1 Corinthians 15:50

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. NOW THIS I SAY - I concede this much to your objections against the earthly bodies rising again (see notes, ; ). FLESH AND BLOOD - of the same mortal, corruptible, sin-tainted nature as our (, note, ) animal-souled bodies. CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Therefore the believer acquiesces gladly in the sentence which appoints the death of the present body as the preliminary to the resurrection-body of glory. Hence, he "dies daily" to the fles...

50._Now this I say _This clause intimates, that what follows is explanatory of the foregoing statement. “What I have said as to _bearing the image of the heavenly Adam _means this — that we must be renewed in respect of our bodies, inasmuch as our bodies, being liable to corruption, cannot inherit God’s incorruptible kingdom. Hence there will be no admission for us into the kingdom of Christ, otherwise than by Christ’s renewing us after his own image.” _Flesh and blood, _however, we must understand, _according to the condition in which they at present are, _for our flesh will be a participant in the glory of God, but it will be — as renewed and quickened by the Spirit of Christ....

35-50 1. How are the dead raised up? that is, by what means? How can they be raised? 2. As to the bodies which shall rise. Will it be with the like shape, and form, and stature, and members, and qualities? The former objection is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter of curious doubters. To the first the answer is, This was to be brought about by Divine power; that power which all may see does somewhat like it, year after year, in the death and revival of the corn. It is foolish to question the Almighty power of God to raise the dead, when we see it every day quickening and reviving things that are dead. To the second inquiry; The grain undergoes a great change; and so will the dead, when they rise and live again. The seed dies, though a part of it springs into new life, though how it is we cannot fully understand. The works of creation and providence daily teach us to be h...

Verse 50. _FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM_] This is a _Hebrew_ periphrasis for _man_, and _man_ in his present state of _infirmity_ and _decay_. Man, in his present state, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; his nature is not suited to that place; he could not, in his present _weak state_, endure an _exceeding great_ _and eternal weight of glory_. Therefore, it is necessary that he should _die_, or be _changed_; that he should have a _celestial body_ suited to the celestial _state_. The apostle is certainly not speaking of _flesh and blood_ in a _moral_ sense, to signify corruption of mind and heart; but in a _natural_ sense; as such, _flesh_ and _blood_ cannot inherit glory, for the reasons already assigned....

NOW THIS I SAY, BRETHREN - “I make this affirmation in regard to this whole subject. I do it as containing the substance of all that I have said. I do it in order to prevent all mistake in regard to the nature of the bodies which shall be raised up.” This affirmation is made respecting all the dead and all the living, that there must be a material and important change in regard to them before they can be prepared for heaven. Paul had proved in the previous verses that it was possible for God to give us bodies different from those which we now possess; he here affirms, in the most positive manner, that it was indispensable that we should have bodies different from what we now have. FLESH AND BLOOD - Bodies organized as ours now are. “Flesh and blood” denotes such bodies as we have here, bodies that are fragile. weak, liable to disease, subject to pain and death. They are composed of chang...

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1 _The doctrine of the resurrection. _This chapter, and the thirteenth, on Christian love, stand out, even among the writings of St. Paul, as pre-eminently beautiful and important. No human words ever written have brought such comfort to millions of mourners as the words of this chapter, which form a part of the Burial Service of almost every Christian community. It is the more deeply imprinted on the memory of men because it comes to us in the most solemn hours of bereavement, when we have most need of a living faith. The chapter falls into six sections. 1. The evidence of Christ's resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1). 2. The resurrection of Christ is the foundati

NOW THIS I SAY, BRETHREN,.... Upon the whole, I assert this, and observe it to you, out of a truly Christian respect for you, as brethren in the Lord, that FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD: this shows the necessity there is of a difference between the body that now is, and that which shall be, which the apostle has so largely insisted on, and so clearly proved and explained, in the preceding verses; because the body, as it now is, is not capable of possessing the heavenly glory; was it to be introduced into heaven, in the condition it is now, it would break in pieces, and crumble into dust; it would not be able to bear the glory of that state and place: by flesh and blood is meant, not human nature as to the substance of it, or as consisting of flesh and blood, for that can and does inherit the kingdom of God; witness the human nature, or body of Christ, the bodies of t...

1 Corinthians 15:1. _Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain._ What was this gospel, of which Paul thought so highly, and which he says is the means of our salvation? Did it consist in sundry doctrinal statements? No, it contained doctrinal statements, but it did not consist entirely of them. Here is Paul's declaration concerning the gospel: 1 Corinthians 15:3. _For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;_ This is the solid basis of the gospel....

III. RESURRECTION AND THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH AND CONCLUSION: Chapter S 15-16 1. Resurrection and the Hope of the Church. CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:1 .)_ 2. If Christ were not raised--then what? (1 Corinthians 15:12 .) 3. Christ the Firstfruits and what follows. (1 Corinthians 15:20 .) 4. Further practical arguments about Resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:29 .) 5. Concerning the Resurrection of the Body. ...

A new question is now introduced, What will happen to those who are alive when Christ returns? (_cf_. 1 Thessalonians 4:13). The principle that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God finds with them as with the dead its illustration. They will not all die, but all alike will be transformed instantaneously when the last trump (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Matthew 24:31; Revelation 11:15) sounds. The dead will be raised incorruptible, those still living (Paul thinks of himself and most of the readers as among the number) will be transformed. It lies in the very nature of things that the corruptib