Monthly Archive for February, 2003

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1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Published on February 11, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:54 "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
 
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption,
The word “corruptible” means that the body is subject to physical death. The physical body of a Christian one day will put on an eternal body, a glorified body.
and this mortal has put on immortality,
God will transplant our mortal body with an immortal body that will not corrode (not be subject to death). “Life” and “immortality” are not synonymous terms (2 Ti 1:10); everyone will have life in eternity but not all will have life with God, immortal life.
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Corruption putting on incorruption and mortal putting on immortality fulfills the Scripture Isaiah 25:8. Isaiah 25 refers to the coming of the kingdom of God and the defeat of death. God broke the power of death in Christ’s resurrection.
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
Again, Paul quotes another modified passage from Hosea 13:14. God defeats death at the point when the believer receives his glorified body. Death held sway from Adam to the present, but Christ accomplished the defeat of death already by His resurrection.
O Hades, where is your victory?”
Paul taunts both death and Hades (the grave). Hades or the grave was a place where corruption occurred. Every corpse is death’s victory. Jesus took that victory from death and Hades by His resurrection. Ultimately, God will cast Hades into the Lake of Fire (Re 20).
He 2:14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
56 The sting of death is sin,
Sin is deadly, lethal, and fatal; it winds us up in the grave. Sin brings death and there is no way to by-pass death except by the Rapture. If there were no sin, there would be no death.
and the strength of sin is the law.
The law makes sin sinful. Jesus fulfilled the law, so Christians are free from the law (Ro 8:1-4). The law makes sin grievous by making God’s standards clearer.
Ro 5:17For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians are no longer under the law (Ro 6:14) because Christ fulfilled the law. Victory over mortality comes through the resurrection of Christ and it is not due to our morality or effort. The word “gives” is in the present tense, indicating that the resurrection gives us victory for the current Christian life. We must claim the grace of God every day.
PRINCIPLE: Glorification is more than resurrection
APPLICATION: We fear death because it is an unknown, inevitable destiny. The Bible sets forth the death of death. The human body is a product of the dust of the earth and sustained by elements derived from dust, and ultimately returns to dust. It is death-doomed because of the fall. It is subject to resurrection/translation, so it is eternal. God will glorify the Christian’s future body, which is more than resurrection.
  1. Our glorified bodies will be in incorruptible, 15:42-43
  2. The resurrection body will be immortal, 15:54
  3. The resurrection body will not require rest.
  4. The resurrection body will be glorious, 15:40; Ph 3:31.
Christians need not fear death because death is the mere handmaiden that leads us to glory.
2 Co 5:8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
1 Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
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1 Corinthians 15:50-53

Published on February 10, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
 
Paul comes to a climax in his discussion on the resurrection beginning with verse 50. Paul raised and answered two questions in verse 36: (1) The very condition of death is a necessary preliminary to resurrection; the condition of the body has nothing to do with resurrection; and (2) the resurrection body will be like the resurrected body of Christ.
50 Now this I say, brethren,
Paul now moves to the bottom line of his argument of chapter 15 – present bodies cannot go to heaven, where there is no corruption in body.
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
“Flesh and blood” refers to the mortal body, so our present bodies in their current condition cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Our present physical organism cannot go to heaven. The idea of “inherit” is to take possession of.
nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
The corruptible or perishable (decomposing) body cannot enter a state of incorruption. Only the resurrection can put the body into a new state.
51 Behold,
The word “behold” calls attention to an important statement to follow. It is a dramatic word, for it is like pulling a curtain aside to reveal a new statue to dedicate it. Paul wants to call to our attention something of extraordinary order – Christians will live in a glorified, non-corrodible body forever because of the resurrection of Christ.
I tell you a mystery:
A “mystery” in biblical parlance is a truth not hitherto revealed; it is not something spooky, mysterious, or difficult to ascertain. In this case, the mystery is the Rapture. God did not reveal anything about the Rapture in the Old Testament nor did He reveal this in the gospels. It is a church-age doctrine. This is Jesus coming to take up Christians to be with Himself forever.
We shall not all sleep,
Not all Christians will die and be put into the grave before the Rapture. “Sleep” is a euphemism for physical death. The soul does not sleep.
But we shall all be changed—
Every Christian, both dead and living at the coming of Christ, will be changed or transformed in body. Christians will instantaneously receive their glorified bodies at the Rapture.
52 in a moment,
The word “moment” means flash in the Greek, a fragment of time. The transformation of the glorified body will take place in a flash (literally, in an atom). An atom is an undivided point of time; this time is indivisible. Change from the present body to the glorified body is instantaneous.
in the twinkling of an eye,
The “twinkling of an eye” refers to a very quick action. The transformation from the corruptible body to the glorified body will not be a long drawn-out process but an instantaneous action by God.
At the last trumpet.
There will be a trumpet call at the Rapture to summon Christians to heaven. This will signal the end of our present existence in corruptible human bodies.
1 Th 4:16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
For the trumpet will sound,
This trumpet is not the same trumpet of Revelation 11:15-18, for Christians will have been raptured before the trumpets of the Tribulation. Paul viewed himself as possibly participating in the Rapture (1 Th 4:15, 17). The Rapture is an imminent event, which means there is nothing that needs to be fulfilled before the event occurs. Paul did not know the time of the Rapture so he was in the same position as we are – waiting for the imminent coming of Christ.
The first trumpet in the Roman army was a signal to strike tents and get ready to depart. The second trumpet meant, “Fall in line.” The third and last trumpet meant, “Forward march.” The last trump for the Christian is a call to heaven, a change of residence.
and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Both dead Christians and living Christians will rise with bodies that will not corrode. God will transfigure, transform, and translate these bodies, making them fit for heaven.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
The New Testament uses the words “put on” for putting on clothes. The dead, corruptible body will put on incorruptible clothes. Not only will Christians not die again but also they cannot die again.
2 Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
 and this mortal must put on immortality.
The “mortal” is subject to death. The word “immortality” only occurs in this verse and 1 Timothy 6:16 in the New Testament. The glorified body will be immortal, that is, not subject to death.
PRINCIPLE: Our present bodies will be exchanged for glorified bodies at the Rapture.
APPLICATION: People say that there is nothing more certain than death and taxes. Taxes are certain but death is not certain for the believer. The last chapter in life for the believer is not the cemetery, the grave, the casket, or the funeral parlor. No, the last chapter is transformation, translation, and transfiguration.
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1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Published on February 9, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 2 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:45 "And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."
 
The entire paragraph running from verse 35 to verse 49 ratifies and describes the resurrection body.
Paul now turns to Scripture to establish physical, bodily resurrection.
45 And so it is written,
Scripture agrees with Paul’s premise about a physical, bodily resurrection as over against the resurrection of just a soul or spirit.
“The first man Adam became a living being.”
This is a partial citation from Genesis 2:7. God created Adam with a natural body but not a glorified body. He was the first man, so there were no men before him, as some claim. His future life was probationary depending on whether he sinned or not. He had a soul as well as a body: “I am a soul; I have a body.” My soul needs my body to go about, so God made us animated creatures. One day I will move out of my corruptible body into an eternal, glorified body.
The Bible presents both Adam and Christ as representatives of the human race. What Adam did, Christ counterbalanced.
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The natural, physical body is the product of Adam. The last Adam imparted eternal life to human bodies. God breathed life into the first Adam but the last Adam gave another kind of life. Adam brought death; Jesus brought eternal life. Jesus became a progenitor of a new generation.
Ro 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ro 8:11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
The “spiritual” is the product of Jesus Christ, a glorified body like the resurrected Lord Jesus’ body. The natural generations who follow Adam will die twice, once physically and once eternally; the generations who follow Christ are spiritual and will die once but not twice. If you are born once, you will die twice. If you are born twice, you will die once. Some Christians will never die even once, since the Lord may come and take them before they die. If you possess these truths, it will bless your soul.
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust;
Paul describes two representative men, the heads of two peoples – naturally born people and supernaturally born people. God constituted Adam for this earth – he is earthbound.
The second Man is the Lord from heaven.
Paul saw the resurrected Christ “from heaven” on the Damascus road. Jesus will come again from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust;
Those born of Adam are like their representative head – Adam. God made their natural bodies from dust. Natural proclivities rule in the unregenerate state.
and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
God will fit for eternity those regenerated persons who embrace their representative head, the “heavenly Man,” Jesus Christ. When Jesus imparted spiritual life into us, our proclivities shifted toward God.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust,
God created man out of dust and so people bear the image of Adam in their first birth. It is natural for non-Christians to sin without much option. They act just like their father, Adam. The word “image” carries the idea of representation and manifestation; “image” always supposes a prototype. We do not merely resemble Adam but we reflect his nature. We bear the representation of Adam as our natural prototype.
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Christians will also bear the image of Jesus Christ via their second birth and ultimately receive a resurrection body. The resurrection of Christ was a prototype of our resurrection. It is natural for Christians to act like Jesus Christ. One day we will be just like Jesus but for now we are in the process of becoming more like Him (Ro 8:28-30; 2 Co 3:18).
PRINCIPLE: Our eternal future rests on our identity.
APPLICATION: Salvation is about our identity. Our identity with Adam brought us a fallen nature and death. Our identity with Christ brought us eternal life and a resurrection body. Both the first and second Adams are representatives. Jesus possessed true humanity and represents us as a true man/person.
We have a wonderful body now, but it is but the precursor to the one we will get in glory. As we go through life, disease or accidents occur. We may lose the use of a hand. The glorious hope of the child of God is that he or she will receive a body not subject to accident or decay. I would not want to miss this for anything. Non-Christians will receive a resurrection body but not a glorified one.
Jn 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Jn 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
Jn 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
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1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Published on February 8, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:42 "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44  It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."
 
Paul draws four contrasts between our natural body and the resurrection body:
  1. It is sown in corruption but raised in incorruption.
  2. It is sown in dishonor but raised in glory.
  3. It is sown in weakness but raised in power.
  4. It is sown a natural body but raised a spiritual body.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead.
Having argued the difference and newness of the resurrection body, Paul now contrasts the resurrection body with the natural body. Resurrection bodies will be as unique as all the contrasts seen in previous verses. Our resurrection body will be unique and different from other resurrection bodies.
The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
The word “sown” refers to burial. We put the human body into the ground (interment) just like a seed, but God raises it to incorruption (imperishable). Our present bodies are subject to disease, aging, and death. Our resurrection bodies are not subject to corruption or death. God will replace corruption with incorruption in the resurrection body.
1 Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
When we put the human body into the ground, it dishonors the body. There is nothing noble about death. We put dead bodies out of sight because they rot and decay. However, God raises the body to glory and honor. We will change from a flawed state to a complete state. Our flawed bodies will become like the glorified body of the Lord Jesus (Ph 3:21). Throughout the eternal state, our resurrection bodies will honor the Lord because they will be free from the sin capacity.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
The body is at the point of ultimate weakness when it dies, but it is much more powerful in its resurrection body. Our body succumbs to disease because it is weak. The fact that a diseased body rises from the dead demonstrates God’s power in raising something so corruptible.
44It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
The word “natural” is soulish – an organism animated by the soul. Our present bodies function by the auspices of our soul (mind, emotions, and will). God designed these present bodies only for this life. Our current body is natural while the resurrection body is spiritual, designed for eternity, and suited for living in God’s presence.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
The natural body has animal life as the animating principle. However, God fits or adapts the spiritual body for eternity. It is a body wholly designed for eternity.
PRINCIPLE: God designed our resurrection body for eternity.
APPLICATION: The resurrection body comes from the natural body that died. This new body will not succumb to disease and decay. The resurrection body is grander than a reanimation of the present body; it is a complete glorification of the old body. The soul dominates our entire body before the resurrection. After the resurrection, the spirit dominates the body completely. It will never know sickness or pain, will never grow old or die. It will never again submit to death. It will not yield to lusts again. It will never tire and there will not be a need for night. Our bodies will not stay buried; the casket is not final. The word “cemetery” means sleeping place. The body sleeps temporarily in the cemetery until the resurrection. Those who know Christ will rise in the first resurrection; those who do not know Him will rise in the second resurrection.
2 Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
There is nothing in the Bible about the transmigration of the soul. There is nothing about coming back as a monkey. Christians will instantaneously go to be with the Lord at death.
2 Co 5:8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
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1 Corinthians 15:39-41

