Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
50. Now this I say, brethren ] We enter here upon a new phase of the argument. The Apostle now tells us how this great result shall be accomplished. We cannot inherit eternity as we are: a change is necessary. And this change will in the end be a sudden one, but will consist rather in the modification of the external conditions of the body than in any destruction of its essential properties. See note on 1Co 15:53.
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ] It is not the material particles of our body which endure for ever. They are subject to corruption and dissolution. It is the spiritual principle of life which abides, and like the seed, attracts to itself such material particles as shall serve it for a suitable habitation. (See notes on 1Co 15:37-38.) The early heretics mentioned above, 1Co 15:12, caught eagerly at this verse as disposing of the idea of a material resurrection. But the early Fathers of the Church shewed conclusively that it was not to be so understood. They cited St Luk 24:39 to prove that Jesus Christ had ‘flesh and bones’ after His Resurrection. And we may observe, moreover, that in St Paul’s language ‘flesh and blood’ stood for our ordinary humanity, as distinguished from everything of a spiritual nature. See Rom 8:1-10; Gal 1:16; Eph 6:12.
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption ] An additional proof of what has just been stated. Our ordinary flesh and blood is by its very nature destined to corruption. It is not with such flesh and blood that we can become partakers of the incorruptible life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now this I say, brethren – I make this affirmation in regard to this whole subject. I do it as containing the substance of all that I have said. I do it in order to prevent all mistake in regard to the nature of the bodies which shall be raised up. This affirmation is made respecting all the dead and all the living, that there must be a material and important change in regard to them before they can be prepared for heaven. Paul had proved in the previous verses that it was possible for God to give us bodies different from those which we now possess; he here affirms, in the most positive manner, that it was indispensable that we should have bodies different from what we now have.
Flesh and blood – Bodies organized as ours now are. Flesh and blood denotes such bodies as we have here, bodies that are fragile. weak, liable to disease, subject to pain and death. They are composed of changing particles; to be repaired and strengthened daily; they are subject to decay, and are wasted away by sickness, and of course they cannot be suited to a world where there shall be no decay and and no death.
Cannot inherit – Cannot be admitted as heir to the kingdom of God. The future world of glory is often represented as an heirship; see the note on Rom 8:17.
The kingdom of God – Heaven; appropriately called his kingdom, because he shall reign there in undivided and perfect glory forever.
Neither doth corruption … – Neither can that which is in its nature corruptible, and liable to decay, be adapted to a world where all is incorruptible. The apostle here simply states the fact. He does not tell us why it is impossible. It may be because the mode of communication there is not by the bodily senses; it may be because such bodies as ours would not be suited to relish the pure and exalted pleasures of an incorruptible world; it may be because they would interfere with the exalted worship, the active service, and the sleepless employments of the heavenly world; it may be because such a body is constituted to derive pleasure from objects which shall not be found in heaven. It is adapted to enjoyment in eating and drinking, and the pleasures of the eye, the ear, the taste, the touch; in heaven the soul shall be awake to more elevated and pure enjoyments than these, and, of course, such bodies as we here have would impede our progress and destroy our comforts, and be ill adapted to all the employments and enjoyments of that heavenly world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Co 15:50-54
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God
I. The general law.
1. This carries with it its own proof: for, obviously, darkness might as well become light, or death life, as that which is corrupt rise into the incorruptible. On this point St. Paul is earnest and absolute. The exception of 1Co 15:51 is only an apparent one. Those who are alive when Christ comes will nevertheless be changed (1Co 15:52).
2. Note the significance of this law. Flesh and blood is a Scripture term for the lusts and passions of our lower nature. Jewish readers would instantly apprehend its force. To them the blood was the life; and therefore it was shed in sacrifice. It was the seat of passion and desire, of all that is lawless and irregular; and therefore they were not permitted to partake of it. Their conception finds utterance to-day in such phrases as, His blood is up, or, A hot-blooded fellow. St. Paul uses the term here as the symbol of this life, these lusts, these corruptions, which cannot inherit incorruption.
3. Mark the different use of the phrases flesh and blood and flesh and bones in the New Testament. Flesh and blood cannot inherit; the incorrupt and heavenly kingdom, but flesh and bones may and do. After His resurrection Christ had flesh and bones (Luk 24:37-39); and Christians are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph 5:30). Christs blood as the symbol of life has been shed for the redemption of the world: as the symbol of corruption, it is poured out, exhausted. Flesh and bones may still be retained even when the natural becomes a spiritual body; but the life that pulses through it is that of a higher than mortal existence.
II. The truths and hopes which underlie it.
1. The truth for which St. Paul contends is not the immortality of the soul, but the resurrection of the body. Centuries before Christ the Greeks had believed that the souls of the departed survived the pangs of death. But these souls were not themselves, they were but their shades. Elysium was as thin and unsubstantial in its avocations and joys as the poor ghosts that tenanted it. And as nature shrinks from disembodiment, the Greeks were accustomed to offer rich garments on the tombs of heroes, if so be that, being thus clothed, they might not be found naked, and a Corinthian queen is said to have appeared to her husband after death, entreating him to burn dresses for her as a covering for her disembodied spirit. We may smile at all this, but none the less we are touched by this naive childish testimony to the universal dread of disembodiment, the universal desire to be clothed upon with some vesture whether of earth or heaven. To men gazing thus sadly into the future St. Pauls strong hearty words must have been as health to the sick. So, then, they were not to become disembodied spirits, but to be clothed upon with a body more exquisitely attuned to the faculties and energies of their spiritual life!
2. In our Lords risen body we have the express type of the spiritual bodies we are to wear.
(1) The body which His disciples recognised was essentially the same although it had undergone a mysterious change. What that change was St. Paul hints in the phrase, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Consequently we find that they did not instantly recognise Him when He came to them. They knew Him only as He was pleased to make Himself known. He was not bound by material laws. He is found present, no one knows from whence. He passes away, no one knows whither (Joh 20:19; Luk 24:31; Act 1:9). In the person of Christ we see the whole man–body, soul, and spirit–raised from the grave. We see all the intelligent and passionate faculties of the soul held in perfect subjection to the higher claims of the spirit. The body is not simply restored to its pristine vigour and purity, but lifted To a higher and more spiritual pitch. It is not unclothed, but clothed upon. The corruptible has put on incorruption, the mortal has put on immortality.
(2) And this is the change that must pass on us, if indeed Christ be in us, the hope of glory. Like Him we are to put on immortality and incorruption: not to break with the past, nor to lose our identity; not to be changed beyond our own recognition or that of our friends, but to be purged from the corruptible and baser elements of our nature, to be redeemed from our bondage to sense, and its laws; to be transfigured, that the spirit which Christ has quickened in us may dwell in a quick spiritual body–a body that shall not check, nor thwart, nor dull, but perfectly second and express, the untiring energies of our higher and renewed nature. As a man awaking for a moment from a mortal trance, so we may wake from the sleep of death, and say, nothing is lost, but, ah, how much gained! (S. Cox, D.D.)
The change required that we may inherit the kingdom of God
I. The kingdom intended.
1. Not the kingdom of Christ on earth.
2. But the kingdom of God in glory, which is heavenly and eternal.
II. The unfitness of man for it.
1. His nature is morally corrupt.
2. Physically it is earthly and corruptible.
III. The change necessary.
1. A new birth.
2. A resurrection. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Corporeal transformation
Paul here speaks of a bodily transformation that is–
I. Indispensable (verse 50). Flesh and blood, i.e., our mortal nature, cannot inherit the heavenly world. He does not say why–whether the state of the atmosphere, or the means of subsistence, or the force of gravitation, or the forms and means of vision, or the conditions of receiving and communicating knowledge, or the nature of the services required. Flesh and blood can no more exist yonder, than the tenants of the ocean can exist on the sun-burnt hills. In such corporeal transformations there is nothing extraordinary, for naturalists point us to spheres of existences where they are as regular as the laws of nature.
II. Certain (verse 51). Mystery here does not point to the unknowable, but to the hitherto unknown, viz., that we shall all be changed. We shall not all sleep.
1. Some will be living when the day dawns. As in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man, they ate, they drank, etc.
2. Both those who will be living and those who will be sleeping in the dust will undergo corporeal transformation.
III. Instantaneous (verse 52). The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, etc.
IV. Glorious (verses 53, 54). The transformation is from mortality to immortality, from the dying to the undying; death will be swallowed up in victory. The idea may be taken of a whirlpool or maelstrom that absorbs all that comes near it. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The necessity of the believers resurrection arises
I. Out of the nature of the kingdom of God, which is–
1. Heavenly.
2. Spiritual.
3. Incorruptible.
4. Divine.
5. Holy.
II. Out of the imperfection of the human body, which is–
1. Earthly.
2. Sensual.
3. Corruptible.
4. Sinful.
III. Out of the purpose of God.
1. It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
2. The body of flesh and blood cannot inherit it.
3. Therefore it must be subject to a marvellous change. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.—
Corruption cannot inherit incorruption
I. Corruption.
1. Implies dissolution.
2. Is on earth a natural law.
3. Overtakes man in consequence of sin.
4. Includes decay, disease, death, decomposition.
II. Incorruption.
1. Implies immortality.
2. Is the distinguishing feature of the heavenly world.
3. Results from the immediate presence and power of God.
4. Secures purity, happiness, immortal vigour, eternal life.
III. The incompatibility of the two.
1. Is obvious.
2. Hence the absolute necessity of a change not only in mans moral but physical condition.
3. To be effected in the resurrection.
4. That man may inherit eternal life. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all he changed.
The mystery of the resurrection revealed
I. The great change.
1. Its nature.
(1) The resurrection of the dead.
(2) The transformation of the living.
2. When and how effected.
(1) At the last trump.
(2) In a moment.
(3) By the power of God.
3. Its absolute certainty.
II. The triumph.
1. Death swallowed up in victory.
2. Hence the exultation of the redeemed over death and the grave.
III. The means of participation in it. The victory is–
1. The free gift of grace.
2. Through Christ.
3. By the destruction of sin.
IV. The practical lesson,
1. Steadfastness.
2. Abundant toil.
3. Confident hope. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Change
I. Our life on earth is full of change. Every hour brings changes and chances. The sun which rises to shine on happy childrens faces, bright with laughter, sets over a desolate home. Have you ever seen the famous picture of The Railway Station? That, or the reality, will show you any day what a tangle life is. There you will see youth and age, joy and sorrow, success and failure, hope and despair, going their several ways in the great journey of life.
II. But the greatest change of all is yet to come. There will be a change–
1. In our bodies. The poor, worn-out clothing of flesh which was laid in the grave to decay, will be no longer needed. As the trees are clad with new clothing in the spring-time, so will our souls be at the great spring-time of the Lords coming. As the beggar forgets his rags when wrapped in soft raiment, so shall we doubtless forget our poor bodies, or remember them only as a dream when one awaketh. Here they are constantly getting out of repair. When we are changed, we may believe it will be always well with us in body.
2. In our minds and feelings. We shall be improved by the lessons we learn, just as we see a child altered by wise and careful schooling. The man of science has a world of knowledge and beauty open to him which the unlearned does not dream of. So in the school beyond there must be a still wider world of which the cleverest men know nothing. Then our mind, no longer warped by prejudice, will understand rightly; then we shall know even as we are known. We shall see clearly what seemed so dark and perplexing before. We shall understand how some of Gods dealings with us, which appeared so strange and hard, were the best of blessings for us.
III. The change will be very great, but we ,shall be fitted for it.
IV. The change will not make us feel lonely. In that land none are strangers. Sometimes when one is going to emigrate, I have asked him if he did not expect to feel very strange and lonely, and the answer was, Oh no, I have friends waiting for me there. And so with us.
V. Though the great change comes then, there must be a change in us now. Our most constant, prayer should be, Give me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. (H. J. W. Buxton, M.A.)
The final change
This is one in which you will be, not merely spectators, but parties concerned. It is an event the most certain. It is a solemnity that is continually drawing near. Note–
I. The union there is among the followers of the redeemer. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
1. Of the number of this universal Church, some sleep. Death is often an alarming subject, and to reduce this dread we should do well to view it;as Scripture does as a departure–a going home–a sleep. Man is called to labour, and the sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. So Christians must work while it is day, etc. But then they will rest from their labours. Sleep is a state from which you may be easily awakened; and, lo! all that are in their graves shall hear Christs voice, and come forth.
2. Many will be found alive. The earths inhabitants will not be gradually consumed till none are left: the world will be full; and all the common concerns of life will be pursued with the same eagerness as before. And, as it was in the days of Noah, etc. Many of the Lords people too will be found alive; and perhaps they will be much more numerous than at any former period.
II. In what manner will this be disposed of? We shall all be changed. We are always varying now. But what a change is here from time to eternity, from earth to heaven, from the company of the wicked to the presence of the blessed God: from ignorance to knowledge; from painful infirmities to be presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy! But the change principally refers to the body: for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, etc. Enoch and Elias, though they did not die, passed through a change equivalent to death. The same change which will be produced in the dead by the resurrection will be accomplished in the bodies of the living by this transformation; and of this we have the clearest assurance (verses 42-44).
III. The ease and despatch with which all this will be performed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. What a view does this give us of the dominion and power of God! Think of the numbers that will be alive–all these metamorphosed in one instant. And why should it be thought a thing incredible? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
IV. The signal. At the last trump, etc. When the Lord came down on Horeb to publish the law, the voice of the trumpet waxed exceeding loud. By the sound of the trumpet the approach of kings has been announced. Judges in our country enter the place of assize preceded by the same shrill sound. And those who have witnessed the procession well know what an awe it impresses, and what sentiments it excites. Will the last trump call you to lamentation, and mourning, and woe? or will its language be, Lift up your heads with joy, for your redemption draweth nigh? Conclusion: He who will then be the Judge, is now the Saviour. He will then say to the wicked, Depart–but He does not say so now to any–His language is, Come. (W. Jay.)
For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.—
The trumpet shall sound
It is said when Lord Nelson was buried at St. Pauls Cathedral, all London was stirred. As the funeral procession passed on, it moved amid the sobbing of a nation. Thirty trumpeters stood at the door of the cathedral with musical instruments in hand, and when the illustrious dead arrived at the gates of St. Pauls Cathedral these thirty trumpeters blew one united blast; but the trumpets did not wake the dead. He slept right on. What thirty trumpets could not do for one man, one trumpet will do for all nations.
The trumpet of judgment
The blowing of trumpets at particular seasons was a statute for Israel. The trumpet was to be blown on the solemn feast day, to assemble the people together, to direct their march when the camp was to be moved, they were to be sounded over the burnt-offerings, and at the new moons, and when the year of jubilee arrived to proclaim liberty, also to summon the people to war. To this St. Paul alludes, when he says, If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? All this was typical of the trumpet of the gospel which is to resound till all are warned to flee from the wrath to come (Psa 89:15). But there is another trumpet we must all hear.
I. The manner of its sound.
1. Sudden. Our Lord intimates this (Mat 24:38, etc.). The destruction of Jerusalem was a fit representation of this, it was awfully sudden. When the trumpet sounds to judgment there shall be the giddy and profane pursuing their unhallowed pleasures. In a moment! in the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet shall sound! Oh! to be found watching, waiting, praying, ready. Blessed is that servant who, when his Lord cometh, shall be found so doing.
2. Universal. It shall re-echo in heaven, reach every corner of earth, and penetrate the dark abyss of hell. Every soul shall hear it that ever lived in the world from the days of Adam to the period when the last infant shall be born, the king and the peasant, the righteous and wicked, etc. You who dislike the sound of the gospel; you who neglect the great salvation; you, formal professor, and self-righteous pharisee; you, hypocrite with the mask of religion–all must hear it.
3. Final. It is the close of all things the termination of our probation. There is a period when you shall hear of salvation, when you shall attend the sanctuary, when you shall read the Bible and surround the sacramental table for the last time.
II. The import of its accents. The Sound shall proclaim–
1. The end of time. How solemn the thought! Now we have the seasons in regular succession, times of business, recreation, devotion, etc. But soon time shall be no longer. The river of time will be emptied in the ocean of eternity. Oh! then, now seize it, and sail in the ship of the gospel, and you shall be safely conducted by the Divine Pilot till you glide safely into an ocean of bliss, that knows not the ruffle of a wave.
2. The resurrection of the dead.
3. The approach of the Judge. It shall be glorious. How unlike His first advent. The scene will be majestic beyond description. How great the designs of His coming! Not to present an atoning sacrifice, but to hold the last assize. He shall come to explain the mysteries of His providence, to display the riches of His grace, in the consummation of the happiness of His people, to vindicate His justice in the everlasting destruction of His foes.
III. The solemnity of its results.
1. The final triumphs of the righteous.
2. The eternal punishment of the wicked. (Ebenezer Temple.)
The resurrection
I. What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpet? That this will announce our Saviours coming to judgment is frequently asserted (Mat 24:31; 1Th 4:16). As at the giving of the law, so at the judging of men according to that law, God shall cause some such sound to be uttered as shall be heard over the whole world, and summon all men to appear before His judgment-seat, and when this sounds then shall the dead be raised.
II. Who are those dead that shall be raised at the sound of this trumpet?
1. There is a threefold life: natural, the union of the soul to the body; spiritual, the union of Christ to the soul; eternal, the communion of the soul with God. Answerable to this there is a threefold death.
(1) Natural, when the soul and body are divorced from one another.
(2) Spiritual, which is the separation of the soul from Christ. Though many by grace are redeemed from this, yet all by nature are subject to it. And as all by nature are subject to it, so do most by practice still lie under it. Dead as to all sense of sin, as to all spiritual graces, as to all heavenly comforts, as to that life of faith which the children of God are quickened with.
(3) Eternal, the separation of the soul from God; and you that lie under the spiritual death of sin must either get yourselves quickened by the life of faith in Christ, or else except by eternal death to be separated from the Lord of Life.
2. Which of these shall be raised? All of them, and yet it is the naturally dead which are chiefly to be understood here.
III. How shall the dead be raised? When the trumpet shall sound by the power of the most high God, every mans body being made fit to receive its soul, the soul shall immediately be united to it, and so we, even the very self-same persons that now we are, shall be raised to answer for what we have done here.
IV. How doth it appear that the dead shall thus be raised?
1. From Scripture (Isa 26:19; Dan 12:2; Joh 5:28-29; Mat 22:31-32).
2. From reason.
(1) Christ has been raised.
(2) The soul is immortal, and it is against all reason that one essential part of man should be continued in its being, and the other should be turned to nothing.
(3) Justice requires that they that are co-partners in vice and virtues should be co-partners also in punishments and rewards. Though a sin would not be a sin without the soul, yet it would not be committed without the body. The body could not sin unless the soul consented; the soul would not sin so often unless the body tempted.
V. How shall they be raised incorruptible? The apostle here treats of principally the resurrection of the saints, who shall be raised incorruptible.
1. In their souls, which being wrought up into an exact conformity to the will of God, will be emptied of all corruptions, and blessed with all perfections.
2. In body. As our souls shall be void of all corruptions, so shall our bodies be of all imperfections, for these our vile bodies shall be made like unto Christs glorious body. What is sown a natural shall be raised a spiritual body; it shall not any longer be a clog to us in the performance of duties to God; but it shall be as quick, agile, and subservient as if it was advanced beyond the degree of a body, and had commenced a soul.
3. In their happiness. There shall be no crosses in their relations, no losses in their possessions, no disgrace in their honours, no fears in their preferments, no irregularities in their affections, no sorrow in their joys, no darkness in their light, not one drop of misery in the whole ocean of happiness they shall enjoy.
VI. What is meant by we shall be changed? There will be a change in–
1. Our opinions. We shall think otherwise of most things. Here we are apt to look upon sin as amiable, and grace as not desirable; but then we that once esteemed all things before God, shall look upon God as to be esteemed above all things.
