1 Corinthians 15
15
The Gospel Teaching.#Paul recalls the tradition (1 Cor 15:3–7), which he can presuppose as common ground and which provides a starting point for his argument. This is the fundamental content of all Christian preaching and belief (1 Cor 15:1–2, 11). 1Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3#The language by which Paul expresses the essence of the “gospel” (1 Cor 15:1) is not his own but is drawn from older credal formulas. This credo highlights Jesus’ death for our sins (confirmed by his burial) and Jesus’ resurrection (confirmed by his appearances) and presents both of them as fulfillment of prophecy. In accordance with the scriptures: conformity of Jesus’ passion with the scriptures is asserted in Mt 16:1; Lk 24:25–27, 32, 44–46. Application of some Old Testament texts (Ps 2:7; 16:8–11) to his resurrection is illustrated by Acts 2:27–31; 13:29–39; and Is 52:13–53:12 and Hos 6:2 may also have been envisaged. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;#11:23 / 1 Pt 2:24; 3:18 / Is 53:4–12. 4that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;#Acts 2:23–24 / Ps 16:8–11; Hos 6:1–2; Jon 2:1. 5that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.#Mk 16:14; Mt 28:16–17; Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.#9:1; Acts 9:3–6; Gal 1:16. 9For I am the least#A persecutor may have appeared disqualified (ouk…hikanos) from apostleship, but in fact God’s grace has qualified him. Cf. the remarks in 2 Corinthians about his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16; 3:5) and his greater labors (2 Cor 11:23). These verses are parenthetical, but a nerve has been touched (the references to his abnormal birth and his activity as a persecutor may echo taunts from Paul’s opponents), and he is instinctively moved to self-defense. of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.#Acts 8:3; 9:1–2; Gal 1:23; Eph 3:8; 1 Tm 1:15. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me. 11Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
B. The Resurrection of the Dead
Results of Denial.#Denial of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:12) involves logical inconsistencies. The basic one, stated twice (1 Cor 15:13, 16), is that if there is no such thing as (bodily) resurrection, then it has not taken place even in Christ’s case. 12But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.#1 Thes 4:14. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. 15Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.#Acts 5:32. 16For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, 17and if Christ has not been raised,#The consequences for the Corinthians are grave: both forgiveness of sins and salvation are an illusion, despite their strong convictions about both. Unless Christ is risen, their faith does not save. your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.
Christ the Firstfruits.#After a triumphant assertion of the reality of Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor 15:20a), Paul explains its positive implications and consequences. As a soteriological event of both human (1 Cor 15:20–23) and cosmic (1 Cor 15:24–28) dimensions, Jesus’ resurrection logically and necessarily involves ours as well. 20#Rom 8:11; Col 1:18; 1 Thes 4:14. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits#The firstfruits: the portion of the harvest offered in thanksgiving to God implies the consecration of the entire harvest to come. Christ’s resurrection is not an end in itself; its finality lies in the whole harvest, ourselves. of those who have fallen asleep. 21#Our human existence, both natural and supernatural, is corporate, involves solidarity. In Adam…in Christ: the Hebrew word ’ādām in Genesis is both a common noun for mankind and a proper noun for the first man. Paul here presents Adam as at least a literary type of Christ; the parallelism and contrast between them will be developed further in 1 Cor 15:45–49 and in Rom 5:12–21. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. 22For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,#Gn 3:17–19; Rom 5:12–19. 23but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;#1 Thes 4:15–17. 24then comes the end,#Paul’s perspective expands to cosmic dimensions, as he describes the climax of history, the end. His viewpoint is still christological, as in 1 Cor 15:20–23. 1 Cor 15:24, 28 describe Christ’s final relations to his enemies and his Father in language that is both royal and military; 1 Cor 15:25–28 inserts a proof from scripture (Ps 110:1; 8:6) into this description. But the viewpoint is also theological, for God is the ultimate agent and end, and likewise soteriological, for we are the beneficiaries of all the action. when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.#Eph 1:22. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.#Ps 110:1. 26#The last enemy…is death: a parenthesis that specifies the final fulfillment of the two Old Testament texts just referred to, Ps 110:1 and Ps 8:7. Death is not just one cosmic power among many, but the ultimate effect of sin in the universe (cf. 1 Cor 15:56; Rom 5:12). Christ defeats death where it prevails, in our bodies. The destruction of the last enemy is concretely the “coming to life” (1 Cor 15:22) of “those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor 15:23). The last enemy#Rom 6:9; 2 Tm 1:10; Rev 20:14; 21:4. to be destroyed is death, 27#15:27b–28] The one who subjected everything to him: the Father is the ultimate agent in the drama, and the final end of the process, to whom the Son and everything else is ordered (24, 28). That God may be all in all: his reign is a dynamic exercise of creative power, an outpouring of life and energy through the universe, with no further resistance. This is the supremely positive meaning of “subjection”: that God may fully be God. for “he subjected everything under his feet.”#Ps 8:7; Eph 1:22; Phil 3:21. But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him. 28When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will [also] be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.#Eph 4:6; Col 3:11.
