Study Desk

I would like for all of you to speak in strange tongues; but I would rather that you had the gift of proclaiming God's message. For the person who proclaims God's message is of greater value than the one who speaks in strange tongues—unless there is someone present who can explain what is said, so that the whole church may be helped.

And if the one who plays the bugle does not sound a clear call, who will prepare for battle?

The person who speaks in strange tongues, then, must pray for the gift to explain what is said.

For if I pray in this way, my spirit prays indeed, but my mind has no part in it.

So then, the gift of speaking in strange tongues is proof for unbelievers, not for believers, while the gift of proclaiming God's message is proof for believers, not for unbelievers.

This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church.

If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.

That 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.

I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures;

For I am the least of all the apostles—I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church.

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

If 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.

For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man.

For 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.

For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.

For 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.

Now, 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?

And as for us—why would we run the risk of danger every hour?

If 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."

For the scripture says, "The first man, Adam, was created a living being"; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit.