12. Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life?
13. If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised;
14. and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe.
15. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death — but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ.
16. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.
18. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost.
19. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.
20. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.
21. For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man.
22. For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.
23. But each one will be raised in the right order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him.
24. Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.
25. For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.
26. The last enemy to be defeated will be death.