2. Our conditions. A Dives in this may become a Lazarus in the other world; and a Lazarus here, a Dives there. (Bp. Beveridge.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom] This is a Hebrew periphrasis for man, and man in his present state of infirmity and decay. Man, in his present state, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; his nature is not suited to that place; he could not, in his present weak state, endure an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. Therefore, it is necessary that he should die, or be changed; that he should have a celestial body suited to the celestial state. The apostle is certainly not speaking of flesh and blood in a moral sense, to signify corruption of mind and heart; but in a natural sense; as such, flesh and blood cannot inherit glory, for the reasons already assigned.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Flesh and blood do not here signify sin, the unrenewed nature, (as some would have it), but our bodies, in their present natural, corruptible, frail, mortal state; so the terms signify, Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14. Flesh and blood shall inherit the kingdom of God, (else our bodies could not be glorified), but our body, as in its present state, till changed and altered as to qualities, till it be made a spiritual body, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The latter words give a reason why
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; because it is corruption, that is, subject to natural corruption and putrefaction, and the heavenly state of incorruption; the bodies of believers therefore must be raised up in that state of incorruption mentioned 1Co 15:42, before they can be capable of inheriting the kingdom of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
50. (See on 1Co15:37; 1Co 15:39). “Fleshand blood” of the same animal and corruptible nature as ourpresent (1Co 15:44)animal-souled bodies, cannot inherit the kingdom of God.Therefore the believer acquiesces gladly in the unrepealed sentenceof the holy law, which appoints the death of the present body as thenecessary preliminary to the resurrection body of glory. Hence he”dies daily” to the flesh and to the world, as thenecessary condition to his regeneration here and hereafter (Joh 3:6;Gal 2:20). As the being bornof the flesh constitutes a child of Adam, so the being born ofthe Spirit constitutes a child of God.
cannotNot merely isthe change of body possible, but it is necessary. Thespirit extracted from the dregs of wine does not so much differ fromthem, as the glorified man does from the mortal man [BENGEL]of mere animal flesh and blood (Ga1:16). The resurrection body will be still a body thoughspiritual, and substantially retaining the personal identity; as isproved by Luk 24:39; Joh 20:27,compared with Php 3:21.
the kingdom of Godwhichis not at all merely animal, but altogether spiritual. Corruptiondoth not inherit, though it is the way to, incorruption(1Co 15:36; 1Co 15:52;1Co 15:53).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now this I say, brethren,…. Upon the whole, I assert this, and observe it to you, out of a truly Christian respect for you, as brethren in the Lord, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: this shows the necessity there is of a difference between the body that now is, and that which shall be, which the apostle has so largely insisted on, and so clearly proved and explained, in the preceding verses; because the body, as it now is, is not capable of possessing the heavenly glory; was it to be introduced into heaven, in the condition it is now, it would break in pieces, and crumble into dust; it would not be able to bear the glory of that state and place: by flesh and blood is meant, not human nature as to the substance of it, or as consisting of flesh and blood, for that can and does inherit the kingdom of God; witness the human nature, or body of Christ, the bodies of the saints that rose after his resurrection, and those of Enoch and Elijah, who were translated body and soul to heaven; so that this passage makes nothing for those that deny the resurrection of the same body, and plead for a new and an aerial one: but the human nature, or body, so and so qualified, is here meant; either as corrupted with sin, for without holiness and righteousness no man shall see the Lord, or enter into and possess the kingdom of heaven; or flesh and blood, or an human body, as it is now supported in this animal life, with meat and drink, c. and as it is frail and mortal, and subject to death, in which sense the phrase is used in Scripture see Mt 16:17 and often by the Jews; so Abraham is represented by them as saying i,
“I am , “flesh and blood”, tomorrow I shall depart out of the world, or die:”
it would be endless to give the many instances that might be produced of this use of the phrase with them, and in which sense it is to be taken here: and the meaning is, that saints in their frail mortal bodies, such as they now are, are not capable of enjoying the heavenly glory; which is called “the kingdom”, because of its riches, glory, grandeur, and magnificence; and the kingdom “of God”, because it is of his preparing and giving; and what he calls his people to, and makes them meet for, and in which they will reign with him for evermore: heirs of it they may be, and are now whilst in this frail and mortal state; but inherit, possess, and enjoy it, they cannot, as not without holiness of soul, so not without immortality of body; and therefore it is necessary that the body should rise different in qualities from, though the same in substance with, the present body; that it should rise incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual; that it may be fitted for, and be able to bear the exceeding weight of glory in the other world:
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption: by corruption is not so much meant sin, or the corruption of nature, or man as corrupted by sin, though it is true of such an one, that he does not, and cannot inherit incorruption; the incorruptible crown, the crown of glory that fadeth not away, the incorruptible inheritance, reserved in the heavens, those riches which moth and rust corrupt not; but the body, as it is generated in corruption, is supported by corruptible things, and is subject to corruption and worms; in such a situation it is unfit for, and incapable of inheriting eternal glory; it must be different from what it is; it must put on immortality, and be clothed with incorruption: the word inherit in both clauses shows, that the heavenly glory is an inheritance, and belongs to children only; is their heavenly Father’s bequest unto them; is not bought or acquired by anything of theirs; and is what they enter into and upon, in virtue and consequence of the death of the testator, Christ.
i Bemibdar Rabba, sect. 11. fol. 202. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Cannot inherit ( ). Hence there must be a change by death from the natural body to the spiritual body. In the case of Christ this change was wrought in less than three days and even then the body of Jesus was in a transition state before the Ascension. He ate and could be handled and yet he passed through closed doors. Paul does not base his argument on the special circumstances connected with the risen body of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Now this I say, brethren,” (touto phemi, adelphoi) “And this I further assert, brethren, beloved.” This is an emphatic reassertion of fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and all men; its ultimate fruit is victory.
2) “That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;” (hoti sarks kai haima basileian theou kleronomesai ou dunatai) “That flesh and blood (bodies) have not power of dynamics to inherit or receive an heir-setting in the domain of God’s administrative government reign,” Mat 16:17; Mat 25:34; Rom 3:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
50. Now this I say This clause intimates, that what follows is explanatory of the foregoing statement. “What I have said as to bearing the image of the heavenly Adam means this — that we must be renewed in respect of our bodies, inasmuch as our bodies, being liable to corruption, cannot inherit God’s incorruptible kingdom. Hence there will be no admission for us into the kingdom of Christ, otherwise than by Christ’s renewing us after his own image.” Flesh and blood, however, we must understand, according to the condition in which they at present are, for our flesh will be a participant in the glory of God, but it will be — as renewed and quickened by the Spirit of Christ.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE BELIEVER S VICTORY OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE
1Co 15:50-58
IN our previous study of this chapter, you will remember, the great Apostle called attention to the various forms of flesh found in the world, saying, All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds (1Co 15:39).
It is an evidence of the superior wisdom, aye, even of the inspiration of the Apostle, that his statement concerning the different forms of flesh provides a foundation for further argument on the resurrection, for, if you will take a moment to consider, you will remember that while the beasts live, for the most part on the earth, and the fishes dwell in the waters, and man upon the surface of the globe, birds have their existence in the first heaven, or the atmosphere above us, and in each instance a body is provided fitted to the element in which that form of life exists. It follows, therefore, that the God who created the third and the seventh heaven would fit the bodies destined to dwell in them to their nature and character. Paul is here arguing that such indeed is to be the nature and experience of the spiritual body.
The earnest of all this was seen in the resurrection body of Jesus which found no difficulty in entering a room with closed doors, and no conflict in overcoming gravitation, but ascended to heaven at will. And as His body was the firstfruits of the resurrection, our spiritual bodies shall be like it, capable of dwelling on the earth and yet ascending into the heavens at pleasure.
Now in the concluding verses of this chapter this idea is wrought out, and we may give it fitting expression if we think together about: The Character of the Kingdom of God, The Changes to be Accomplished in our Bodies, and The Call to Courageous Conduct.
THE CHARACTER OF THE KINGDOM
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (1Co 15:50).
This passage, studied in the light of many others referring to the same thing, makes certain things fairly clear:
First, The Kingdom is not identical with Christian civilization. The great characteristic of Christian civilization is flesh and blood. Every solitary subject of Christian civilization is flesh and blood; yet Paul declares that Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The logical conclusion is that while we have a so-called Christian civilization, we have not as yet any Kingdom of God. One of the most common, and one of the least excusable mistakes in the present-day theology finds expression in this phrase, the Kingdom of God. Men talk constantly as if the Kingdom of God had come already. They dispute their own speech the moment they open their mouths to pray, as Christ taught them, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.
It will be admitted upon intelligent reflection that Christ is not the sovereign of any city upon the face of the earth; that He is not the ruler of any village or hamlet. A study of the social and moral conditions of the cleanest rural district will confirm the claims of Scripture that up to the present moment Satan remains in power, the god of this world.
Have you never thought of what Jesus said, in answer to Pilates question, Art Thou the King of the Jews? and how it comports with Pauls claims? Jesus said, My Kingdom is not of this world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My Kingdom not from hence (Joh 18:36).
This Kingdom is not even made up of mortal men. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. What does the Apostle mean? What he says, and all Scripture confirms him. The superb characteristic of the Kingdom of God will be the immortality of its subjects. The Scriptures plainly affirm who and what they shall be. The resurrection saints, while sharing with Him the administration of the Kingdom, will be His subjects every one, for when the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout; in other words, when the King comes back again, the dead in Christ shall rise first (1Th 4:16). That is the hour in which this corruptible must put on incorruption, and the life of these risen saints will not be a mortal one, dependent upon the heart beatflesh and blood; but like that in which their Lord lived again after His resurrection from the deada body of flesh and bonesanimated by the eternal spirit.
There is a remarkable passage in Luk 20:35-36, the meaning of which lends light to this subject. The Sadducees, who said there was no resurrection, had questioned Jesus concerning the woman who had had seven husbands. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. And Jesus answered,
The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; (the exact expression is, They are angel-like) and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
What is it to be angel-like? Is it to be bodiless? No! Every angel that has appeared on the earth has appeared in bodily form. They have sat at human tables, and taken human food; they have exercised gracious missions for men in human forms. The great difference has been that they were not mortal; that their natural home was in a higher sphere.
Living believers shall be changed! In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and this mortal must put on immortality.
There is no indication that converts, made from the Jewish people and the nations, during the Millennium, under the personal reign of Christ, will be mortal men, and the very statement of Scripture, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isa 40:31), refers to the children of the Kingdom in the Millennial age, when, as A. J. Gordon put it, Celestial flight shall alternate with terrestrial travel, and each alike shall be unwearying.
There never was a kingdom in the realm of which rebels might not be found, and the Kingdom of God will be no exception! But in that golden era when He shall reign over a new earth, the great Prophet Isaiah distinctly declares, There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed (Isa 65:20).
He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Ah, beloved, when one remembers that the subjects of this Kingdom are to be immortal, we understand why Jesus could at once affirm concerning John the Baptist, there is not a greater, and yet declare, He that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he (Luk 7:28).
This Kingdom is promised only at Christs second appearance. He has gone to receive for Himself a Kingdom and to return. When Paul was delivering his charge to Timothy to Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season, he did it in the sight of God and Jesus Christ, whom he said, should judge the quick and the dead at His Appearing and His Kingdom.
