A frequent misinterpretation of this verse divorces it from its context, leading some to claim it teaches that Christians who die are annihilated or cease to exist eternally, supporting annihilationism or denying an immediate afterlife. Others might read it as endorsing soul sleep where the dead remain unconscious until resurrection, but Paul uses the peril of perishing conditionally to affirm the opposite reality: Christ's resurrection ensures believers' ultimate victory over death, not loss.
I Corinthians 15:18
King James Version (1769)
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
In 1 Corinthians 15:18, Paul presents a stark hypothetical consequence of denying the resurrection: if Christ has not been raised, then believers who have died in him are utterly perished, devoid of any hope beyond the grave. This underscores the foundational truth that the resurrection of Christ guarantees the future resurrection and eternal life for all who are united with him through faith, transforming death from finality to a temporary sleep from which they will awaken in glory.