1 Corinthians 15:1-58. The Doctrine of the Resurrection 1. _Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you_ This gospel was indeed good tidings. Beside the fact that Christ had been offered for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3) St Paul, as well as the rest of the Apostles (1... [ Continue Reading ]
_by which also ye are saved_ i.e. are in a state of safety, the verb being in the present tense. The idea includes safety from sin as well as its punishment. See St Matthew 1:21. _if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you_ Literally, IF YE HOLD FAST THE DISCOURSE WITH WHICH I PROCLAIMED GOOD TI... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received_ The close resemblance of this passage to the Apostles" Creed shews that this summary of the doctrines of our faith is actually what it professes to be, a short compendium of Apostolic teaching. Irenaeus, a writer in the second centur... [ Continue Reading ]
_was buried, and that he rose again_ Literally, was buried and HATH RISEN again, the aorist referring to the single act, the perfect to Christ's continued life after his Resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of Cephas_ See Luke 24:34. St Paul and St John alone use the Aramaic form of the Apostle's surname, the former only in this Epistle and once in the Epistle to the Galatians. This, coupled with the fact that St John only uses the Aramaic form in the narrative in ch. John 1:42, is one of those minute... [ Continue Reading ]
_of James_ It would seem from this (see Stanley and Alford) that St James was _an Apostle_. But it does not necessarily follow that he was one of the twelve. See Professor Plumptre's elaborate note on the brethren of our Lord in the Commentary on St James in this series.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of me also, as of one born out of due time Deed borun_, Wiclif. The word here (after Tyndale) translated _born out of due time_refers to a birth out of the usual course of nature (cf. Psalms 58:8), about which there is therefore, (1) something violent and strange. Such was the nature of St Paul's c... [ Continue Reading ]
_because I persecuted the church of God_ Acts 7:58; Acts 8:3; Acts 9:1. Cf. Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But by the grace of God I am what I am_ St Paul is willing to admit his _personal_inferiority to the other Apostles, but such willingness does not lead him to make a similar admission regarding his _work_. For that was God's doing, not his, or only his so far as God's grace or favour enabled him to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed_ The word _preach_(derived from the Latin _praedicare_, to proclaim) has now acquired the conventional sense of discoursing publicly about religion. The word used by St Paul refers to the work of a herald, the formal proclamation... [ Continue Reading ]
_how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?_ There were three different schools of thought among those outside the Christian Church which denied the doctrine of the Resurrection from the dead. The first was the materialistic school, represented by the Epicureans among the heat... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if there be no resurrection of the dead_ The question has here been raised, against whom was St Paul contending? against those who maintained the immortality of the soul, but denied the resurrection of the body, or those who maintained that man altogether ceased to exist after death? 1 Corinthi... [ Continue Reading ]
_vain_ i.e. _useless, in vain_, as we say. Literally, EMPTY. Vulg. _inanis_. "You have a vaine faith if you believe in a dead man. He might be true _man_, though He remained in death. But it concerns you to believe that He was the Son of God too. And He was -declared to be the Son of God with power... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, and we are found false witnesses_ Not only is our authoritative proclamation of Christ's Resurrection useless, but it is even false, though it has been made from the beginning. See Acts 1:22; Acts 2:24; Acts 3:15; Acts 3:21; Acts 4:2; Acts 4:10; Acts 4:33; Acts 5:30; Acts 10:40 [ Continue Reading ]
_your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins_ Christ came, not only to make reconciliation for sin, but to free us from it. Cf. Romans 6:11-23; Romans 8:2. And this He did by proclaiming a Life. He first conquered sin Himself. Then He offered the acceptable Sacrifice of His pure and unpolluted life... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ_ See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 7:39. "The word does not apply to the soul, for that does not sleep (Luke 16:22-23; Luke 23:43), but it describes the state of the bodies of those who sleep in Jesus." Wordsworth. _are perished_ "You are required to bel... [ Continue Reading ]
_we are of all men most miserable_ Literally, MORE TO BE PITIED THAN ALL MEN. Because of the sufferings and labours and persecutions they endured for a creed which was false after all. See notes on ch. 1 Corinthians 4:9-13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But now is Christ risen from the dead_ St Paul considers it needless to argue the point further. He appeals not so much to the reason on points like this (see ch. 1 Corinthians 2:14) it is likely to deceive us as to the moral instincts of every human being. Of course a man has power to stifle them,... [ Continue Reading ]
_For since by man came death_ Cf. Romans 5:12; Romans 5:17; Romans 6:21; Romans 6:23; James 1:15; and the narrative in Genesis 3. _by man came also the resurrection of the dead_ Athanasius remarks that here we have not παρά but διά, as pointing out that even in Jesus Christ man was not the _source_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as in Adam all die_ In the possession of a common nature with Adam all mankind are liable to death. _even so in Christ shall all be made alive_ By possession of a common nature with Christ all shall partake of that Resurrection to which He has already attained. Cf. St John 5:21; John 6:27; Joh... [ Continue Reading ]
