Certainly, a belief in Christ’s death on the Cross for my sins is essential as well. And Jesus’ victory over death, sin, and the devil was won on Calvary. But as Christians, our belief should not stop there or we would fall into the error that some cultists have encountered.
For example, the Local Church, founded by Witness Lee, does not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Many of their other beliefs are biblical, but this error exposes a major problem—one with eternal consequences. And it is the primary reason theologians who support historical Christianity label the Local Church as cultic.
The primary reason to believe in the resurrection of Christ is this: He said He would rise again! In John 2:18-21 the Word says, “The Jews demanded of him, ‘What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.”
Therefore, if Jesus had not physically, or bodily, been raised from the dead—He would be a liar. And if He had been a liar He would not have qualified morally to die for our sins. The apostle Paul brought it very close to home, when he preached that without the resurrection of the dead, “We are to be pitied more than all men.”
Here is the passage in its context: “If it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Co. 15:12-19, emphasis mine).
You can see from this passage of scripture that Paul believed in the overarching importance of a system of belief that includes the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, since Christ prophesied that He would rise again, and Paul preached it—and since we as believers believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God—it is definitely an essential of the faith.
I have heard people say before, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” However, when it comes to the truth of God we should say, “God said it, and that settles it, whether we believe it or not!”
Yet not believing it has dire eternal consequences.