1 Corinthians 15

1Co 15:1-58.

THE

RESURRECTION

PROVED AGAINST THE

DENIERS OF

IT AT

CORINTH.

Christ's resurrection rests on the evidence of many eye-witnesses,

including Paul himself, and is the great fact preached as the groundwork

of the Gospel: they who deny the resurrection in general, must deny that

of Christ, and the consequence of the latter will be, that Christian

preaching and faith are vain.

1. Moreover--"Now" [ALFORD and

ELLICOTT].

I declare--literally, "I make known": it implies some degree of

reproach that it should be now necessary to make it known to them

afresh, owing to some of them "not having the knowledge of God"

(1Co 15:34).

Compare

Ga 1:11.

wherein ye stand--wherein ye now take your stand. This is your present

actual privilege, if ye suffer not yourselves to fall from your high

standing.

2. ye are saved--rather, "ye are being saved."

if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you--Able critics,

BENGEL

and others, prefer connecting the words thus, "I declare unto you the

Gospel

(1Co 15:1)

in what words I preached it unto you." Paul reminds them, or rather

makes known to them, as if anew, not only the fact of the Gospel, but

also with what words, and by what arguments, he preached

it to them. Translate in that case, "if ye hold it fast." I prefer

arranging as English Version, "By which ye are saved, if ye hold

fast (in memory and personal appropriation) with what speech I

preached it unto you."

unless--which is impossible, your faith is vain, in resting on Christ's

resurrection as an objective reality.

3. I delivered unto you--A short creed, or summary of articles of

faith, was probably even then existing; and a profession in accordance

with it was required of candidates for baptism

(Ac 8:37).

first of all--literally, "among the foremost points"

(Heb 6:2).

The atonement is, in Paul's view, of primary importance.

which I . . . received--from Christ Himself by special

revelation (compare

1Co 11:23).

died for our sins--that is, to atone FOR them;

for taking away

our sins

(1Jo 3:5;

compare

Ga 1:4):

"gave Himself for our sins"

(Isa 53:5;

2Co 5:15;

Tit 2:14).

The "for" here does not, as in some passages, imply vicarious

substitution, but "in behalf of"

(Heb 5:3;

1Pe 2:24).

It does not, however, mean merely "on account of," which is expressed

(Ro 4:25),

(though in English Version translated similarly, "for").

according to the scriptures--which "cannot be broken." Paul puts

the testimony of Scripture above that of those who saw the Lord

after His resurrection [BENGEL]. So our Lord

quotes

Isa 53:12,

in

Lu 22:37;

compare

Ps 22:15,

&c.; Da 9:26.

4. buried . . . rose again--His burial is more closely

connected with His resurrection than His death. At the moment of His

death, the power of His inextinguishable life exerted itself

(Mt 27:52).

The grave was to Him not the destined receptacle of corruption, but an

apartment fitted for entering into life

(Ac 2:26-28)

[BENGEL].

rose again--Greek, "hath risen": the state thus begun, and its

consequences, still continue.

5. seen of Cephas--Peter

(Lu 24:34).

the twelve--The round number for "the Eleven"

(Lu 24:33, 36).

"The Twelve" was their ordinary appellation, even when their number was

not full. However, very possibly Matthias was present

(Ac 1:22, 23).

Some of the oldest manuscripts and versions read, "the Eleven": but the

best on the whole, "the Twelve."

6. five hundred--This appearance was probably on the mountain (Tabor,

according to tradition), in Galilee, when His most solemn and public

appearance, according to His special promise, was vouchsafed

(Mt 26:32; 28:7, 10, 16).

He "appointed" this place, as one remote from Jerusalem, so that

believers might assemble there more freely and securely. ALFORD'S theory of Jerusalem being the scene, is

improbable; as such a multitude of believers could not, with any

safety, have met in one place in the metropolis, after His crucifixion

there. The number of disciples

(Ac 1:15)

at Jerusalem shortly after, was one hundred and twenty, those in

Galilee and elsewhere not being reckoned. Andronicus and JUNIUS were, perhaps, of the number

(Ro 16:7):

they are said to be "among the apostles" (who all were witnesses of the

resurrection,

Ac 1:22).

remain unto this present--and, therefore, may be sifted thoroughly to

ascertain the trustworthiness of their testimony.

fallen asleep--in the sure hope of awaking at the resurrection

(Ac 7:60).

7. seen of James--the Less, the brother of our Lord

(Ga 1:19).

The Gospel according to the Hebrews, quoted by JEROME

[On Illustrious Men, p. 170 D.], records that "James swore he would

not eat bread from the hour that he drank the cup of the Lord, till he

should see Him rising again from the dead."

all the apostles--The term here includes many others besides "the

Twelve" already enumerated

(1Co 15:5):

perhaps the seventy disciples

(Lu 10:1)

[CHRYSOSTOM].

