Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does 1st Corinthians Chapter 15 mean?

Will Christians really be raised from the dead as Christ was after the crucifixion? Some of the Corinthians did not think so. A group of them either believed false teaching or blended Christian ideas with the Greco-Roman philosophies of their day. Perhaps they imagined life completely ends in death. More likely, they thought the human spirit continues into the afterlife without a body of any kind.

Paul writes this chapter to correct their thinking, teaching about what resurrection from the dead means for born-again believers.

He begins by reminding the Corinthian Christians of what they believed when he taught them the gospel of Jesus. They believed in both the death of Christ for their sins and the physical resurrection of Christ from the dead on the third day. In short, they believed the gospel. Since so many eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection were still living, the Corinthians could choose to remain confident that Christ did indeed walk alive out of His tomb (1 Corinthians 15:1–11).

Having established that the Corinthians do believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Paul challenges their unbelief in the coming resurrection of all who trust in Christ. He begins to show why this is so significant by working out the logical implications of believing there is no resurrection from the dead. It starts with this: If nobody is resurrected from the dead, then Christ was not resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:12–13).

That would mean that Paul’s preaching of the gospel was false and worthless, as was the faith of anyone foolish enough to believe it. In fact, Paul and the other apostles would be guilty of misrepresenting God the Father by claiming that He raised Christ from the dead. Even worse, if the gospel is false, all who have believed in Christ for their forgiveness of their sins by God remain unforgiven and destined for hell. In fact, those who have already died are already separated from God forever (1 Corinthians 15:14–18).

Truly Christians are to be pitied more than anyone if our hope in Christ ends in death. Especially given all the hardships endured for the sake of faith, a resurrection-less end would be a disaster (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Thankfully, Paul declares once more that Christ has been raised from the dead. Further, He was but the first of all who will follow Him. Just as death came to all people through one man, Adam, resurrection will come to all in Christ when He returns for all those who belong to Him. At that time, Christ will defeat every power on earth and the Father will cause everything to be under His authority. Once that is secure, Jesus will deliver the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:20–28).

After declaring that he would not continue to lead the dangerous and costly life of an apostle of Jesus if there was not resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:29–34), Paul begins to describe what the resurrected body will be like. Shallow thinking, or superstitions of that era, might have assumed “resurrection” meant a reanimated corpse. Or, they might have wondered how a rotting or corrupted body could exist in a heavenly realm. Instead, Paul described our current bodies as the seed that will die to make way for a far better body built to exist in eternity. That body will be as different from our current bodies as a man is from a star or the moon (1 Corinthians 15:35–41).

The natural-born physical bodies of believers are perishable, temporary, dishonorable, and weak. They will be raised imperishable, eternal, glorified, and powerful. These natural bodies, made as Adam’s was from the stuff of earth (Genesis 2:7), will be transformed into bodies like the one Christ was raised with and made of the stuff of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:42–49).

Though it is hard to comprehend, when Christ returns, both the dead in Christ and those who still live will be transformed in an instant into these new and glorified heavenly bodies that will never die. Death will be swallowed up in victory, never to hurt anyone again (1 Corinthians 15:50–58).

This concludes the main doctrinal content of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. What follows in chapter 16 is mostly tying up loose ends, addressing scattered issues, and giving his closing remarks.

Chapter Context
In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians’ thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

Will Christians really be raised from the dead as Christ was? It seems that central Christian truth was being challenged or misunderstood on some level among the believers in Corinth. Paul seems to have saved addressing this for the end of the letter in order to give his response as much weight as possible.

He begins by setting out to remind the Christians in Corinth of what exactly they believed when he preached the gospel to them. They received the gospel: the message of God’s grace and forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ.

Paul writes that they still stand in their belief in that gospel. By this, he means that their position as God’s children remains because of their faith in Christ and by God’s grace. Nothing else they have said or done since then has become the reason for God’s approval of them in Christ.

Paul will show in the following verses that their belief in the gospel included belief in both the death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Context Summary
First Corinthians 15:1–11 describes the gospel as it was delivered to Paul and as he delivered it to the Corinthians. It begins with the death of Christ on the cross for our sins, but it continues to His burial and, significantly, His resurrection. The alive-again Christ appeared to many people still alive at the time Paul wrote his letter. Paul establishes that the Corinthians believed the gospel, including faith in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Paul will connect that faith to belief in the resurrection of all believers from the dead.

Verse 2. and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

Paul has set out to clear up some misunderstanding among the Christians in Corinth about resurrection. He began in the previous verse by asking them to remember the gospel as he first preached it to them when establishing the church in Corinth.

Paul will insist that the content of the gospel, and their belief in all of it, is the foundation for everything that is true. He has reminded them that they received the gospel as it was presented to them; they continue to have a right standing before God because of their faith in the truth of the gospel.

Now Paul adds that they are in the process of being saved by the gospel right now. When Paul and other New Testament writers talk about salvation, they often use the past, present, and future tenses. Those in Christ have been saved, in the sense that our sins are forgiven and our place in eternity is secure. We are being saved; God is active right now in sanctifying us to be like Christ. We will be saved when the moment comes for us to stand before God in eternity, and we’re freed from all sin.

There’s a problem, however. Paul describes those who have received the gospel as “being saved” if they hold firmly to the truth as he preached it to them. The word “if” is easily interpreted as “since,” because this statement is tied to them holding fast to the word preached to them. But the Corinthians have believed the gospel in vain if they did not and are not believing the gospel as he preached it to them. In other words, if anyone is believing a false version of the gospel of Jesus, that person should not think that they have any standing before God.

The part of the gospel Paul will emphasize in this chapter is faith in Christ’s resurrection, as well as His death. Both must be believed to hold to the gospel as Paul preached it to them.

Verse 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

As Paul begins to confront some confusion or false teaching about the resurrection from the dead, he has emphasized to the Corinthians that their eternal future stands or falls based on their belief in the entire gospel truth. That includes the truth of both Christ’s death on the cross for our sin and His resurrection from the dead by God’s power.

Now Paul begins to spell out specifically what the gospel message about Jesus Christ really is. Paul insists that he presented it to the Corinthians exactly as it had been presented to him by Christ. In passages such as Galatians 1:12, Paul indicates that this reception was literal: he received this information directly from Jesus.

The first truth of the gospel message is this: Christ died for our sins. That is, the sinless Son of God was sacrificed on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins that we committed. He did so exactly as the Old Testament Scriptures predicted that He would. Famous passages explaining this include Psalm 53 and Psalm 22.

Verse 4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Paul has made clear to the Corinthians that faith in the gospel is essential for their salvation. If they don’t hold firmly to faith in the entire gospel message, they will have believed what he taught them in vain. The “good news” of salvation through Christ is not a pick-and-choose message. Each of the components is critical.

He is now spelling out exactly what is contained in the gospel as he presented it to them. First, Christ died on the cross to pay for the penalty of our sins, just as the Old Testament Scriptures predicted. Now he hurries on to show that is not the end of the gospel message. It continues: Christ was buried and was raised back to life on the third day, which is also what the Scriptures predicted (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:8–10).

In short, the resurrection is as much a part of the gospel they believed as the crucifixion is. Believing one without the other is a meaningless faith; it accomplishes nothing.

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

Paul is reminding the Christians in Corinth of what they believed when they became Christians. He is reminding them of the content of the gospel in order to show that it involves faith both in Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Apparently, the truthfulness of the resurrection, or at least the resurrection of Christians, was being challenged or misunderstood by some in Corinth. Paul wants them to understand not only that the resurrection really took place, but that faith in that truth is essential in order to be saved.