Published on February 7, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15 39 "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory."
 
Paul now answers the second question of verse 35 – “With what body do they come?” Assuming there is a resurrection, what is the nature of the resurrection body? Paul answers this question in verses 39-49.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh,
Now Paul argues from biology or zoology. There is an amazing variety of earthly bodies but not all flesh is of the same kind. No flesh mutates into another form of life. Each species has its own identity and suitability for each entity.
but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
Paul now turns to animal life to distinguish different substances of flesh: men, animals, fish, and birds. Since there are different organizations among bodies and different kinds of bodies among animals, there can be different types of human bodies – a natural body and a glorified body.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
The illustration now changes from biology and zoology to astronomy. The same is true with celestial bodies (heavenly bodies) – they differ in brightness. Terrestrial bodies are earthly bodies. There is a marked difference between heavenly and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies shine but earthly bodies do not. The glory of mortal human bodies is different from that of immortal human bodies.
41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
There is a difference in luster of celestial bodies. The sun shines with much greater brightness than the moon. Sun glory originates its brightness; moon glory is a reflected light. There are billions of stars and none of them identical. There is glory but there is individuality. In heaven, each of us will have his own personality. No two people are alike and God likes it that way. Man wants uniformity but God wants diversity. Every snowflake is different.
PRINCIPLE: Our glorified body is perfectly suited for heaven.
APPLICATION: Not all bodies are alike. Human bodies are not like bird bodies. Since there is a vast array of bodily forms suited for many kinds of existence, God created the resurrection body for an eternal existence.
Oh, we have a wonderful future. What marvelous things are ahead for the child of God! Death, sickness, and disease will all be gone. We groan in this body (Ro 8:23) but the glorified body awaits us – no more artificial limbs, no more false teeth, no more glasses, and no more toupees! We do not yet possess everything Jesus bought for us on the cross. Each of us will retain our identity in our resurrection body. We will maintain our personality, albeit minus the sin capacity. I will know you and you will know me.
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1 Corinthians 15:35-38

Published on February 6, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:35 "But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?’ 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body."
 