The order and the connection are alike expressed in the Apostles speechthe Appearing first; the Kingdom afterward, and the Kingdom, the consequence of the Appearing, If there is an instance in Scripture where the establishment of the Kingdom of God is presented as preceding the Appearance of the King, we are not familiar with it.
If the Kingdom is to come to this world and all the blessed results promised for the Millennial age are to follow its establishment, the King Himself must appear to set it up, and only when the scepter is in His hands will they beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (Isa 2:4); only when the scepter is in His hand will the wolf also * * dwell with the lamb (Isa 11:6), and wars cease unto the end of the earth (Psa 46:9); when the scepter is in His hand the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying (Isa 65:19); and they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them (Isa 65:21); and the custom, now so prevalent, whereby one builds and another inhabits, shall cease. When John contemplated these blessed results of His Return it is little wonder that he cried, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
THE CHANGES TO BE ACCOMPLISHED
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the Law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Co 15:51-57).
They involve the mightiest of mysteries. Paul does not attempt to fully explain the mystery of the resurrection. Why should he? Is God under any obligation to lay bare His last secret? The deep things belong to Him. I may not know all the processes by which a little seed sends life out of death and transforms earth, air and water into green blade and bewitching flowers. The processes are Gods mystery; the product is my joy. I am glad that reason staggers before some sentences of revelation; I worship God the better because His thoughts are as high above mans as the heavens are high above the earth. I am glad that Science falters, when, scalpel in hand, it seeks to lay bare the Divine secrets. To me God is the more glorious because some of His ways are past finding out; and if I may not know how these changes are wrought I may receive from the Apostle the statement of their features, and aspire by faith to the more blessed experience of either a resurrection from the dead, by which my corruptible body shall be made incorruptible, or a victory against the grave by which my mortality shall become immortal; and these are the things involved in these changes.
They will convert the corruptible into the incorruptible.
For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, * * For this corruptible must put on incorruption, * * Death is swallowed up in victory.
Therein is the promise of redemption from the grave. It is the one note of joy for the bereaved. Nothing that has ever come into the world has so scarred its face, and so sorrowed human hearts as the spade of the cemetery sexton. I often drive through our beautiful Lakewood. In springtime, all nature breaks into beauty there. The blooming flowers are as fresh and fragrant as the season; the green sward is a landscape of God indeed; the monuments and obelisks are expressions of classic beauty, marking the resting places of our beloved dead. But I say to you that I hate the cemetery, none the less! It has started too many tears, broken too many hearts, destroyed too many homes, dissipated too much of happiness, given rise to too great sorrow and grief; it has shown too little pity for bereaved mothers, too little concern for brokenhearted fathers, too slight a sorrow for suffering brothers and sisters; and the only way that I can be happy, and yet wander in the realm where the last Enemy has conquered, is to keep in mind the promise of resurrection, and anticipate the day when the promises of this text shall be perfected and the graves of the believers shall be broken up; the day when the beauty of the trees, the fragrance of the flowers, and the music of the birds shall be exceeded a hundredfold, yea, a thousand, by the hosts of Gods redeemed, standing in triumph over the last Enemy, having conquered corruption.
And yet this is not all, for in that hour one other, and equally wondrous change shall be accomplished.
Believing mortals shall be made to be immortals. For is it not also written, This mortal must put on immortality. So when * * this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall he brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory (1Co 15:53-54.). Ah, a victory! I used to wonder at the meaning of Jesus words at Lazarus grave, I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die (Joh 11:25-26).
I could understand the first, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; I knew that the grave had to give up its dead; I understood perfectly that corruption was to give place to incorruption; but what did my Master mean by the phrase that whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die? I had known people who believed on Him while living and yet they had died. What mystery therefore was my Master speaking? Oh, the advantage of comparing Scripture with Scripture! No mystery whatever! When He said, He that believeth in Me though he were dead, yet shall he live, He uttered the sentence that compassed the whole condition of the deceased; but when He added, Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die, He referred not to the company of those who had gone to the grave, but to the company of those who, living when He shall appear, escape the grave and, changed from the mortal to the immortal, scorn then the claims of the last Enemy by saying, O death, where is thy sting? knowing full well that this devastating power cannot do its work against the sons of God who shall shine forth in the presence of Him who hath conquered Death once for all.
What a glorious change to contemplate! What else does the man whose soul is saved need to complete the redemption except to have such a change come over his bodythat temple of the Holy Ghost as will make it an eternal habitation fit for the Spirit with which God has possessed it? The greatest trials of my life, the greatest annoyances of yours, the most frightful sins possible to any of us are in consequence of the flesh, the very laws of which war against the Spirit. That is what the Apostle means when in the seventh chapter of Romans he writes,
I am carnal, sold under sin:
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the Law that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me * *.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man:
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:14-17; Rom 7:21-24).
That is the cry of every one of us! We are tethered, as it were, to a tenement which takes on the form of our very personality; and yet has a hundred doors open to the incoming of the evil one.
When He comes, under whose hands these mighty changes shall be wrought, the bodies which sleep in the graves shall no more surely put on incorruption than shall these mortal bodies put on immortality, changed from dishonor to glory, from weakness to power, from the natural body to the spiritual; and in that hour we shall shine forth as the children of the Kingdom. I like to think of the bodies that shall bewith all corruption goneincorruptible! with all mortality goneimmortal! with all weakness gonepowerful! with all dishonor removedmade glorious! with all carnal appetite destroyedspiritual! I shall not attempt to imagine the glory and beauty of such a body, but ask you to abide with me content in the significance of the Word of God concerning the coming Saviour, and the changed life, and to look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself (Php 3:20-21).
The Apostle Paul makes all of this an argument to lead up to a great final sentence, which contains,
A CALL TO COURAGEOUS SERVICE
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
It is an appeal to steadfastness in the faith. Paul is not content to ask them to be steadfast in the faith; he has done that before; he has found them carried away by every wind of doctrine, and now adds the meaningful word, and yet the qualifying one, unmoveable.
Oh, that Paul might come back to preach to these perilous times, wherein even the pulpit is occupied by men who call into question the fundamental truths of the Scriptures. There were men all over England who called the sainted Spurgeon a grumbler, and finally denied him even the fellowship of his own denomination, and yet his words had occasion; and now in this country, on the part of some, yea, we fear, of many, is it true even as he affirmed, My brethren, these are times of drifting; men have pulled up their anchors and are driving to and fro by the winds and tides of divers kinds. The atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth; and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy with them. But inspiration and speculation cannot long abide in peace. Compromise, there can be none! We cannot hold the inspiration of the Word, and reject it; we cannot believe in the atonement and deny it; we cannot hold the doctrine of the fall and yet talk of the evolution of spiritual life from nature; we cannot recognize the punishment of the impenitent and yet indulge the Larger hope. Decision is the virtue of the hour. Let those who will keep the narrow way, keep it, and suffer for their choice. What concord hath Christ with Belial?
It was a brave utterance, a clarion call, and though they condemned the man who uttered it, they have turned now to build to him a tomb as to the true prophet of Godand such he was. Ah, that the appeal of the Apostle Paul might find place in the hearts of others, that at least those of us who are in the ministry might become Stedfast, in faithunmoveable!
And yet the Apostle was not a theorizer. He was the most practical of all men, and to his call for steadfastness in faith he adds yet another:
In labors let us be more abundant! Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Beloved, if the foregoing Scriptures are true, the time of our service for Christ may be short indeed, and every true believer should be busy redeeming the time. Dr. Mason, the great Burman missionary, tells the story of a converted BurmanShapon. He was asked if he were willing to resign his office as boatman, for which he was receiving fifteen rupees a month, and go as a preacher at only four rupees a month. After the conversation and prayer, Dr. Mason said, Well Shapon, what have you decided? Will you go for four rupees a month? No, teacher, replied the Burman, I will not go for four rupees a month, but I will go for Christ. Oh, that that spirit might possess us, and in proportion as it does we will abound in the work of the Lord.
And yet the Apostle was too good a preacher to conclude his discourse without encouragement, and this fifteenth chapter is finished with a sentence spoken unto that end. It was a part of the call, and yet it was a promise.
It was a call to courageous confidence! Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Henry Van Dyke has penned no more needful discourse than his Call to Courage. But if we are ever to enjoy it, we must get into the Apostles philosophy and learn that courage is linked forever with the love of the Son of God and a knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. In 1832 Adoniram Judson was confined in the prison at Rangoon. The indignities to which he was subjected, the tortures to which he was submitted daily, were such as to have utterly overwhelmed a spirit less brave, and finally they discouraged even him. One day he said to the officer in charge, Cast me into the water and let me drown; I have sojourned in this land and done my best for Christ, but it has come to naught; let me drown! But it was only the weakness of a second, for immediately he added, No, no, I must cheerfully fill the place God has appointed me! To that end let us remember our labour is not in vain!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(50) Now this I say.This is the phrase with which the Apostle is wont to introduce some statement of profound significance. (See 1Co. 1:12; 1Co. 7:29.) The statement so introduced here is that flesh and blood, being corruption, cannot enter into the heavenly state, which is incorruption. This is still part of the answer to the question, With what bodies do they come? but the reply is no longer based upon any analogy. It comes now as a revelation of what he had been taught by the Spirit of God. Flesh and blood are indeed corruption. Blood is everywhere the type of this lower animal life. Blood is the life of the flesh; and so, though Jews might eat the flesh, they might not eat the blood, which is the life thereof (Gen. 9:4). All offerings which typified the offering up and sacrifice of selfthe lower sinful selfwere sacrifices by shedding of blood, without which was no remission (Heb. 9:22). When the supreme Sacrifice was made on Calvary the blood was shedonce for all. So when Christ showed His resurrection body to His disciples He did not say, A spirit hath not flesh and blood, as ye see Me have; but A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. The blood of Christ is never spoken of as existing after His crucifixion. That was the supreme sacrifice of Self to God. The bloodthe type of the human selfwas poured out for ever. It is to be noticed also that the phrase of His flesh and of His bones (not His blood, which the Eucharistic Feast would have suggested) was evidently in ordinary use, as it was interpolated in Eph. 5:30.
The blood, as the type of our lower nature, is familiar in all popular phraseologies, as when we say, for example, that a mans blood is up, meaning that his physical nature is asserting itself. One characteristic of the resurrection body, therefore, is that it shall be bloodless.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
50. Now Rather, but. We shall attain the heavenly resurrection image, but not as unchanged flesh and blood.
This I say As the thought really running through all the antitheses, (42-49,) furnishing the full and final answer to the question what body? and negativing the error on which that question was based, that the resurrection implies our corrupt mortal bodies in a future state.