8. One born out of due time--Greek, "the one abortively

born": the abortion in the family of the apostles. As a child born

before the due time is puny, and though born alive, yet not of the

proper size, and scarcely worthy of the name of man, so "I am the

least of the apostles," scarcely "meet to be called an apostle"; a

supernumerary taken into the college of apostles out of regular course,

not led to Christ by long instruction, like a natural birth, but by a

sudden power, as those prematurely born [GROTIUS].

Compare the similar image from childbirth, and by the same spiritual

power, the resurrection of Christ

(1Pe 1:3).

"Begotten again by the resurrection of Jesus." Jesus'

appearance to Paul, on the way to Damascus, is the one here referred

to.

9. least--The name, "Paulus," in Latin, means "least."

I persecuted the church--Though God has forgiven him, Paul can hardly

forgive himself at the remembrance of his past sin.

10. by . . . grace . . . and his grace--The repetition implies the

prominence which God's grace had in his mind, as the sole cause of

his marvellous conversion and subsequent labors. Though "not meet to be

called an apostle," grace has given him, in Christ, the meetness needed

for the office. Translate as the Greek, "His grace which was

(showed) towards me."

what I am--occupying the honorable office of an apostle. Contrast

with this the self-sufficient prayer of another Pharisee

(Lu 18:11).

but I laboured--by God's grace

(Php 2:16).

than they all--than any of the apostles

(1Co 15:7).

grace of God . . . with me--Compare "the Lord working

with them"

(Mr 16:20).

The oldest manuscripts omit "which was." The "not I, but grace,"

implies, that though the human will concurred with God when

brought by His Spirit into conformity with His will, yet "grace" so

preponderated in the work, that his own co-operation is regarded as

nothing, and grace as virtually the sole agent. (Compare

1Co 3:9;

Mt 10:20;

2Co 6:1;

Php 2:12, 13).

11. whether it were I or they--(the apostles) who "labored more

abundantly"

(1Co 15:10)

in preaching, such was the substance of our preaching, namely, the

truths stated in

1Co 15:3, 4.

12. if--Seeing that it is an admitted fact that Christ is announced

of you deny that which is a necessary consequence of Christ's

resurrection, namely, the general resurrection?

some--Gentile reasoners

(Ac 17:32; 26:8)

who would not believe it because they did not see "how" it could be

(1Co 15:35, 36).

13. If there be no general resurrection, which is the consequent,

then there can have been no resurrection of Christ, which is the

antecedent. The head and the members of the body stand on the same

footing: what does not hold good of them, does not hold good of Him

either: His resurrection and theirs are inseparably joined (compare

1Co 15:20-22;

Joh 14:19).

14. your faith . . . vain--

(1Co 15:11).

The Greek for "vain" here is, empty, unreal: in

1Co 15:17,

on the other hand, it is, without use, frustrated. The principal

argument of the first preachers in support of Christianity was that God

had raised Christ from the dead

(Ac 1:22; 2:32; 4:10, 33; 13:37;

Ro 1:4).

If this fact were false, the faith built on it must be false too.

15. testified of God--that is, concerning God. The rendering of others

is, "against God" [Vulgate, ESTIUS,

GROTIUS]: the Greek preposition

with the genitive implies, not direct antagonism (as the accusative

would mean), but indirect to the dishonor of God.

English Version is probably better.

if so be--as they assert. It is not right to tell untrue stories,

though they are told and seem for the glory of God

(Job 13:7).

16. The repetition implies the unanswerable force of the argument.

17. vain--Ye are, by the very fact (supposing the case to be as the

skeptics maintained), frustrated of all which "your faith"

appropriates: Ye are still under the everlasting condemnation of your

sins (even in the disembodied state which is here referred to), from

which Christ's resurrection is our justification

(Ro 4:25):

"saved by his life"

(Ro 5:10).

18. fallen asleep in Christ--in communion with Christ as His members.

"In Christ's case the term used is death, to assure us of the

reality of His suffering; in our case, sleep, to give us consolation:

In His case, His resurrection having actually taken place, Paul shrinks

not from the term death; in ours, the resurrection being still only a

matter of hope, he uses the term falling asleep" [PHOTIUS,

Quæstiones Amphilochiæ, 197].

perished--Their souls are lost; they are in misery in the unseen

world.

19. If our hopes in Christ were limited to this life only, we should

be, of all men, most to be pitied; namely, because, while others live

unmolested, we are exposed to every trial and persecution, and, after

all, are doomed to bitter disappointment in our most cherished hope; for

all our hope of salvation, even of the soul (not merely of the body),

hangs on the resurrection of Christ, without which His death would be of

no avail to us

(Eph 1:19, 20;

1Pe 1:3).

The heathen are "without hope"

(Eph 2:12;

1Th 4:13).