Now Paul begins to do two things. First, he wants to establish that he’s far from the only apostle to teach that Jesus walked out of his tomb physically alive in a physical body. This same truth is taught by all the apostles, because they all saw Christ in person after He died.

Second, Paul wants to remind them of the historical reality of the resurrection. These first-century Christians did not need to clear too high of a hurdle to believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Eyewitnesses still existed. They saw Jesus die, and they saw Him alive again, because Jesus revealed Himself to them.

First, Jesus showed Himself to Cephas—the original Aramaic name for Peter—and the rest of His inner circle of disciples. He didn’t stop there, though.

Verse 6. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Apparently, some misunderstanding about the truthfulness of Christ’s real, physical resurrection from the dead had crept into the Corinthian church, or at least confusion about the resurrection of the believers. Paul has insisted that in order to be saved, a person must believe the entire gospel, including Christ’s death for our sin and resurrection from death by the power of God.

Now Paul has begun to make the case that belief in Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead should be achievable by those in the first-century church. They had the advantage of speaking directly to some who had seen Christ alive after His burial!

In the previous verse, Paul reminded them that Jesus appeared to Peter and the other disciples (1 Corinthians 15:5) before appearing to more than 500 others. Most of the people who saw Jesus alive after He was confirmed dead (John 19:34–35) were eyewitness to the truth that Jesus lives, though some of those witnesses had died already—”fallen asleep”—at the time Paul wrote this.

Verse 7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

To believe in the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead has never required blind—”evidence-free”—faith. When Paul wrote these words in the first century, evidence of Christ’s resurrection was even easier to encounter. Yes, it is necessary to believe in the resurrection of Jesus in order to believe the entire gospel and be saved. The difference between now and then was that those who really wanted to know about the resurrection could interview those who saw Jesus alive again with their own eyes. The people of the early Christian church had access to those who walked and talked with Jesus both before and after His death on the cross.

Paul is building a list of who that includes. He has added Peter, the other disciples, another 500 people, most of whom were still living. He then includes James, Jesus’ half-brother, and the rest of the apostles. Since Paul already mentioned the 12 disciples, later known as apostles, the “apostles” he references here must have described another group of leaders in the early church.

That’s a lot of people who saw Jesus alive after He was dead and buried.

Verse 8. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Paul is emphasizing to the Corinthians that to believe the gospel means believing in both the death and resurrection of Christ. This requires faith, yes, but Paul is making the point that the faith of the Corinthians is not a blind faith. After Jesus died, Paul has written, He was seen alive again by Cephas—the apostle Peter, whom the Corinthians knew. He was seen by the twelve disciples trained and sent out by Jesus, and more than 500 eyewitnesses at one time. Jesus also appeared to His half-brother James and even more eyewitnesses. Most of those were still alive at the time this letter was written, meaning that they continued to be available to describe it.

Finally, Paul now writes, Christ appeared to him. Paul describes himself as someone who was “untimely” or “abnormally” born. He is likely referring to being born again, coming into relationship with Christ, after all these others had come to know Him during Jesus’ time on earth. Paul only came to faith in Christ after Jesus had already ascended back to heaven, when the Lord appeared to Him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3–6; 22:6–11). In that way, Paul is a prototype of the modern believer: one who learns of Christ through the resurrection, looking back, as opposed to the other apostles, who learned of Christ before the resurrection.

Paul includes himself among the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ post-death life, meaning that it really was the Lord “in the flesh” who confronted Paul’s unbelief in Christ’s deity and the resurrection.

Verse 9. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Paul is not expressing self-pity or even self-hatred in this verse. He has described himself among the other apostles as one “untimely” or “abnormally” born. Unlike the men who were selected and trained by Jesus during the Lord’s time on earth, Paul was confronted and converted by Christ after Jesus has already returned to heaven (Acts 9:3–6; 22:6–11).

It’s not because of Paul’s lateness to faith in Christ, though, that he describes himself as unworthy of the title “apostle.” It’s because he actively opposed Christ and those who followed him. As a high-ranking Jewish Pharisee, Paul applied all his energy and strategy to wiping out Christianity in its earliest form. To accomplish this, he hurt, imprisoned, and even killed Jewish people who had converted to faith in Christ. Here’s how he described this season of his life in Acts 22:4, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women.”

Paul acknowledges that, in human terms, such actions should have disqualified him from ever representing Christ as an apostle. That’s not how God works, though, as Paul shows in the following verses.

Verse 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

In the previous verse, Paul described himself as unworthy of the title “apostle” of Jesus Christ. After all, he oversaw the imprisonment and death of Christians in his eager attempts to wipe out faith in Christ after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and return to heaven. Why would God ever choose Paul to represent Christ to the world?

Paul takes no credit for the turnaround. Christ confronted him on his way to persecute more Christians and converted Paul to faith in Christ, commissioning him to take the gospel to the world, especially to Gentiles (Acts 9:3–6; 22:6–11). Clearly, Christ did not do this because Paul had earned it or proven himself worthy. Paul had proven himself opposed to Christ and all who followed Him.

Paul declares now that it is only by God’s grace that he became what he was: Christ’s messenger. Grace is the gift of a good thing that is unearned. Paul did not reform himself and start over. He was transformed and sent out.

God’s grace was not wasted on Paul, he adds. He is not bragging when he says that he responded to God’s grace through faith in Christ by giving himself heart, soul, mind, and body to the mission he received. He insists that he worked harder than any of the other apostles who came to their position in a more natural way, quickly adding that he does not take credit even for his focus and work ethic. His ability to do that also came from God’s grace.

Verse 11. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul began this section in verse 3 by describing the gospel as he preached it to his readers in Corinth and as he received it from Christ (Galatians 1:12). Faith in Christ’s physical resurrection from the grave after His real and physical death is as central to the gospel as faith in Christ’s death on the cross to cover sin.

Paul made a list of all those who had seen Christ alive after death, naming himself last, and then sidetracking into a short description of himself as one who did not deserve to be an apostle. By God’s grace, though, he had vigorously carried out that mission.

Now he returns to the Corinthians and their faith in the gospel. The Christians in Corinth did hear it preached by Paul and other apostles and teachers. They believed it, too, exactly as it was presented to them. They believed that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for their sin on the cross, and that he was raised from the dead to live in a physical body.

Paul is emphasizing the fact that they believed in Christ’s resurrection because some in the church were teaching that there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians. Paul begins to tackle that head on in the following verses.

Verse 12. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

After establishing that the Christians in Corinth did believe that Jesus was physically raised from the dead, Paul now directly addresses his point in this section. Some people in the church were saying that Christians will not be raised from the dead—at least in bodily form—in the end times.

It’s not clear exactly what these critics believed happens to Christians after death. Perhaps they believed that all the benefits of faith in Christ were experienced in this life and then the soul simply ceased to exist. Many in the Greco-Roman era believed that death was the end with no afterlife to follow. Others believed the death of the body released a person to a purely spiritual existence, in an afterlife marked by freedom from all the limitations of the physical.

It’s unclear if the Corinthians had been influenced by false teaching or were naively blending Christian truth with cultural perspectives. In either case, Paul will correct their thinking in the following verses.

He begins by making what he thinks they should see as an obvious connection: If Christ was raised from the dead, as they had been taught and had believed, then how can anyone suggest that Christ’s followers could not also be raised from the dead? Paul will use careful logic to show them the problem with this idea.

