1 Corinthians 15:3-4 reiterates the gospel message, the most important and central belief that Paul and the Corinthians share. Jesus is the Messiah, He died for the sins of humankind, His dead body was buried, and then God raised Him back to life. All of this was prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures. God promised that these things would happen, and now they have. This faith in Jesus's death and resurrection is what we build our lives on.
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul delivers the earliest recorded summary of the gospel: Christdied for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised on the third dayaccording to the Scriptures (vv 3-4). He hands off the tradition exactly as he received it:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (vv 3-4).
The paired verbs delivered and received describe formal transmission, vocabulary appropriate for handing on an established tradition. Paul used the same pair for the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23). The wording that follows carries the rhythm and structure of a creed already in use among the churches before Paul wrote this letter.
Paul plausibly received it during his visit to Jerusalem three years after his conversion, when he spent fifteen days with Peter and saw James the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:18-19), which would place this creed within roughly five years of the crucifixion itself. The summary of the gospel can be reasonably taken as among the earliest attested claims in the New Testament.
The phrase as of first importance ranks the content as primary and fundamental to all that Paul taught. In a letter that has weighed tongues against prophecy and knowledge against love, Paul now sets the essence of the gospel message above all. Whether gift, party allegiance, or any display of wisdom, the gospel foundation is offirst importance.
Paul lists the following facts after declaring the primacy of the gospel message:
Christ died for our sins (v 3)
That this was according to the Scriptures, (v 3)
That after Jesus died, He was buried, (v 4)
After being buriedHe was raised on the third day (v 4)
Also according to the Scriptures, (v 4)
After resurrecting, Jesus then appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the others belonging to the twelve disciples grouping (1 Corinthians 15:6)
"After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now," (1 Corinthians 15:6)
"then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:7)
"and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also" (1 Corinthians 15:8)
The founding statement of the founding creed is that Christ died for our sins (v 3). His death was substitutionary, the righteous One bearing the guilt of the unrighteous. No salvation--past, present, or future--is possible without this factual reality. The priests had been entering the Holy of Holies for generations each year to atone for sin. But this was a reminder of sin, not a cure (Hebrews 10:1-3).
Jesus fully atoned for sin when He offered Himself as a sacrifice:
"and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:12)
"Once for all." Jesus died one time, His death for ours. And He diedfor all. The entire sins of the world were nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). God's love extends to the entire world (John 3:16). He is desirous that all come to life (2 Peter 3:9). And all will be freely given life eternal who have faith to look on Jesus, lifted up on the cross, in hope of deliverance from the poisonous venom of sin (John 3:14-15).
Jesus's death was foretold by the prophets--it was according to the Scriptures (v 3). After His resurrection, Jesus spoke of these Scriptures to the disciples with whom He walked to the town of Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27). It is likely He included an exposition of Isaiah 53:5-6, which foretold of the Servant on whom the LORD caused "the iniquity of us all" to fall. Jesus was the "Servant"--of whom both Isaiah and David wrote about (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-13, 50:4-11, 52:13 - 53:12, Psalm 2, 22, 40:6-8, 45, 69, 72, 89, 110).
The assertion that He was buried (v 4) certifies that the death was real and locates the body in a known tomb. This is vital, since Paul's main point in the chapter is that Jesus inhabited a real body which died a real death then experienced a physical, bodily resurrection--the first fruit of what all believers look forward to in hope.
Isaiah 53:9 anticipated the Servant's grave being "with a rich man in His death" (Matthew 27:57-60). The phrase according to the Scriptures in verse 4 applies to He was buried as well as to the phrase He was raised on the third day (v 4). Both were foretold. Both were according to God's plan to redeem the world.
That Jesus was raised on the third day (v 4) includes a passive verb; raised is third person passive. This points to the Father's action in raising Jesus. The perfect tense of raised indicates a past event whose effect continues into the present. Christ was raised and remains the risen One. It is His resurrection power working through a believer, who is walking by faith, that saves them from the adverse consequences of sin in their daily lives (as referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:2).