Flesh and blood The perishable amalgam of soul and matter which furnished the basis of the objection against the resurrection.
Cannot Literally, are not able, as vile and putrifying, to inhabit the eternal mansions. They must be as immortal as the heavenly abodes themselves.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.’
He then emphasises that flesh and blood, our earthy body as it is, cannot inherit the Kingly Rule of God in its heavenly form, cannot come into God’s presence as it is. What is corruptible and decaying, cannot as it is inherit a life which is incorruptible. There will therefore need to be a mighty transformation through resurrection. But this need for transformation also includes those living when Christ comes. They too cannot be taken as they are. They too must be transformed.
What then will bring about this change that means that earthly Christians can inherit their heavenly kingdom? It is by their bodies being made spiritual and heavenly, being made incorruptible, by the power of God. They will no longer be flesh and blood. They will be heavenly.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Assurance of Our Resurrection In 1Co 15:50-58 Paul offers the believers in Corinth the assurance of their resurrection.
1Co 15:52 Word Study on “moment” BDAG says the Greek word “moment” ( ) (G823) means, “uncut, indivisible because of its smallness.” Strong says this word is a compound of the negative particle “ ,” meaning “not,” and the word , which means “to cut.” When used of time, it represents an extremely short unit of time that cannot be divided. The English word “atom” is derived from .
1Co 15:52 Comments – Scholars believe that 1Co 15:52 is a description of the Rapture of the Church, which immediately precedes the seven-year Tribulation period. Irvin Baxter makes the comment that this last trumpet is a reference to the seventh trumpet that sounds in the book of Revelation. [186] We read in Rev 10:7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” He suggests the “mystery of God” refers to the Church of Jesus Christ, that mystery that was hidden in ages past. The finishing of this mystery would be the church age, which ends at the time of the Rapture of the Church.
[186] Irvin Baxter, Jr., Understanding the End Time: Lesson 12 The Seven Trumpets (Richmond, Indiana: Endtime, Inc., 1986) [on-line]; accessed 1 October 2008; available from http://www.endtime.com/Audio.aspx; Internet.
Scripture Reference – Note a similar verse on the Rapture found in 1Th 4:16-17:
1Th 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:53
[187] Andrew Wommack, Spirit, Soul & Body (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Andrew Wommack Ministries, Inc., 2005), 19.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:54
Isa 25:8, “ He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:55
Hos 13:14, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”
Note other translations that show this quote more clearly:
Brenton, “I will deliver [them] out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death: where is thy penalty, O death? O Hades, where is thy sting? comfort is hidden from mine eyes.”
NIV, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? I will have no compassion.”
YLT, “From the hand of Sheol I do ransom them, From death I redeem them, Where is thy plague, O death? Where thy destruction, O Sheol? Repentance is hid from Mine eyes.”
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:56
Exo 32:28, “And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.”
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:57
[188] Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, M. Robinson, and Allen Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology) (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1993, 2006), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), 1 Corinthians 15:57.
1Co 15:57 Comments – Notice that this great promise of victory is conditional, made possible only “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Many Christians do not walk in victory in certain areas of their lives. This is because they have not turned these areas of their lives over to the Lord and learned to trust Him. God’s promises to us are always conditional to our walk of faith.
Frances J. Roberts writes, “My promises are of no avail to thee except as ye apply and appropriate them by faith. In thy daily walk, ye shall be victorious only to the degree that ye trust Me. 1 Can help thee only as ye ask. I shall meet you at every point where ye put action alongside they prayers. Only as ye walk shall the waters of adversity be parted before thee.” [189]
[189] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 14.
Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Rom 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
1Co 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2Co 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
Frances Roberts goes on to write that we are not to look for the victory, but rather, we are to look for the Lord. When we find Him, we shall see the victory that He brings. Note:
“Ask for the victory. I will come and bring it. Don’t look for the victory look for Me, and ye shall see the victory that I shall bring with Me. After I have come, ye shall behold the miracles that I will do.” [190]
[190] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 46.
1Co 15:56-57 Scripture References – Note a similar verse:
Rom 7:24-25, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
1Co 15:55-57 Comments Our Victory Over Death in Christ – Who or what can overcome death? It is not tears of loved ones, nor sorrow that conquers death. Only the power of the resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has ever conquered death. I remember the call that came to my home late one night on January 4, 2003. On the other end of the phone was a security guard that usually rides with me in the car. He had gone to our workplace to borrow a phone. He told me that his daughter had just did and that he needed my assistance. I Came to his home in a little while. It was not far from my house. He lived in a “squatter’s village.” His house was made out of mud brick and was about 8 feet by 10 feet. As I walked thru the dirty cloth that hung for a door and looked upon a bed, I saw the small body of a dead child wrapped in a blanket lying next to its mother. The child had not been dead more than two hours. I picked up the body and lay it close to the edge of the bed and sat down on a stool that the father offered me. 1 Calmly told them that I wanted to pray for this child, and that God might have mercy and restore her to life. I placed one hand upon the cold head and another upon the chest of this small, skinny body. The child was 2 years old and had died of malaria, which was easily curable, but poorly treated because of poverty. She was skin and bones, since the medicine has caused the child not to eat. She had suffered with this disease for over a week. I sat there for about one hour and prayed out to God for this child to come back to life. The mother and dad humbly kneeled down on the dirt floor and prayed beside me. Some of the time, I Could have sworn that I felt that little heart beat, but it could have been the pulse in my hand as I pressed it upon the chest. I Checked her pulse and there was none. The body had become stiff and cold. But during the time of prayer, somehow inside I knew that this precious child was much better off now, and that she was with Jesus even as we prayed. For this child to come back meant a life of poverty and suffering.
Finally, I asked the father for a Bible. I read to them of the soon coming rapture and resurrection of the dead in Christ from 1Th 4:13-18 in order to comfort them with these words. I explained that if they would live a Godly life, they would see their child again. He told me that he was a Christian. I read Mat 19:14 where Jesus said about children, “for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” I told them that all children go to heaven to be with Jesus if they die before an age of accountability. I then read the story of David when he fasted and prayed while the first child of Bathsheba died in 2 Samuel 12. I told them how David said, “Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?” This was why we prayed together. Now, as David said, we can go to her, but she cannot come to us. Finally, I left the home, having experienced the power of death. No crying and prayed to God that night overcame physical death. But the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, knowing that He conquered death, hell and the grave, knowing His love for us and how we now have eternal life, became a source of strength equal to the power of death. For I knew that this child was in the loving arms of Jesus. I went back home that night to my wife and two little children and thanked God for their health and life, very much aware of how precious their lives were to me, and how much more to our Lord Jesus, who gave His life for them on Calvary.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1Co 15:58
Pro 13:11, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The transformation of the last day and the victory over death:
v. 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
v. 51. Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
v. 52. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
v. 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
v. 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
v. 55. O death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?
v. 56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law.
v. 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
v. 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. The apostle here sets forth a final argument for the resurrection of the body. For the burial of the dead, with its picture of decay and corruption, far from shaking our faith in the reality of the resurrection, rather teaches us that the body in its present state must perish and be changed before it can inherit the glories of heaven. With great emphasis Paul writes: But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, the natural body as such, cannot inherit God’s kingdom; nor, indeed, does perishableness inherit imperishableness. If human beings want to become possessors of the heavenly glory, with all the bliss that is included in its enjoyment, then it is absolutely necessary that they pass through the change by which this earthly dress and this bondage of corruption is removed.
This indispensable change in the case of people still living is the object of a wonderful revelation, which Paul proceeds to communicate, calling attention, incidentally, to its importance: Lo, a mystery I tell you! He opens before their eyes one of the secrets which the Lord had made known to him. Not all shall we sleep, not all believers would be lying in the sleep of death on the last day, but we shall all be changed. Our perishable body, whether through death or not, must undergo the change by which it becomes spiritual. The change will be universal and extend to all those that are living when Judgment Day dawns. In a moment, literally, in an atom of time, in the length of time required for a wink of the eyelids, during the sounding of the last trumpet, this would take place. That will be one of the certain signs of the Lord’s advent: The final trumpet will sound, and the dead, all of them, will arise, will be raised with their bodies incorruptible. At that point of time the peculiar change in the living will also take place by which their mortal, corruptible bodies become immortal, incorruptible. This change must take place, it is a necessity according to the will of God: This perishable is bound to put on imperishableness, and this mortal is to put on immortality. Note that Paul, throughout the passage, assumes that the believers feel the certainty of the coming immortality.
What glories then shall open up before our eyes the apostle pictures in a triumphant burst of victorious shouting: When this has been accomplished, as it is certain to come about, when this perishable body has been invested with incorruption, and when this mortal body has been invested with immortality, then the word will find its fulfillment which is written Isa 25:8; Hos 13:14, which Paul quotes from the Greek text, but in the corrected form. Death has been swallowed up unto victory; the greedy, insatiable enemy has been forced to succumb, and has, in turn, been devoured; the last bulwark of the enemy has been destroyed, v. 26. In triumphant exultation the challenge rings out:
Where, O Death, is thy victory?
Where, O Death, is thy sting?
Now the sting of Death is Sin, and the strength of Sin is the Law;
But to God be thanks, who gives to us the victory
Through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Death, who, like a poisonous serpent, has used his sting to put people to death, has lost this sting. He that was accustomed to having the victory at all times, has himself been definitely conquered. For the sting of death is sin, through which it came into the world, Rom 5:12, and Jesus has borne all sin, paid all guilt, submerged all trespasses in the depths of the sea. And the strength of sin is the Law, Rom 8:2, because it promises salvation to men upon terms which they cannot fulfill, and thus makes sin abound; but Jesus has fulfilled the Law and thus removed the strength of sin. To God, therefore, the Triune God, the Author of our salvation, be thanks, who gives to us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! A full and complete victory was gained by Christ, and its entire fullness and completeness belongs to us by virtue of our Savior’s work, which we accept by faith. As Christians we possess eternal life even now; to us, as Christians, death no longer has the bitter taste of God’s wrath. At the very graves of those that have fallen asleep in Christ we chant this great hymn of victory, knowing that death and the grave have lost their power over them that are in Christ Jesus, and that death is to believers the entrance to eternal joys.
