1st Corinthians Chapter 15

From The Open Bible Project

15:1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,

• (1) The sixth treatise of this epistle, concerning the resurrection: and he uses a transition, or passing over from one matter to another, showing first that he brings no new thing, to the end that the Corinthians might understand that they had begun to swerve from the right course. And next that he does not go about to entreat of a trifling matter, but of another chief point of the Gospel, which if it is taken away, their faith will necessarily come to nothing. And so at the length he begins this treatise at Christ’s resurrection, which is the ground and foundation of ours, and confirms it first by the testimony of the scriptures and by the witness of the apostles, and of more than five hundred brethren, and last of all by his own.
• (a) In the profession of which you still continue.

15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

• (b) Which is very absurd, and cannot be, for they that believe must reap the fruit of faith.

15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

• (c) Of those twelve picked and chosen apostles, who were commonly called twelve, though Judas was put out of the number.

15:6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.

• (d) Not at several different times, but together and at one instant.

15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

15:8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

• (2) He maintains along the way the authority of his apostleship, which was required to be in good credit among the Corinthians, that this epistle might be of force and weight among them. In the mean time he compares himself, under divine inspiration, in such a way with certain others, that he makes himself inferior to them all.

15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.

15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

15:11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

15:12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

• (3) The first argument to prove that there is a resurrection from the dead: Christ is risen again, therefore the dead will rise again.

15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

• (4) The second by an absurdity: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again.

15:14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.

• (5) The proof of that absurdity, by other absurdities: if Christ is not risen again, the preaching of the Gospel is in vain, and the credit that you gave to it is vain, and we are liars.

15:15 Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn't raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.

15:16 For if the dead aren't raised, neither has Christ been raised.

• (6) He repeats the same argument taken from an absurdity, purposing to show how faith is in vain if the resurrection of Christ is taken away.

15:17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

• (7) First, seeing death is the punishment of sin, in vain should we believe that our sins were forgiven us, if they remain: but they do remain, if Christ did not rise from death.
• (e) They are yet in their sins who are not sanctified, nor have obtained remission of their sins.

15:18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

• (8) Secondly, unless it is certain that Christ rose again, all those who died in Christ have perished. So then, what profit comes of faith?

15:19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

• (9) The third argument which is also taken from an absurdity: for unless there is another life, in which those who trust and believe in Christ will be blessed, they are the most miserable of all creatures, because in this life they would be the most miserable.

15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

• (10) A conclusion of the former argument: therefore Christ is risen again.
• (11) He puts the last conclusion for the first proposition of the argument that follows. Christ is risen again: therefore will we the faithful (for of them he speaks) rise again. Then follows the first reason of this conclusion: for Christ is set forth to us to be considered of, not as a private man apart and by himself, but as the firstfruits: and he takes that which was known to all men, that is, that the whole heap is sanctified in the firstfruits.
• (f) He alludes to the firstfruits of grain, the offering of which sanctified the rest of the fruits.

15:21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

• (12) Another confirmation of the same conclusion: for Christ is to be considered as opposite to Adam, that as from one man Adam, sin came over all, so from one man Christ, life comes to all. That is to say, that all the faithful, who die because by nature they were born of Adam, so because in Christ they are made the children of God by grace, they are made alive and restored to life by him.

15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

• (g) Will rise by the power of Christ.

15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming.

• (13) He does two things together: for he shows that the resurrection is in such sort common to Christ with all his members, that nonetheless he far surpasses them, both in time (for he was the first that rose again from the dead) and also in honour, because from him and in him is all our life and glory. Then by this occasion he passes to the next argument.

