1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. 3-5 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures - that he was buried - that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures - and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 

6-7 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  English Standard Version

It’s part of human nature that we like to change things to the way we want them. That's ok if we've moved into a new home and don't like the old colour scheme – but it's something we dare not do with the message of the Bible. What part of the gospel message were some Christians in Corinth trying to change to suit their own ideas? (vs 12)

It seems amazing that any Christian could say that – but many Christians there had been into philosophy. One of the big debates was about whether physical matter was good or evil. So the thought of a physical resurrection of our bodies was too much for some of them. Paul's response was to take them back to the basics. He reminds them of the message he had brought to them and which had led to their being saved. That message was not his own invention – it was based on the eye witness testimonies of the other apostles who had lived with Jesus. Look again at vs 3-5 to see what the crucial facts of the gospel message are.

Paul's certainty that Jesus Christ had truly risen from the grave wasn't only based on what many other people had seen, including 500 people on one occasion (vs 6-7), it was due to something much more personal. What was that? (vs 8)

Strictly speaking, an apostle was someone who'd been with Jesus Christ from the time he was baptized by John until he ascended into heaven. The word apostle means 'to be sent' and they were sent into the world as witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. But Jesus also personally appeared to Paul and told him that he was sending him to take the gospel message to gentile nations. Was Paul being presumptuous? (vs 9)

Paul didn't regard himself as someone great, and he certainly didn't make up the message which he preached to so many nations, and about which he wrote in all his letters to Churches. And that's why Paul was challenging those at Corinth who wanted to change the message to fit in with their ideas and philosophies. God's message is not to be tampered with in any way! Why is this such a vital matter? (vs 1-2)

Paul says that it is the gospel AS GOD GAVE IT that brings salvation – and this salvation is only 'if you hold fast to the word'. If people don't cling to God's message – then they obviously believed in vain. We can't take God's message, take out parts we don't like and put in things we think should be there, and then expect God's approval. That doesn't only apply to the resurrection – it applies to relationships, marriage, morals and all of how we live in this world as we await the day of resurrection. God's word must be trusted upon – not tampered with.