enduring word 1 corinthians 15 enduring word 1 corinthians 15

We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Expiring saints have often said that their last beds have been the best they have ever slept upon. (Spurgeon), iii. He has destroyed the wisdom of the wise, just as He said He would., was the man who wanted to dispute every issue and solve it by human reason. (Mare), The world through wisdom did not know God, : There is a constant tendency to think that the smartest and wisest humans will know the most about God. But the ancient Greek word for, i. ii. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. We can follow Pauls logic point-by-point: If there is no principle of resurrection, then Jesus did not rise from the dead. iii. Whether there are degrees of glory, as it seems probable, so we shall certainly know, when we come to heaven. (Trapp). He kept to His gospel, because for those who believed it (both Jews and Greeks), Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God. But our expectations of what God should do keep us from receiving that power and wisdom. b. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. c. I tell you a mystery: In the Biblical sense, a mystery is simply a thing to be understood by spiritual, rather than by merely human perception. To remain willfully ignorant of the truth is sin. Paul, knowing death is a defeated enemy because of Jesus work, can almost taunt death, and mock it. ii. The cross was a time of victorious death, a, is part of the gospel. ii. i. Paul expressed the same idea again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. We are not told much about this visit, but we can assume there was some special need for comfort and restoration in Peter that Jesus ministered to. They are saints together with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is certain that a blind man is no judge of colours, a deaf man is no judge of sound, and a man who has never been quickened into spiritual life can have no judgment as to spiritual things. (Spurgeon). 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. ii. Let every pulpit rightly say, we preach Christ crucified! A strong church once inscribed these words on an archway leading to the churchyard. 1 CORINTHIANS - PROBLEMS OF A LOCAL CHURCH Click chart to enlarge Charts from Jensen's Survey of the NT - used by permission. (30-31) True wisdom belongs to the believing. Therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, : Because we know death is defeated and we have an eternal, resurrected destiny with Jesus Christ, we should stand firm and unshakable all the more for Him right now. Yes, but only broken that it may be re-formed. It is the heart shown in God when it is said of the Lord, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance ( 2 Peter 3:9 ). Therefore, the resurrection of Jesus is not some add on to a more important work on the cross. Paul will not allow this. Christ: This is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, or Anointed One. This is the One prophesied by the Old Testament Scriptures, sent by the Father to save and deliver us. So he was fired from or quit his job as ruler of the synagogue! Paul doesnt only consider believers in Corinth to be the church of God. To the church of God: Most people today associate the word church with a building where Christians meet. But dont expose Him to the horror and the humiliation of hanging on a cross. But God wanted, , and if we dont embrace the cross, even with all its strange contradictions and demands, then we are. He recognizes that the gifts were not the problem, but wrong attitudes and beliefs about the gifts. Either the present dead in Christ are with the Lord in a spiritual body, awaiting their final resurrection body; or because of the nature of timeless eternity, they have received their resurrection bodies already because they live in the eternal now.. He establishes the certainty of our Saviour's resurrection, ver 1-11. "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS" Chapter Fifteen OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER 1) To see how the resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our faith 2) To determine why we believe that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead 3) To notice the sequence of events which will occur at the end of time as presented in this chapter 4) To understand Not with the wisdom of words, which can be translated cleverness of speaking. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, : Paul says to the Corinthians, Look at yourselves. (22-25) The wisdom of God, though foolish to the world, triumphs. We have all borne the image of the first Adam, and those who put their trust in the last Adam will also bear His resurrection image. i. Salvation is not the achievement of human wisdom; it is the embrace of Gods dramatic, unexpected act of love at Calvary. Therefore, if Jesus is not risen, He is unable to save. , he does not speak of his spiritual identification with the death of Jesus. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from Godand righteousness and sanctification and redemptionthat, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.. 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). Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. True wisdom isnt about getting smart. Gods wisdom is received in and through the person of Jesus. The disunion is unnatural and must be cured.. By keeping evil company, the Corinthian Christians were being conformed to this world, and they needed to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is of little importance to me, because I am not an apostle because of a popular election. Paul always remembered how he had sinned against Jesus church. of our resurrection in the sense that He is our entrance fee to resurrection. a. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. i. (42-44) Comparison of the two kinds of bodies. It wasnt because the Corinthian Christians did not believe Jesus rose from the dead. 2. : We dont often think of the burial of Jesus as part of the gospel, but it is. (26-29) Gods foolish wisdom is also displayed by whom He has chosen for salvation. Grace means that God gives freely, for His own reasons. Three glimpses of the bodys glory were seen, in Moses face, in Christs transfiguration, and in Stephens countenance. (Trapp), iii. God has made them all foolish through His wisdom. Dear friends, if such be death if it be but a sowing, let us have done with all faithless, hopeless, graceless sorrow Our family circle has been broken, say you. i. Our resurrection body will be a heavenly (celestial) body, suited for life in heaven, not only life on this earth. i. Paul had an extensive history of contact with the city of Corinth, beginning with when he established the church in Corinth, coming there after Athens and staying a year and a half (Acts 18). 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. i. The Corinthian people were also world known: for partying, drunkenness, and loose sexual morals. b. Greeks seek after wisdom: The Greek culture valued the pursuit of wisdom, usually expressed in high, academic, philosophical terms. c. Enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and in all knowledge: This was the effect of grace in the life of the Corinthian Christians. 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. Were the ones really right with God!, vi. This may seem like a small distinction to us, but it must be an important distinction to God. These bodies which are subject to disease, injury, and one day decay, are unsuited for heaven. Here, he simply states the fact: And has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, of our resurrection in both senses. Paul praises God for their positives, and expresses confidence that God will take care of their weak points, and confirm them to the end, so that they would be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. Finally, one could only read we, and the church also just became another social gathering place, all about we and not about God. This is a question Paul doesnt really answer in the following verses, because the answer is obvious. 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! . Everything good the Corinthian Christians have from God has come to them by. i. 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! I Corinthians 15:3-6 " For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. Apparently, some of the Corinthian Christians (probably those of the Paul Party) made a big deal of the fact that they had been baptized by Paul. (20-23) The resurrection of Jesus was the firstfruit of our resurrection. If Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and remove our guilt, then why is the resurrection of Jesus so important? We may pride ourselves on not having the problems of the Corinthian Christians, but do we have their positives? Paul then received reports from people in Chloes household about disturbances in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:11); and he may have received a delegation from Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:7) who brought him questions from the congregation (1 Corinthians 7:1). Yet in the first chapter of Acts, Jesus brothers are among the followers of Jesus (Acts 1:14). ii. ix. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, : The apostle Paul follows the normal pattern for writing a letter in ancient times. Where is the disputer of this age? . : Its hard to understand what our resurrection bodies will be like, so Paul will use, Raised in incorruption raised in glory raised in power. In its Gentile sense it denotes chiefly the citizen-assembly of a Greek city but it is its Jewish usage that underlies its use to denote the community of believers in Jesus. i. Philippians 3:21 repeats Pauls theme: Who 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. The Greeks regarded Christ crucified as foolishness. All flesh is not the same flesh: There are all different kinds of bodies in Gods creation, including celestial bodies. i. a. God loves them, bears them hearty good-will, and bestows on them his fatherly smiles and blessings. Crispus believed on the Lord with all his household (Acts 18:8), and was saved. That Paul did not regard baptism as essential to salvation is also seen by the fact that he did not keep careful track of those he baptized: Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. Paul knew this by experience. d. You come short in no gift: Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble. Jesus made a special appearance to James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Where is the scribe? This also demonstrates Jesus credibility, because He proclaimed He would rise three days after His death (Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19). The plain fact is that Paul did not know when these events would take place, and nowhere does he claim to know. In the Old Testament, the offering of firstfruits brought one sheaf of grain to represent and anticipate the rest of the harvest (Leviticus 23:9-14). We write a letter by saying who the letter is to first, and we conclude with writing who the letter is from. However, we learn something just from the meaning of the ancient Greek word . It wasnt so much that they thought Apollos was great, but that. He currently serves now as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. The gospel is the message of the cross. iv. He has destroyed the wisdom of the wise, just as He said He would., i. He can be confident because. But in the first century, saying, is foolishness to those who are perishing, To us who are being saved it is the power of God, : Though it is a strange message, and regarded as foolish by the perishing, to those who trust in it and are, in the preaching of the true gospel, when it is received with faith. I am not an apostle through the appointment of the other apostles. Instead of being torn apart, Paul pleads that they would be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption: The word corruption does not mean moral or ethical corruption, but physical, material corruption. This wisdom is often in contradiction to mans expectation. Einstein thought that their estimate was a little generous, but he replied: Is it possible that God exists in the 95% that you dont know?, d. Through the foolishness of the message: The Corinthians wanted to believe that the gospel itself was a sublime form of wisdom, as the Greeks considered wisdom (sophia). The point is plain: There is no wise man, no scribe, and no debater who can do what Jesus Christ has done. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Raised in incorruption raised in glory raised in power: Our resurrection body will be glorious! And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? When writing Scripture, Paul was infallible, but not omniscient. iv. It is better to bear trouble in this world, than to be miserable for ever. i. What happened to change them? The resurrection body of Jesus was material and could eat (Luke 24:39-43), yet it was not bound by the laws of nature (Luke 24:31, 24:36-37). Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. They both describe a work in progress. Yet not it, but the grace of God which was with me. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? iii. All will be resurrected in the sense that they will receive a resurrection body and live forever. This is due to the fact that grace is the source of peace. This is the sharpest and the shrillest note, the boldest and the bravest challenge, that ever man rang in the ears of death Death is here out-braved, called craven to his face, and bidden to do his worst. (Trapp), ii. So when he says, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The resurrection body of Jesus was material and could eat (Luke 24:39-43), yet it was not bound by the laws of nature (Luke 24:31, 24:36-37). The person who is gifted with prophecy is the person whom God has inspired to speak His words to people in their own language. I will not fear thee, death, why should I? Aramaic is the language that Jesus spoke. A hard knot must have a hard wedge, a dead heart a rousing reproof. (Trapp). b. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. If my sins are not completely paid for before God, then I am still in my sins. Simply put, God the Father will always be God the. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. a. ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-2) Preface to the proclamation of Paul's gospel. The term church of God has Old Testament associations, especially in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament). Paul writes this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloes household visited and told him about the condition of the the Corinthian church. d. Those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved: The verb tenses of are perishing and are being saved are significant. , and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. i. Through much of this book, Paul deals with the moral problems of the Corinthians: envy, divisions, pride, immorality, greed, irreverence, and selfishness. God has made them all foolish through His wisdom. 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. For others, there is resurrection and eternal life, but unto damnation. God isnt saying that it is better to be foolish or uneducated. By man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead, : Here, Paul communicates the same ideas found in Romans 5:12-21. Of course, Paul did baptize a few in Corinth. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. As is evident from 1 and 2 Corinthians, Pauls standing and authority as an apostle were not appreciated among the Christians of Corinth. But all that is temporary. : This refers to a few different meetings, such as in John 20:26-31, John 21:1-25, Matthew 28:16-20, and Luke 24:44-49. If there is no principle of resurrection, and if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the apostles are. After what has been said about the value of love only one admonition is in place: "Pursue love!" Third, hold this world with a loose hand. (1-2) Preface to the proclamation of Pauls gospel. Later in this letter, Paul writes that he transferred to himself and Apollos what applied to others (1 Corinthians 4:6). 1. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Mans flesh only is informed by a reasonable and immortal soul, not so the flesh of other creatures: and hence the difference. (Trapp). A thousand times no. d. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed: Since sleep is a softer way of describing the death of a believer, Paul tells us that not all Christians will die, but there will be a final generation who will be transformed into resurrection bodies at the return of Jesus before they ever face death. Those who deny the deity of Jesus say this verse proves their point. Love suffers long: Love will endure a long time. 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? (29-32) More reasons to believe in the principle of resurrection. (45-49) The two Adams and their bodies. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (1) The sin of an unnamed Christian in Corinth. There is inherent power in the preaching of the true gospel, when it is received with faith. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body" (15:42-44). 