15:24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

• (14) The fourth argument with which also he confirms the other, has a most sure ground, that is, because God must reign. And this is the manner of his reign, that the Father will be shown to be King in his Son who was made man, to whom all things are made subject (the promiser being the only exception) to the end that the Father may afterward triumph in his Son the conqueror. And he makes two parts of this reign and dominion of the Son in which the Father’s glory consists: that is first, the overcoming of his enemies, in which some must be deprived of all power, as Satan and all the wicked, be they ever so proud and mighty, and others must be utterly abolished, as death. And second, a plain and full delivery of the godly from all enemies, that by this means God may fully set forth the body of the Church cleaving fast to their head Christ, his kingdom and glory, as a King among his subjects. Moreover he puts the first degree of his kingdom in the resurrection of the Son, who is the head: and the perfection, in the full conjunction of the members with the head, which will be in the latter day. Now all these tend to this purpose, to show that unless the dead do rise again, neither the Father can be King above all, neither Christ the Lord of all. For neither should the power of Satan and death be overcome, nor the glory of God be full in his Son, nor his Son in his members.
• (h) The conclusion and finishing of all things.
• (i) All his enemies who will be robbed of all the power that they have.

15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

• (k) Christ is considered here as he appeared in the form of a servant, in which respect he rules the Church as head, and that because this power was given to him from his Father.

15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

• (l) The conclusion of the argument, which is taken from the whole to the part: for if all his enemies will be put under his feet, then it will necessarily be that death also will be subdued under him.

15:27 For, "He put all things in subjection under his feet."[16] But when he says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.

15:28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

• (m) Not because the Son was not subject to his Father before, but because his body, that is to say, the Church which is here in distress, and not yet wholly partaker of his glory, is not yet fully perfect: and also because the bodies of the saints which are in the graves, will not be glorified until the resurrection. But Christ as he is God, has us subject to him as his Father has, but as he is Priest, he is subject to his Father together with us. Augustine, book 1, chap. 8, of the trinity.
• (n) By this high type of speech is set forth an incomprehensible glory which flows from God, and will fill all of us, as we are joined together with our head, but yet in such a way that our head will always preserve his preeminence.

15:29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren't raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

• (15) The fifth argument taken of the end of baptism, that is, because those who are baptized, are baptized for dead: that is to say, that they may have a remedy against death, because baptism is a token of regeneration.
• (o) They that are baptized to this end and purpose, that death may be put out in them, or to rise again from the dead, of which baptism is a seal.

15:30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

• (16) The sixth argument: unless there is a resurrection of the dead, why should the apostles so daily cast themselves into danger of so many deaths?

15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

• (p) As though he said, "I die daily, as all the miseries I suffer can well witness, which I may truly boast of, that I have suffered among you."

15:32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."[17]

• (17) The taking away of an objection: but you, Paul, were ambitious, as men commonly and are accustomed to be, when you fought with beasts at Ephesus. That is very likely, says Paul: for what could that profit me, were it not for the glory of eternal life which I hope for?
• (q) Not upon any godly motion, nor casting my eyes upon God, but carried away with vain glory, or a certain headiness.
• (18) The seventh argument which depends upon the last: if there is no resurrection of the dead, why do we give ourselves to anything else, except for eating and drinking?
• (r) These are sayings of the Epicureans.

15:33 Don't be deceived! "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."

• (19) The conclusion with a sharp exhortation, that they take heed of the wicked company of certain ones. And from this he shows where this evil sprang from: warning them to be wise with sobriety to righteousness.

15:34 Wake up righteously, and don't sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

15:35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised?" and, "With what kind of body do they come?"

• (20) Now that he has proved the resurrection, he demonstrates their doltishness, in that they scoffingly demanded how it could be that the dead could rise again: and if they did rise again, they asked mockingly, what manner of bodies they should have. Therefore he sends these fellows, who seemed to themselves to be marvellously wise and intelligent, to be instructed of poor rude farmers.

15:36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.

• (21) You might have learned either of these, Paul says, by daily experience: for seeds are sown, and rot, and yet nonetheless they are far from perishing, but rather they grow up far more beautiful. And whereas they are sown naked and dry, they spring up green from death by the power of God: and does it seem incredible to you that our bodies should rise from corruption, and that endued with a far more excellent quality?