Context Summary
First Corinthians 15:12–34 describes all the implications for Christians if there is no resurrection, at all. Most importantly, that would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ was not raised, then Paul’s preaching of the gospel was false, and the faith of those who believed it was worthless. All remain in their sins. Christ, though, was raised from the dead, and when He returns for those who are His, all who have died in Christ will be resurrected to new life, as He was after the crucifixion. Finally, Christ will reign on earth before delivering the kingdom to the Father.

Verse 13. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

Some of the Christians in Corinth were saying there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians. They believed either that existence merely ends at death, even for believers, or that the spirit goes on into a non-physical eternity. In other words, they saw all the benefits of life in Christ as taking place either in this life alone or in a purely spiritual sense after this life is over.

Paul will emphatically reject these ideas and insist that every believer will be physically resurrected in bodily form, beginning with his argument in this verse. If nobody is resurrected from the dead, at all, then Christ was not raised from the dead either. It’s possible that this group of Christians saw Christ’s resurrection as a special circumstance, not the common reality of those who believe. Paul insists that both Christ’s resurrection and common Christian resurrection must either be true or both must be false.

Verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

Paul is building a series of logical connections to make clear the implications of believing there is no bodily, physical resurrection from the dead for Christians. He wrote in the previous verse that if Christians can never, one day, be raised from the dead, then Christ could not have been raised from the dead, either. Paul does not allow for any possibility that Christ was raised back to physical life and those in Christ will not be. Either both resurrections are true or neither is.

Earlier in this chapter, Paul carefully laid the groundwork for his next point. He showed both that he and the other apostles taught that Christ was, indeed, raised from the dead. In fact, they saw Him alive after he was dead. He also showed that faith in Christ’s resurrection is as essential to the gospels as faith in Christ’s crucifixion (1 Peter 1:21). Both must be believed for someone to be saved.

But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ was not raised, Paul began. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then the gospel message itself is false. Paul says that, in that case, his own teaching would have been vain or worthless. In fact, it would have been false, a lie. That being so, the Corinthians would have placed their faith in a falsehood, believed a lie, making their faith worthless.

This verse marks a unique aspect of the Christian faith. Followers of Jesus ground their belief in real-world events, with objective measures of truth. “Blind faith” is a ridiculous charge to throw at a belief system rooted in eyewitness accounts, and one which makes statements such as the one found in these verses.

Verse 15. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

Paul’s chain of logic is leading to devastating conclusions. If there is no physical, bodily resurrection from the dead for Christians, then, logically, Christ himself was not raised from the dead. Since, as Paul already established, faith in Christ’s resurrection is an essential part of the gospel message, then his preaching of the gospel was worthless. In the same way, the faith of the Corinthians in the gospel was also worthless.

Now it gets worse. Paul’s point here is not merely theoretical; it’s practical. If Christ was not raised from the dead, Paul and the other apostles are liars. Not just liars, but they have been lying about God Himself, the worst possible kind of lie. After all, they had preached that God raised Christ from the dead. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then God did not do that, and everyone who has told them so is guilty of a kind of blasphemy.

In this way, Paul’s letter proves that the Christian ideal is not “blind faith,” or a purely philosophy-based worldview. The gospel is innately tied to real-world events, and the truths of history.

Verse 16. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

This restates the first implication of the idea that Christians will not be resurrected from the dead, even in the end times: If the dead are not raised, then Christ was never raised from the dead. Paul does not allow for the possibility that Christ’s resurrection was somehow special and different from the resurrection of those who would believe in Him. Either both resurrections are valid, or neither is.

Paul has already followed that idea to its logical conclusion in one direction—without a resurrected Christ, the gospel is false and all who teach it are lying and all who believe it are deceived. In the following verses, he will explore the implications of worthless faith in a worthless, resurrection-free gospel.

This also reiterates the idea that Christianity is not, and has never been, a blind faith with no connection to either evidence or reason. Scripture itself ties the truth of the gospel to an objective historical claim—something few, if any, other religious faiths would dare attempt.

Verse 17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

This passage counters a misguided idea among some of the Christians in Corinth: that Christians will not be physically, bodily resurrected from the dead. Paul has followed the idea to its logical conclusions, an approach that would likely have been appreciated in the Greek culture that valued clear thinking, speaking, and logic.

If nobody is physically resurrected from the dead, Paul has written, that would mean Christ Himself was not raised from the dead. Since Christ’s resurrection is essential to the gospel—the message that we can be forgiven for sin by God’s grace and through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection—then the faith the Corinthians had placed in Christ would clearly be futile, useless, pointless. The gospel is either true, or it is not—and the resurrection of Christ is a foundational part of the “good news.” Unique among religious ideas, Christianity ties all its truth to a single, real-world event; “blind faith” or self-deception have never been compatible with the biblical ideal.

Far worse, if Christ is not raised, all those who have trusted in Christ would still be in their sins. That is, their sins would remain unforgiven by God, since they believed in a Savior who was no Savior at all. Without forgiveness of their sins, they would remain separated from God with no hope of salvation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Paul follows the implications of that in the verses to follow.

Verse 18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Paul is following the logic to show the consequences for the Christian faith if there is no resurrection from the dead, meaning that Christ Himself was not raised from the dead. Paul has shown that if Christ was not raised, the gospel is false. If the gospel is false, then there is no forgiveness for sin by God’s grace and through faith in a non-resurrected Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). The Christian faith is not one of blind, reason-free gullibility. Rather, it’s based on a claim of truth, inseparable from the resurrection of Jesus.

Of course, it’s logically possible that Christianity could be false, and yet God still be real. So, as Paul notes, debunking the resurrection would not change the reality that sin separates humanity from God (Romans 3:23; 6:23). All those who die with their sin unforgiven by God will be separated from Him for eternity. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then all those who have already died were not saved, after all. Perhaps the Corinthians could think of many specific people they all knew from the Christian community who had died. The idea that all those people remained in their sin and separated from God would have been as much of a blow to them as it is for us to imagine.

Paul will add one more terrible consequence for those who trust in a non-resurrected Christ in the following verse before turning back to show what the reality of the resurrection means for those who believe in what is true.

Verse 19. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

What would be the point of a version of Christianity in which Christ was never raised from the dead? People who do not believe in resurrection from the dead must confront this essential question. The picture is bleak. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then the gospel is false and those who teach it are liars. Those who believe it have wasted their time and are still unforgiven by God for their sin and bound for hell. Those who have already died suffer in that eternal death already.

Perhaps this group of misled Corinthians believed in annihilation of both body and spirit at death, as many in the culture believed. If so, they would have viewed the benefits of faith in Christ to be limited only to this life before absolute death. Paul begins here to reject that any such experience would be worthwhile. If our hope in Christ is a hope that ends with our physical death in this life, what a waste of time!

This lament is especially poignant for people like Paul, who suffered extreme persecution for their faith. If Jesus Christ was not literally raised from the dead, then the physical and emotional abuse Paul suffered was truly pointless (2 Corinthians 11:24–28). Here, again, reason and logic shine through in Christianity: if there is no life to come, it makes sense to view people who believe in it with pity. Some today do exactly that. Paul says they are right to do so—if Christ and those who follow Him are not resurrected to new life.

Of course, this is not the end of Paul’s logical process. The same logic that makes Christians “pitiable” for their faith and suffering, if Christ is not raised, makes their experiences meaningful and worthwhile if Christ is risen. Thankfully, He is risen, indeed (Matthew 28:6)!

Verse 20. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

In verses 13–19, Paul followed a premise to its logical conclusions: What if there is no resurrection from the dead? That’s what some among the Corinthians were saying. Paul showed that if such a thing were true, it would mean Christ was not raised from the dead. And if Christ was not raised, the gospel is false, the apostles are liars, and believers in Jesus are still unforgiven for their sin and separated from God. The persecution endured by believers is pointless, and our suffering is meaningless (2 Corinthians 11:24–28).

Thankfully, the logic of this situation does not stop there. Christianity is tied, entirely, to the resurrection of Christ. If there are dire consequences for it being false, it stands to reason there are profound reasons to celebrate if it is true.

Here, Paul throws all the “what if” conclusions aside in a grand declaration of what is indeed true: Christ has been raised from the dead (Matthew 28:6)! Even better for those who believe in Him, Christ was not the last to be raised from the dead. Instead, Paul describes Him as the “firstfruits” of those who have died—those who have “fallen asleep”.

The firstfruits were the first of the season’s crops given by faithful Jewish people to God. Paul’s use of the term here means that Jesus was the first of the crop of “the dead” to be resurrected. His was the prototype for what lies in store for believers in the future (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 John 3:2). In other words, that harvest has only just begun. As God raised Jesus back to life, He will collect all those who trust in Christ to life, as well, when the time comes.

Verse 21. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

Christ, raised from the dead by God after His crucifixion, was the “firstfruits” of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20). That is, He was the first, not the last, of all those who have died and will walk alive again in a physical body. But why is this true? Why does Christ’s resurrection mean that those who are in Christ will also be resurrected?

Paul begins in this verse to make a connection between Christ and the first man, Adam. He does something similar in Romans 5:12–21, to show how sin passed to all people through the sin of Adam. In this and the following verse, though, Paul uses the example of Adam to show something different. Adam introduced death into the world when he sinned. His death, as the result of his sin, became the pattern for all people. Christ’s resurrection, in a similar way, set the pattern for all who are forgiven for their sin through faith in Him. This makes Him the prototype, or the pioneer, of salvation for those who believe (Hebrews 2:10–11).

Verse 22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

In describing the implications if there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians, Paul said it would mean Christ had not been raised, either. He did not allow for any possibility that Christ could have been resurrected by God as a one-time, special event.

Now he is showing why that is so by a comparison with the first man, Adam. Adam’s sin introduced death into the world. His death became the pattern for all who would follow, because all are born into Adam’s sin. Because Adam died, all die. In a similar way, Christ’s resurrection from death became the inevitable pattern for all who are forgiven for their sin through faith in Him. Because He was resurrected in His bodily, physical form, all who are in Christ will also be physically resurrected from the grave when the time is right. Paul shows when that time will be in the following verse.

Verse 23. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Paul is correcting a mistaken idea among some of the Corinthians that Christians will never be resurrected in bodily form. They apparently believed as taught by the culture around them: that either death is the end of a person completely or that only the spirit goes on into some vague afterlife. Paul is showing that, instead, Christians will be resurrected to full, physical life just as Christ was after His crucifixion.

Now Paul describes the order in which this will take place, starting with “Christ the firstfruits.” Paul refers to Jesus this way since He was the first of the harvest of those who have died to be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:20). Sometime later, all those who belong to Christ will be resurrected at His coming or return to the earth (1 John 3:2). Jesus promised to return for His people in John 14:2–3. Paul shows that the fulfillment of that promise will include the physical resurrection from the dead of all who belong to Him (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Verse 24. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

This passage briefly puts the timing of the resurrection of all believers in Jesus into the context of the end times. He has written that at Christ’s coming or return to earth, all who belong to Christ will be physically resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Scripture adds that after this event, sometimes described as the “resurrection of the church,” comes “the end.” Christ will take possession of and hand over the Kingdom of God to the Father, but only after destroying—or “dethroning”—every ruler, authority, and power. This may describe either earthly rulers or spiritual powers or both. Whatever has authority in the heavens or on earth will be displaced by Christ as He takes authority over all things. Paul does not go any deeper into the details of the end times, but what he suggests is a battle or war for control over the earth that Christ will ultimately win for the sake of God the Father.

All of this will take place after His followers have been resurrected from the dead, as Christ was.

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

Paul is sketching out, with very little detail, the events that will be set in motion during what Christians often call the “end times.” First, when Christ returns, all who belong to Him will be physically resurrected from the dead, which is Paul’s larger point in this passage.

Paul has added though that, after that incredible moment, Jesus will dethrone every rulership, power, and authority on earth to take full control of the world as His own kingdom, which He will immediately hand over to the Father. Now Paul emphasizes that Jesus will not hand it over to the Father until He has “put all of his enemies under his feet” or defeated them absolutely and irrevocably. Until that moment, Christ Himself will reign.

The separate roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity are difficult to comprehend. All are one as God, and yet they maintain separate enough identities that Christ the Son will reign until He delivers what He has conquered to the Father.

Verse 26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

In describing the events of the end times, Paul has written that after Christ returns to earth and all those who belong to Him are resurrected, He will set about defeating every rule, power, and authority until every enemy is defeated. Only then will He turn the conquered kingdom over to the Father.

The final enemy Christ will defeat is death itself. In a sense, Christ’s defeat of death began with His own resurrection from the grave. It will continue with the resurrection of all who have believed in Him. It will be final when death is no more (Revelation 21:1–5). At that moment, the victory over death and sin will be complete, and those who have believed in Christ will be free from it for all eternity (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:51).

Verse 27. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

Paul follows his common pattern of quoting from the Scriptures to support his teaching. In this case, he seems to quote from Psalm 8:6. Much of Paul’s writing explains how Jesus’ work was planned and foretold by God (1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Romans 16:26; Galatians 3:8). In this case, his point is that God’s plan has always been to put all things under the authority of Jesus’ feet. This means everything, one day, will be fully submissive to Christ.

Paul has been walking through a series of logical steps. This would have been much appreciated by the people of Corinth, living in a Greco-Roman culture that prized such reasoning. To set aside an obvious criticism, he adds a note to make it clear that “all things” does not include God the Father Himself. Obviously, that’s not part of what Paul means by these statements: “it is plain.” Instead, it is the Father’s power that will enable Christ to gain the victory, followed by Christ’s giving to the Father the glory of the conquered kingdom.

Verse 28. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

This section sketches out an order of events that will unfold when Christ returns. It begins with the point of the passage: that all who belong to Christ will be resurrected, bodily, when Christ returns. Next, Christ will defeat every power or authority of any kind until He rules every corner of the world. God the Father’s authority will make it possible for Christ to rule in this way, even defeating death itself. Christ will reign over the entire kingdom until, when all is conquered, He will deliver it to the Father. Then Christ will be under the authority of the Father who made it possible for Christ to be in authority over everything else (1 Corinthians 15:22–27).

The final goal of this, and the purpose of all of history and the lives of all who are in Christ and of Christ Himself, is that God will be “all in all.” In other words, God’s glory will reign supreme over the entire universe.

Verse 29. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

Having concluded an aside about the order and purpose of the end times, Paul now returns to making his initial point. The case he is proving is that Christians will be physically resurrected in the end times, just as Christ was resurrected physically after the crucifixion.

This verse has been interpreted in varying ways by different scholars. The best reading seems to be that Paul is describing the practice of people who do not agree with regular Christian teaching. In that interpretation, his point is to show a disconnect in their thinking: “Why do some people get baptized on behalf of the dead if the dead will never be resurrected?” Apparently, these people believed both that the dead would only ever remain in spirit form and that being baptized on their behalf would help them somehow.

