15:11
Having had this digression from the general point about the resurrection, Paul returns to the key point. The gospel preaches Christ dying for our sins and the resurrection of that same Christ. This is what we believed, and is the foundation of everything.
15:12
It appears that there were some who were denying the “resurrection of the dead”. By this they meant the resurrection of believers, rather than of Christ. So the resurrection of Christ was a one-off in their understanding (or lack of understanding!). In this section (15:12-19) Paul shows that the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believers are inextricably linked. In the previous section Paul presented evidence that Christ was raised, but this resurrection was not simply a miraculous event. The pagan world did not believe in the resurrection of the body. We need to appreciate how much of an enemy death is (see 15:26), and that the defeat of death is an essential part of the gospel. Christ rose from the dead showing that we will be raised from the dead too (John 11:25).
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