I speak, Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits., Where did the Corinthian Christians get their strange ideas about the resurrection, ideas Paul spent this chapter trying to correct? : If the Corinthian Christians did not continue to, , one day they might let go of the gospel. describes the Christians marching orders at the rapture of the Church. b. We are following in the footsteps of no one less than Jesus Himself. The term church of God has Old Testament associations, especially in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament). Paul isnt condemning all learning or education; he merely says that by themselves they are useless for obtaining spiritual wisdom. They were not the spiritual achievements of the Corinthians, but the work of the grace of God in them. The idea is that we have been purchased to permanent freedom. to travel between Ephesus and Corinth. The first trumpet meant, strike the tents and prepare to leave; the second trumpet meant, fall into line; the third and. : As Paul describes the gospel in the following verses, it is important to notice that this gospel is not insightful teaching or good advice. If the cross and its message seem weak, they are not; they are powerful and wise. i. 1 Corinthians 15:23 Commentaries: But each in his own order: Christ the The answer is, Yes! God does it and we do it. Barclay says yes, and simply points out that Paul was dead wrong here. Session 2: God's Answer Is Yes! For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, : Paul is not saying, material things cannot inherit the kingdom of God, because Jesus resurrection body was a, , in this context, means our present bodies. Jesus resurrection body was not a pure spirit body, but a material body described as. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, not the will of any man.. 5. The great gospel of Jesus Christ, the very power of God unto salvation made empty and of no effect through the pride and cleverness of men! I am not an apostle through the appointment of the other apostles. There is much in 1 Corinthians that is unflattering to the Christians of Corinth. Those who feel called to rebuke sin and correct error in the church today should follow Pauls example. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. The Corinthians were a rich church, not only materially, but also in their speech and knowledge of Jesus (, all utterance and in all knowledge the testimony of Christ, ), and in that they lived in anticipation of Jesus coming (, i. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. i. Paul will not allow this. Instead He rose. of our resurrection in the sense that He is our entrance fee to resurrection. This term could be no more than a polite form of address like our Sir. But it could also be used of the deity one worships. 1. i. Freud was wrong when he said: And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be. Compare that with Pauls triumphant declaration, Death is swallowed up in victory! i. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Second, by faith put your soul through the whole process of death. The first trumpet meant, strike the tents and prepare to leave; the second trumpet meant, fall into line; the third and last trumpet meant march away. This last trumpet describes the Christians marching orders at the rapture of the Church. It might be easy for us to think they werent even saved! iv. 4. : Does this mean everyone is resurrected? While therefore it is unscriptural to make baptism essential to salvation or a certain means of regeneration, it is nevertheless a dangerous act of disobedience to undervalue or neglect it. (Hodge). It is a new order of life that will never die again. The Corinthian people were also world known: for partying, drunkenness, and loose sexual morals. iii. Paul quotes from an ancient, secular comedy play, Thais, written by Menander. Through much of this book, Paul deals with the moral problems of the Corinthians: envy, divisions, pride, immorality, greed, irreverence, and selfishness. They are shown to have, at times, morality problems, doctrine problems, church government problems, spiritual gift problems, church service problems, and authority problems. Believers in Palestine are described this way (1 Corinthians 15:9), as well as the church at large (1 Corinthians 10:31-32). Christ has obtained a victory over the law; he has stopped its mouth, and answered all its demands; he has been made under, and subject to it; he has obeyed its precepts, and bore its penalty, and has delivered his from the curse and condemnation of it, so that they have nothing to fear from it; it is dead to them, and they to that: he has also I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. However, we learn something just from the meaning of the ancient Greek word apostolos, which has the idea of a special ambassador. Paul was a special ambassador of Jesus Christ to the world and to the church. In these first 10 verses, Paul refers to Jesus in every verse, for a total of 11 times. d. 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: Some take this to mean there will be different degrees of glory for believers in heaven. ii. The ivy kept growing, and one could soon only read, we preach. They know Jesus rose from the dead., followers of Jesus before His Ascension, though Acts 1:15 mentions only the 120 who were in the Jerusalem area. e. The foolishness of God is wiser than men: God was at His most foolish and very weakest at the cross, but it was infinitely wiser and stronger than anything man could do. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister (Hebrews 6:10). Paul uses this exact phrase five other times in the New Testament. The actual Corinthian factions may have centered around people in the congregation, not the different apostles who ministered to them. a. Lady Huntington, the rich and influential friend of Whitfield and Wesley, said she was going to heaven by an m: it isnt any noble; instead it is not many noble. Enduring Word Info In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. b. God has called the weak and ignorant first, but not exclusively; shepherds first, then wise men; fishermen first, then the educated (like Paul, who was himself an educated man). If there is no principle of resurrection, then, ii. 2. i. He kept to His gospel, because for those who believed it (. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11) The word resurrection, usually points out our existence beyond the grave. Corinth was a major city of business, especially because of its location. Christ crucified was the ultimate oxymoron, and this was what Paul preached! If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Paul came speaking plainly, without any attempt to dazzle with eloquence or intellect. : Whether Paul or one of the other apostles brought the message, the result was the same. If there is no resurrection, then there is no future judgment to consider. through the pride and cleverness of men! This is not some side doctrine, to be believed if one likes it. ( 1 Corinthians) Lenski - The transition is simple and perfect. The ancient Christians were for the most part slaves and men of low station; the whole history of the expansion of the church is in reality a progressive victory of the ignorant over the learned, the lowly over the lofty, until the emperor himself laid down his crown before the cross of Christ. (Alford, quoting Olshausen). Click on the different category headings to find out more. iii. Used by permission. If there is no resurrection, and no future judgment, then we may as well have the best time we can right now and Paul was a fool for putting himself in such discomfort and danger for the sake of the gospel. This may be a foolish question (Paul calls his imaginary questioner Foolish one in 1 Corinthians 15:36), but it is a question Paul will answer. This passage also makes it clear that the individual doing the baptizing doesnt really affect the validity of the baptism. But they were. This speaks to the vital need described in Romans 12:2: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. He can be confident because. Spiritual elitism is terrible, no matter whose name it is practiced in. For the abundance of their spiritual gifts. Rather, He is saying that the worlds wisdom and education does not bring us salvation in Jesus Christ. d. Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect: Paul makes it clear that it is possible to preach the gospel in a way that makes it of no effect. But though this text doth not prove the general resurrection, (being only intended of believers, that are members of Christ,) yet it doth not oppose it. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 3. Not with the, Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect, . When Paul came to Corinth in A.D. 50 the city was famous for hundreds of years before he was born. This isnt the gathering of the world, but of God. 1 Corinthians 15 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise) - Christianity 1 Corinthians 3 - Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible - Bible Lifting up Jesus, honoring, and proclaiming His goodness to all mankind What is there wise (in the Greek sense of wisdom) about a crucified Messiah?. 1 Corinthians 15:23. Session 7: Christ's Poverty, Our Wealth. iii. We dont become righteous by focusing on ourselves, because Jesus became for us righteousness. Its wrong to say that Paul preached a watered-down gospel in Athens. If there were not men who differed a little in their creeds, we should never get as much gospel as we do God has sent different men to defend different kinds of truth; but Christ defended and preached all Christs testimony was perfect. (Spurgeon), ii. But as the ivy grew, one could only read. This is a question Paul doesnt really answer in the following verses, because the answer is obvious. ii. But God cannot be found through human wisdom, but only through the message of the cross. The great gospel of Jesus Christ, the very power of God unto salvation made empty and of. The changed character of the apostles, and their willingness to die for the testimony of the resurrection, eliminate, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body" (15:42-44). after His death. When Jesus came upon the tomb of Lazarus, He, . : In a single moment, Jesus will gather His people (both dead and on the earth) to Himself, for resurrection. They were not looking for the message of the cross. He knew this was not his own accomplishment, but it was the work of the grace of God in him. 1. Yet, these positives were no great credit to the Corinthian Christians themselves. I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily, : Paul will boast a little here. Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 13 by David Guzik - Blue Letter Bible He compares his own case with that of the Corinthians: " We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we are despised, v. 10. (26-29) Gods foolish wisdom is also displayed by whom He has chosen for salvation. Apparently, some of the Corinthian Christians (probably those of the Paul Party) made a big deal of the fact that, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. You do not sow that body that shall be God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. Their idolatry was to conceive of God as ultimate Reason, meaning of course what. They preached the resurrection of Jesus, and the early Christians believed the resurrection of Jesus. The Corinthian Christians were indeed gifted, yet carnal. b. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. Are they lying in the grave, in some kind of soul sleep or suspended animation? It may simply be unrecorded, or Paul may mean beasts figuratively, in reference to his violent and wild human opponents (as he faced at Ephesus in Acts 19:21-41). The hearing and trusting of the true gospel will bring the power of God into your life. Finally, have all your affairs in order so that you are ready to die. a. It involves truth-telling, fortitude, constancy, and tolerance (1 Corinthians 13:4-5,7). It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentilesthat a man has his father's wife! And with what body do they come? They are shown to have, at times, morality problems, doctrine problems, church government problems, spiritual gift problems, church service problems, and authority problems. Sanctification speaks of our behavior, and how the believers are to be separate from the world and unto God. a. I plead with you, brethren: Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Some of them denied the reality of resurrection, while believing in a resurrected Jesus. ix. All the redeemed on the earth at that time will rise up to meet the Lord in the clouds, and will receive their resurrection bodies. He had the right, and the authority, to command the Corinthian Christians in these matters. ii. i. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. No one saw the actual resurrection of Jesus. the gospel Paul preached to them. To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. The term, (someplace bad). Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. Before that he served as director and teacher at Calvary Chapel Bible College, Germany, following more than 20 years of pastoral ministry. At the core of the gospel are things that. 1 Corinthians 15 NIV by Max McLean 0:05 8:06 Set Timer 1x Free download. i. It is truly the, i. Paul reminds us of something important: death is an, . For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. It is as if he says, You all may not recognize my apostolic credentials. (14-17) Paul is grateful he did not happen to baptize more people in Corinth and thereby add more fuel to the partisan debate. An example of this is in Acts 23:12-13, when more than forty men took a vow that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. We dont find freedom by focusing on ourselves, because, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD, : Paul uses this reference to Jeremiah 9:23-24 to show that God did it all this way so that God would get the glory. (33-34) Knowing the truth about our resurrection should affect the way we live. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father. 6. Youre no great bargain. There were, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, i. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloes household, that there are contentions among you. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Paul made it clear that to be absent from the body means to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). We are following in the footsteps of no one less than Jesus Himself. Were the ones really right with God! (Acts 18:24-25), iii. All the more, this is why they had to hold on! 2 Corinthians 4:10, Galatians 6:17. and (concrete, of felt necessity: , 50, abstract, of general principle) relate, as in 1 Corinthians 15:42 ff., to the present, living . Grace, by definition, is given freely. , and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. Called to be an apostle: At the outset of the letter indeed, the very first few words Paul fearlessly declares his apostolic credentials. The Greeks regarded Christ crucified as foolishness. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. 2. Sin is the ultimate cause of death (Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:17), and the result cant be defeated unless the cause is defeated. The Romans destroyed Corinth in 146 B.C., but Julius Caesar rebuilt the city a hundred years later. c. Sosthenes our brother: This man Sosthenes is perhaps mentioned in Acts 18:17, as the head of a Corinthian synagogue who was beaten because he protected Paul. But resurrection means, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. That is of little importance to me, because I am not an apostle because of a popular election. If you must execute this man, do it honorably. There will come a day when in Gods eternal plan, He gives those dead in the Lord their resurrection bodies, and then in an instant He gathers all His people to meet Jesus in the air. The growth of the ivy, covering the message, showed the spiritual decline. Jesus does not belong to any one party. These cliques ignore the truth of unity over all diversity in the church, even if they were all in the name of spirituality. a. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. But how we receive grace will help to determine how effective the gift of grace is. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Trapp says Paul can write this Because none out of hell ever suffered more than the saints have done.. Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord: Even if your labor is vain to everyone else, and everyone else discounts or doesnt appreciate what you do for the Lord, your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Encouraging and getting others to study, believe, and rely on God to be real. 1 Corinthians - Free Bible Commentary in easy English God's Sufficient Grace. i. There are not a handful of self-deluded souls; there are literally hundreds who saw the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes. iv. These bodies which are subject to disease, injury, and one day decay, are unsuited for heaven. 1. They were, is mere flattery, Pauls way of preparing them for coming rebuke. a. We shall rise in a full and perfect age, (as is generally thought) and without those defects and deformities which may here make our bodies appear unlovely. (Poole), ii. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 INTRODUCTION 1. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Their desire for deliverance was not bad, but their rejection of Gods way of deliverance was. Where is the wise? b. Grace is always first, peace always second. Though the word gospel isnt in this verse, it is in the previous verse. Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . So, preaching a high moral standard is not preaching the gospel, preaching the universal fatherhood of God is not preaching the gospel, and preaching the universal brotherhood of man is not preaching the gospel. We are no longer subject to the penalty of the law (death), and we are set free from sin. a. Youre no great bargain. There were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble among the Christians at Corinth. There was an old, contentious Quaker who went from one meeting to another, never finding the true church. i. Barclay on joined together: A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching, If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, : If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not risen, and Paul and the other apostles have preached. v. It is possible there was not an actual Paul Party or Apollos Party or Peter Party or Jesus Party at Corinth. v. Those who thus veil an unwelcome truth imagine that they make disciples, whereas they are only paying homage to unbelief, and comforting men in their rejection of divine propitiation for sin. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. No. That he does, : I am in constant peril of my life. Pauls life was lived so on the edge for Jesus Christ that he could say, , . His life was always on the line; there were always people out to kill him. i. The path for Gods glory is Christ crucified; the evidence of Gods glory is His choice of the lowly. Paul writes this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloes household visited and told him about the condition of the the Corinthian church. But someone will say, How are the dead raised up? 2. During the time after His resurrection, but before His Ascension, Jesus met with His followers on many different occasions. This was in constant use, because seamen were thus enabled to avoid sailing round the dangerous promontory of Malea. (Vincent) Sailors wanted to avoid the dangerous journey around Malea, which was indicated by two popular proverbs: Let him who sails around Malea forget his home, and Let him who sails around Malea first make his will. If the ship was too large to be dragged, the cargo was unloaded and loaded onto another ship on the other side of the isthmus. 1 Corinthians 15:35 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org We know that Peter had a wife, because . i. Many Christians struggle at this very point. Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind - Verse by Verse Analysis - Learn Religions Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Paul thought, with all I have endured for Jesus Christ, if there is not a resurrection and a heavenly reward beyond this life, I am a fool to be pitied. Can we, in our super-comfortable age, say the same thing? The resurrection of Jesus, iv. Although Jesus bore the full wrath of God on the cross, iii. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 4:9 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org What is an apostle of Jesus Christ? It was prosperous, busy, and growing; it had a deserved reputation for the reckless pursuit of pleasure. b. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 8. But the ancient Greek word for, i. b. i. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul: Even more foolish than dividing Jesus is to center parties in the church around men. Surely, Paul remembered his converts, but the issue of baptism, though important, was not, , it is impossible to claim that Paul was a sacramentalist. 1 Corinthians 15:58 - Always Abounding In The Work Of The Lord : The death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, is the center of the gospel. 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. Of course, Paul did baptize a few in Corinth. They got this bad thinking by associating either with Jews who did not believe in the resurrection (such as the Sadducees) or by associating with pagan, Greek philosophical types, who did not believe in the resurrection (Acts 17:31-32). As through the sin of the first Adam, all men became mortal, because all had from him the same sinful nature, so, through the resurrection of Christ, shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit, and the spiritual nature, revive, and live for ever. Verse 1 Corinthians 15:3. Verse 3. When you bury the body of a believer, you are sowing a seed that will come out of the earth as a resurrection body. d. Is Christ divided? We ought to honour those most whom God most honoureth, either by a more plentiful giving out of his Spirit, or by a more plentiful success upon their labours; but we ought not so far to appropriate any ministers to ourselves, as for them to despise others. i. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. Where is the scribe? These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Paul uses this exact phrase five other times in the New Testament. i. Paul brilliantly links together the ideas of sin, death, and our identification with Jesus death and resurrection in Romans 6:1-14. d. Through our Lord Jesus Christ: This defeat of death is only possible for those who live through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 - Bible Gateway It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. This thought will not only to keep you going, but 1 Corinthians 15:58 also says that it can motivate you to always abound in the work of the Lord.' I believe that God has used this exhortation to encourage the guardians to abound in the work of the Lord. The bottom line is this: is the church influencing the city, or is the city influencing the church? does not mean moral or ethical corruption, but physical, material corruption. III. So, he persecuted the church before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). 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. Paul thought carefully about this letter. Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, Why did Paul so carefully prove the resurrection of Jesus? And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. : Jesus made a special resurrection appearance to Peter (Luke 24:34). . 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 - The Gospel of Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 - The Glory of the Resurrection 1 Corinthians 16 - A Collection and a Conclusion 1 2 Bible Commentary Quick Navigation Start Here!