Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not 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. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
How many people saw the Resurrected Christ? All we need is two to three. But we have so many who could testify. St Paul even lists them all in some kind of order. The first readers could have definitely looked up St Paul's sources. They would have double checked his facts. If they were lazy like most Americans they could have just trusted his citations and the untimely one's testimony.
This fact should not be in dispute Christ has been raised from the dead. The first importance thing must be beyond dispute. Christ has died. Christ has risen. All of this in accordance or fulfillment of Scripture. This is done for the forgiveness of sins. If you need more evidence here are the list of eyewitnesses. These are the facts of the case they can not be disputed.
This is what St Paul preaches. He preaches simply the facts man! He does not do this only according to his own zeal for the truth. He preaches this by the grace of God. He preaches these facts because of what these facts provide for him. St Paul received life and salvation through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. St Paul received this by grace through faith, and thus he preaches it to others (you and me).
These same facts provide life and salvation for you. Christ died for your sins. He was wounded for your transgressions. He lives so you will live also. This is not a wish or plea but simply the FACTS.
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