THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION (15:1-58). Paul now seeks to end his letter by outlining to the Corinthians as a whole the true Gospel of Christ. He had begun emphatically with the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17). He now confirms its importance and comes to detailed proof and treatment of the resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL (15:1-4). 'Now I make known to you brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, wherein also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.' Paul has already emphasised the cen... [ Continue Reading ]
'For I delivered to you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he has been raised on the third day according to the scriptures.' 'First of all.' This had been his first concern when he came to them, for it... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION (15:5-10). 'And that he appeared (literally 'was seen by) to Cephas; then to the twelve; then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; then he appeared to James; then to all the apost... [ Continue Reading ]
'But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed on me was not found to be vain, but I laboured more abundantly than all of them, and yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.' But he does not want them to gain the impression from this that he is not therefore a gen... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTION (15:11-19). 'Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.' But let them recognise in the end that it matters little which Apostle they appeal to. All teach the same. All are at one in their doctrine. All proclaim this message he is declaring. A... [ Continue Reading ]
'Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.' Some of the Corinthians were declaring that there was no resurrection of the body from amo... [ Continue Reading ]
'And if Christ has not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain.' The whole of the Apostolic teaching was based on the fact that Jesus Christ had died, been buried and had risen again. The resurrection was not only the source of their faith in the effectiveness of what He had... [ Continue Reading ]
'Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if so be that the dead are not raised.' Now we come to see why Paul went into such detail as to the witnesses of the resurrection. With Peter, James the Lord's brother, the twe... [ Continue Reading ]
'For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins.' But to declare that the dead are not raised is to declare that the dead Christ cannot have been raised. And if that is so their faith is vain and worthl... [ Continue Reading ]
'Then those also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.' So the preceding suggestion that the dead do not rise, that Christ has not risen, and that they are thus yet in their sins, removes any hope for the future. They have died in sin and could only expect to perish. There can be no though... [ Continue Reading ]
'If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.' For the fact is that in spite of all that He brought men, without the gift of eternal life which He promised, and which was the great hope he offered men, all else that He brought will be seen as a chimera, a dream, a... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION HAS CANCELLED OUT ADAM'S FAILURE SO THAT TRIUMPH IS ASSURED (15:20-28) 'But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those that are asleep.' Having established his position Paul announces his conclusion triumphantly. 'Now has Christ been raised f... [ Continue Reading ]
'For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.' This was why Jesus had to come as man. By man, and his sin, death came into the world. It was therefore necessary that another Man should come Who would defeat sin and death, provide the ransom, and demonstrate it by risi... [ Continue Reading ]
'For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.' As a result of being 'in Adam' all men are dying. His sin and its taint carries through from generation to generation. All sin, and all are dying and will die. This is the due result of Adam's first sin, and of our connection with... [ Continue Reading ]
'But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming. Then the end, when he has delivered up the Kingly Rule to God, even the Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.' But the predetermined order must be fulfilled. First will be C... [ Continue Reading ]
'For he must reign, until he has put all his enemies under his feet.' For Christ having taken His throne after His resurrection, has continued His reign, and must go on reigning until the final defeat of all His enemies both in Heaven and earth. And once they are under His feet as a result of His s... [ Continue Reading ]
'The last enemy that is being abolished is death.' And the final enemy that is being defeated is death. Once God's throne is established, and the resurrection has taken place, there will be no more death. It will have ceased. It will have been abolished. Thus the last enemy is being destroyed by th... [ Continue Reading ]
'For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet". But when he says, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things to him.' The words are a quotation from Psalms 8:6 where man's destined final triumph is declared. And in Christ as the great repr... [ Continue Reading ]
'And when all things have been subjected to him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him who did subject all things to him, that God may be all in all.' And then once the Son, as glorified man, having already received all authority and power (Matthew 28:19), has all finally subjected to... [ Continue Reading ]
'Else what shall they do who are baptised for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptised for them?' This first argument was possibly based on a custom at that time of baptising the dead by proxy (or possibly the mortally ill who could be described as 'dead' and in no co... [ Continue Reading ]
FURTHER ARGUMENTS FOR THE NECESSITY OF RESURRECTION (15:29-34). The assumption behind what follows is the belief among some of the Corinthians that man was made of both body and spirit, and that the body was unimportant, even evil, and would one day be cast of, while the spirits of all men were inv... [ Continue Reading ]
'Why do _we_ (emphatic) also stand in jeopardy every hour? I swear by that glorifying in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomo... [ Continue Reading ]
'Do not be deceived. Evil companionships (or 'conversations') corrupt good morals. Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not. For some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to move you to shame.' Paul finally uses his arguments to stress the need for right behaviour, and to declare that wrong do... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RESURRECTION BODY (15:35) Certain of the Corinthians, with many Greeks, could not believe that a human body could enter the spiritual world. Thus the idea of the resurrection of the body was foolishness to them. This is therefore the next question with which Paul deals. 'But some one will say,... [ Continue Reading ]
'You foolish one. What you yourself sow is not made alive except it die. And what you sow, you do not sow the body which shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.' Paul, now calling t... [ Continue Reading ]
'All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one g... [ Continue Reading ]
'So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
'So also it is written, "The first man Adam became a living soul." The last Adam was a life-giving spirit.' He then illustrates this from history and Scripture. 'The first Adam became a living soul' (Genesis 2:7). When man was first created God breathed into him and he became a living being with a... [ Continue Reading ]
'Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual.' But there is an order to things. First comes what is of nature (natural, soulish), where life is imparted to the flesh by God, and then that which is spiritual, with full spiritual life being re... [ Continue Reading ]
'The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.' For the first man, the source of the life of all men, is earthy, and is of the earth, as are they. But the second man is of Heaven. Paul has now come to the point where he feels that he can speak of what is heavenly without it si... [ Continue Reading ]
'As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.' And just like the first man was of the earth, and so produced earthy descendants of similar nature to himself, so is the second man heavenly, and produces heavenly seed of like natu... [ Continue Reading ]
'And as we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us bear the image of the heavenly.' That being so, says Paul, consider how it should change our whole attitude to life. When we bore only the image of the earthy and were in Adam it was natural that we would behave in an earthy fashion. But now... [ Continue Reading ]
'Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.' He then emphasises that flesh and blood, our earthy body as it is, cannot inherit the Kingly Rule of God in its heavenly form, cannot come into God's presence as it is.... [ Continue Reading ]
'Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.' The answer lies in a mystery of God now revealed. And that... [ Continue Reading ]
'For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.' Indeed he accentuat... [ Continue Reading ]
'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' Paul now comes back to the present and is so carried away with the glory of the idea that he chides death itself as he considers the resurrection of the dead. So death thought that it had won? Death thought that it would be always vict... [ Continue Reading ]
'The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.' He visualises death as like a vicious insect or scorpion with its poisonous sting. And what was death's sting? It was sin. Once man had sinned, he was sentenced to death. And subsequently all men sinned, and therefore all died. All were s... [ Continue Reading ]
'But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory continually (present tense) through our Lord Jesus Christ.' But now all is changed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, and His death and resurrection we are delivered. We are being given victory continually, victory over sin now, and finally the victory o... [ Continue Reading ]
'Wherefore, my beloved brothers, be you steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not vain in the Lord.' What then does this mean for us? Does it mean that we can sin freely because all our sin is laid on Christ? We can surely hear Pau... [ Continue Reading ]