Crucial to interpreting this verse is that Paul is posing this group as an “other:” those who don’t follow his teaching, reasoning, or instruction. He uses the Greek term literally meaning “those who” baptize for the dead, rather than his usual terms of “us,” or “we.” Nothing in any of Paul’s writings, or elsewhere in the Bible, suggests there is value in being baptized on behalf of another person, living or dead. The New Testament is clear that individuals are responsible to God for their own sin and their own personal faith in Christ for the forgiveness of that sin.

Verse 30. Why are we in danger every hour?

Paul is asking a series of questions to further make the case that Christians will be resurrected from the dead when the time is right. He asked what seems to be a rhetorical question in the previous verse, about a group that practiced baptism for the dead. This is not a Christian practice, so Paul asked what the point of that was for them if they did not also believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Now he asks why he and his fellow preachers of the gospel of Jesus live in constant danger if there is no resurrection from the dead. What danger? Paul will mention some of it in the following verses, but he was regularly and continually persecuted both by the religious Jews and the Romans. He asks why he would continue to do this if the gospel was false (1 Corinthians 15:14–19) or if he would not one day be resurrected as Christ was. What was all his sacrifice for if life ends, once and for all, at death (2 Corinthians 11:24–28)?

Verse 31. I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

The mission to take the gospel to those who have never heard sometimes results in a dangerous and costly life. The apostles were especially persecuted and troubled. Paul knew this better than most (2 Corinthians 11:24–28). He has been constantly under threat from Jewish religious leaders and Roman government officials, in addition to continuing the often under-funded work of a traveling evangelist and missionary.

Paul tells the Corinthians in this verse that he boasts about their coming to Christ as one of the success stories of his ministry. All of that would be worthless, he implies, if there was no resurrection from the dead. There would be no point to his dying “every day,” likely meaning that he faced the real possibility of death constantly for the sake of Christ.

The point Paul makes here is one of his own sincerity. Would he continue to do any of this if Christ had not been resurrected and if none of those who follow Christ would be, either?

Verse 32. What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Paul continues to make his case to the group in Corinth saying that there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians. He has shown that everything he has taught from the gospel becomes pointless if Christ was not raised and if those who belong to Him will not also be raised.

The last few verses have focused on Paul’s motivation for continuing in his hard and dangerous life of preaching the gospel against so much opposition. Now he continues by asking: what could he possibly stand to gain in human terms? Preaching the gospel does not bring him wealth or pleasure or status. Instead, it led him to fighting with beasts in Ephesus.

It’s unclear exactly what this phrase means. It evokes imagery of Christians being torn apart by the lions in Roman spectacles. Scholars suggest, though, that it’s unlikely Paul fought actual beasts in Ephesus. In a world without high-powered rifles, “fighting beasts” was significantly more dangerous than it is today. Paul seems to be using this as a metaphor for facing overwhelming and dangerous circumstances, perhaps including being attacked by angry mobs.

In any case, without the hope of resurrection for himself and those he preaches to, Paul assures his readers he would not continue to do what he is doing. Instead, he would live like those philosophers of his day known as the Epicureans, who attempted to live life to the fullest since they were convinced nothing came after. He quotes from Isaiah 22:13 to capture that spirit, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Paul does not live for pleasure, however. The life he does lead should convince everyone who knows him of how deeply confident he is in both the resurrection of Christ from the dead and the eventual resurrection of all Christians.

Verse 33. Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

This passage urges those in Corinth who deny Christian resurrection to accept what is true. Now Paul warns all of them not to be deceived by those who don’t believe in the resurrection. He may be quoting a popular phrase of the day when he says “bad company ruins good morals.” In so far as it’s being used here, that’s a sentiment Paul is endorsing. There are distinct, spiritual dangers to associating with those who are out of sync with God.

In chapter 5, Paul warned the Corinthians not to associate with other believers who practice various kinds of immorality (1 Corinthians 5:11). He echoes that instruction again here in the form of this proverb. Spending time with people who continually proclaim falsehood—including falsehood about the resurrection of believers—has a way of wearing down even the most faithful follower of Christ. The result of loosening one’s grip on right belief inevitably leads to loosening one’s moral convictions, as well. It might not result in wholesale apostasy, but it can be damaging.

Verse 34. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Paul has moved from asking pointed questions to giving pointed commands to those who say there is no resurrection for believers. In the previous verse, he told them not to be deceived by those who believed such things. Now he gets even more blunt by telling them to wake up from their drunken stupor. In modern terms, this might be said as “snap out of it!”

Paul isn’t talking about actual alcohol-induced drunkenness, but about a stupor of the soul and mind. This group had allowed themselves to get bogged down in theological and philosophical arguments. Instead, they should have held to the clear truth that because Christ was raised physically from the dead, all those who belong to Him will be raised, as well.

Paul commands them to stop sinning by entertaining this false idea in their hearts and minds. They should not allow it to lead them in the direction of immoral actions. The bottom line is that, no matter how clever they imagine themselves to be in worldly terms, they don’t have the right knowledge of God. Paul insists that they should be ashamed of this. Knowing and believing God is the only path to right living.

Verse 35. But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

This passage gives instruction about the reality to come for every believer in Christ: a resurrected body after physical death. Some among the church in Corinth claimed there is no resurrection from the dead, perhaps parroting cultural beliefs of the day (1 Corinthians 15:12).

Now Paul imagines one of these objectors asking what sounds at first like reasonable questions, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” Some believers who had died had by this point been dead for quite a while. Others were killed in gruesome ways that didn’t leave the body in very good condition. So, what shape will their bodies be in by the time the resurrection happens? Perhaps the Corinthians were imagining cultural stories of reanimated corpses. Those brought to life by superstition or magical lore often came back in whatever was left of their physical corpse, only moving and self-aware.

The idea that these are sincere questions is made much less likely by Paul’s harsh response in the following verse. Most likely, Paul’s experience told him these were questions to expect, but not earnest ones. Rather, they were challenges meant to ridicule and reject (Mark 12:18–24).

Context Summary
First Corinthians 15:35–49 describes how the resurrected bodies of believers will be different from our current bodies. Resurrected bodies will not be reanimated corpses or some lesser version of our pre-death frame. The opposite is true. Our current, corrupt bodies are like seeds that are sown to bring to life the plant. These forms are temporary, dishonorable, and weak. Our transformed bodies will be eternal, glorified, and powerful, made from the materials of heaven, not earth, and built for an eternity with God.

Verse 36. You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

Paul is responding harshly to questions posed in the prior verse. This suggests that he’s encountered these before, and knows they are not asked in sincerity. These are challenges he anticipates from those among the Corinthians who disbelieved in resurrection from the dead for believers in Jesus. These questions, like ones Jesus’ critics posed (Mark 12:18–24) are meant to ridicule a belief, not inquire about it. These objectors simply could not imagine what the experience of a resurrected body might be like.

Paul calls the imaginary objector “foolish.” This uses the same term Christ applied to a short-sighted man in a parable (Luke 12:20). The critic imagined here is rejecting belief in the resurrection because of a simple lack of understanding about how God might accomplish such a thing. Paul will more directly answer these questions later, but for now he starts with an analogy from nature: what is sown—or planted, like a seed in a field—does not come to life unless the seed dies first. Paul will go on to show that the resurrected body is similar in the sense that the pre-death body is merely the seed to the much better body God has planned for us.

Verse 37. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

Paul is directly addressing those who have been saying that there is no resurrection from the dead for believers (1 Corinthians 15:12). Using an anticipated question, he reveals how some of them look at the concept of a resurrected human body exactly backwards. They imagine, perhaps, a reanimated corpse. Or, they struggle to see how a burnt or turned-to-dust body could function. In short, these critics picture something inferior to a living, breathing body that once flourished before death. Instead, Paul is using the metaphor of planting a seed to show that the resurrected body is the ideal version, and the point of the process.