We should be even worse, for we should be also without present

enjoyment

(1Co 4:9).

20. now--as the case really is.

and become--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.

the first-fruits--the earnest or pledge, that the whole resurrection

harvest will follow, so that our faith is not vain, nor our hope limited

to this life. The time of writing this Epistle was probably about the

Passover

(1Co 5:7);

the day after the Passover sabbath was that for offering the

first-fruits

(Le 23:10, 11),

and the same was the day of Christ's resurrection: whence appears the

appropriateness of the image.

21. by man . . . by man--The first-fruits are of the same nature as

the rest of the harvest; so Christ, the bringer of life, is of the same

nature as the race of men to whom He brings it; just as Adam, the

bringer of death, was of the same nature as the men on whom he brought

it.

22. in Adam all--in union of nature with Adam, as representative head

of mankind in their fall.

in Christ . . . all--in union of nature with Christ, the representative

head of mankind in their recovery. The life brought in by Christ is

co-extensive with the death brought in by Adam.

23. But every man in his own order--rather, "rank": the

Greek is not in the abstract, but concrete: image from troops,

"each in his own regiment." Though all shall rise again, let not any

think all shall be saved; nay, each shall have his proper place, Christ

first

(Col 1:18),

and after Him the godly who die in Christ

(1Th 4:16),

in a separate band from the ungodly, and then "the end," that is, the

resurrection of the rest of the dead. Christian churches, ministers,

and individuals seem about to be judged first "at His coming"

(Mt 25:1-30);

then "all the nations"

(Mt 25:31-46).

Christ's own flock shall share His glory "at His coming," which is not

to be confounded with "the end," or general judgment

(Re 20:4-6, 11-15).

The latter is not in this chapter specially discussed, but only the

first resurrection, namely, that of the saints: not even the judgment

of Christian hollow professors

(Mt 25:1-30)

at His coming, is handled, but only the glory of them "that are

Christ's," who alone in the highest sense "obtain the resurrection from

the dead"

(Lu 14:14; 20:35, 36;

Php 3:11;

see on

Php 3:11).

The second coming of Christ is not a mere point of time, but a

period beginning with the resurrection of the just at His

appearing, and ending with the general judgment. The ground of the

universal resurrection is the union of all mankind in nature with

Christ, their representative Head, who has done away with death, by His

own death in their stead: the ground of the resurrection of believers

is not merely this, but their personal union with Him as their

"Life"

(Col 3:4),

effected causatively by the Holy Spirit, and

instrumentally by faith as the subjective, and by

ordinances as the objective means.

24. Then--after that: next in the succession of "orders" or "ranks."

the end--the general resurrection, and final judgment and consummation

(Mt 25:46).

delivered up . . . kingdom to . . . Father--(Compare

Joh 13:3).

Seeming at variance with

Da 7:14,

"His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass

away." Really, His giving up of the mediatorial

kingdom to the Father, when the end for which the mediatorial economy

was established has been accomplished, is altogether in harmony with

its continuing everlastingly. The change which shall then take place,

shall be in the manner of administration, not in the

kingdom itself; God shall then come into direct

connection with the earth, instead of mediatorially, when Christ shall

have fully and finally removed everything that severs asunder the holy

God and a sinful earth

(Col 1:20).

The glory of God is the final end of Christ's mediatorial office

(Php 2:10, 11).

His co-equality with the Father is independent of the latter, and prior

to it, and shall, therefore, continue when its function shall have

ceased. His manhood, too, shall everlastingly continue, though, as now,

subordinate to the Father. The throne of the Lamb (but no longer

mediatorial) as well as of God, shall be in the heavenly city

(Re 22:3;

compare

Re 3:21).

The unity of the Godhead, and the unity of the Church, shall be

simultaneously manifested at Christ's second coming. Compare

Zep 3:9;

Zec 14:9;

Joh 17:21-24.

The oldest manuscripts for "shall have delivered up," read,

"delivereth up," which suits the sense better. It is "when He

shall have put down all rule," that "He delivereth up the

kingdom to the Father."

shall have put down all rule--the effect produced during the millennary

reign of Himself and His saints

(Ps 110:1; 8:6; 2:6-9),

to which passages Paul refers, resting his argument on the two words,

"all" and "until," of the Psalmist: a proof of verbal inspiration of

Scripture (compare

Re 2:26, 27).

Meanwhile, He "rules in the midst of His enemies"

(Ps 110:2).

He is styled "the King" when He takes His great power

(Mt 25:34;

Re 11:15, 17).

The Greek for "put down" is, "done away with," or

"brought to naught." "All" must be subject to Him, whether openly

opposed powers, as Satan and his angels, or kings and angelic

principalities

(Eph 1:21).

25. must--because Scripture foretells it.

till--There will be no further need of His mediatorial kingdom, its

object having been realized.

enemies under his feet--

(Lu 19:27;

Eph 1:22).

26. shall be--Greek, "is done away with"

(Re 20:14;

compare

Re 1:18).

It is to believers especially this applies

(1Co 15:55-57);

even in the case of unbelievers, death is done away with by the general

resurrection. Satan brought in sin, and sin brought in

death! So they shall be destroyed (rendered utterly powerless)

in the same order

(1Co 15:56;

Heb 2:14;

Re 19:20; 20:10, 14).

27. all things--including death (compare

Eph 1:22;

Php 3:21;

Heb 2:8;

1Pe 3:22).

It is said, "hath put," for what God has said is the same as if

it were already done, so sure is it. Paul here quotes

Ps 8:6

in proof of his previous declaration, "For (it is written), 'He hath

put all things under His feet.'"

under his feet--as His footstool

(Ps 110:1).

In perfect and lasting subjection.

when he--namely, God, who by His Spirit inspired the Psalmist.

28. Son . . . himself . . . subject--not as the creatures are, but as a

Son voluntarily subordinate to, though co-equal with, the Father. In

the mediatorial kingdom, the Son had been, in a manner, distinct from

the Father. Now, His kingdom shall merge in the Father's, with whom He

is one; not that there is thus any derogation from His honor; for the

Father Himself wills "that all should honor the Son, as they honor the

Father"

(Joh 5:22, 23;

Heb 1:6).

God . . . all in all--as Christ is all in all

(Col 3:11;

compare

Zec 14:9).

Then, and not till then, "all things," without the least

infringement of the divine prerogative, shall be subject to the Son,

and the Son subordinate to the Father, while co-equally sharing His

glory. Contrast

Ps 10:4; 14:1.

Even the saints do not fully realize God as their "all"

(Ps 73:25)

now, through desiring it; then each shall feel, God is all to

me.

29. Else--if there be no resurrection.

what shall they do?--How wretched is their lot!

they . . . which are baptized for the dead--third

person; a class distinct from that in which the apostle places himself,

"we"

(1Co 15:30);

first person. ALFORD thinks there is an allusion

to a practice at Corinth of baptizing a living person in behalf

of a friend who died unbaptized; thus Paul, without giving the

least sanction to the practice, uses an ad hominem argument from

it against its practicers, some of whom, though using it, denied the

resurrection: "What account can they give of their practice; why are

they at the trouble of it, if the dead rise not?" [So Jesus used an

ad hominem argument,

Mt 12:27].

But if so, it is strange there is no direct censure of it. Some

Marcionites adopted the practice at a later period, probably from

taking this passage, as ALFORD does; but,

generally, it was unknown in the Church. BENGEL

translates, "over (immediately upon) the dead," that is, who will be

gathered to the dead immediately after baptism. Compare

Job 17:1,

"the graves are ready for me." The price they get for their trouble is,

that they should be gathered to the dead for ever

(1Co 15:13, 16).

Many in the ancient Church put off baptism till near death. This seems

the better view; though there may have been some rites of symbolical

baptism at Corinth, now unknown, perhaps grounded on Jesus' words

(Mt 20:22, 23),

which Paul here alludes to. The best punctuation is, "If the dead rise

not at all, why are they then baptized for them" (so the oldest

manuscripts read the last words, instead of "for the dead")?

30. we--apostles

(1Co 15:9;

1Co 4:9).

A gradation from those who could only for a little time enjoy this life

(that is, those baptized at the point of death), to us, who

could enjoy it longer, if we had not renounced the world for Christ

[BENGEL].

31. by your rejoicing--by the glorying which I have concerning you,

as the fruit of my labors in the Lord. Some of the earliest manuscripts

and fathers read "our," with the same sense. BENGEL

understands "your

rejoicing," to be the enjoyable state of the Corinthians, as contrasted

with his dying daily to give his converts rejoicing or glorying

(1Co 4:8;

2Co 4:12, 15;

Eph 3:13;

Php 1:26).

But the words, "which I have," favor the explanation--"the rejoicing

which I have over you." Many of the oldest manuscripts and

Vulgate insert "brethren" here.

I die daily--This ought to stand first in the sentence, as it is so

put prominently forward in the Greek. I am day by day in sight of

death, exposed to it, and expecting it

(2Co 4:11, 12; 1:8, 9; 11:23).

32. Punctuate thus: "If after the manner of men I have fought with

beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me? If the dead rise not, let us

eat and drink," &c. [BENGEL]. If "merely as a man" (with the mere

human hope of the present life; not with the Christian's hope of the

resurrection; answering to "If the dead rise not," the parallel clause

in the next sentence), I have fought with men resembling savage beasts.

Heraclitus, of Ephesus, had termed his countrymen "wild beasts" four

hundred years before. So Epimenides called the Cretians

(Tit 1:12).

Paul was still at Ephesus

(1Co 16:8),

and there his life was daily in danger

(1Co 4:9;

compare

2Co 1:8).

Though the tumult

(Ac 19:29, 30)

had not yet taken place (for after it he set out

immediately for Macedonia), this Epistle was written evidently

just before it, when the storm was gathering; "many adversaries"

(1Co 16:9)

were already menacing him.

what advantageth it me?--seeing I have renounced all that,

"as a mere man," might compensate me for such sufferings, gain,

fame, &c.

let us eat, &c.--Quoted from the Septuagint,

(Isa 22:13),

where the prophet describes the reckless self-indulgence of the

despisers of God's call to mourning, Let us enjoy the good things of

life now, for it soon will end. Paul imitates the language of such

skeptics, to reprove both their theory and practice. "If men but

persuade themselves that they shall die like the beasts, they soon will

live like beasts too" [SOUTH].

33. evil communications corrupt good manners--a current saying, forming

a verse in MENANDER, the comic poet, who probably took it from Euripides

[SOCRATES, Ecclesiastical History, 3.16]. "Evil communications"

refer to intercourse with those who deny the resurrection. Their notion

seems to have been that the resurrection is merely spiritual, that sin

has its seat solely in the body, and will be left behind when the soul

leaves it, if, indeed, the soul survive death at all.

good--not only good-natured, but pliant. Intimacy with the

profligate society around was apt to corrupt the principles of the

Corinthians.

34. Awake--literally, "out of the sleep" of carnal intoxication

into which ye are thrown by the influence of these skeptics

(1Co 15:32;

Joe 1:5).

to righteousness--in contrast with "sin" in this verse, and

corrupt manners

(1Co 15:33).

sin not--Do not give yourselves up to sinful pleasures. The

Greek expresses a continued state of abstinence from sin. Thus,

Paul implies that they who live in sinful pleasures readily persuade

themselves of what they wish, namely, that there is to be no

resurrection.

some--the same as in

1Co 15:12.

have not the knowledge of God--and so know not His power in the

resurrection

(Mt 22:29).

Stronger than "are ignorant of God." An habitual ignorance:

wilful, in that they prefer to keep their sins, rather than part with

them, in order to know God (compare

Joh 7:17;

1Pe 2:15).

to your shame--that you Corinthian Christians, who boast of your

knowledge, should have among you, and maintain intercourse with,

those so practically ignorant of God, as to deny the resurrection.

35. How--It is folly to deny a fact of REVELATION,

because we do not

know the "how." Some measure God's power by their petty

intelligence, and won't admit, even on His assurance, anything which

they cannot explain. Ezekiel's answer of faith to the question is

the truly wise one

(Eze 37:3).

So Jesus argues not on principles of philosophy, but wholly from "the

power of God," as declared by the Word of God

(Mt 19:26;

Mr 10:27; 12:23;

Lu 18:27).

come--The dead are said to depart, or to be deceased: those

rising again to come. The objector could not understand how the

dead are to rise, and with what kind of a body they are to come. Is

it to be the same body? If so, how is this, since the resurrection

bodies will not eat or drink, or beget children, as the natural bodies

do? Besides, the latter have mouldered into dust. How then can they

rise again? If it be a different body, how can the personal identity be

preserved? Paul answers, In one sense it will be the same body, in

another, a distinct body. It will be a body, but a spiritual, not a

natural, body.

36. fool--with all thy boasted philosophy

(Ps 14:1).

that which thou--"thou," emphatical: appeal to the objector's

own experience: "The seed which thou thyself sowest."

Paul, in this verse and in

1Co 15:42,

answers the question of

1Co 15:35,

"How?" and in

1Co 15:37-41, 43,

the question, "With what kind of body?" He converts the very

objection (the death of the natural body) into an argument. Death, so

far from preventing quickening, is the necessary prelude and

prognostication of it, just as the seed "is not quickened" into a new

sprout with increased produce, "except it die" (except a dissolution of

its previous organization takes place). Christ by His death for us has

not given us a reprieve from death as to the life which we have from

Adam; nay, He permits the law to take its course on our fleshly nature;

but He brings from Himself new spiritual and heavenly life out of death

(1Co 15:37).

37. not that body that shall be--a body beautiful and no longer a

"bare grain" [BENGEL]. No longer without stalk or ear, but clothed with

blade and ears, and yielding many grains instead of only one

[GROTIUS].

There is not an identity of all the particles of the old and the new

body. For the perpetual transmutation of matter is inconsistent with

this. But there is a hidden germ which constitutes the identity of body

amidst all outward changes: the outward accretions fall off in its

development, while the germ remains the same. Every such germ ("seed,"

1Co 15:38)

"shall have its own body," and be instantly recognized, just as each

plant now is known from the seed that was sown (see on

1Co 6:13).

So Christ by the same image illustrated the truth that His death was

the necessary prelude of His putting on His glorified body, which is

the ground of the regeneration of the many who believe

(Joh 12:24).

Progress is the law of the spiritual, as of the natural world. Death is

the avenue not to mere revivification or reanimation, but

to resurrection and regeneration

(Mt 19:28;

Php 3:21).

Compare "planted," &c.,

Ro 6:5.

38. as it hath pleased him--at creation, when He gave

to each of the (kinds of) seeds

(so the Greek is for "to every seed") a body of its own

(Ge 1:11,

"after its kind," suited to its species). So God can and will give to

the blessed at the resurrection their own appropriate

body, such as it pleases Him, and such as is suitable to

their glorified state: a body peculiar to the individual, substantially

the same as the body sown.

39-41. Illustrations of the suitability of bodies, however various,

to their species: the flesh of the several species of animals; bodies

celestial and terrestrial; the various kinds of light in the sun, moon,

and stars, respectively.

flesh--animal organism [DE

WETTE]. He implies by the word that our

resurrection bodies shall be in some sense really flesh, not mere

phantoms of air [ESTIUS].

So some of the oldest creeds expressed it, "I

believe in the resurrection of the flesh." Compare as to Jesus' own

resurrection body,

Lu 24:39;

Joh 20:27;

to which ours shall be made like, and therefore shall be

flesh, but not of animal organism

(Php 3:21)

and liable to corruption. But

1Co 15:50

below implies, it is not "flesh and blood" in the animal sense we now

understand them; for these "shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

not the same--not flesh of the same nature and excellency. As the

kinds of flesh, however widely differing from one another, do not cease

to be flesh, so the kinds of bodies, however differing from one another,

are still bodies. All this is to illustrate the difference of the new

celestial body from its terrestrial seed, while retaining a substantial

identity.

beasts--quadrupeds.

another of fishes . . . another of birds--Most of the oldest

manuscripts read thus, "another FLESH

of birds . . . another of

fishes": the order of nature.

40. celestial bodies--not the sun, moon, and stars, which are first

introduced in

1Co 15:41,

but the bodies of angels, as distinguished from the bodies of

earthly creatures.

the glory of the celestial--

(Lu 9:26).

glory of . . .

terrestrial--

(Mt 6:28, 29;

1Pe 1:24).

41. one glory of . . . sun . . . another . . . of . . . moon--The

analogy is not to prove different degrees of glory among the blessed

(whether this may be, or not, indirectly hinted at), but this: As

the various fountains of light, which is so similar in its aspect

and properties, differ (the sun from the moon, and the moon from the

stars; and even one star from another star, though all seem so much

alike); so there is nothing unreasonable in the doctrine that

our present bodies differ from our resurrection bodies, though

still continuing bodies. Compare the same simile, appropriate

especially in the clear Eastern skies

(Da 12:3;

Mt 13:43).

Also that of seed in the same parable

(Mt 13:24;

Ga 6:7, 8).

42. sown--Following up the image of seed. A delightful word

instead of burial.

in corruption--liable to corruption: corruptible: not merely a

prey when dead to corruption; as the contrast shows, "raised in

incorruption," that is, not liable to corruption: incorruptible.

43. in dishonour--answering to "our vile body"

(Php 3:21);

literally, "our body of humiliation": liable to various humiliations of

disease, injury, and decay at last.

in glory--the garment of incorruption

(1Co 15:42, 43)

like His glorious body

(Php 4:21),

which we shall put on

(1Co 15:49, 53;

2Co 5:2-4).

in weakness--liable to infirmities

(2Co 13:4).

in power--answering to a "spiritual body"

(1Co 15:44;

compare

Lu 1:17,

"Spirit and power"). Not liable to the weaknesses of our present frail

bodies

(Isa 33:24;

Re 21:4).

44. a natural body--literally, "an animal body," a body moulded

in its organism of "flesh and blood"

(1Co 15:50)

to suit the animal soul which predominates in it. The Holy Spirit in

the spirit of believers, indeed, is an earnest of a superior state

(Ro 8:11),

but meanwhile in the body the animal soul preponderates;

hereafter the Spirit shall predominate, and the animal soul be duly

subordinate.

spiritual body--a body wholly moulded by the Spirit, and its organism

not conformed to the lower and animal

(Lu 20:35, 36),

but to the higher and spiritual, life (compare

1Co 2:14;

1Th 5:23).

There is, &c.--The oldest manuscripts read,

"IF there is a natural

(or animal-souled) body, there is also a spiritual body." It is

no more wonderful a thing, that there should be a body fitted to the

capacities and want of man's highest part, his spirit (which we see to

be the case), than that there should be one fitted to the capacities and

wants of his subordinate part, the animal soul [ALFORD].

45. so--in accordance with the distinction just mentioned

between the natural or animal-souled body and the

spiritual body.

it is written--

(Ge 2:7);

"Man became (was made to become) a living soul," that is, endowed with

an animal soul, the living principle of his body.

the last Adam--the LAST Head of humanity, who is to be fully manifested

in the last day, which is His day

(Joh 6:39).

He is so called in

Job 19:25;

see on

Job 19:25

(compare

Ro 5:14).

In contrast to "the last," Paul calls "man"

(Ge 2:7)

"the FIRST Adam."

quickening--not only living, but making alive

(Joh 5:21;

6:33, 39, 40, 54, 57, 62, 63;

Ro 8:11).

As the natural or animal-souled body

(1Co 15:44)

is the fruit of our union with the first Adam, an animal-souled

man, so the spiritual body is the fruit of our union with the

second Adam, who is the quickening Spirit

(2Co 3:17).

As He became representative of the whole of humanity in His union of

the two natures, He exhausted in His own person the sentence of death

passed on all men, and giveth spiritual and everlasting life to whom He

will.

46. afterward--Adam had a soul not necessarily mortal, as it

afterwards became by sin, but "a living soul," and destined to

live for ever, if he had eaten of the tree of life

(Ge 3:22);

still his body was but an animal-souled body, not a

spiritual body, such as believers shall have; much less was he a

"life-giving spirit," as Christ. His soul had the germ of the Spirit,

rather than the fulness of it, such as man shall have when restored

"body, soul, and spirit," by the second Adam

(1Th 5:23).

As the first and lower Adam came before the second and heavenly Adam,

so the animal-souled body comes first, and must die before it be

changed into the spiritual body (that is, that in which the Spirit

predominates over the animal soul).

47. of the earth--inasmuch as being sprung from the earth, he is

"earthy"

(Ge 2:7; 3:19,

"dust thou art"); that is, not merely earthly or born upon the

earth, but terrene, or of earth; literally, "of

heaped earth" or clay. "Adam" means red earth.

the Lord--omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions.

from heaven--

(Joh 3:13, 31).

Humanity in Christ is generic. In Him man is impersonated in his true

ideal as God originally designed him. Christ is the representative man,

the federal head of redeemed man.

48. As is the earthy--namely, Adam.

they . . . that are earthy--All Adam's posterity in their natural state

(Joh 3:6, 7).

the heavenly--Christ.

they . . . that are heavenly--His people in their regenerate state

(Php 3:20, 21).

As the former precedes the latter state, so the natural bodies

precede the spiritual bodies.

49. as--Greek, "even as" (see

Ge 5:3).

we shall also bear--or wear as a garment [BENGEL]. The oldest

manuscripts and versions read, "We must also bear," or "let us also

bear." It implies the divine appointment (compare "must,"

1Co 15:53)

and faith assenting to it. An exhortation, and yet implying a promise

(so

Ro 8:29).

The conformity to the image of the heavenly Representative man is to be

begun here in our souls, in part, and shall be perfected at the

resurrection in both bodies and souls.

50. (See on

1Co 15:37;

1Co 15:39).

"Flesh and blood" of the same animal and corruptible nature as our

present

(1Co 15:44)

animal-souled bodies, cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Therefore the believer acquiesces gladly in the unrepealed sentence of

the holy law, which appoints the death of the present body as the

necessary preliminary to the resurrection body of glory. Hence he "dies

daily" to the flesh and to the world, as the necessary condition to his

regeneration here and hereafter

(Joh 3:6;

Ga 2:20).

As the being born of the flesh constitutes a child of Adam, so

the being born of the Spirit constitutes a child of God.

cannot--Not merely is the change of body possible, but it is

necessary. The spirit extracted from the dregs of wine does not so

much differ from them, as the glorified man does from the mortal man

[BENGEL] of mere animal flesh and blood

(Ga 1:16).

The resurrection body will be still a body though spiritual, and

substantially retaining the personal identity; as is proved by

Lu 24:39;

Joh 20:27,

compared with

Php 3:21.

the kingdom of God--which is not at all merely animal, but altogether

spiritual. Corruption doth not inherit, though it is the way to,

incorruption

(1Co 15:36, 52, 53).

51. Behold--Calling attention to the "mystery" heretofore hidden in

God's purposes, but now revealed.

you--emphatical in the Greek; I show (Greek,

"tell," namely, by the word of the Lord,

1Th 4:15)

YOU, who think you have so much knowledge, "a

mystery" (compare

Ro 11:25)

which your reason could never have discovered. Many of the old

manuscripts and Fathers read, "We shall all sleep, but we shall not all

be changed"; but this is plainly a corrupt reading, inconsistent with

1Th 4:15, 17,

and with the apostle's argument here, which is that a change is

necessary

(1Co 15:53).

