📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 15:18
What does 1 Corinthians 15:18 mean?
"Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished."
— 1 Corinthians 15:18 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
Explanation
This verse is not a stand-alone statement of despair but the conclusion of a conditional argument Paul is making. In plain language, Paul is saying: "If it is true that Christ has not been raised from the dead, then it follows that believers who have died are simply gone—lost forever, with no hope of resurrection." The phrase "fallen asleep in Christ" is a common New Testament euphemism for Christian believers who have died; it doesn't mean unconsciousness or a doctrine about the intermediate state, but simply expresses death softened by hope, since sleep implies an awakening. Paul's point in this specific verse is the grim outcome if that hope of awakening has no basis—if Christ himself did not rise, then those who
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