_But every man in his own order_ This explains why the last verb in 1 Corinthians 15:22 is in the future. Christ's resurrection must necessarily precede in order the resurrection of the rest of mankind, for as in the world at large, so in every individual, the natural necessarily (1 Corinthians 15:4... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cometh the end_ The end, the completion, that is, of the present order of things, when sin and death cease to be, and -the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ," Revelation 11:15. _when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father_ The... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he must reign_ i.e. Christ as Man and Mediator. For at present we can only discern God through the medium of Christ's Humanity. Cf. St John 12:45; John 14:9. In the end, we shall be able to -see Him as He is," 1 John 3:2. For the present He must reign in His Church, in His sacraments and ordina... [ Continue Reading ]
_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_ Cf. Revelation 20:14. Death shall be the last of all, because (Romans 6:23) it is the -wages of sin," and must continue to exist until sin has come to an end. Then what we know as death, the separation of soul and body, the dissolution of the complex... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he hath put all things under his feet_ Here the meaning clearly is (see Psalms 8:6, and the rest of this verse) that the Father hath put all things under the feet of the Son. "All things are put under His feet," says Cyril of Alexandria, "because He made all things." St John 1:3; John 1:10; Eph... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when all things shall be subdued unto him_ If everything is put under Christ, it is in order that there may be no divided empire. -I and my Father are One," He said (St John 10:30). Cf. St John 17:11; John 17:22, as well as ch. 1 Corinthians 3:23; 1 Corinthians 11:3 of this Epistle. _then shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead_ St Paul now abruptly changes the subject, and appeals to the conduct of Christians as a witness to their belief. This is again a passage of extreme difficulty, and it would be impossible to notice one tithe of the explanations which have been... [ Continue Reading ]
_And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?_ Not only those who were daily being baptized for the dead witnessed to the universal belief among Christians in a resurrection, but the lives of daily peril in which St Paul and the other missionaries of the Gospel lived were sufficient evidence that they d... [ Continue Reading ]
_I protest by your rejoicing_ The word here rendered _rejoicing_is translated _boasting_in Romans 3:27, and less correctly _whereof I may glory_in Romans 15:17. It may mean either (1) that St Paul boasted of the fruits of faith in his Corinthian converts, or better (2) that _their_boasting in Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
_If after the manner of men After man_, Wiclif. Either (1) as margin, - _to speak_after the manner of men," or (2) _for purely human and temporal objects_, like those of men in general. See for this expression ch. 1 Corinthians 3:3, and Romans 3:5; Galatians 1:11; Galatians 3:15. _I have fought with... [ Continue Reading ]
_evil communications corrupt good manners_ This passage is taken from the _Thais_of Menander, and like Acts 17:28 and Titus 1:12, shews that St Paul was familiar with classical literature.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Awake to righteousness_ The word here translated -Awake" signifies to arise from the stupefaction of a slumber produced by overindulgence (cf. ch. 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:2). The word translated -to righteousness," literally _righteously_, may either mean (1) as is just and proper, or... [ Continue Reading ]
_But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?_ We now proceed from the _fact_of the resurrection to its _manner_, a question which the Apostle discusses as far as 1 Corinthians 15:54, where he begins to treat of its _result_. _and with what body do they come?_ It was the doctrine of the Resurr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou fool_ Literally, O MAN WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING. _Insipiens_, Vulg. _Unwise man_, Wiclif. The stronger term _fool_(μωρός) (except in ch. 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 4:10) seems in the Scriptures to imply _moral_as well as intellectual error. _that which thou sowest_ The word _thou_is empha... [ Continue Reading ]
_and that which thou sowest_ "There are two parts in this similitude: first that it is not wonderful that bodies should arise again from corruption, since the same thing happens in the case of the seed; and next that it is not contrary to nature that our bodies should be endowed with new qualities,... [ Continue Reading ]
_but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him_ Literally, AS HE WILLED. Cf. ch. 1 Corinthians 12:11 (where however the word is not the same in the Greek). "Life even in its lowest form has the power of assimilating to itself atoms." Robertson. And these are arranged and developed according to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_All flesh is not the same flesh_ The same principle is now applied to animate which has been applied to inanimate nature. There are different varieties and forms of bodily life (σάρξ). The Apostle in this and the two following verses lays down the doctrine (see note on 1 Corinthians 15:42) that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial_ The principle is now further extended to the heavenly bodies, and another argument thus drawn from the close analogy which subsists between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace. Meyer, De Wette, and Alford consider the heavenly bodi... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon_ The argument is pushed a step farther. The celestial bodies are not all alike. They differ in beauty and excellency. And so to all eternity it shall be true of men raised and in possession of their heavenly bodies, that -one star differe... [ Continue Reading ]