Paul sets forth the nature of the resurrection body of the believer (15:35-49). There is no description of the resurrection body of the unbeliever. That God will raise the bodies of the unsaved is clear but the description of those bodies is not clear. It is clear that they will stand in physical bodies at the Great White Throne, where God will judge them for rejecting Christ as their Savior.
There is dissimilarity between planted seed and harvest seed as there is between the natural body and the resurrected body.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up?
Paul now sets forth two stock objections to the physical resurrection of the body. The resurrection of the body is a standard Christian doctrine; the church fathers incorporated it into the Apostle’s Creed: “We believe in the resurrection of the body.”
The natural body decomposes in the ground after we bury it. The Corinthians believed the body that would rise was a spiritual body, not a material body. Paul taught that the body that will rise is a glorified physical body.
And with what body do they come?”
The two questions of this verse are questions of unbelief. Paul will answer this second question beginning with verse 39.
36 Foolish one,
This is a severe reprimand. The Corinthians summarily accepted current philosophy in Corinth – Gnosticism, which denied a literal, bodily resurrection. Gnostics believed only in a spiritual resurrection. Paul answers the first questions in verses 36-41. As Paul stood before King Agrippa he said,
Ac 26:8 Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
God does not have to strain Himself to raise the dead. It does not make any difference how people died or how people buried them, God will raise them from the dead.
what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
The word “you” is emphatic, so Paul appeals to the objector’s own experience.
Paul illustrates his point with a seed of grain that becomes a plant. Life exists in one form of body before death and yet in another form after death. Death is necessary to resurrection; a seed decomposes when planted in the ground and then becomes a plant later. We cannot rise until we die.
37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be,
If we plant a seed of corn, what comes out of the ground will not look like that seed. Our resurrection body will not look like our natural body in every respect.
but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.
There is a difference between our present body and the resurrected body. The plant that comes out of the ground looks different from the seed planted in the ground. We will have a glorified body at the resurrection. After Jesus rose from the dead, His glorified body was radically different from the body that died. His new body would never die again and would have incorruptible nature. Our resurrection body will be like His resurrection body – an incorruptible body.
Ph 3:21who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
38 But God gives it a body as He pleases,
God gave each of us a specific body according to His eternal counsel.
and to each seed its own body.
There is continuity between our present body and the resurrection body even though there will be radical differences. The seed changes radically but it is still the same seed. Corn seed does not become wheat seed or a wheat plant.
PRINCIPLE: There is dissolution of our current body yet continuity in the resurrection body.
APPLICATION: Some Christians are far more pagan than biblical in their thinking. As the Corinthians accepted the idea of their culture that there was no physical resurrection of the body, so many Christians today accept prevailing philosophy of the day over extant biblical ideas. One area this manifests itself in our culture is the denial of certainty – the denial that we can know the truth or falseness of a proposition.
Our resurrection body will have continuity from our present body but will have dramatic, positive differences. We put a bare, dry seed into the ground (our current body), but a beautiful green plant comes out of the ground (our incorruptible, immortal, resurrection body). It is something very different but also the same that comes out of the ground.
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1 Corinthians 15:33-34

Published on February 5, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’ 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame."
 
33 Do not be deceived:
Some in the Corinthian church were deceived (1 Co 6:9; Ga 3:1; 6:7; 1 Jn 1:8; 3:7). Christians can be deceived about the resurrection.
“Evil company corrupts good habits.”
The third incentive for believing in the resurrection is sanctification (vv. 33-34).
The quotation here may be a reference to a comedy by Menander entitled Thais that had become proverbial, dating back to Euripides. The Greeks viewed the statement “Evil company corrupts good habits” as a wise statement. Paul used this idea to warn the Corinthians about people in their church who deny the resurrection. Scuttlebutt in the church about the denial of the resurrection among some infected the thoughts of others. Casual talk can produce practical results.
34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin;
The Corinthian church needed to do some serious thinking – they needed to wake out of doctrinal sleep about the resurrection. The more righteousness in our lives, the less sin there is in our lives. Corinthian believers stood in need of sober thinking about eternal things, for some of them did not know what they were talking about. They were not to enter into the sinful thinking of “Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die.”
The Bible uses the metaphor “awake” three times, here and as follows:
Ro 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
Ep 5:14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
for some do not have the knowledge of God.
The knowledge of God in this context is knowledge of bodily resurrection – the linchpin of Paul’s entire argument in chapter 15. The Corinthian church prided itself on its knowledge, but it did not possess a crucial piece of knowledge – the resurrection.
I speak this to your shame.
It was a shame that the false idea of no resurrection caught the imagination of some in the Corinthian church.
PRINCIPLE: It is inevitable that bad companions will warp our values.
APPLICATION: God’s people are susceptible to deception, especially from their cronies and associates. Water flows downhill. Birds of a feather flock together. Crooks like to be with crooks. Sheep like to be with sheep. If you run with the deceived, then do not cry when people charge you with error. If we lay down with dogs, then we will get up with fleas. It is inevitable and inexorable that evil companions warp good morals.
1 Co 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner— not even to eat with such a person.
2 Th 3:6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. …14And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
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1 Corinthians 15:30-32

