1 Corinthians 15:3

1 Corinthians 15:3, in plain English

The most important thing Paul received and is now passing on to you is this: Christ died for our sins, and this death happened exactly as the Old Testament predicted it would.

Why it's here

Paul is emphasizing that what he's about to say isn't speculation or his own invention—it's the core tradition of Christianity that goes back to the earliest disciples, and it's rooted in Scripture. The Corinthians needed to see this wasn't something Paul made up but something the whole apostolic community affirmed.

Who's speaking

Paul

Where it sits in the story

This connects directly back to Isaiah 53, the Psalms, and the whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Jesus' death wasn't an accident or a tragedy that needed to be reinterpreted; it was God's plan all along, woven through centuries of Scripture.

The scholarly reading

Paul presents the core christological content that defines his gospel: Christ's death as substitutionary atonement, accomplished according to the scriptural blueprint.

Language and setting

The phrase 'what I received I passed on' (Greek: paradidōmi) invokes technical apostolic tradition-transmission language used in rabbinic Judaism for authoritative teaching. Paul signals he is not innovating but transmitting a pre-pauline creedal formula, likely from Jerusalem Christianity dating to within five years of the crucifixion. 'According to the Scriptures' (kata tas graphas) indicates this death was not merely historical accident but theological necessity, fulfilling Old Testament typology—likely Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and the Passover framework.

Voice

Paul, citing and interpreting apostolic tradition

Significance

This statement anchors the death of Christ within the entire arc of Hebrew Scripture, presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel's sacrificial economy and the Servant narrative. The crucifixion becomes the interpretive key to the Old Testament, not a rupture from it.

1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm.

2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 15 — If Christ has not been raised, Paul says, everything falls apart. But He has — and that changes everything.