What is sown or planted in the ground is not the plant but a “bare kernel.” He compares this to our pre-death physical human bodies. These bodies that we know and are familiar with are like a seed compared to the plant in full bloom that grows from it. As he wrote in the previous verse, the seed—meaning these bodies—must die in order for the plant to spring to life as intended.

Verse 38. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

This passage continues to show how the resurrection of a Christian’s body after death is like the sowing of a seed that grows into a plant. The seed must die for the plant to live. The seed, our pre-death frame, is not the ultimate end God had in mind for us. The resurrected body that comes after physical death is the one God means for us to occupy forever.

Paul concludes the metaphor by stating that God gives life to the plant based on the seed that is planted. Wheat kernels grow wheat plants; corn kernels grow corn plants. In the same way, God somehow determines the “kind” of our resurrected body by the “kind” of seed, pre-death body, that comes from it. In other words, Paul will show, the resurrected body will fit or match the body that died in some way.

This explanation is being given to counter the bewilderment of critics. Some dismissed physical resurrection, unable to imagine how a rotted corpse or burnt ashes could live again.

Verse 39. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

Paul continues to answer and instruct those in Corinth who have been saying there is no resurrection from the dead for Christians (1 Corinthians 15:12). He has called “foolish” the one who rejects belief in resurrection based on a lack of understanding about how God could resurrect a human body. The objection seems to assume Christian “resurrection” means restoring movement and awareness to a decayed corpse.

In contrast, Scripture indicates that the resurrected body will not be some lesser form of the pre-death body. Rather, the form into which a believer is re-born is the ultimate form of their body! This, much like the plant is the ultimate form of the seed. Beyond that, though, the resurrected body will be of its own “kind,” meaning that it will be as different as a bird is from a fish.

Taken on its own, Paul’s statement here is obvious: human and animal “flesh” are different, belonging to different creatures. He will develop the point, though, to show that our resurrected bodies will be substantially different from our pre-death bodies.

Verse 40. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

Using a shallow objection for contrast (1 Corinthians 15:35), Paul is helping the Corinthians understand the resurrection of the believer’s body. They should not be thinking of a decaying corpse returning to life and staggering around like a zombie. Nor should they wonder how or if God can restore life to a burnt or crushed form. Instead, they should be thinking of the resurrected body as something new, springing to life out of the seed of the pre-death body.

He has shown in the previous verses that bodies can be very different depending on the species. Human bodies are different from animals, bird bodies are different than fish bodies.

Now Paul begins to bring this analogy home, saying there are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, each with their own kind of glory. He seems to mean there is a difference between the bodies of people and animals on earth and the bodies of stars and planets that occupy the heavens. The bodies of God’s earthly creation reveal His glory in a different way than the heavenly bodies He has made. Paul will go on to suggest a connection between these heavenly bodies and the resurrected bodies of believers. They will have a glory all their own.

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

Paul is describing to the Corinthians how the body of a resurrected believer will differ from our pre-death bodies. In part, this is compared to the difference between a seed and the plant which grows from it (1 Corinthians 15:37). He has shown that there is a difference between all the different kinds of bodies on earth: human, animals, fish, birds, and so forth. There is also a difference between our earthly kinds of bodies and the heavenly bodies of the planets and stars (1 Corinthians 15:39–40).

He now declares that even those heavenly bodies differ in the kind of glory they possess. The sun and moon each have a different kind of glory, and the glory of each star also differs from that of the other stars. Every created thing reflects the glory of the creator, even as it bears a glory of its own given to it by God. Paul will show in the following verses how the glory of all these bodies is unique, just as it will be for the resurrected bodies of the believers.

Verse 42. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

To describe the resurrection of the bodies of those who belong to Christ, Paul has noted the significant difference between the bodies of men and animals. He has pointed out the same difference between the bodies of earth and the bodies of the moon, sun, and stars. Each body created by God has its own unique glory.

Now Paul describes the transformation that takes place between the pre-death body and the body that is raised to new life in the resurrection. One objection to resurrection in Paul’s day was that human bodies are decaying and even corrupted. That’s why some teachers insisted that only the spirit could continue to the afterlife. The human body would not be appropriate; it would not fit in the celestial realms of “the heavens.”

Paul does not entirely disagree. Our mortal bodies are dying, dishonorable, and weak. Paul shows here, though, that those are not the bodies which enter eternity. A transformation takes place, like what happens when a seed dies to give life to a new plant (1 Corinthians 15:37). The seed—our pre-death bodies—are something perishable. They are temporary. They are always wearing out on their way to an inevitable death. What is raised to life is imperishable, a body that can never die, a body that is both physical and eternal.

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

Paul is helping the Corinthians understand that a believer’s resurrected body will not be some reanimated, lesser version of the body before death. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The two bodies, though related, will not be of the same kind. They will be as different as a bird’s body is from a fish’s body (1 Corinthians 15:39) and as different as a man’s body is from a star (1 Corinthians 15:40).

The previous verse began to spell out specific differences between the sin-corrupted frame of a believer in this life and the glorified, perfected body to come in the resurrection. The first difference mentioned was that our bodies before death are perishable. They come with an expiration date. They are wearing out. The resurrected body is eternal; it is deathless.

Now he adds that the pre-death body is sown in dishonor. Because of the analogy Paul used earlier (1 Corinthians 15:37), this term can be taken in more than one way. The word “sown” may refer to how the body is buried: planted in the ground. The other possibility is that Paul means “sown” here in reference to how the body is initially born into sin. In other words, that the earthly body grows from a state of sin. In either case, the sin we’re born into and the sin we commit causes our physical bodies to be dishonorable, and they do not become honorable simply because we die.

Instead, for the believer in Jesus Christ, a transformation takes place. The believer’s body is resurrected in glory. The use of the word “glory” connects to Paul’s example of the radiant bodies of the stars in the heavens. Bible teachers often refer to resurrected bodies as “glorified bodies:” free of all dishonor of sin and full of the eternal light of God’s glory.

Paul goes on: These pre-death bodies are sown in weakness, severely limited in physical, moral, spiritual strength. The believer’s body, though, is resurrected in power beyond our current imagining.

Verse 44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

This part of Scripture lists ways in which a Christian’s earthly body is drastically different from our resurrection body. We will have something entirely different when Christ returns for those who belong to Him. So far, Paul has described that new body as being eternal, rather than temporary (1 Corinthians 15:42), glorified, rather than dishonorable (1 Corinthians 15:43), and powerful, instead of weak (1 Corinthians 15:43).

Now he adds that the born-again believer’s earthly form is “sown” as a natural body (1 Corinthians 15:37), but will be raised as a “spiritual body.” The current body is made from nature, in the sense that Adam’s body was molded from clay (Genesis 2:7). Our naturally-born frames are “of the earth” and cannot exist in the realm of eternity. The spiritual body revealed by the resurrection is made of the stuff of heaven, so to speak. It exists easily in eternity.

It’s important to note that the word “spiritual” as used here does not mean the “spiritual body” has no physical shape or form. Paul has not followed the idea of resurrection all the way back to the idea of existing as mere spirits for eternity. He’s attempting to explain something profound in simple terms. The resurrection body is “spiritual” in the sense that it fits into the spiritual / heavenly realm while still having a solid, physical form. Jesus’ body after the resurrection is an example of this. He could be seen, heard, and touched (John 20:24–29), and He could eat (Luke 24:36–43). He could also, apparently, move through solid objects (John 20:19). He had been raised into His spiritual, glorified body.

