed.
  51. 1 Coríntios 15:51Reveals something new (a “mystery”): not all believers will die before the end, but everyone, living or dead, will be transformed at that final moment.
  52. 1 Coríntios 15:52“Mystery” here is something only God could reveal: that not everyone will die, but everyone will be transformed in an instant, “at the last trump,” language of final victory over death.
  53. 1 Coríntios 15:53Explains the need for this transformation: the mortal body, subject to decay, must “put on” something immortal and incorruptible in order to last forever.
  54. 1 Coríntios 15:54When this transformation finally happens, Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled: death will be decisively “swallowed up” in victory — the climax of the chapter’s argument.
  55. 1 Coríntios 15:55A triumphant quotation from the prophet Hosea, almost a shout of mockery at death: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
  56. 1 Coríntios 15:56Explains why death had that “sting”: it comes from sin, and sin gains its power precisely through the law, which exposes disobedience without giving anyone the power to overcome it alone.
  57. 1 Coríntios 15:57A response of gratitude to the whole problem of the chapter: it’s through Jesus Christ that God gives the victory over death and sin, resolving what the law alone couldn’t.
  58. 1 Coríntios 15:58The chapter’s practical conclusion: since the resurrection is certain, the Corinthians should stand firm and keep working for the Lord, knowing that this effort is never wasted.

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