Practical Arguments.#Paul concludes his treatment of logical inconsistencies with a listing of miscellaneous Christian practices that would be meaningless if the resurrection were not a fact. 29Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the dead?#Baptized for the dead: this practice is not further explained here, nor is it necessarily mentioned with approval, but Paul cites it as something in their experience that attests in one more way to belief in the resurrection. If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they having themselves baptized for them?
30#A life of sacrifice, such as Paul describes in 1 Cor 4:9–13 and 2 Corinthians, would be pointless without the prospect of resurrection; a life of pleasure, such as that expressed in the Epicurean slogan of 1 Cor 15:32, would be far more consistent. I fought with beasts: since Paul does not elsewhere mention a combat with beasts at Ephesus, he may be speaking figuratively about struggles with adversaries. Moreover, why are we endangering ourselves all the time?#2 Cor 4:8–12; 11:23–27. 31Every day I face death; I swear it by the pride in you [brothers] that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.#Ps 44:23; Rom 8:36. 32If at Ephesus I fought with beasts, so to speak, what benefit was it to me? If the dead are not raised:
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”#4:9; 2 Cor 4:10–11 / Wis 2:5–7; Is 22:13.
33Do not be led astray:
“Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34Become sober as you ought and stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God; I say this to your shame.#Mt 22:29; Mk 12:24.
C. The Manner of the Resurrection#Paul imagines two objections that the Corinthians could raise: one concerning the manner of the resurrection (how?), the other pertaining to the qualities of the risen body (what kind?). These questions probably lie behind their denial of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:12), and seem to reflect the presumption that no kind of body other than the one we now possess would be possible. Paul deals with these objections in inverse order, in 1 Cor 15:36–49 and 1 Cor 15:50–58. His argument is fundamentally theological and its appeal is to the understanding.
35#Paul approaches the question of the nature of the risen body (what kind of body?) by means of two analogies: the seed (1 Cor 15:36–44) and the first man, Adam (1 Cor 15:45–49).But someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”
The Resurrection Body. 36#The analogy of the seed: there is a change of attributes from seed to plant; the old life-form must be lost for the new to emerge. By speaking about the seed as a body that dies and comes to life, Paul keeps the point of the analogy before the reader’s mind. You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.#Jn 12:24. 37And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind; 38#Gn 1:11. but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39#The expression “its own body” (1 Cor 15:38) leads to a development on the marvelous diversity evident in bodily life. Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish. 40There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another. 41The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness.
42#The principles of qualitative difference before and after death (1 Cor 15:36–38) and of diversity on different levels of creation (1 Cor 15:39–41) are now applied to the human body. Before: a body animated by a lower, natural life-principle (psychē) and endowed with the properties of natural existence (corruptibility, lack of glory, weakness). After: a body animated by a higher life-principle (pneuma; cf. 1 Cor 15:45) and endowed with other qualities (incorruptibility, glory, power, spirituality), which are properties of God himself. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. 43It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.#Phil 3:20–21; Col 3:4. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
45So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam,#The analogy of the first man, Adam, is introduced by a citation from Gn 2:7. Paul alters the text slightly, adding the adjective first, and translating the Hebrew ’ādām twice, so as to give it its value both as a common noun (man) and as a proper name (Adam). 1 Cor 15:45b then specifies similarities and differences between the two Adams. The last Adam, Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:21–22) has become a…spirit (pneuma), a life-principle transcendent with respect to the natural soul (psychē) of the first Adam (on the terminology here, cf. note on 1 Cor 3:1). Further, he is not just alive, but life-giving, a source of life for others. became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.#Gn 2:7 / Jn 5:21–29; 2 Cor 3:6, 17. 46But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. 48As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. 49Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image#We shall also bear the image: although it has less manuscript support, this reading better fits the context’s emphasis on futurity and the transforming action of God; on future transformation as conformity to the image of the Son, cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:21. The majority reading, “let us bear the image,” suggests that the image of the heavenly man is already present and exhorts us to conform to it. of the heavenly one.#Gn 5:3 / Rom 8:29; Phil 3:21.