Published on February 4, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:30 "And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? 31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32 If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’”
 
We come now to the second and third incentives of believing in the resurrection for ministry:
  1. Incentive because of salvation, 15:29
  2. Incentive to service, 15:30-32
  3. Incentive for sanctification, 15:33-34
The second incentive is service (vv. 30-32).
30 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?
Paul continues his argument for the resurrection. “Why do I risk life and limb?” It makes no sense to put ourselves in bodily danger every hour if there is no resurrection. Christians willingly face death because of their belief in the resurrection.
Ro 8:36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
1 Ti 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
31 I affirm,
Paul asserts a pledge to the Corinthians to certify his genuineness in believing the resurrection. His statements are no mere rhetorical affirmations. This issue lay at the heart of the apostle. His life was a powerful statement about the resurrection.
by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Paul’s founding of the church at Corinth was the basis of his pledge.
I die daily.
His pledge showed the genuineness of courting the daily peril of losing his life. He constantly risked life and limb in ministry.
32 If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,
One case of his dying daily was fighting with beasts at Ephesus. Paul writes from Ephesus. The “beasts” here may not be wild animals but figurative for antagonistic human opponents acting like wild beasts. As a Roman citizen, Paul would not have fought with wild animals. Possible candidates for these human wild beasts were Demetrius and Alexander (Ac 19:24-41; 2 Ti 4:14). “Wild beasts” may also be the wild crowds at Ephesus incited against him by Demetrius (Ac 19:23-34).
what advantage is it to me?
What profit would there be in Paul risking his life if the dead do not rise, if he operated in the manner of men? Paul keeps his perspective on eternal values.
If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
This is a quote from Isaiah 22:13. If there is no resurrection then we might as well live for the present. This is unadulterated hedonism – the Hugh Heffner philosophy. Isaiah 22:13 is the exclamation of people in Jerusalem during the siege by the Assyrians. This philosophy of libertinism is indicative of a dissolute and empty life.
PRINCIPLE: Those who believe in the resurrection live with eternal values in view.
APPLICATION: Paul’s ad hominem arguments from his life experiences show his burning conviction of the resurrection of the body from the dead. This is why Christians do not believe the commercial, “You only go around once in this life, so grab all the gusto you can get” – they believe with passion in a future resurrection. They keep eternal values in view.
2 Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
Christians willing suffer for the work of Christ because of their future.
Ro 8: 18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
The crying shame of the church today is the glaring difference between what we believe and how we behave. There is little correlation between doctrine and deeds or creed and conduct with some Christians. High talk and no walk is a problem. We quote the Bible by the mile and live it by the inch.
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1 Corinthians 15:29

Published on February 3, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15 29  "Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?"
 
