And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.
All Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 15:17 Go To 1 Corinthians 15
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. It rightly follows that, if Christ has not risen, we are still in our sins; for1. if Christ has not risen, therefore faith in a risen Christ, which is the basis of justification, is false; but a false faith cannot be the beginning and foundation of remission of sins and of true sanctification2. If Christ remained in death, He was overcome by it, and His death was ineffectual for the remission of sins; for if by His resurrection He could not overcome death, then He could not overcome sin, for it is more difficult and a heavier task to overcome this than to overcome death. If this be Song of Solomon , sin is not fully abolished, if its penalty death is not.
3. The resurrection of Christ is the cause of our justification. ( Romans 4:25). Now the cause being removed, the effect is removed. If, then, the resurrection of Christ is not a fact, neither is our justification from sins, and consequently we are still in our former sins.
