Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.  (3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  (6) 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.  (7) After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.  (8) Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (9) For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  (10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.  (11) Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The 1 st letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. Paul wrote this letter of correction and guidance to resolve minor problems within the church in Corinth but in chapter 15, he turns to the subject of death and the doctrine of resurrection of the dead.  Chapter 15 is a very clear definition of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

in verses 1 – 11, Paul approaches the denial of resurrection of the dead indirectly – at first. A foundation is laid by detailing the bodily resurrection of Christ and the centrality of that both in the gospel and in Paul’s own conversion. The Corinthians believed in the resurrection of Jesus but were in denial of the resurrection of men/women. He begins by emphasizing that the gospel is not from the minds of men; it is revelation from God.  The gospel has been received by the apostles and delivered by them.  Paul writes of the transformed, resurrected body of Christ which is the foundational principal of the gospel.

This good news concerning unmerited saving grace through Christ is the only way men can be forgiven their sins – the gospel is based solely on the work of Christ Jesus. Paul writes of the certainty of Christ’s resurrection and therefore the resurrection of all men – he writes of the connection between the present and the future, the natural and spiritual body.