Verse 45. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Scripture not only explains differences, but also the connections between the natural-born body of Christians and the resurrection bodies of those same believers in eternity. Paul wrote in the previous verse that if there is a natural body—the one we live in now—then there is also a “spiritual body.” In this specific context, he means the one we will be raised into after God transforms us. In other words, there must be a progression from the natural body, built to live on earth, to the spiritual body, which will be built to exist in heaven and eternity.

This was first explained as parallel to how a planted seed dies, only to grow into the ultimate form for which it is intended (1 Corinthians 15:37).

These two bodies are also different-but-connected in that one follows the pattern of the first Adam, while the other follows the pattern of the last Adam, who is Christ. As explained in Genesis 2:7, the first Adam became a living earthly being after God formed him from the dust of the ground. The last Adam, Christ, became a “life-giving spirit” after being resurrected from death to life by God. Jesus was raised as a life-giving spirit in the sense that through Him, and Him alone, those who are born again can look forward to being resurrected as He was.

Verse 46. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

To combat doubts about the resurrection of believers (1 Corinthians 15:12; 35), Paul has been describing ways in which the resurrected body will be different from natural-born earthly bodies. In short, they will be made of different stuff. The natural body made from earth, originally (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:47). The resurrection body is made of heavenly material. One is designed for life on earth and the other is designed for the life to come (1 Corinthians 15:48).

Paul now emphasizes once more that these bodies are different, but they are also connected. Earlier, he used the analogy of a seed which dies in order to produce the new plant (1 Corinthians 15:37). The natural body must come first, and die, so the spiritual body will come into existence at the resurrection, when Christ returns for those who belong to Him. This process makes sense in that God is not putting us into our “better” forms now; those are reserved for eternity, instead.

Verse 47. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

What is the difference between the bodies of Christians as they are now, compared to the bodies we will be raised with after we are returned to life in the resurrection? Paul has been describing those differences in this section. Now he shows that these bodies are different in both their origin and what they were initially made from.

The first man seems to refer to people, in general, as we first exist. Each of us, as Adam’s descendants, are from the earth. Adam was a man “of the dust” (Genesis 2:7), and all born after him are made of “earth stuff” designed to exist on the earth. The second version of us, though—the “second man”—is from heaven. Our resurrected bodies will be made of “heaven stuff” and built to exist eternally as do all who reside in heaven with God.

Another way to read this verse is to see the “first man” as Adam and the “second man” as Christ. The same ideas hold true in either case. All humans follow the pattern of Adam, and all Christians the pattern of Christ.

Verse 48. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

This passage has shown that the two kinds of bodies—that of the pre-death self and that of the resurrected believer—both follow a pattern. For all humans who live on the earth before death, that pattern was set by the “first man,” Adam. We are people of the dust, originally formed by God’s hands for earthly lives (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:47).

Born-again Christians, though, will follow another pattern: that of the man of heaven, Jesus. He was raised by God into a glorified body made of “heaven stuff.” That body is designed to live and exist in eternity. When Christ returns and we are resurrected, we too will be remade of the stuff of heaven as we become the people of heaven (1 John 3:2).

Earlier, this was compared to the way a seed dies as it is sown, only to grow into something much grander (1 Corinthians 15:37). God’s intent for resurrection is not merely to restore movement to a corpse (1 Corinthians 15:35), but to give us a body perfectly suited to heaven.

Verse 49. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

The Bible describes two states of existence in two separate bodies. One is the natural body that we’re all familiar with. As was the case with Adam’s body, these pre-death bodies are built to live on earth (Genesis 2:7). They are corrupted by sin and temporary. Those who are in Christ will receive a second body. This new body germinates, in a sense, from our old bodies (1 Corinthians 15:37). However, it is transformed in the moment of resurrection to follow the pattern of Christ’s body instead of Adam’s (1 John 3:2). That new body will be made of the same eternal material as Christ’s body and built to last eternally with God in heaven.

Now, Paul adds that both bodies are marked by the image of the first of their kind. Every human being bears the image of Adam; our features, both external and internal, follow the pattern God established when forming Adam out of the earth. In a similar way, every Christian will in some way bear the image of the first one to be resurrected to a glorified body, Christ Himself. Since those bodies are eternal, we will bear His image forever.

Despite what some think, this is not intended to mean we will not be distinguishable as our unique selves in eternity. Bearing Christ’s image does not mean that we will all wear Christ’s specific face. Nor does it mean we will have the exact same, indistinguishable self. Here and now, we don’t all look identical to Adam or to each other. Instead, we should understand that our glorified bodies will follow the pattern of Christ’s body in the sense that we will share His defining characteristics (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Verse 50. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

This extensive section—all of chapter 15—was written to correct the thinking of some in Corinth about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. Some in that church claimed it would never happen. They either believed life simply ended at death, or that the spirit alone continued into the afterlife without any more need for a body.

One possible reason for skepticism towards resurrection was because a then-popular idea that human bodies are not fit for life “in the heavens.” This view was not entirely wrong, though it falsely imagined heaven as a non-material place in the sky somewhere. The idea was also moral. Many philosophers of the first century held that physical bodies contain all that is evil in a person. They are morally corrupt and deeply imperfect. Such things, those philosophers argued, could never exist in a perfect afterlife.

Paul recognizes at least some truth in this idea, as he states clearly here. “Flesh and blood” can’t inherit the kingdom of God. By flesh and blood, Paul means our corrupt, temporary bodies that are of the earth. That which is dying, “perishable,” cannot exist in the deathless realm of eternity with God.

The solution, Paul will reveal, isn’t that human spirits will exist without physical form in some vague afterlife. The answer is transformation; the old body will be gone and a new, glorified body will take its place.

Context Summary
First Corinthians 15:50–58 powerfully concludes Paul’s teaching on the resurrection of Christians: when the last trumpet blasts and Christ returns for those who belong to Him. In that moment, all believers in Jesus, living and dead, will be transformed into the glorified, eternal bodies God has promised us. Death will be defeated forever, never to hurt anyone again. Sin brings death, and the law is the power of sin, but God has given us the victory over death by forgiving our sin through faith in Jesus and by His grace.

Verse 51. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Some in Corinth claimed there was no resurrection from the dead for Christians. Paul has disputed that almost entirely, though he has agreed on at least one point. Namely, that there’s no way corrupt, dying “flesh and blood” bodies can possibly inherit the kingdom of God. Put another way, our naturally-born bodies cannot exist in God’s presence in heaven for eternity. What the confused Corinthians don’t understand is the mystery Paul reveals in this verse. It’s the mystery he has been revealing throughout chapter 15. In a word, this is “transformation.” God will, in fact, transform the “natural” bodies of Christians into glorified, or “spiritual” bodies (1 Corinthians 15:44) that will inherit God’s kingdom, after all.

Paul begins here by announcing, “Behold!” to indicate what he says has great meaning. The mystery is revealed in this and the following verse. Paul has already said that the resurrection of the dead will take place when Christ comes back for those who belong to Him (1 Corinthians 15:23), as Jesus said He would do (John 14:2–3).

However, some believers will not yet have died when Christ returns. How will they step into eternity if they are still in their sin-stained “natural” bodies? Paul’s answer is that whether a person dies and their body is “sown,” (1 Corinthians 15:37), or they are taken in the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17), all born-again believers will experience change when they step into eternity. The living will be transformed, along with those who are resurrected from the dead. All believers will be physically remade into their glorified bodies at the return of Christ (1 John 3:2).