Twice Paul adds according to the Scriptures (v 3, 4). Both the atoning death and the third-day resurrection happened in fulfillment of the Old Testament. He leaves the specific passages unnamed, which suggests a familiar pattern of texts the churches already knew. Some that were passages they had likely been taught:
Daniel 9:26, where Messiah is presented but then "cut off"--predicting His death.
Jonah 1:17, which Jesus Himself claimed as the sign of His three days in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40).
Jesus's resurrection arrived as the keeping of ancient promises spoken by God, and the earliest church understood, confessed, and proclaimed it that way from the beginning.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Set to dark mode
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 meaning
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul delivers the earliest recorded summary of the gospel: Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (vv 3-4). He hands off the tradition exactly as he received it:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (vv 3-4).
The paired verbs delivered and received describe formal transmission, vocabulary appropriate for handing on an established tradition. Paul used the same pair for the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23). The wording that follows carries the rhythm and structure of a creed already in use among the churches before Paul wrote this letter.
Paul plausibly received it during his visit to Jerusalem three years after his conversion, when he spent fifteen days with Peter and saw James the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:18-19), which would place this creed within roughly five years of the crucifixion itself. The summary of the gospel can be reasonably taken as among the earliest attested claims in the New Testament.
The phrase as of first importance ranks the content as primary and fundamental to all that Paul taught. In a letter that has weighed tongues against prophecy and knowledge against love, Paul now sets the essence of the gospel message above all. Whether gift, party allegiance, or any display of wisdom, the gospel foundation is of first importance.
Paul lists the following facts after declaring the primacy of the gospel message:
The founding statement of the founding creed is that Christ died for our sins (v 3). His death was substitutionary, the righteous One bearing the guilt of the unrighteous. No salvation--past, present, or future--is possible without this factual reality. The priests had been entering the Holy of Holies for generations each year to atone for sin. But this was a reminder of sin, not a cure (Hebrews 10:1-3).
Jesus fully atoned for sin when He offered Himself as a sacrifice:
"and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."
(Hebrews 9:12)
"Once for all." Jesus died one time, His death for ours. And He died for all. The entire sins of the world were nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). God's love extends to the entire world (John 3:16). He is desirous that all come to life (2 Peter 3:9). And all will be freely given life eternal who have faith to look on Jesus, lifted up on the cross, in hope of deliverance from the poisonous venom of sin (John 3:14-15).
Jesus's death was foretold by the prophets--it was according to the Scriptures (v 3). After His resurrection, Jesus spoke of these Scriptures to the disciples with whom He walked to the town of Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27). It is likely He included an exposition of Isaiah 53:5-6, which foretold of the Servant on whom the LORD caused "the iniquity of us all" to fall. Jesus was the "Servant"--of whom both Isaiah and David wrote about (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-13, 50:4-11, 52:13 - 53:12, Psalm 2, 22, 40:6-8, 45, 69, 72, 89, 110).
The assertion that He was buried (v 4) certifies that the death was real and locates the body in a known tomb. This is vital, since Paul's main point in the chapter is that Jesus inhabited a real body which died a real death then experienced a physical, bodily resurrection--the first fruit of what all believers look forward to in hope.
Isaiah 53:9 anticipated the Servant's grave being "with a rich man in His death" (Matthew 27:57-60). The phrase according to the Scriptures in verse 4 applies to He was buried as well as to the phrase He was raised on the third day (v 4). Both were foretold. Both were according to God's plan to redeem the world.
That Jesus was raised on the third day (v 4) includes a passive verb; raised is third person passive. This points to the Father's action in raising Jesus. The perfect tense of raised indicates a past event whose effect continues into the present. Christ was raised and remains the risen One. It is His resurrection power working through a believer, who is walking by faith, that saves them from the adverse consequences of sin in their daily lives (as referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:2).
Twice Paul adds according to the Scriptures (v 3, 4). Both the atoning death and the third-day resurrection happened in fulfillment of the Old Testament. He leaves the specific passages unnamed, which suggests a familiar pattern of texts the churches already knew. Some that were passages they had likely been taught:
Jesus's resurrection arrived as the keeping of ancient promises spoken by God, and the earliest church understood, confessed, and proclaimed it that way from the beginning.