Jesus's victory over death - and "him who held the power of death - that is, the devil" (see Hebrews 2), is central to the Gospel. As Paul argues, "if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile; you are still dead in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15), and "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4)