The Resurrection Event. 50#These verses, an answer to the first question of 1 Cor 15:35, explain theologically how the change of properties from one image to another will take place: God has the power to transform, and he will exercise it. This I declare, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption#Flesh and blood…corruption: living persons and the corpses of the dead, respectively. In both cases, the gulf between creatures and God is too wide to be bridged unless God himself transforms us. inherit incorruption.#Jn 3:3–6. 51#A mystery: the last moment in God’s plan is disclosed; cf. notes on 1 Cor 2:1, 7–10a. The final trumpet and the awakening of the dead are stock details of the apocalyptic scenario. We shall not all fall asleep: Paul expected that some of his contemporaries might still be alive at Christ’s return; after the death of Paul and his whole generation, copyists altered this statement in various ways. We will all be changed: the statement extends to all Christians, for Paul is not directly speaking about anyone else. Whether they have died before the end or happen still to be alive, all must be transformed. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,#1 Thes 4:14–17. 52in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.#Jl 2:1; Zec 9:14; Mt 24:31; Rev 11:15–18. 53For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.#2 Cor 5:2–4. 54#Death is swallowed up in victory: scripture itself predicts death’s overthrow. O death: in his prophetic vision Paul may be making Hosea’s words his own, or imagining this cry of triumph on the lips of the risen church. And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:#Is 25:8; 2 Cor 5:4; 2 Tm 1:10; Heb 2:14–15.
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”#Hos 13:14.
56The sting of death is sin,#The sting of death is sin: an explanation of Hosea’s metaphor. Death, scorpion-like, is equipped with a sting, sin, by which it injects its poison. Christ defeats sin, the cause of death (Gn 3:19; Rom 5:12). and the power of sin is the law.#Rom 4:15; 7:7, 13. 57But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.#Jn 16:33; 1 Jn 5:4.
58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
1 Corinthians 15
15
Christ's victory over death
Christ was raised to life
1My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. 2You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.
3I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is:#Is 53.5-12.
Christ died for our sins,
as the Scriptures say.
4He was buried,#Ps 16.8-10; Mt 12.40; Ac 2.24-32.
and three days later
he was raised to life,
as the Scriptures say.
5Christ appeared to Peter,#15.5 Peter: See the note at 1.12.#Lk 24.34; Mt 28.16,17; Mk 16.14; Lk 24.36; Jn 20.19.
then to the twelve.
6After this, he appeared
to more than five hundred
other followers.
Most of them are still alive,
but some have died.
7He also appeared to James,
and then to all
the apostles.
8Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.#15.8 who was born at the wrong time: The meaning of these words in Greek is not clear.#Ac 9.3-6.
9I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle.#Ac 8.3. 10But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's kindness at work and not me. 11But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.
God's people will be raised to life
12If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? 13If they won't be raised to life, Christ himself wasn't raised to life. 14And if Christ wasn't raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. 15If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not.
16So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life. 17Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. 18And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. 19If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.
20But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life. 21Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. 22Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us. 23But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns. 24Then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom to God the Father.
25Christ will rule until he puts all his enemies under his power,#Ps 110.1. 26and the last enemy he destroys will be death. 27When the Scriptures say that he will put everything under his power, they don't include God. It was God who put everything under the power of Christ.#Ps 8.6. 28After everything is under the power of God's Son, he will put himself under the power of God, who put everything under his Son's power. Then God will mean everything to everyone.
29If the dead are not going to be raised to life, what will people do who are being baptized for them? Why are they being baptized for those dead people? 30And why do we always risk our lives 31and face death every day? The pride that I have in you because of Christ Jesus our Lord is what makes me say this. 32What do you think I gained by fighting wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised to life,#Is 22.13.
“Let's eat and drink.
Tomorrow we die.”
33Don't fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you. 34Be sensible and stop sinning. You should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God.
What our bodies will be like
35Some of you have asked, “How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36Don't be foolish. A seed must die before it can sprout from the ground. 37Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up. 38This is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have. 39People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike. 40Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others. 41The sun isn't like the moon, the moon isn't like the stars, and each star is different.
42That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live for ever. 43These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong. 44As there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.
45The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.#Gn 2.7. 46We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body. 47The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. 48Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven. 49Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.
50My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay. This means that they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts for ever. 51I will explain a mystery to you. Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed.#1 Th 4.15-17. 52It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again. 53Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay. 54The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true,#Is 25.8.
“Death has lost the battle!
55Where is its victory?#Ho 13.14 (LXX).
Where is its sting?”
56Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin. 57But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!
58My dear friends, stand firm and don't be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012