Paul now gives assurances on the resurrection from his willingness to risk death (15:29-34). This is an ad hominem argument for the resurrection. This willingness to risk death broaches ludicrousness if the dead do not rise. On the other hand, there are three incentives for believing in the resurrection:
  1. Incentive for salvation, 15:29
  2. Incentive to serve, 15:30-32
  3. Incentive toward sanctification, 15:33-34
29 Otherwise,
The idea is if what Paul just said is not true (resurrection of Christ and believers), then why are people being baptized in place of  the dead? If people deny the resurrection, then they reject the core of the gospel. Christians facing the prospect of death have a powerful future – eternal life and reunion with those who have gone on before.
what will they do
Such baptism is of no use if there is no resurrection. Christians give no verifiable account for baptism and thus participate in an absurdity. They would be better off to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow they die like dogs.
who are baptized for the dead,
What does baptism for the dead mean? There are a number of answers to this difficult verse. Some feel that this was proxy baptism – baptism for Christians who died before they could be baptized, maybe due to martyrdom. The word “for” means in the place of not on behalf of. The point was: “Why should we fill up the ranks of those who died (vacant places in the local church) by baptizing more people if there is no resurrection?” Living Christians were in the process of being baptized in the place of those who had previously died. They filled up the vacant places of those who died. New Christians replaced those who had moved out from the ranks of the local church and been promoted to heaven.
if the dead do not rise at all?
If there was no physical resurrection, Paul argued, there was no point in baptizing for those who had previously died. There was nothing gained by this, for they remained dead corpses. If there is no resurrection, the bottom falls out of Christianity. We forfeit the pleasures of this life and the next one as well. Christians are shortchanged and the biggest suckers the world ever saw, if there is no resurrection.
Why then are they baptized for the dead?
No one knows the exact meaning of this text because it is fraught with interpretation problems. Living Christians gave outward testimony by baptism for believers who died for their faith and thus could not be baptized themselves. In context, the argument is asking why people are coming to Christ if believers die for their faith.
PRINCIPLE: The certainty of the resurrection is incentive for keeping eternal values in view.
APPLICATION: Christians in heaven have moved from the church militant to the church triumphant. The certainty of the resurrection gives incentive for keeping eternal values in view. Christians know that death does not end all. They know that there is hope beyond the grave and that the grave is not the bleak, barren terminus of existence. Christians know that we do not die like dogs. If there is no resurrection, the gospel is a farce, Christianity is a fake, and Christians operate under a cruel hoax. Christianity has a message for a world with no hope. The world’s message is: “Keep a stiff upper lip,” “Keep smiling, for there is a silver lining in every cloud.” This is religious drivel; it is no hope for those who lose loved ones in death.
The Mormon church, or the Church of the Latter Day Saints, teaches that believers in Mormonism must baptize for the dead, for ancestors so that they can be saved. That is why they emphasize genealogy. The Bible nowhere teaches a vicarious or substitutionary baptism for others.
There is no other passage in the Bible that suggests baptism for the dead and this verse does not command this practice. The history book of Acts nowhere indicates such a practice. It is very dangerous to build a doctrine on one obscure verse and there are over thirty various interpretations of this verse. The principle of interpretation is that the majority of verses must take precedence over the minority of verses and the clear verses must take precedence over the unclear verses. Our verse has many legitimate interpretations but we can assert none with confidence. A reasonable interpretation is that we fill up the ranks of Christians who died by baptizing new believers.
We can be confident, however, that this verse does not teach salvation for the dead by proxy baptism. Nowhere does the Bible teach that a person becomes a Christian by baptism. The important message is the gospel, not baptism:
1 Co 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Baptism is an outward sign of salvation already accomplished. We come to faith solely by faith through grace,
Ro 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Ro 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Ep 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
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1 Corinthians 15:27-28

Published on February 2, 2003 in 1 Corinthians. 0 Comments
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1 Corinthians 15:27 "For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."
 
27 For “He has put all things under His feet.”
This phrase is a quotation from Psalm 8:6. Jesus will reign until He puts all enemies under His feet.
But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
The person who subdues in Psalm 8 is man, but a special “Man” in particular – the man Christ Jesus.
28 Now when all things are made subject to Him,
There will come a time when all creation is subject to Jesus. He will finish His work of subduing lost creation. He will put all creation under His rule; He will be King Jesus, King of the Universe.
then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him,
The Son will subject Himself to the Father forever. This is a working subordination of the Son to the Father, not a subordination in His essential character and being, for He is co-equal with the Father in His essence.
that God may be all in all.
Deliverance of the Kingdom to the Father at the end of time will complete the purpose of creation – that God may be all in all. “All in all” means that all things depend on God. The purpose of creation is God-centeredness, not man-centeredness. God is everything to everyone.
PRINCIPLE: The purpose of time and eternity is God-centeredness.
APPLICATION: God’s purpose for creation is His own glory. There will come a day when all creation, all people, all situations will depend on God. He will be everything to everyone. Heaven will center in God for all eternity. God is the source, the means, and the purpose of creation.
Ro 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
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