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. We are no longer subject to the penalty of the law (death), and we are set free from sin. Certain divines tell us that they must adapt truth to the advance of the age, which means that they must murder it and fling its dead body to the dogs which simply means that a popular lie shall take the place of an offensive truth. (Spurgeon). If you must execute this man, do it honorably. He can be confident because God is faithful. The first trumpet meant, strike the tents and prepare to leave; the second trumpet meant, fall into line; the third and. But Hodge recognizes that Paul isnt necessarily referring to only believers of his day with all; it is a word that properly embraces all believers, over all time. There is much in 1 Corinthians that is unflattering to the Christians of Corinth. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-2. The Greek word has both a Gentile and a Jewish background. This wisdom is often in contradiction to mans expectation. It is the heart shown in God when it is said of the Lord, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance ( 2 Peter 3:9 ). are significant. 2. The sting of death lay in this, that we had sinned and were summoned to appear before the God whom we had offended. But how we receive grace will help to determine how effective the gift of grace is. We sometimes sing: You ask me how I know He lives; He lives, He lives inside my heart. But that is not the best way to prove Jesus lives. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. He did not or will not rise at some general resurrection of the dead. Specifically, they wanted the sign of a miraculous Messianic deliverance. In light of all this, how could the Corinthian Christians let go of such an important truth? : This was doubtless some very religious matron at Corinth, whose family were converted to the Lord; some of whom were probably sent to the apostle to inform him of the dissensions which then prevailed in the Church at that place., : The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict. . The Corinthian Christians just did not think carefully. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloes, : Chloe was a woman (probably a Christian) whose business interests caused her representatives (those of her. ) As horrible as the physical suffering of Jesus was, this spiritual suffering the act of being judged for sin in our place was what Jesus really dreaded about the cross. Paul doesnt only consider believers in Corinth to be. . ii. Our resurrection body will be a heavenly (. ) There is much in 1 Corinthians that is unflattering to the Christians of Corinth. 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. isnt detailed in the gospels, but is suggested by Matthew 28:10 and 28:16-17. He wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth from the city of Ephesus (Acts 19), which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9. We are not bound to make every minister our pastor, but we are bound to have a just respect for every minister, who by his doctrine and holy life answereth his profession and holy calling. (Poole). You can check these in your browser security settings. But the submission of Jesus to the Father doesnt come from any inherent inferiority; instead, it comes from the administrative order of the Godhead. : If the Corinthian Christians did not continue to, , one day they might let go of the gospel. We know that Jesus could do this after His resurrection; He could miraculously appear in a room that had all the doors locked and the windows shut. All rights reserved worldwide. If one preaches the word with a reliance on, i. Crucify him! if we had our wits about us, we would have shouted back, Dont crucify Him! So He receives resurrection first as, of Jesus described here uses the ancient Greek word, of our resurrection, does that mean He was the first one raised from the dead? Certainly, this meeting of the resurrected Jesus with His brother. 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). They were not the spiritual achievements of the Corinthians, but the work of the grace of God in them. b. There was an old, contentious Quaker who went from one meeting to another, never finding the true church. There is nothing more uncomely, unlovely, and loathsome than a dead body; but it will not be so when it shall be raised again, then it shall be a beautiful, comely body. Chuck Smith points to a grammatical construction that would be different if this trumpet were the trumpet of Revelation 11. iii. d. Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints: Paul continued his description of the Corinthian Christians. He speaks of utterance and knowledge. i. Paul expressed the same idea again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. a. We dont become righteous by focusing on ourselves, because Jesus became for us righteousness. That there be no divisions among you: The ancient Greek word for divisions is schismata. Although we derive our English word schism from this Greek word, it does not really mean a party or a faction; it properly means tear or rend. Pauls plea is that they stop ripping each other apart, tearing up the body of Christ. You see that the mark of a child of God is that by the grace of God he is what he is; what do, His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, : Though grace made Paul what he was, Paul still, i. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. David Guzik is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, California. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. But as the ivy grew, one could only read we preach Christ, and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. : This probably refers to the first meeting Jesus had with His assembled disciples, mentioned in Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-43, and John 20:19-25. How sobering this is! ii. 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. b. So when he says we he means we believers. (Morris). The great Roman statesman Cicero said: The cross, it speaks of that which is so shameful, so horrible, it should never be mentioned in polite society. If we were witnesses to the trial of Jesus when the crowd was shouting out Crucify him!