1 Corinthians 15:16 (LSB)

Passage

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

1 Corinthians 15:15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we bore witness against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

1 Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dead", "raised", "even", "christ", and "been". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dead" and "raised", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Moreover we are even found to be..." into verse 17's "And if Christ has not been raised...", so "dead" and "raised" belong inside that flow. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "dead" and "raised" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.