15:37 That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

15:38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

• (22) We see a diversity both in one and the self same thing which has now one form and then another, and yet keeps its own type: as it is evident in a grain which is sown bare, but springs up far after another sort: and also in different types of one self same sort, as among beasts: and also among things of different sorts, as the heavenly bodies and the earthly bodies; which also differ very much one from another. Therefore there is no reason why we should reject either the resurrection of the bodies, or the changing of them into a better state, as a thing impossible, or strange.

15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.

15:41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.

• (23) He makes three manner of qualities of the bodies being raised: first, incorruption, that is, because they will be sound and altogether of a nature that can not be corrupt. Second, glory, because they will be adorned with beauty and honour. Third, power, because they will continue everlasting, without food, drink, and all other helps, without which this frail life cannot keep itself from corruption.
• (s) Is buried, and man is hid as seed in the ground.

15:43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

• (t) Void of honour, void of glory and beauty.
• (u) Freed from the former weakness, in which it is subject to such alteration and change, that it cannot maintain itself without food and drink and such other like helps.

15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

• (24) He shows perfectly in one word this change of the quality of the body by the resurrection, when he says that a natural body will become a spiritual body: which two qualities being completely different the one from the other he straightway expounds, and sets forth diligently.

15:45 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul."[18] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

• (25) That is called a natural body which is made alive and maintained by a living soul only in the manner that Adam was, of whom we are all born naturally. And that is said to be a spiritual body, which together with the soul is made alive with a far more excellent power, that is, with the Spirit of God, who descends from Christ the second Adam to us.
• (x) Adam is called the first man, because he is the root as it were from which we spring. And Christ is the latter man, because he is the beginning of all those that are spiritual, and in him we are all included.
• (y) Christ is called a Spirit, by reason of that most excellent nature, that is to say, God who dwells in him bodily, as Adam is called a living soul, by reason of the soul which is the best part in him.

15:46 However that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

• (26) Secondly, he wills the order of this twofold state or quality to be observed, that the natural was first, Adam being created of the clay of the earth. And the spiritual follows and came upon it, that is, when the Lord being sent from heaven, endued our flesh, which was prepared and made fit for him, with the fulness of the Godhead.

15:47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.

• (z) Wallowing in dirt, and wholly given to an earthly nature.
• (a) As Adam was the first man, Christ is the second man; and these two are spoken of, as if they were the only two men in the world; because as the former was the head and representative of all his natural posterity, so the latter is the head and representative of all the spiritual offspring: and that he is "the Lord from heaven"; in distinction from the first man. (Ed.)

15:48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

• (27) He applies both the earthly naturalness of Adam (if I may so say) to our bodies, so long as they are naturally conversant upon earth, that is, in this life, and in the grave. And also the spirituality of Christ to our same bodies, after they are risen again: and he says that the former goes before, and that this latter will follow.

15:49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, [19] let's [See 1st Corinthians Footnotes 19] also bear the image of the heavenly.

• (b) Not a vain and false image, but such a one as indeed had the truth with it.

15:50 Now I say this, [20] brothers, [See 1st Corinthians Footnotes 20] that flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

• (28) The conclusion: we cannot be partakers of the glory of God unless we put off all that gross and filthy nature of our bodies subject to corruption, that the same body may be adorned with incorruptible glory.
• (c) Flesh and blood are taken here for a living body, which cannot attain to incorruption, unless it puts off corruption.

15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

• (29) He goes further, declaring that it will come to pass that those who will be found alive in the latter day will not descend into that corruption of the grave, but will be renewed with a sudden change, which change is very necessary. And he further states that the certain enjoying of the benefit and victory of Christ, is deferred to that latter time.
• (d) A thing that has been hid, and never known before now, and therefore worthy that you give good care to it.

15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

• (e) He shows that the time will be very short.

15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

15:54 But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: "Death is swallowed up in victory."[21]

15:55 "Death, where is your sting? [22] Hades [See 1st Corinthians Footnotes 22], where is your victory?"[23]

15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

• (30) An exhortation taken from the profit that ensues, that seeing they understand that the glory of the other life is laid up for faithful workmen, they continue and stand fast in the truth of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.
• (f) Through the Lord’s help and goodness working in us.