Paul concludes the chapter by applying the wonderful teaching to the state of the Corinthian congregation, whose members may have become lax in their Christian work, due to the doubts that were afloat in their midst. Pleadingly and urgently he writes: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be firm, show yourselves steadfast, do not let the foundation of your faith be removed; be immovable, do not let yourselves be led away by others. That is the one side of their work. But the other will follow: Abounding in the work of the Lord always, in that work which God does through you and you perform to His glory; knowing that your toil, your strenuous labor, is not empty in the Lord; it cannot remain without fruit and effect if begun in His name, carried out in His strength, and intended for His glory.
Summary. The apostle brings the historical and logical proof for the resurrection of the body, describes the nature of this resurrection, reveals the fact of the transformation of the last day, and closes with a triumphant hymn of victory.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Co 15:50 . The discussion regarding the nature of the resurrection body is now closed with a negative axiom, which serves to confirm the . . . . [88] But this (in order to add yet this general statement in confirmation of what has just been said) I assure you of . Comp. 1Co 7:29 . The sense of a concession (for the spiritualistic opponents, so Usteri, Billroth, Olshausen) is imported into the context and the simple . According to van Hengel, Paul writes to obviate a misapprehension; his readers were not to think that the . . consisted in the fellowship of the flesh and blood, which Christ had before and after His resurrection. But there was no occasion presented for such an opinion, since the Christian belief was assured that the heavenly Christ has a glorified body (Phi 3:21 ). Hofmann (following Beza) refers to what precedes , and takes as introducing the ground, why the apostle has uttered 1Co 15:46-49 . But this ground is of a positive nature, and does not lie in the merely negative thought 1Co 15:50 , but much deeper, namely, in the Scriptural (1Co 15:45 ) relation of the bodily condition of the earthly and of the heavenly Ada.
. ] i.e. the bodily nature which we have in this temporal life, the chief constituents of which are flesh and blood, [89] the latter as the seat of life. , Theodoret. Comp. 1Co 6:13 . . . is just as little to be taken in the ethical sense, which by itself elsewhere has, as is afterwards (in opposition to Chrysostom, Theophylact, al. ).
] and not , still dependent upon . This second half of the verse forms with the first a parallelism , in which the first clause names the concrete matters, and the second one the general class (the categories in question), to which the former belong. The , i.e. according to the context (comp. 1Co 15:42 ), the corruption (and to this category flesh and blood belong, which fall a prey to corruption), inherits not the incorruptibility , to the realm of which belong the relations of the Messianic kingdom, and in particular the glorified body of the sharers in the kingdom. The abstract nouns instead of and have a certain solemnity. Comp. Dissen, ad Pind. p. 476: “Sublimitatem et adjuvant abstracta sic posita pro concretis.” Regarding . of the entrance upon the Messianic possession, comp. 1Co 6:9 ; Gal 3:29 . The present sets what is sure and certain before us as present.
[88] According to Tischendorf and Ewald, ver. 50 begins already the new section, and would thus be the introduction to it. Likewise suitable; still at 1Co 7:29 also serves to confirm what has preceded it.
[89] It is not to the body as such that participation in the Messianic kingdom is denied, but to the present body consisting of flesh and blood. Jerome says well: “alia carnis, alia corporis definitio est; omnis caro est corpus, non omne corpus est caro.” In harmony with our passage we should have to read in the third article [of the “Apostles’ Creed”] “resurrection of the body ,” instead of “resurrection of the flesh .” The conception “ glorified flesh ” is for the apostle a contradictio in adjecto , which cannot even be justified from his doctrine of the Lord’s Supper.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Ver. 50. Flesh and blood ] The body as it is corruptible, cannot enter heaven, but must be changed; we shall appear with him in glory. The vile body of Moses, that was hidden in the valley of Moab, was brought forth glorious in the hill of Tabor, Mat 17:3 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
50 54 .] The necessity of the change of the animal body into the spiritual, in order to inherit God’s kingdom. The manner of that change prophetically described: and the abolition of Death in victory consequent on it .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
50. ] ., see reff. It calls attention to something to be observed, and liable to be overlooked. Not only is the change of body possible, and according to natural and spiritual analogies, but it is NECESSARY.
] = , the present organism of the body, calculated for the wants of the animal soul. . Theodoret.
. , the abstracts, representing the impossibility of the inheriting the as one grounded in these qualities.
, pres. , sets forth the absolute impossibility in the nature of things .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 15:50-58 . 56. VICTORY OVER DEATH. The second part of the argument of this chapter has now reached the same platform as the first ( cf. 51 and 54). The Resurrection of the Body, it has been shown, is an essential part of the Divine world-plan and necessary to the fulfilment of God’s kingdom through Christ (1Co 15:20-27 ); and the transformation of the earthly into the heavenly, of the psychic into the pneumatic form of being, is involved in the present constitution of things and accords with the lines of development traceable in nature and revelation (1Co 15:36-49 ). In a word, P. holds the Christian resurrection to be grounded in the person and mission of Christ, as He is on the one hand the Son of God and mediatorial Head of His kingdom (1Co 15:24-28 ), and on the other hand the Second Adam and Firstborn of a spiritual humanity (1Co 15:22 f., 1Co 15:45-49 ). He finds the key to this great controversy, as to so many others, in the supremacy of Christ, the “one Lord, through whom are all things and we through Him” (1Co 8:6 ). It remains for him only to state the practical conclusion of this reasoning (1Co 15:50 ), to describe our anticipated transformation and victory over death (1Co 15:51-57 ), and to urge his readers in this confidence to accomplish worthily their life’s work (1Co 15:58 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 15:50 . , (see note, 1Co 7:29 ) introduces, with a pause, an emphatic reassertion of the ruling thought of the previous that of the opposition between the psychic body of the First Adam and the spiritual body of the Second; manifestly the former is unfit for God’s heavenly kingdom with the latter, it is assumed (48 b ; cf. Luk 20:34 ff., 1Jn 3:2 f.), we must be clothed to enter that diviner realm: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom; nor indeed doth corruption (perishableness) inherit incorruption (imperishableness)”. The second assertion explicates the first: . = ( cf. 1Co 15:42 , and note), since decay is inherent in our bodily nature; (2Co 4:16 ; cf. Rom 8:10 f.). “Flesh” is the matter and “blood” the essence and life-vehicle of man’s present corporeity. Nature forbids eternal life in this earthly dress ( cf. note on 46). “Inherit” points to the kingdom as the right of the sons of God (Rom 8:17 , etc.; cf. Mat 25:34 ), but a heritage unrealised during the “bondage of corruption” (see Rom 8:21 ff.). Another, but removeable, disability of “flesh and blood” appears in Mat 16:17 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1 Corinthians
THE DEATH OF DEATH
1Co 15:20 – 1Co 15:21
This passage begins with the triumphant ringing out of the great fact which changes all the darkness of an earthly life without a heavenly hope into a blaze of light. All the dreariness for humanity, and all the vanity for Christian faith and preaching, vanish, like ghosts at cock-crow, when the Resurrection of Jesus rises sun-like on the world’s night. It is a historical fact, established by the evidence proper for such,-namely, the credible testimony of eye-witnesses. They could attest His rising, but the knowledge of the worldwide significance of it comes, not from testimony, but from revelation. Those who saw Him risen join to declare: ‘Now is Christ risen from the dead,’ but it is a higher Voice that goes on to say, ‘and become the first-fruits of them that slept.’
That one Man risen from the grave was like the solitary sheaf of paschal first-fruits, prophesying of many more, a gathered harvest that will fill the great Husbandman’s barns. The Resurrection of Jesus is not only a prophecy, showing, as it and it alone does, that death is not the end of man, but that life persists through death and emerges from it, like a buried river coming again flashing into the light of day, but it is the source or cause of the Christian’s resurrection. The oneness of the race necessitated the diffusion through all its members of sin and of its consequence-physical death. If the fountain is poisoned, all the stream will be tainted. If men are to be redeemed from the power of the grave, there must be a new personal centre of life; and union with Him, which can only be effected by faith, is the condition of receiving life from Him, which gradually conquers the death of sin now, and will triumph over bodily death in the final resurrection. It is the resurrection of Christians that Paul is dealing with. Others are to be raised, but on a different principle, and to sadly different issues. Since Christ’s Resurrection assures us of the future waking, it changes death into ‘sleep,’ and that sleep does not mean unconsciousness any more than natural sleep does, but only rest from toil, and cessation of intercourse with the external world.
In the part of the passage, 1Co 15:50 – 1Co 15:58 , the Apostle becomes, not the witness or the reasoner, as in the earlier parts of the chapter, but the revealer of a ‘mystery.’ That word, so tragically misunderstood, has here its uniform scriptural sense of truth, otherwise unknown, made known by revelation. But before he unveils the mystery, Paul states with the utmost force a difficulty which might seem to crush all hope,-namely, that corporeity, as we know it, is clearly incapable of living in such a world as that future one must be. To use modern terms, organism and environment must be adapted to each other. A fish must have the water, the creatures that flourish at the poles would not survive at the equator. A man with his gross earthly body, so thoroughly adapted to his earthly abode, would be all out of harmony with his surroundings in that higher world, and its rarified air would be too thin and pure for his lungs. Can there be any possibility of making him fit to live in a spiritual world? Apart from revelation, the dreary answer must be ‘No.’ But the ‘mystery’ answers with ‘Yes.’ The change from physical to spiritual is clearly necessary, if there is to be a blessed life hereafter.
That necessary change is assured to all Christians, whether they die or ‘remain till the coming of the Lord.’ Paul varies in his anticipations as to whether he and his contemporaries will belong to the one class or the other; but he is quite sure that in either case the indwelling Spirit of Jesus will effect on living and dead the needful change. The grand description in 1Co 15:52 , like the parallel in 1Th 4:16 , is modelled on the account of the theophany on Sinai. The trumpet was the signal of the Divine Presence. That last manifestation will be sudden, and its startling breaking in on daily commonplace is intensified by the reduplication: ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.’ With sudden crash that awful blare of ‘loud, uplifted angel trumpet’ will silence all other sounds, and hush the world. The stages of what follows are distinctly marked. First, the rising of the dead changed in passing through death, so as to rise in incorruptible bodies, and then the change of the bodies of the living into like incorruption. The former will not be found naked, but will be clothed with their white garments; the latter will, as it were, put on the glorious robes above the ‘muddy vesture of decay,’ or, more truly, will see the miracle of these being transfigured till they shine ‘so as no fuller on earth could white them.’ The living will witness the resurrection of the dead; the risen dead will witness the transformation of the living. Then both hosts will be united, and, through all eternity, ‘live together,’ and that ‘with Him.’ Paul evidently expects that he and the Corinthians will be in the latter class, as appears by the ‘we’ in 1Co 15:52 . He, as it were, points to his own body when he says, recurring to his former thought of the necessity of harmony between organism and environment, ‘ this corruptible must put on incorruption.’ Here ‘corruption’ is used in its physical application, though the ethical meaning may be in the background.
