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St. Paul And The Resurrection

The Apostle Paul, in discussing the resurrection of the dead, came to the simple and valid conclusion: “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen” (1 Cor. 15:13).

But the Apostle does not stop here. Hear him as he presses a further argument home: “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (Ver. 14). And this leads to yet another conclusion: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (Vers. 17,18).

These are frank words about stern realities. If there is no such thing as the bodily resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised from the dead, and if such is the case we have no living Savior.

But granting all this, can we believe in what is palpably impossible? Ah, but is resurrection palpably impossible? Paul answers this question quite simply in this same discussion, in I Corinthians 15:

“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” (Ver. 35).

Mark well, this is not an interested inquiry, but a challenge, meant to prove that resurrection is impossible, and the Apostle answers it as such:

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die” (Ver. 36).

What a devastating reply! We may point out all the reasons why resurrection is “impossible,” but after all is said and done we are still surrounded by overwhelming evidence that it is a fact. Every blade of grass, every ear of corn, every beautiful flower bears witness to the fact of resurrection from the dead.

Yes, Christ is alive from the dead, and “able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him…” (Heb. 7:25).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.