Bible Reading Plan – Day 321

₁And now I want to remind you, my brothers and sisters, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. ₂That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it — unless it was for nothing that you believed.

₃I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; ₄that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures; ₅that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles. ₆Then he appeared to more than 500 of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. ₇Then he appeared to James, and afterwards to all the apostles.

₈Last of all he appeared also to me — even though I am like someone whose birth was abnormal. ₉For I am the least of all the apostles — I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church. ₁₀But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me. ₁₁So then, whether it came from me or from them, this is what we all preach, and this is what you believe.

₁₂Now, 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? ₁₃If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; ₁₄and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. ₁₅More 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. ₁₆For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. ₁₇And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. ₁₈It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. ₁₉If 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.

₂₀But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. ₂₁For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man. ₂₂For 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. ₂₃But 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. ₂₄Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. ₂₅For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. ₂₆The last enemy to be defeated will be death. ₂₇For the scripture says, “God put all things under his feet.” It is clear, of course, that the words “all things” do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ. ₂₈But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.

₂₉Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead? ₃₀And as for us — why would we run the risk of danger every hour? ₃₁My brothers and sisters, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this. ₃₂If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

₃₃Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.” ₃₄Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.

₃₅Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” ₃₆You fool! When you sow a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. ₃₇And what you sow is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. ₃₈God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.

₃₉And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

₄₀And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. ₄₁The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

₄₂This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. ₄₃When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. ₄₄When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body. ₄₅For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit. ₄₆It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. ₄₇The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven. ₄₈Those who belong to the earth are like the one who was made of earth; those who are of heaven are like the one who came from heaven. ₄₉Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will wear the likeness of the Man from heaven.

₅₀What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God's Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality.

_51-52Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. ₅₃For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. ₅₄So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”

₅₈So then, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.

₁Now, concerning what you wrote about the money to be raised to help God's people in Judea. You must do what I told the churches in Galatia to do. ₂Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what you have earned, and save it up, so that there will be no need to collect money when I come. ₃After I come, I shall give letters of introduction to those you have approved, and send them to take your gift to Jerusalem. ₄If it seems worthwhile for me to go, then they can go along with me.

₅I shall come to you after I have gone through Macedonia — for I have to go through Macedonia. ₆I shall probably spend some time with you, perhaps the whole winter, and then you can help me to continue my journey, wherever it is I shall go next. ₇I want to see you more than just briefly in passing; I hope to spend quite a long time with you, if the Lord allows.

₈I will stay here in Ephesus until the day of Pentecost. ₉There is a real opportunity here for great and worthwhile work, even though there are many opponents.

₁₀If Timothy comes your way, be sure to make him feel welcome among you, because he is working for the Lord, just as I am. ₁₁No one should look down on him, but you must help him to continue his trip in peace, so that he will come back to me; for I am expecting him back with the brothers and sisters.

₁₂Now, about brother Apollos. I have often encouraged him to visit you with the other believers, but he is not completely convinced that he should go at this time. When he gets the chance, however, he will go.

₁₃Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong. ₁₄Do all your work in love.

₁₅You know about Stephanas and his family; they are the first Christian converts in Achaia and have given themselves to the service of God's people. I beg you, my brothers and sisters, ₁₆to follow the leadership of such people as these, and of anyone else who works and serves with them.

₁₇I am happy about the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus; they have made up for your absence ₁₈and have cheered me up, just as they cheered you up. Such men as these deserve notice.

₁₉The churches in the province of Asia send you their greetings; Aquila and Priscilla and the church that meets in their house send warm Christian greetings. ₂₀All the believers here send greetings.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

₂₁With my own hand I write this: Greetings from Paul.

₂₂Whoever does not love the Lord — a curse on him!

Marana tha — Our Lord, come!

₂₃The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

₂₄My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.