15:1

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, ^F72 of the good news ^F73 that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,

15:2

through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

15:3

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,

15:4

and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,

15:5

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

15:6

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters ^F74 at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ^F75

15:7

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

15:8

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

15:9

For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

15:11

Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

FOOTNOTES:
F72: Gk [brothers]
F73: Or [gospel]
F74: Gk [brothers]
F75: Gk [fallen asleep]

15:1

Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time - this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand

15:2

and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)

15:3

The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it;

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that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;

15:5

that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers,

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and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died);

15:7

that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him;

15:8

and that he finally presented himself alive to me.

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It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don't deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God's church right out of existence.

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But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.

15:11

So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.