_So also is the resurrection of the dead_ The fact is now plainly stated that all shall not possess the same degree of glory in heaven. - _So_," i.e. as has been before stated. But St Paul goes on to deal less with the fact than with the manner in which the fact is accomplished. _It is sown in corru... [ Continue Reading ]
_it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory_ The dishonour is, of course, corruption, with its revolting accompaniments. What the glory will be we may learn, to a certain extent, from the Transfiguration of our Lord, and from the account of the majesty and splendour of His Resurrection-Body in R... [ Continue Reading ]
_it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body_ For the word _natural_see ch. 1 Corinthians 2:14. The -natural body" is the body accommodated to, and limited by, the needs of the animal life of man. Man possesses a spiritual life through union with Jesus Christ, but his present body is no... [ Continue Reading ]
_And so it is written_ In Genesis 2:7. This applies only to the first part of the verse. But did not St Paul know that the words had been uttered, and would one day be recorded, which make it true also of the second part? See St John 5:21; John 6:33; John 6:39-40; John 6:54; John 6:57; John 11:25. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit that was no first which is spiritual_ See note on 1 Corinthians 15:23. "The law of God's universe is progress." Robertson. His whole lecture on this passage will repay study. He shews how the Fall was an illustration of this law, a necessary consequence of a state of mere natural life; a "s... [ Continue Reading ]
_The first man is of the earth, earthy_ See Genesis 2:7. The word _earthy_(χοϊκός from χοῦς dust) is an allusion to the -dust of the ground" in that passage, in the Septuagint χους. _the second man is the Lord from heaven_ The Vulgate reads, _is from heaven, heavenly_, Tyndale follows the Vulgate, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_As is the earthy_ i.e. Adam. Man, when united to Christ by faith, partakes of _both_natures. He is liable, therefore, still to the weakness and infirmities of the former. "This infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated." Art. IX. And this he must bear to the end. He must be... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as we have borne the image_ The _image_or _likeness_. In this present life we are like Adam: in the next we shall be like Christ, cf. Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:10; 1 John 3:2. _we shall also bear_ So Tyndale. Many MSS. read - _let_us also bear" in this pass... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now this I say, brethren_ We enter here upon a new phase of the argument. The Apostle now tells us how this great result shall be accomplished. We cannot inherit eternity as we are: a change is necessary. And this change will in the end be a sudden one, but will consist rather in the modification o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I shew you a mystery_ See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 4:1. Human reason unaided is of course incapable of arriving at the truth on a point like this. _We shall not all sleep_ There are two other very important readings of this passage. The first, that of the Vulgate and of... [ Continue Reading ]
_in a moment_ The literal meaning of the word here used is, _that which is so small as to be actually indivisible_. _in the twinkling of an eye_ Some MSS. read ῥοπῇ for ῥιπῇ, i.e. the _downward motion_of the eyelid (literally, _the inclination of the scale_), for the rapid movement suggested by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality_ Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:4. The Apostle has just said that -flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." He now explains in what sense these words are to be taken. The mortal body is not destroyed entirely and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Death is swallowed up in victory_ The English version translates Isaiah 25:8, the passage here quoted, by -He will swallow up death in victory." But the literal meaning of the word so translated is -for ever," and the Vulgate here renders -in sempiternum," though the Septuagint frequently, but not... [ Continue Reading ]
_O death, where is thy sting?_ This quotation follows neither the Septuagint nor the Hebrew of Hosea 13:14. The former is -Where is thy penalty, O death, where is thy sting, O Hades?" following, most probably, a different reading from the present Hebrew text, which runs thus: -I will be thy plagues,... [ Continue Reading ]
_the strength of sin is the law_ That the sting of death should be sin is very easy to understand. It is not so easy at first sight to account for the introduction here of St Paul's favourite doctrine (see Romans 7) that -the strength of sin is the law." Yet the sequence of thought may be discovered... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ_ This sense of having transgressed that righteous law need disturb us no longer. Our shortcomings have been fully atoned for by the Life and Death of Jesus Christ. The mortal part of us must pay the penalty due to sin ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, my beloved brethren_ The aim of St Paul is always practical. Even this magnificent passage comes to what from a merely oratorical point of view is a somewhat tame conclusion, a conclusion however which, regarded from the point of view of Christian edification, is full of beauty. "Be not... [ Continue Reading ]