1 Corinthians 15:18

Then. Paul now presents another consequence that inevitably follows from the denial of the resurrection.

Fallen asleep. See on v. 6.

In Christ. To the Corinthians this would primarily refer to deceased Christians, but in a wider sense it refers to all who, from Adam to the end of human history, have died while believing that confession of sin and faith in the atoning blood of the Saviour would assure them of forgiveness and eternal life.

Are perished. If there be no resurrection, then those who have died remain dead, the prospects held out by Christianity are a cruel delusion, and all the righteous dead are doomed to remain asleep in their graves. No Christian could accept such hope-destroying conclusions. Thus Paul’s reasoning again stresses the vital position of the resurrection in Christian doctrine (see on v. 16).