English Version is supported by some of the oldest manuscripts

and Fathers. The Greek is literally "We all shall not sleep,

but," &c. The putting off of the corruptible body for an incorruptible

stand as equivalent to death, appointed to all men

(Heb 9:27);

of this Enoch and Elijah are types and forerunners. The "we" implies

that Christians in that age and every successive age since and

hereafter were designed to stand waiting, as if Christ might come again

in their time, and as if they might be found among "the quick."

52. the last trump--at the sounding of the trumpet on the last day

[VATABLUS]

(Mt 24:31; 1Th 4:16).

Or the Spirit by Paul hints that the other trumpets mentioned

subsequently in the Apocalypse shall precede, and that this shall be

the last of all (compare

Isa 27:13;

Zec 9:14).

As the law was given with the sound of a trumpet, so the final judgment

according to it

(Heb 12:19;

compare

Ex 19:16).

As the Lord ascended "with the sound of a trumpet"

(Ps 47:5),

so He shall descend

(Re 11:15).

The trumpet was sounded to convoke the people on solemn feasts,

especially on the first day of the seventh month (the type of the

completion of time; seven being the number for

perfection; on the tenth of the same month was the atonement,

and on the fifteenth the feast of tabernacles, commemorative of

completed salvation out of the spiritual Egypt, compare

Zec 14:18, 19);

compare

Ps 50:1-7.

Compare His calling forth of Lazarus from the grave "with a loud

voice,"

Joh 11:43,

with Joh 5:25, 28.

and--immediately, in consequence.

53. this--pointing to his own body and that of those whom he

addresses.

put on--as a garment

(2Co 5:2, 3).

immortality--Here only, besides

1Ti 6:16,

the word "immortality" is found. Nowhere is the immortality of the

soul, distinct from the body, taught; a notion which many

erroneously have derived from heathen philosophers. Scripture does not

contemplate the anomalous state brought about by death, as the

consummation to be earnestly looked for

(2Co 5:4),

but the resurrection.

54. then--not before. Death has as yet a sting even to the

believer, in that his body is to be under its power till the

resurrection. But then the sting and power of death shall cease for

ever.

Death is swallowed up in victory--In Hebrew of

Isa 25:8,

from which it is quoted, "He (Jehovah) will swallow up

death in victory"; that is, for ever: as "in victory" often

means in Hebrew idiom

(Jer 3:5;

La 5:20).

Christ will swallow it up so altogether victoriously that it

shall never more regain its power (compare

Ho 6:2; 13:14;

2Co 5:4;

Heb 2:14, 15;

Re 20:14; 21:4).

55. Quoted from

Ho 13:14,

substantially; but freely used by the warrant of the Spirit by which

Paul wrote. The Hebrew may be translated, "O death, where are

thy plagues? Where, O Hades, is thy destruction?" The

Septuagint, "Where is thy victory (literally, in a

lawsuit), O death? Where is thy sting, O Hades? . . .

Sting" answers to the Hebrew "plagues," namely, a poisoned

sting causing plagues. Appropriate, as to the old serpent

(Ge 3:14, 15;

Nu 21:6).

"Victory" answers to the Hebrew "destruction." Compare

Isa 25:7,

"destroy . . . veil . . . over all nations,"

namely, victoriously destroy it; and to "in victory"

(1Co 15:54),

which he triumphantly repeats. The "where" implies their past

victorious destroying power and sting, now gone for ever; obtained

through Satan's triumph over man in Eden, which enlisted God's law on

the side of Satan and death against man

(Ro 5:12, 17, 21).

The souls in Hades being freed by the resurrection, death's sting and

victory are gone. For "O grave," the oldest manuscripts and versions

read, "O death," the second time.

56. If there were no sin, there would be no death. Man's transgression

of the law gives death its lawful power.

strength of sin is the law--Without the law sin is not perceived

or imputed

(Ro 3:20; 4:15; 5:13).

The law makes sin the more grievous by making God's will the clearer

(Ro 7:8-10).

Christ's people are no longer "under the law"

(Ro 6:14).

57. to God--The victory was in no way due to ourselves

(Ps 98:1).

giveth--a present certainty.

the victory--which death and Hades ("the grave") had aimed at, but

which, notwithstanding the opposition of them, as well as of the law and

sin, we have gained. The repetition of the word

(1Co 15:54, 55)

is appropriate to the triumph gained.

58. beloved--Sound doctrine kindles Christian love.

steadfast--not turning aside from the faith of the resurrection

of yourselves.

unmovable--not turned aside by others

(1Co 15:12;

Col 1:23).

the work of the Lord--the promotion of Christ's kingdom

(Php 2:30).

not in vain--as the deniers of the resurrection would make it

(1Co 15:14, 17).

in the Lord--applying to the whole sentence and its several clauses:

Ye, as being in the Lord by faith, know that your labor in the Lord

(that is, labor according to His will) is not to be without its reward

in the Lord (through His merits and according to His gracious

appointment).