1 Corinthians 6:14 says that God raised Jesus from the dead and will raise believers the same way, by his power. Paul wrote it to the church in Corinth to show that what people do with their bodies matters, because their bodies belong to a God who has the final word over death.
Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.
1 Corinthians 6:14 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 6:14 Means
The verse begins with the resurrection of Jesus. Paul points to something the Corinthians already believed: God brought Jesus back from death. That event is the pattern and the guarantee for what comes next. The word “also” links Jesus’s resurrection to the resurrection of those who belong to him, so the believer’s future is tied to a past event that has already happened.
The phrase “by his power” tells you where the resurrection comes from. It is not a reward earned by good behavior or a natural outcome of being a good person. It is God acting with his own strength. Paul is describing something God does, not something people accomplish.
The verse does not describe the details of what the resurrected body will be like, and it does not explain the timing. It makes one clear point: death does not get the last word for those who are joined to Christ. Paul is building a case for holiness in the body, and this promise is the reason the body matters.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 6:14
First Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul, traditionally dated to the mid-50s AD, to a congregation he had founded in Corinth, a busy port city known for its trade and its moral looseness. The church had real problems: divisions, lawsuits between believers, and some members who thought that because they were free in Christ, their physical actions had no spiritual consequence. Paul answers that view directly.
Just before verse 14, Paul quotes a slogan some of them were using, “All things are lawful for me,” and insists that not everything helps a person. Verse 13 pairs the body with the Lord, saying the body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Verse 14 supports that claim with the resurrection. Because God will raise the body, what happens in the body is not a private matter that stops at the grave. The verses that follow, 15 through 17, press the point further, saying believers are members of Christ himself.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 6:14
Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(WEB)
This verse makes the same connection between the resurrection of Jesus and the future of believers, adding that the Spirit who raised Jesus lives in those who belong to him. It deepens 1 Corinthians 6:14 by showing that God’s power is not distant but already at work in believers now.
1 Corinthians 15:20
But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
(WEB)
Paul calls Jesus the firstfruits of those who have died, meaning his resurrection is the first of a harvest to come. This verse expands on the promise of 1 Corinthians 6:14, giving it a fuller frame for how the resurrection of believers follows from Christ’s own.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 6:14
Lord, you raised Jesus from the dead, and you have promised to raise me by your power. Help me to see my body as something that belongs to you and matters to you. Where I have treated it carelessly or as though it were my own to misuse, forgive me, and give me a desire to honor you with it. When my body feels weak or failing, remind me that you are not finished with it. Let my hope rest not in my strength but in yours. Amen.
