1 Corinthians 15 · Verse 14

1 Corinthians 15:14

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1 Corinthians 15:14, King James Version

1 Corinthians 15:14 in other translations

BSBAnd if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith.
WEBIf Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain.
ASVand if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain.
YLTand if Christ hath not risen, then void is our preaching, and void also your faith,
DARBYbut if Christ is not raised, then, indeed, vain also is our preaching, and vain also your faith.
BBEAnd if Christ did not come again from the dead, then our good news and your faith in it are of no effect.
WebsterAnd if Christ is not raised, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

What does 1 Corinthians 15:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. your faith ... vain--(1Co 15:11). The Greek for "vain" here is, empty, unreal: in 1Co 15:17, on the other hand, it is, without use, frustrated. The principal argument of the first preachers in support of Christianity was that God had raised Christ from the dead (Ac 1:22; 2:32; 4:10, 33; 13:37; Ro 1:4). If this fact were false, the faith built on it must be false too.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 14. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain. Another consequence which must follow if it be held that there was no resurrection, and consequently that Christ was not risen. It would be vain and useless to preach. The substance of their preaching was, that Christ was raised up; and all their, preaching was based on that. If that were not true, the whole system was false, and Christianity was an imposition. The word vain here seems to include the idea of useless, idle, false. It would be false to affirm that the Christian system was from heaven; it would be useless to proclaim such a system, as it could save no one.

And your faith is also vain. It is useless to believe. It can be of no advantage. If Christ was not raised, he was an impostor, since he repeatedly declared that he would rise, (Mt 16:21, 17:22,23, Lk 9:22); and since the whole of his religion depended on that. The system could not be true unless Christ had been raised, as he said he would be; and to believe a false system could be of no use to any man. The argument here is one addressed to all their feelings, their hopes, and their belief. It is drawn from all their convictions that the system was true. Were they, could they be prepared to admit a doctrine which involved the consequence that all the evidences which they had that the apostles preached the truth were delusive, and that all the evidences of the truth of Christianity which had affected their minds and won their hearts were false and deceptive? If they were not prepared for this, then it followed that they should not abandon or doubt the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

(a) "if Christ" Acts 17:31

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 Then is our preaching vain - Our whole doctrine is useless, nugatory and false. And your faith is also vain - Your belief of a false doctrine must necessarily be to you unprofitable.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Having shown that Christ was risen, the apostle answers those who said there would be no resurrection. There had been no justification, or salvation, if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no use, if he is still among the dead? The proof of the resurrection of the body is the resurrection of our Lord. Even those who died in the faith, had perished in their sins, if Christ had not…

Read the full comment on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 →

1 Corinthians 15:14 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἰeiifG1487
δὲdethenG1161
ΧριστὸςChristosChristG5547
οὐκouknotG3756
ἐγήγερται,egēgertaihas been raised,G1453
κενὸνkenon[is] voidG2756
ἄραarathenG686
τὸtotheG3588
κήρυγμαkērugmapreachingG2782
ἡμῶν,hēmōnof us,G3165
κενὴkenēvoidG2756
καὶkaialsoG2532
ἡhētheG3588
πίστιςpistisfaithG4102
ὑμῶν.humōnof you.G4771

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Corinthians 15:14

  • 1 Corinthians 15:17

    And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:14

    For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

  • Acts 17:31

    Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

  • James 2:20

    But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

  • Matthew 15:9

    But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:2

    By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

  • Galatians 2:2

    And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

  • Psalms 73:13

    Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

  • Isaiah 49:4

    Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

  • Genesis 8:8

    Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

  • James 1:26

    If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2,17; Ps 73:13; Isa 49:4; Ge 8:8; Mt 15:9; Ac 17:31; Ga 2:2; Jas 1:26
Jas 2:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Corinthians 15:13

    But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

  • 1 Corinthians 15:14

    And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:15

    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.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y si Cristo no resucitó, vana es entonces nuestra predicación, vana es también vuestra fe.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et si Christ n’a pas été ressuscité, notre prédication donc est vaine aussi, et votre foi aussi est vaine;
German
Elberfelder 1871		wenn aber Christus nicht auferweckt ist, so ist also auch unsere Predigt vergeblich, aber auch euer Glaube vergeblich.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si autem Christus non resurrexit, inanis est ergo prædicatio nostra, inanis est et fides vestra: