Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.
56. the strength of sin is the law ] That the sting of death should be sin is very easy to understand. It is not so easy at first sight to account for the introduction here of St Paul’s favourite doctrine (see Romans 7) that ‘the strength of sin is the law.’ Yet the sequence of thought may be discovered. What gives sin its power at that supreme moment is the fact that it is the transgression of the righteous Law of an all-wise and all-holy being. (Rom 7:12; Rom 7:14; 1Ti 1:8.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The sting of death – The sting which death bears; that with which he effects his purpose; that which is made use of to inflict death; or that which is the cause of death. There would be no death without sin. The apostle here personifies death, as if it were a living being, and as making use of sin to inflict death, or as being the sting, or envenomed instrument, with which he inflicts the mortal agony. The idea is, that sin is the cause of death. It introduced it; it makes it certain; it is the cause of the pain, distress, agony, and horror which attends it. If there had been no sin, people would not have died. If there were no sin, death would not be attended with horror or alarm. For why should innocence be afraid to die? What has innocence to fear anywhere in the universe of a just God? The fact, therefore, that people die, is proof that they are sinners; the fact that they feel horror and alarm, is proof that they feel themselves to be guilty, and that they are afraid to go into the presence of a holy God. If this be taken away, if sin be removed, of course the horror, and remorse, and alarm which it is suited to produce will be removed also.
Is sin – Sin is the cause of it; see the note at Rom 5:12.
The strength of sin – Its power over the mind; its terrific and dreadful energy; and especially its power to produce alarm in the hour of death.
Is the law – The pure and holy law of God. This idea Paul has illustrated at length in Rom 7:9-13; see the notes on that passage. He probably made the statement here in order to meet the Jews, and to show that the law of God had no power to take away the fear of death; and that, therefore, there was need of the gospel, and that this alone could do it. The Jews maintained that a man might be justified and saved by obedience to the law. Paul here shows that it is the law which gives its chief vigor to sin, and that it does not tend to subdue or destroy it; and that power is seen most strikingly in the pangs and horrors of a guilty conscience on the bed of death. There was need, therefore, of the gospel, which alone could remove the cause of these horrors, by taking away sin, and thus leaving the pardoned man to die in peace; compare the note on Rom 4:15.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 56. The sting of death is sin] The apostle explains himself particularly here: death could not have entered into the world if sin had not entered first; it was sin that not only introduced death, but has armed him with all his destroying force; the goad or dagger of death is sin; by this both body and soul are slain.
The strength of sin is the law.] The law of God forbids all transgression, and sentences those who commit it to temporal and eternal death. Sin has its controlling and binding power from the law. The law curses the transgressor, and provides no help for him; and if nothing else intervene, he must, through it, continue ever under the empire of death.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sting of death is sin; if it were not for sin, death could have no power over man; sin is that which giveth death a power to hurt the children of men: The wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23.
And the strength of sin is the law; and without the law there could be no transgression. The law is so far from taking away the guilt of sin, that, through the corruption of our natures, strongly inclining us to what is forbidden, it addeth strength to sin; sin (as the apostle saith, Rom 7:8) taking occasion by the commandment, and working in us all manner of concupiscence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
56. If there were no sin, therewould be no death. Man’s transgression of the law gives death itslawful power.
strength of sin isthe lawWithout the law sin is not perceived or imputed(Rom 3:20; Rom 4:15;Rom 5:13). The law makes sin themore grievous by making God’s will the clearer (Ro7:8-10). Christ’s people are no longer “under the law”(Ro 6:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The sting of death is sin,…. Death has a sting, and which was originally in it, and that is sin; sin is the cause of death, it is what has given rise and being to it; it entered into the world by it, and is supported in its empire through it; it gives it its resistless power, which reaches to all sorts of persons, young and old, rich and poor, high and low, bond and free; it gives it all its bitterness, agonies, and miseries; and it is by that it does all the hurt and mischief it does; and it may fitly be compared to a sting, for its poisonous and venomous nature:
and the strength of sin is the law; not that the law of God is sinful, or encourages sin: it forbids it under the severest penalty; but was there no law there would be no sin, nor imputation of it; sin is a transgression of the law: moreover, the strength of sin, its evil nature, and all the dreadful aggravations of it, and sad consequences upon it, are discovered and made known by the law; and also the strength of it is drawn out by it, through the corruption of human nature; which is irritated and provoked the more to sin, through the law’s prohibition of it; and this is not the fault of the law, but is owing to the vitiosity of nature; which the more it is forbidden anything, the more desirous it is of it; to which may be added, that sin is the more exceeding sinful, being committed against a known law, and that of the great lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; whose legislative power and authority are slighted and trampled upon by it, which makes the transgression the more heinous; it is the law which binds sin upon a man’s conscience, accuses him of it, pronounces him guilty, curses, condemns, and adjudges him to death for it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The power of sin ( ). See Rom 4:15; Rom 5:20; Rom 6:14; Rom 6:7; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:1-5 for Paul’s ideas here briefly expressed. In man’s unrenewed state he cannot obey God’s holy law.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “The sting of death is sin;” (to de kentron to thanatou to hamartia) -Now the sting of the death is the sin,” of the old man, the Adamic nature. Death is personified as a poisonous creature inflicting physical death, Rom 5:17; Rom 5:21.
