1 Corinthians 15

More quotes from class...

• Orthodoxy matters. Jesus didn’t go to all the trouble of dying so we could believe whatever we want.
• Paul sees Christ’s resurrection as a form of vindication. God’s vindication of Jesus and His claims.
• If Christ is not raised, you’re still in your sins. Jesus’ atoning death for sin on the cross benefits nobody without His resurrection and His sending of the Spirit. It benefits noone without the appropriation of His death. Without the resurrection, there is no Christian faith.
• Christian perfection means full conformity to the image of Christ—inside & out.
• “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” We’re supposed to be acting like a new race of people.
• The first Adam was a living being—life breath animating flesh. The new race will also need an animating principle—the Holy Spirit.
• Christianity does not deny the reality of death, sin, and suffering. It affirms that however deep the Pit of evil, God’s love is greater. We are the undergoers of disease, decay, and death. But we are also the overcomers!
• The resurrection has ethical implications. If there’s no resurrection, do what you want. But if it’s real, God’s “Yes” to life is louder than Death’s “No.”
• Jesus is not just interested in eliminating the cause of the sin problem, he’s also interested in eliminating its effects—death.
• They say archaeologists are people whose lives are always in ruins.
• I would love to be an archaeologist and to find Lazarus’ tomb—“Died 29AD. Died 44 AD.”