1 Corinthians 15:22

The fact proves the principle; hence the for.

It is not without intention that Paul in this verse substitutes the preposition ἐν, in, for the διά, by, of the preceding verse. The relation expressed by διά was more external; it was that of causality. The relation expressed by ἐν is more intimate; it is that of moral solidarity, community of life. The latter explains the former: “If all died by Adam, it is because all were smitten with death in him, in whom they were embraced; if all are to live again by Christ, it is because there is in Him the power which justifies them and which will make them live again because of their relation to Him.”

Must we give to the word πάντες, all, the same extension in the two propositions? Some answer in the affirmative, and infer from it universal final salvation; so Origen, Olshausen, de Wette, etc. But this notion does not seem to agree either with the scriptural view in general, or with that of Paul in particular: Matthew 12:32; Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:48; Mark 14:21; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Philippians 3:19.

Others, like Julius Müller, find expressed in the verse merely the destination of all to resurrection in Christ, a destination which may be annulled by refusal to believe in Him. But the future shall be made alive means more than this. It denotes, especially in contrast to the present, die, a positive and indubitable fact. Most commentators (Augustine, Bengel, Rückert, Hofmann, Holsten, Beet, Edwards, etc.) think that we must understand a self-evident condition, that of faith: “As in Adam all men die, so in Christ shall all (believers) be made alive.” This limitation of the meaning of the second πάντες, all, seems at first sight very arbitrary, in view of the absolute meaning of the first. But we shall get reconciled to this interpretation if we take account of Hofmann's observation that ζωοποιεῖσθαι, to be made alive, is a more limited idea than ἐγείρεσθαι, to be raised. For this second term applies in general to all who shall live again, even to perish, whereas the first applies to the complete gift of perfect life (Romans 8:11). The limitation of the subject can therefore naturally proceed from the special meaning of the verb itself. “The two πάντες embrace those only to whom each of the two powers extends” (Hofmann). Moreover, it should be remembered that Christ can hardly be regarded as the first-fruits of the damned who are raised again, and 1 Corinthians 15:23, which continues the development begun in 1 Corinthians 15:20, evidently takes account only of believers. These reasons have great force, and perhaps this interpretation is really that which corresponds best to the apostle's view. But there is another which, without falling into the thought of universal salvation, preserves the equality of extension which it is so natural to hold between the two πάντες. It is more or less the view of Chrysostom, Calvin, Meyer, etc. May it not be said of those who shall rise to condemnation, that they also shall rise in Christ? The judgment to which they shall be subjected in the clear and perfect consciousness of their personality will bear on their sins in general, but especially on their unbelief in the Lord and on their rejection of the amnesty which was offered them in Him. The Saviour having once appeared, it is on their relation to Him that the lot of all depends for weal or woe; it is this relation consequently which determines their return to life, either to glory or to condemnation. And it is with this fact of a moral nature that the other, and more external one, is connected, which was implied in the διά of 1 Corinthians 15:21, and which is expressed in John 5:28-29: the resurrection of all by the power of the Son of man, whether to condemnation or to life. It is true that in this passage John does not use the term ζωοποιεῖν, which he had employed in 1 Corinthians 15:21, in an exclusively favourable sense. And the New Testament contains no other passage in which the term is not applied to spiritual or physical quickening in a good sense. But we have just seen the word ζωή (1 Corinthians 15:19) applied to earthly existence in itself, and there is nothing to prevent the word ζωοποιεῖν, taken alone, from being used to denote restoration to the fulness of spiritual and bodily existence, with a view either to perdition or salvation. The term is applied to bodily healing and bodily life in the LXX. (2 Kings 5:7; Neh 9:6); see Meyer. It has also been proposed to give πάντες a purely restrictive sense: “ None will be raised otherwise than in Him.”

This meaning would be admissible if Paul were here treating of the means of resurrection. But the one point about which he is concerned is the certainty of the event, which does not suit this explanation.

In what follows, the apostle assigns to the resurrection its place in the totality of the Divine dispensations which are to close the history of the development of humanity.