2) “And the strength of sin is the law,” (he de dunamis tes hamartias ho nomos) “And the dynamics of the sin (sin nature), what measures sin and makes it stand out, is the law,” Rom 4:15; Rom 5:20; Gal 2:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
56. The sting of death is sin In other words, “Death has no dart with which to wound us except sin, since death proceeds from the anger of God. Now it is only with our sins that God is angry. Take away sin, therefore, and death will no more be able to harm us.” This agrees with what he said in Rom 6:23, that the wages of sin is death. Here, however, he makes use of another metaphor, for he compared sin to a sting, with which alone death is armed for inflicting upon us a deadly wound. Let that be taken away, and death is disarmed, so as to be no longer hurtful. Now with what view Paul says this will be explained by him ere long.
The strength of sin is the law It is the law of God that imparts to that sting its deadly power, because it does not merely discover our guilt, but even increases it. A clearer exposition of this statement may be found in Rom 7:9, where Paul teaches us that we are alive, so long as we are without the law, because in our own opinion it is well with us, and we do not feel our own misery, until the law summons us to the judgment of God, and wounds our conscience with an apprehension of eternal death. Farther, he teaches us that sin has been in a manner lulled asleep, but is kindled up by the law, so as to rage furiously. Meanwhile, however, he vindicates the law from calumnies, on the ground that it is holy, and good, and just, and is not of itself the parent of sin or the cause of death. Hence he concludes, that whatever there is of evil is to be reckoned to our own account, inasmuch as it manifestly proceeds from the depravity of our nature. Hence the law is but the occasion of injury. The true cause of ruin is in ourselves. Hence he speaks of the law here as the strength or power of sin, because it executes upon us the judgment of God. In the mean time he does not deny, that sin inflicts death even upon those that know not the law; but he speaks in this manner, because it exercises its tyranny upon them with less violence. For the law came that sin might abound, (Rom 5:20,) or that it might become beyond measure sinful. (Rom 7:13.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(56) The sting of death is sin.Death is pictured as a monster, and it is armed with a sting. Its sting is sin. If there were no sin, death would not be capable of inflicting pain, and the strength of sin springs from the fact that it is the violation of Gods law. (See this thought fully brought out, Rom. 5:12; Rom. 7:7.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
56. Sting of death is sin Before Adam’s sin the destroyer slew the lower orders of creation, but had no sting for man; man would attain the resurrection state without death or hades. Note, 1Co 15:51.
Strength the law The law over Adam, with its “Thou shalt not,” made the act (otherwise irresponsible like those of animals) to be sin, and worthy of death. Thence death, which in the lower orders is simply natural, in man is also judicial and penal.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.’
He visualises death as like a vicious insect or scorpion with its poisonous sting. And what was death’s sting? It was sin. Once man had sinned, he was sentenced to death. And subsequently all men sinned, and therefore all died. All were stung by sin. And it continues so to be. But then One came Who had not sinned, and yet He too was sentenced to death. He too died. And in that was Satan’s error. For He Who died bore the sin of all who would be His (1Co 15:3), of all who had been given to Him by the Father (Joh 6:39). And thus was death rendered powerless. In Christ the power of sin was broken, the guilt of sin was removed, and for those who submitted themselves to Christ, death had no further sting. It was sheathed in Jesus Christ in Whom it could have no everlasting effect, because He was the ultimate sacrifice and the Lord of life.
‘And the power of sin is the Law.’ Here too there is tragedy. The Law that should have given life gives only death, for it is the Law that condemns man unceasingly. When a man sins the Law points at him unerringly. It declares, ‘man, you have sinned, for you have broken one of my precepts.’ And he knows then that he is doomed, and that death is the inevitable consequence. That he has no hope. He has sinned and he must die. And the more he sins the more the Law condemns him. The Law which should have been his hope, and should have meant that he could live triumphantly, could now only condemn. By his sin man has turned God’s blessing into a curse. For once he had sinned it became his accuser.
This idea of the Law is amplified later in Rom 7:7-14. But whether Paul here means the Law of Moses, or the general law that governs mankind (Rom 2:15) we cannot be certain. There has been no prior emphasis on the Law in 1 Corinthians. Yet the question is not a vital one. To Paul God’s Law underlay all law (Rom 2:14). And the principle remains the same. Moral law, which is intended for good, condemns once sin is committed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 15:56 f., still retaining the conception of the and the , points, by way of happy conclusion (not as introduction to the admonition which follows, as Hofmann would have it), to the firm dogmatic ground upon which this certainty of future victory rests in a connected view of the gospel. “Seeing that death slays through sin (Rom 5:12 ), and sin, again, is powerful through the law (Rom 7:7 ff.), it is thus certain that God gives us the victory over death through Jesus Christ.” Christ, that is to say, has indeed blotted out sin through His , has risen for our righteousness’ sake; and has thus withdrawn us from the curse of the law, and withdrawn us by His Spirit from its power to stir up and promote sin (Rom 8:1 ff.). In this proof set forth by the apostle, the summary of his whole gospel is contained. The form , however, is not argumentative, but, in correspondence with the elevated and emotional tone of the passage, such that shadow and light are placed beside each other, but with the light breaking forth after the darkness, as in Rom 7:25 , in the shape of a cry of thanksgiving .
] present ; for this future victory of life over death is for us sure and certain.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
Ver. 56. The sting of death is sin ] Christ having unstinged death, and as it were disarmed it, we may safely now put it into our bosoms, as we may a snake whose sting is pulled out. If it shoot forth now a sting at us, it is but an enchanted sting, as was that of the sorcerers’ serpents. Buzz it may about our ears, as a drone bee; but sting us it cannot. Christ, as he hath taken away not sin itself, but the guilt of sin; so not death itself, but the sting of death.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
56 .] See above: and compare Rom 5:12 ; Rom 5:7 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 15:56 is set aside by Sm [2585] , and Clemen ( Die Einheitlichkeit d. paul. Br., ad loc [2586] ), after Straatmann and Vlter, as a “marginal note” of some early Paulinist, on the ground that it is out of keeping with the lyrical strain of the passage, and with the absence of the anti-legal polemic from this Ep. But the ideas of this ver. fill the contemporary Rom. and Gal. Epp., and are uppermost there in Paul’s highest moods (see Rom 8:31 ff., 2Co 5:13-21 ); they are expressed with an originality and pregnant force unmistakably Pauline, and in a rhythmical, imaginative turn of expression harmonising with the context. In this Ep., which “knows nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” the Ap. was bound to link his theology of the Resurrection to the doctrine of salvation by the Cross: see 1Co 15:17 f., in proof that the is one, in Paul’s mind, with the .
[2585] P. Schmiedel, in Handcommentar zum N.T. (1893).
[2586] ad locum , on this passage.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
strength = power, as in verses: 1Co 15:24, 1Co 15:43.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
56.] See above: and compare Rom 5:12; Rom 5:7.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 15:56. , sin) If there were no sin, there could be no death; comp. Hos 13:12. Against this prick no one could have kicked by his own strength; no one could have sung that song of triumph, where, etc. The particle but indicates this fact.- , the law) threatening death for sin; without the law sin is not perceived; under the law sin has dominion; Rom 6:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 15:56
1Co 15:56
The sting of death is sin;-Sin inflicts on the sinner a wound that is mortal, For the wages of sin is death. (Rom 6:23).
and the power of sin is the law:-Sin exerts its power to bring about death through the law when it is violated. [The best comment on this expression is found in Rom 5:12-15; Rom 7:7-12. Paul was confronted with the horror of a broken law, which reminds him of a being infinitely holy, and of his own self-condemnation.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sin
(See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
sting: Gen 3:17-19, Psa 90:3-11, Pro 14:32, Joh 8:21, Joh 8:24, Rom 5:15, Rom 5:17, Rom 6:23, Heb 9:27
the strength: Rom 3:19, Rom 3:20, Rom 4:15, Rom 5:13, Rom 5:20, Rom 7:5-13, Gal 3:10-13
Reciprocal: Gen 2:17 – surely Job 18:14 – the king Rom 7:7 – is the law Rom 7:8 – For without
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 15:56. Sting of death means that because of sin death threatened the human race with the sting of God’s eternal wrath. The strength or effect of sin in bringing about this sting, is through the law against sin, which makes mankind responsible for their conduct.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 15:56. The sting of death is sinas it inflicts on the sinner a wound which is mortal (Rom 6:23),and the power of sin is the law. Law is the expression of sovereign authority. A law which has no power to avenge the breach of itself is no law at all. But the Divine law has deadly power, since the breach of it is death. It will be seen that sinhere is viewed in its penal, not its moral character; as criminal, as damnable, as, in its desert, deadly rather than as hateful (as in Rom 4:15; Rom 5:13; 1Jn 3:4); though these two features of sin are of course inseparable.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. Death has its sting. A sting has a threefold property, to pierce, to pain, and to poison: all which were applicable unto death.