The Apostle closes his long argument and revelation with a burst, almost a shout, of triumph. Glowing words of old prophets rush into his mind, and he breathes a new, grander meaning into them. Isaiah had sung of a time when the veil over all nations should be destroyed ‘in this mountain,’ and when death should be swallowed up for ever; and Paul grasps the words and says that the prophet’s loftiest anticipations will be fulfilled when that monster, whose insatiable maw swallows down youth, beauty, strength, wisdom, will himself be swallowed up. Hosea had prophesied of Israel’s restoration under figure of a resurrection, and Paul grasps his words and fills them with a larger meaning. He modifies them, in a manner on which we need not enlarge, to express the great Christian thought that death has conquered man but that man in Christ will conquer the conqueror. With swift change of metaphor he represents death as a serpent, armed with a poisoned sting, and that suggests to him the thought, never far away in his view of man, that death’s power to slay is derived from-or, so to say, concentrated in-sin; and that at once raises the other equally characteristic and familiar thought that law stimulates sin, since to know a thing to be forbidden creates in perverse humanity an itching to do it, and law reveals sin by setting up the ideal from which sin is the departure. But just as the tracks in Paul’s mind were well worn, by which the thought of death brought in that of sin, and that of sin drew after it that of law, so with equal closeness of established association, that of law condemnatory and slaying, brought up that of Christ the all-sufficient refuge from that gloomy triad-Death Sin, Law. Through union with Him each of us may possess His immortal risen life, in which Death, the engulfer, is himself engulfed; Death, the conqueror, is conquered utterly and for ever; Death, the serpent, has his sting drawn, and is harmless. That participation in Christ’s life is begun even here, and God ‘giveth us the victory’ now, even while we live outward lives that must end in death, and will give it perfectly in the resurrection, when ‘they cannot die any more,’ and death itself is dead.
The loftiest Christian hopes have close relation to the lowliest Christian duties, and Paul’s triumphant song ends with plain, practical, prose exhortations to steadfastness, unmovable tenacity, and abundant fruitfulness, the motive and power of which will be found in the assurance that, since there is a life beyond, all labour here, however it may fail in the eyes of men, will not be in vain, but will tell on character and therefore on condition through eternity. If our peace does not rest where we would fain see it settle, it will not be wasted, but will return to us again, like the dove to the ark, and we shall ‘self-enfold the large results of’ labour that seemed to have been thrown away.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 15:50-57
50Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory 55″O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:50 “flesh and blood” This is a metaphor for humanity (cf. Mat 16:17; Gal 1:16; Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14).
“inherit” This is a family metaphor describing our permanent fellowship with God. In the OT the Levites received no large land inheritance (only 48 Levitical cities), thus they were said to have YHWH as their inheritance. The NT transfers this (as it does many priestly activities) to all believers. See SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE at 1Co 6:9.
“the kingdom of God” See note at 1Co 15:24.
1Co 15:51 “mystery” See Special Topic following.
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD’S PLAN FOR REDEMPTION, “MYSTERY”
God has a unified purpose for mankind’s redemption that even preceded the Fall (Genesis 3). Hints of this plan are revealed in the OT (Gen 3:15; Gen 12:3; Exo 19:5-6; and the universal passages in the prophets). However, this inclusive agenda was not clear (1Co 2:6-8). With the coming of Jesus and the Spirit it begins to become more obvious. Paul used the term “mystery” to describe this total redemptive plan, which was once hidden, but now fully revealed (1Co 4:1; Eph 6:19; Col 4:3; 1Ti 1:9). However, he used it in several different senses.
1. A partial hardening of Israel to allow Gentiles to be included. This influx of Gentiles will work as a mechanism (jealousy) for Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah of prophecy (Rom 11:25-32).
2. The gospel was made known to the nations, all of whom are potentially included in Christ and through Christ (Rom 16:25-27; Col 2:2).
3. Believers will have new bodies at the Second Coming (1Co 15:5-57; 1Th 4:13-18).
4. The summing up of all things in Christ (Eph 1:8-11).
5. The Gentiles and Jews are fellow-heirs (Eph 2:11 to Eph 3:13).
6. Intimacy of the relationship between Christ and the Church described in marriage terms (Eph 5:22-33).
7. Gentiles included in the covenant people and indwelt by the Spirit of Christ so as to produce Christlike maturity, that is, the restored image of God in fallen humanity (Gen 1:26-27; Gen 5:1; Col 1:26-28).
8. The end-time AntiChrist (2Th 2:1-11).
9. An early church summary of the mystery is found in 1Ti 3:16.
“we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed” This seems to assert that there will be Christians alive at the Second Coming (cf. 1Th 4:13-18). Sleep is a biblical euphemism for death.
Does Paul expect to be alive at the Second Coming or is this an editorial “we” (alive at Jesus’ return, 1Co 15:51-52; 1Th 4:15; 1Th 4:17 or raised at Jesus’ return, 1Co 6:14; 2Co 4:14; 2Co 5:1-10)? Like all NT authors and Jesus, he seems to have expected an imminent return of the glorified Christ. But only the Father knew the time (cf. Mat 24:36; Mar 13:32; Act 1:7). Believers are to live every day in light of the hope of the Second Coming, but plan and train for kingdom activities as if it will be delayed.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANY-MOMENT RETURN OF JESUS VERSUS THE NOT YET (NT PARADOX)
1Co 15:52 “in a moment” We get the English “atom” from the Greek term, which meant “undividable.”
“in the twinkling of an eye” This is used of the blinking of a star or the rapid movement of gnats’ wings. The implication of these two terms is that Jesus’ return will occur very rapidly once it begins. No time for last minute prayers.
“at the last trumpet” This was an OT way of announcing the end-time events by means of the shophar (i.e., left ram’s horn, cf. Isa 27:13; Zec 9:13; Mat 24:31; 1Th 4:16). It is surely possible that the trumpet was a metaphor for the voice of God (cf. Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19; Exo 20:18; Rev 1:10), also used of prophets’ voices (cf. Isa 58:1; Heb 12:19).
SPECIAL TOPIC: HORNS USED BY ISRAEL
1Co 15:54 This is a reference to Isa 25:8, which is also alluded to in Mat 5:11; 1Pe 4:14; Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4. 1Co 15:54-55 are obviously Paul’s way of taunting mankind’s last great enemy-death, which has been completely vanquished in Christ’s resurrection from the dead and His followers having been freed from sin’s penalty and awaiting a certain resurrection themselves.
1Co 15:55 This is a reference to Hos 13:14, which reverses the order by quoting the Septuagint. Most OT quotes in the NT are from the Greek translation of the OT. It was the Bible of the first century church.
1Co 15:56 In this verse Paul is asserting humanity’s broken relationship with God caused by sin (cf. Genesis 3; Romans 2-3). This rebellion has caused us to feel estranged from the very One who made us for Himself.
Sin entered the world through a willful act of disobedience. The term “law” does not refer to the Mosaic Law, but to God’s prohibitions in general. We are corrupt, but God has chosen to restore fellowship through Christ. What sin destroyed, Christ restores (i.e., permanent fellowship with God; the marred image is repaired).
1Co 15:57 “thanks be to God” This reminds me of Paul’s cry in Rom 6:17; Rom 7:25. It foreshadows Paul’s great metaphor of a Roman triumphal march in 2Co 2:14, as well as his outburst of gratitude in 2Co 9:15. See Special Topic: Paul’s Praise, Prayer, and Thanksgiving at 2Co 2:14.
“victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” All spiritual victory comes through Christ and Christ alone! It has already come! Believers live in light of Christ’s full and complete victory!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
flesh and blood. See Mat 16:17.
cannot = are not (Greek. ou, as in 1Co 15:9) able to.
kingdom of God. App-114.
neither. Greek. oude.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
50-54.] The necessity of the change of the animal body into the spiritual, in order to inherit Gods kingdom. The manner of that change prophetically described: and the abolition of Death in victory consequent on it.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 15:50. , flesh and blood) An abstract phrase, [meaning man, as far as the circulation of the blood quickens his flesh.-V. g.] as , corruption. The one is applied to those, who live in the world, the other to the dead. Both of these must become altogether different from what they have been previously. The spirit extracted from the dregs of wine does not so much differ from them, as the glorified man from the mortal man.- , the kingdom of God) which is altogether spiritual, and in no respect merely animal [natural]. A great change must intervene, until man is made fit for that kingdom.- , cannot) This is a Syllepsis[147] of number, for it denotes the multitude of those, who are flesh and blood.–, nor-obtains by inheritance) It is not said, cannot receive by inheritance. Flesh and blood are farther distant [from the inheritance], than corruption itself; and it is evident from its very nature, that corruption cannot obtain this inheritance, although it is certainly the way to incorruptibility, 1Co 15:36. The meaning of the present may be gathered from 1Co 15:52 at the beginning.[148]
[147] See App. The sing. subject had gone before. But the plural was mentally intended.-ED.
[148] So D() corrected later, d f Hilary 91,315, and Latin MSS. in Jerome 1,810c, read , .-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 15:50
1Co 15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;-Our fleshly, mortal bodies cannot inherit the immortal kingdom; neither doth the fleshly body, subject to decay and corruption, inherit the incorruptible state in heaven.
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.-The natural body must undergo a change and become incorruptible before it can enter the immortal state.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
this: 1Co 1:12, 1Co 7:29, 2Co 9:6, Gal 3:17, Gal 5:16, Eph 4:17, Col 2:4
that: 1Co 6:13, Mat 16:17, Joh 3:3-6, 2Co 5:1
Reciprocal: Psa 16:10 – neither Rom 10:19 – I say Rom 15:8 – I say 1Co 6:9 – inherit 1Co 15:42 – is 1Co 15:52 – the dead Gal 1:16 – flesh Gal 5:21 – inherit Eph 6:12 – flesh and blood Heb 2:14 – of flesh Heb 2:15 – through Rev 20:13 – and death
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Inherit is from KLERONO-MEO, and Thayer defines it at this passage, “to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom.” That is why those to be admitted into the eternal home in the next life must be changed from a body of flesh and blood, to one that is spiritual and like that of the Saviour. But such a change of body is not necessary with the unsaved, for there is no restriction as to what kind of beings can enter into the lake of fire and brimstone, since God is able to preserve all creatures cast therein in whatever state He sees fit.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Now come sublime disclosures.
