Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:3

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;" — 1 Corinthians 15:3 (ASV)

For I delivered to you. (See Barnes' commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:23).

First of all: among the first doctrines that I preached, as the leading and primary doctrines of Christianity.

That which I also received: that is, what had been communicated to me. These were not doctrines of which I was the author, or which were to be regarded as my own. Paul here refers to the fact that he had received these doctrines from the Lord Jesus by inspiration. (See Barnes' commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:23).

(See Barnes' commentary on Galatians 1:12).

This is one instance in which he claims to be under Divine guidance and to have received his doctrines from God.

How that Christ died for our sins. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus, died as an expiatory offering on account of our sins. They caused his death; for them he shed his blood; to make expiation for them, and to wipe them away, he expired on the cross. This passage is full proof that Christ did not die merely as a martyr, but that his death was to make atonement for sin.

That he died as an atoning sacrifice, or as a vicarious offering, is here declared by Paul to be among the first things that he taught, and the grand fundamental truth on which the church at Corinth had been founded, by which it had been established, and by which they would be saved. It follows that there can be no true church, and no well-founded hope of salvation, where the doctrine is not held that Christ died for sin.

According to the Scriptures. The writings of the Old Testament. (See Barnes' commentary on John 5:39).

It is, of course, not certain to what parts of the Old Testament Paul here refers. He teaches simply that the doctrine is contained there that the Messiah would die for sin; and, in his preaching, he doubtless cited and dwelt upon the particular passages. Some of the places where this is taught are the following: Psalms 22; Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 12:10; Luke 24:26, 46.

See also Hengstenberg's Christology of the Old Testament, vol. i., pp. 187, 216, translated by Keith.

The phrase first of all signifies "among the chief things." The statement according to the scriptures is supported by passages such as Genesis 3:15; Psalms 22; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 13:7; and Luke 24:26, 46.