Observe, 2. Death’s sting is sin, or death has its sting upon the account of sin. Sin, like a sting, pierces; it pierces us in its guilt, it pierced Christ in its punishment. The soul which no weapon can reach, sin can wound. As a sting, it paineth as well as pierceth. Judas was so pained with it, that in the height of horror he hanged himself in hopes of ease. And as a sting it poisoneth; sin is a deadly poison, pleasant in the mouth, bitter in the belly, baneful in the end. So strong a poison is sin, that nothing could expel it but the blood of Christ.
Observe, 3. Death comes to a believer without a sting; behold, Christ became obedient unto death, that he might unsting death. Death shot its sting into our Saviour’s side, there left it, and there lost it: it is not now unto any of his members a hurting, but a healing serpent; there is now no venom, no malignity in it.
Observe, 4. That as sin is the sting of death, so the strength of sin is the law. Not as if the law did encourage a man to sin, or strengthen him in sinning: for it prohibits sin under the severest penalties, and condemns the sinner to the pit of hell: but the law gives life, or adds strength, to sin.
1. By the curse and obligation of it, binding the sinner under the guilt of sin to the judgment of the great day. Thus the law strengthens sin, by putting into it a condemning power.
2. By the irritation of the law: sin takes occasion by the law, and by the commandment becomes exceeding sinful; when lust finds itself restrained, then like a river that is stopt, it rises and foams and rebels against the law of the mind, and fetches in all its force to rescue itself from that sword which heweth it in pieces.
3. By the conviction and manifestation of the law, laying open sin to the conscience of the sinner, and showing him that God is all eye to see, and all fire to consume, every unclean thing. Thus the law gives sin its strength, and death its warrant, to arrest and execute us. Ah, wretched and miserable sinner! upon whom, together with death, the weight of sin, and the curse of the law fall together! which woundeth deep, and presseth low, even to the lowest hell, unless thou canst say truly, what the apostle doth triumphantly, in the next verse.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Co 15:56-58. The sting of death is sin Which arms it with its greatest terrors, and is attended with a foreboding of future misery, as the effect of the divine displeasure. And the strength of sin Which constitutes its malignity, and gives it those killing weapons; is the law As is largely declared Rom 7:7, &c.; or, that it is a transgression of the divine law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us Who believe on the Lord Jesus with our hearts unto righteousness; the victory Over sin, death, and hades; through our Lord Jesus Christ Through his sacrifice and intercession, and the supplies of his grace; through his dying to atone for sin; his rising again to show us that his atonement was accepted, and that he had obtained justification for believers, the Holy Spirit to raise them to newness of life, and a state of immortal glory. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast In faith, hope, and love, and in an uninterrupted course of well-doing; Col 1:23; Rom 2:7; Gal 6:9; unmoveable By any temptations from within or without; from persons or things; from visible or invisible enemies; always abounding in the work of the Lord In every service you are capable of performing for the glory of God, the good of your fellow-creatures, or your own salvation; the work of faith, or the labour of love to God and man. Forasmuch as ye know On the surest evidence; that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord But that you shall receive a full reward in that day of final recompense for whatever ye do for his sake. Let us endeavour, therefore, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain a lively hope of this felicity in all its spirit and energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost extent of the expression, death shall be swallowed up for ever: and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory? And when we shall join in everlasting thanksgivings to God for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The sting of death is sin [Rom 6:23]; and the power of sin is the law [Rom 4:15; Rom 7:10-12]:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. This arises from the fact that the law says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Hence when the sting of death is extracted it becomes harmless. If the sting of a hornet were extracted it would do the baby for a toy just as well as the butterfly, as it would be perfectly harmless. Hence the wonderful victory of Christ! He lays hold on the grim monster, extracts his sting, then turns him loose and makes him a blessing to His true people. It is the glorious work of entire sanctification to destroy sin, which is the sting of death, thus saving us not only from the power, but even from, the terror of the grim monster, thus utterly disarming and divesting him of all his terrors and transforming him into an angel of mercy, carrying the golden key to unlock the pearly gates and let us sweep in with a shout.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 56
Is the law. It is the law, which, by its denunciations and penalties, makes the consequences of sin so terrible.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The fatal sting of death touches humans through sin (Rom 6:23). What makes sin sinful is the law of God (Rom 7:7-11). Because Jesus Christ overcame sin and fulfilled the law, death cannot hold its prey (Rom 5:12-21). Death is still an enemy in the sense that it robs us of mortal life. Notwithstanding it is not a terror to the believer because it is the doorway into an immortal life of glory.