Ver. 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and bloodi.e. humanity as now constituted, mortal, corruptible, weak, etc. (Jas 1:10; 1Pe 1:24)cannot inherit the kingdom of Godwhich is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, 1Pe 1:4.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
By flesh and blood, here, we are to understand our bodies in their present natural, corruptible, and mortal state. Such flesh and blood as ours is at present, unchanged, and unclothed with its heavenly body, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; that is, it cannot possibly enter into heaven, and bear the weight of glory which will there be put upon it.
Corruption, or nature subject to corruption, cannot inherit incorruption; that is, our corruptible bodies cannot enter into an incorruptible heaven.
Note here, Another argument produced by the apostle, to prove the necessity of the resurrection, or of raising and new-moulding the body in a spiritual condition: because our natural body, till it be made spiritual, cannot bear the presence of God in heaven; it must be fitted for that glorious place and state, before it be brought into it: by a change of qualities it must be spiritualized, purified, and immortalized, or it can never bear that weight of glory which is prepared for the saints in that glorious kingdom.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The Greatest And Final Victory
Our fleshly bodies will have no place in heaven since it is an incorruptible place ( 1 Peter 1:34 ). God’s apostle to the Gentiles was revealing something which had long been concealed when he said not all believers would die a physical death. Some would be changed from corruptible to incorruptible beings and then be caught up into the clouds to meet their Lord ( 1Co 15:50-51 ; see also 1Th 4:13-18 ).
The resurrection and change to incorruptible bodies would happen in an instant. First, the apostle said the trumpet will blow. Second, the dead will be raised with incorruptible bodies. Third, those saints still alive will be changed. To go to heaven, all must change. With the change of bodies at the resurrection, death’s power over man will be gone. Death will be swallowed up this powerful moment ( 1Co 15:52-54 ; Isa 25:8 ).
With a loose quotation from Hos 13:14 , Paul joyously and triumphantly declared the resurrection to be the end of death and the fears it holds for mankind ( 1Co 15:55-57 ; see also Rom 5:12-15 ; Rom 7:7-12 ). McGarvey writes,
Death is here spoken of under the figure of a serpent. Sin is the bite or sting with which he slays men, and the power or poisonous strength of sin is found in the curse which the law pronounces upon the sinner. By the triple power of law, sin and death, the glory of man was brought to nought; but thanks are due to God, who restored glory to man through Jesus Christ. Christ gave man the victory over the law, for he nailed it to his cross ( Col 2:14 ); he gave him victory over sin, for he made atonement for sin ( Heb 7:27 ); and he gave his victory over death by his resurrection which is the earnest of the general resurrection. Wonderful threefold victory!
Because there is a resurrection, Paul urged the brethren in Corinth to not be swayed from their faith in Christ’s gospel. Instead, he said they should hold to it knowing heaven would be their reward ( 1Co 15:58 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Co 15:50-52. Now this I say, brethren This I offer to your consideration as a great and important truth, that we must first undergo an entire change; for flesh and blood Such as we are now clothed with; cannot inherit the kingdom of God Cannot enter that happy place which Christ hath gone to prepare for the reception of his people, (Joh 14:7,) cannot possess that kingdom which is wholly spiritual, because it affords no objects suited either to the senses or to the appetites of such a body. Neither doth corruption This corruptible body; inherit incorruption That incorruptible kingdom. Spirits, clothed with corruptible bodies like our present bodies, cannot enjoy objects that are incorruptible. They are not capable of enjoying the divine vision, nor of performing the exalted services, nor of relishing the pure pleasures, which constitute the glory and felicity of the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery A truth hitherto unknown, and not yet fully revealed to any of the sons of men. We Christians: the apostle considers them all as one in their succeeding generations; shall not die Suffer a separation of soul and body; but we shall all Who do not die; be changed So that this animal body shall become spiritual; in a moment Amazing work of omnipotence! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump Blown by the divine command. For the trumpet shall sound, &c. At the giving of the law from Sinai, there was heard a great noise, like the sounding of a trumpet, exceeding loud, which sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In like manner, at the descent of Christ from heaven, a great noise called the trump of God, (1Th 4:16,) will be made by the attending angels, as the signal for the righteous to come forth from their graves. And this noise being made at Christs command, it is called by himself, his voice, Joh 5:25. After the righteous are raised, the trumpet shall sound a second time; on which account it is called here the last trumpet. And while it sounds, the righteous who are alive on the earth shall be changed. And the dead shall be raised incorruptible Though this expression be general, yet, as appears from 1Co 15:51, and indeed from the whole latter part of the chapter, it is evident it must be restricted to the dead in Christ, of whom alone the apostle is discoursing. Besides, as appears from 1Th 4:16, the wicked are not to be raised at the same time with the righteous.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
The formula , here is what I say, is used by the apostle to announce a decisive and final explanation, the exposition of a more profound point of view, which will put the truth previously stated in its full light; comp. 1Co 7:29. It differs from , which announces the repetition of the same idea in a more developed form.
Before giving the solution of the particular question, Paul lays down a general law which refers equally to the point hitherto treated and to that which is about to follow, so that the verse forms the transition between the two passages. In this context the expression: flesh and blood, can only designate our present physical organism; flesh, in respect of its substance; blood, in respect of the life-principle which animates it; for, according to Scripture, blood is the seat of the vital principle. Irenaeus and Chrysostom took the word in its moral sense: , as if the passage were parallel to Rom 8:12-13; but the expression has never the meaning of standing alone. It is from this interpretation, likewise excluded by the context, that the false reading , in 1Co 15:49, has proceeded. What the apostle means is, that it will not be by being clothed with a body of such a nature that the believer will be able to participate in the perfect state of things which is called the kingdom of God. Such a body would be a curtain which would veil from us the face of God, too weak an instrument to bear such emotions, too dull an agent to execute the works to be done in this new state. Paul has taken care not to say , a body, because it will be with a body that believers shall take part in that kingdom.
In the second proposition, the verb in the present expresses, as Edwards says, the nature of the thing; it is a law which is equivalent to the , cannot, in the first proposition; only the particle , neither, and the subject , corruption, imply a gradation. Corruption, , denotes flesh and blood in a state of dissolution already begun. The expression therefore leads us to suppose that the first proposition refers to Christians who shall be alive at the time of the Advent, and the second to dead Christians who do not inherit, in so far as they are not raised. The idea is this: it is so impossible that the present body should participate in the life of heaven, that, whether dissolved by death or not, it must be transformed. This is precisely what is developed in the following verses.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. [1Pe 1:4]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
FLESH AND BLOOD ARE NOT ABLE TO INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD
50. I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. While these identical bodies will inherit the kingdom of God, yet it is equally true that flesh and blood shall not inherit. Why? Because flesh and blood are the elements of mortality peculiar to probation. Then what will become of our flesh and blood, which include our bones, sinews, nerves and all the constituencies of this material organism? Here comes in the philosophy of transfiguration. The Holy Ghost omnipotently eliminates away all ponderable matter, so that the transfigured body is destitute of weight, and consequently free to follow the impulses of the immortal spirit and thus fly away to join the Heavenly consanguinity beyond the skies. In this way we get rid of flesh and blood. This took place with the translated prophets when they mounted the fiery chariot and bade the world adieu.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Co 15:50-58. A new question is now introduced, What will happen to those who are alive when Christ returns? (cf. 1Th 4:13-17). The principle that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God finds with them as with the dead its illustration. They will not all die, but all alike will be transformed instantaneously when the last trump (1Th 4:16, Mat 24:31, Rev 11:15) sounds. The dead will be raised incorruptible, those still living (Paul thinks of himself and most of the readers as among the number) will be transformed. It lies in the very nature of things that the corruptible and mortal should put on over them as a garment incorruption and immortality, that they may be transmuted or absorbed by them (2Co 5:4). Then the prophecy of Isa 25:8 will be fulfilled. Triumphantly Paul quotes Hos 13:14; death has lost its victory and its sting. Its sting is sin, sins power is the Law. But thank God for the Christians victory through Christ! The long theological argument, in noble rhetoric, fitly closes with a practical exhortation.
1Co 15:56. Some regard this verse as an interpolation, breaking with a prosaic bit of theology the lyrical movement of the passage. But though it may be a gloss intended to explain what deaths sting is, yet it is so terse and original, and at the same time so characteristic of Pauls central doctrine, that the phrases are not likely to have been coined by anyone else, nor is their presence in this context at all surprising. Death received its power through sin, but sin itself would have been powerless apart from the Law. This had lent sin its power and provided its opportunity. For the Law stimulated into active rebellion the sin that, till it came, lay sleeping in the flesh (Rom 7:7-11). The Christian died with Christ to the Law; hence sin lost that which conferred on it its strength, while with the paralysis of sin, death lost its power to sting. And the powerlessness of death came to light especially in its reversal in the resurrection.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 50
Flesh and blood cannot inherit, &c. See 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
15:50 {28} Now this I say, brethren, that {c} flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
(28) The conclusion: we cannot be partakers of the glory of God unless we put off all that gross and filthy nature of our bodies subject to corruption, that the same body may be adorned with incorruptible glory.
(c) Flesh and blood are taken here for a living body, which cannot attain to incorruption, unless it puts off corruption.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The assurance of victory over death 15:50-58
Paul brought his revelation of the resurrection to a climax in this paragraph by clarifying what all this means for the believer in Christ. Here he also dealt with the exceptional case of living believers’ transformation at the Rapture. Transformation is absolutely necessary to enter the spiritual mode of future existence. This transformation will happen when Christ comes.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The apostle’s introductory words indicate a new departure in his thought. The phrase "flesh and blood" refers to the mortal body and living mortals in particular. This was a familiar idiom in Paul’s world for humans and human bodies. [Note: Keener, 1-2 Corinthians, p. 133.] It is impossible for us in our present physical forms to enter into, as an inheritance, the heavenly glories in the kingdom of God that Christ said He was going to prepare for us (Joh 14:2-3). They are of the spiritual order. "The perishable" also describes us now but looks at the destruction of our present bodies through death.