Understanding that First Corinthians is a "responsa" will help you better understand what Paul is saying.1 A "responsa" is, according to Merriam Websters Online Dictionary: “a written decision from a rabbinic authority in response to a submitted question or problem.” Remember Paul was a Jew who had studied under a very prominent Jewish teacher and was probably on track to become such a teacher, what we would call a rabbi, himself.
Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city (i.e. Jerusalem.) at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Since Paul was a Jew and had studied to be a Jewish teacher, it seems reasonable that he would communicate the same way other Jewish teachers communicated. So, First Corinthians is a responsa, i.e. a response to questions submitted to Paul by the Corinthian Christians. If we can figure out the questions the Corinthians were asking we’ll understand Paul’s answers a little better. Put differently, if you assume Paul is the one who brought up a subject you read Paul’s response differently than when you assume Paul is just responding to a question. Paul starts the letter with greetings, follows with some admonishments and corrections and begins to answer their questions in Chapter 7:
1 Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me…
Paul sometimes references the question, at others he just begins answering; which is why we don’t instantly recognize the letter for what it is. Here are some examples:
1 Corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins …
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now as touching things offered unto idols…
1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. 3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this…
1 Corinthians 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren…
Which brings us to the portion of scripture I want to focus on, 1 Corinthians 15. What question is Paul answering when he begins by saying:
1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
Some Christians take this passage to be a complete statement of the Gospel message. They believe it sets out all the important facts and elements of the Gospel. They’ll say something like, “The Gospel is, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried, he rose again the third day… and that’s it, nothing more, nothing less, that’s the way Paul preached it.” But Paul clearly means something less than his full gospel message because he says, "first of all." As Pastor Price used to say if there's a first of all, there must, at least, be a second of all and perhaps a third of all, fourth of all etc.. Besides that the message Paul sets out here is certainly not the Gospel which Jesus preached, nor is it the Gospel that he told his disciples to preach, nor is it, at least according to the Book of Acts, the complete Gospel which Paul preached.
Now, I’m not saying that Paul didn’t preach these things, he most certainly did. What I am saying is that this statement is an abridged version of what Paul preached. This is not the full gospel, it is only a part of the Gospel, a part which Paul mentions here for a very specific reason. You’ll see this clearly once you figure out the question Paul is responding to. If you keep reading Chapter 15 you’ll discover that the question the Corinthians asked was about the resurrection of the dead.
The Corinthians had apparently written asking if the resurrection from the dead was true. Maybe they were asking things like, Do people really rise from the dead? Will our bodies really be resurrected someday? What about those people who burned up in a fire or who were eaten by wild animals or drowned in the Ocean, their bodies no longer exist, how will their bodies be resurrected? Maybe, like most modern Christians who have, to a large extent, ignored the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and substituted in its place the idea of heaven as the Christian’s eternal home, the Corinthians found it easier to believe in a purely spiritual afterlife, than in physical bodies resurrected afters years of decomposition.
Paul’s answer to their question, his proof of the truth of the resurrection from the dead, is that Christ rose from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Now that we know the question Paul was answering we can go back and look at the first verses of 1 Corinthians 15 in their proper context. Here’s my paraphrase:
Why are you asking me if there really is a resurrection of the dead? Don’t you remember the first thing I told you when I was preaching the Gospel to you? That Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried and after three days he rose from the dead, and many people saw him risen from the dead, first Peter, then the other 12 apostles and one time 500 of your fellow Christians saw him and most of those are still alive to this day, and then James saw him and then all the other Apostles saw him as well.
Paul is not setting out a summary of his gospel message but is dealing with the issue of the resurrection from the dead by reminding the Corinthians about what he first taught them. That’s what Paul is talking about, not a complete summary of the Gospel message.
1. I wish I could claim to have come up with this insight on my own, but I didn’t. Unfortunately I have lost the site where I first read this. I believe it was a messianic Jewish site and I googled for it but have been unable to find it. If anyone does know the site I’m talking about please let me know, because I’d like to give them credit.