Verse 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 imperishable, and we shall be changed.

“Behold!” Paul has declared. He is revealing the mystery of how corrupt, temporary human bodies can possibly enter eternity with God. The short answer is they can’t, even if those bodies belong to believers who are guaranteed salvation through faith in Christ. Instead, every born-again Christian will be transformed from their natural body to their glorified heavenly body. This will all happen when Christ returns for His people, as He said he would in John 14:2–3. Not only will the dead be resurrected with transformed, glorified bodies, but those believers who have not died when He returns will be transformed, as well.

The change will be instant: “in the twinkling of an eye.” This is translated from the Greek phrase en rhipē opthalmou, which most literally means “flicking the eye” and was the ancient reference to “the blink of an eye.” This depicts not only the rapid movement of the eyelid, but the speed at which the eye turns from one direction to another. The underlying point is something so rapid, so instantaneous, that it defies measurement. Paul says it will be accompanied by the blast of a trumpet, something that often accompanied the appearance of God in Scripture. This is the final trumpet blast, because God’s people will never be separated from Him again.

Paul, speaking of the living, says “we shall be changed.” This should not be taken to mean Paul necessarily expected to be alive when Christ returns. For example, he used “we / us” language to included himself among those who will be resurrected after death in 1 Corinthians 6:14. Paul did not claim to know specifically when Christ would return (Matthew 24:36).

This passage lines up almost exactly with what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17. Many churches and denominations describe this event as the rapture of the church.

Verse 53. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Death does not exist in heaven. When God calls humanity to live with Him, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:1–5). The natural-born bodies we occupy, though, are stained with sin and destined to exist only temporarily. They are built for living on earth and not in heaven (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:42–44).

Another suggestion about the misunderstanding in Corinth was that some thought Christians had to gradually become more and more holy in their natural bodies on this side of heaven. Paul rejects any such notion. Our bodies will not improve; they will die. The work of translating the body from natural to “spiritual” is not ours to accomplish—it’s God’s. If some of us are still alive when Christ returns, the transformation from old body to glorified body will be instant.

This must be so, Paul writes. These temporary, dying bodies must put on what is imperishable or deathless. These earth-bound, sin-corrupted, mortal bodies must put on immortality in order to exist in eternity with God. Therefore, God can and will transform them.

Verse 54. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

The significance of this moment, still in the future, cannot be over-emphasized. Paul is speaking of the moment when all God’s promises to share eternal glory with those who come to Him by faith in Christ will begin to come true. In this moment, every single person who has ever believed in Jesus, dead and alive, will be finally and fully transformed into the glorified reality God has planned for His children since before time began (1 Corinthians 15:42–44; 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17; 1 John 3:2).

Our death-stained natural bodies will be gone forever, replaced by glorified, immortal bodies that will exist eternally with our Father. Finally, the ancient prophecies will be fulfilled. Paul paraphrases two of those statements in this and the following verse. First, he references Isaiah 25:8 to declare that this will be the moment when death is defeated for good, when it is “swallowed up in victory.”

Verse 55. “O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting?”

Paul is describing the moment when, at Christ’s coming, every believer in Jesus, living and dead, will be transformed into glorified bodies to spend eternity with God. This is the moment all of creation is waiting for (Romans 8:19). This is the moment mentioned by the prophets of God. Paul referenced Isaiah 25:8 in the previous verse: “Death is swallowed up by victory.”

Now he references Hosea 13:14 to taunt death about its coming once-and-for-all defeat: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

It’s true that Jesus’ resurrection from the grave was the beginning of the end for death and the “one with the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14), but for now believers still physically die. The moment we are given redeemed, glorified resurrection bodies is the instant described here: the end of the end for death. This will culminate in the complete and total elimination of death and evil (Revelation 20:14). For now, those who are in Christ will continue to experience an inner groaning, a sense of incompletion, until this longed-for moment, when our bodies are redeemed by this promised, death-defeating transformation (Romans 8:23).

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

The previous few verses described the moment when death will be swallowed up in victory as the dead in Christ are resurrected with new, glorified bodies. At that same moment, those in Christ who are still living will be changed, as well. All will be translated into eternal, powerful, imperishable new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42–44). Paul has even used Hosea’s words to taunt death, saying “O death, where is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14).

He now follows this train of thought to show what is ultimately responsible for human death. It is not God or Satan. It is sin. “Death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Sin is the bringer of death.

How did sin become so powerful? Paul is clear: The power of sin—it’s ability to bring death—comes from the law. By the law, Paul is referring both to the Law of Moses given to Israel, but also to the nature of humanity to rebel against God that revealed itself for the first time when Adam and Eve sinned against God’s command in the garden (Genesis 3:17–19).

It’s not that the law creates sin in people. The law reveals sin by demonstrating that humans are not capable of obeying God. Given any command from God, our nature is to rebel, to sin. In this way, all are shown to be sinful (Romans 3:23), and all are shown to deserve death (Romans 6:23). Praise God that is not the end of the story, as the following verse reveals.

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

After taunting death for its coming defeat in verse 55, Paul declared the “sting” or source of death to be sin and the power of sin to be the law. The law does not create sin, but it does reveal that every human being is sinful. Each of us disobeys the commands of God. The result of sin is always death, and not just physical death. Sin is responsible for the death that separates us from God forever.

Paul jumps in, much as he does in the book of Romans (Romans 7:24–25) to say this is not the end of the story. He declares his thanks to God, who gives human beings victory over death through Jesus. That is, God forgives the sin of all who trust in Christ’s death, offered in their place on the cross, those who believe in His resurrection from the dead as the first defeat of death (John 3:16–18; Romans 10:9–10).

Our inescapable sin-debt meant unavoidable death and eternal separation from God. Christ’s sinless life and substitutionary death made our sin escapable through faith in Him and by God’s grace (2 Corinthians 5:21). That changes the meaning of physical death in this life for the born-again Christian. Instead of death being the beginning of an eternity apart from the Father (John 3:36; Revelation 20:15), it is just another step before our resurrection as glorified beings who will spend eternity with the Father (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:51–55). Thanks be to God, indeed!

Verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Having completed the main thrust of his letter, Paul brings his instruction and teaching to a formal conclusion. In the following, final chapter of 1 Corinthians, he will turn his attention to several assorted issues. Considering all he has written to them, he urges the Corinthians to be strong and faithful. More specifically, he tells them he loves them, referring to them as beloved brothers. Then he gives them several quick, uplifting commands.

“Be steadfast.” Paul wants them to be faithful to the Lord and to his teaching about the Lord, to keep going.

Be “immovable.” Paul is very concerned about the Corinthians’ tendency to compromise their behavior and even their beliefs for the sake of the culture in which they live (1 Corinthians 10:13–14).

Be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Paul has been clear that God gives each believer ways in which to serve Him, by serving each other in the church (1 Corinthians 12:4–11). The Corinthians should be doing so with enthusiasm. This work they do for the Lord is guaranteed to continue to matter for eternity, compared to so much of life that will cease to have meaning in years, days, or even minutes.

Even after all the issues Paul has tackled in this letter, including all the varied ways the Christians in Corinth were misunderstanding God’s will and mistreating each other, Paul identifies them as belonging to the Lord. At no time is their salvation cast in doubt because of these misconceptions. Paul is convinced they are in Christ. They will one day be resurrected to new, glorified bodies in which they will spend eternity with the Father. Paul remains confident in the grace of God, because of the Corinthians’ faith in Christ, and despite their failings.

End of Chapter 15.

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