. We sometimes sing: You ask me how I know He lives; He lives, He lives inside my heart. But that is not the best way to prove Jesus lives. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? This speaks to the vital need described in Romans 12:2: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. So, even though our resurrection bodies come from our present bodies, we should not expect that they will be the same bodies or just improved bodies. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Each of these were resuscitated from death, but none of them were. i. Clarke on Chloe: This was doubtless some very religious matron at Corinth, whose family were converted to the Lord; some of whom were probably sent to the apostle to inform him of the dissensions which then prevailed in the Church at that place., b. Contentions among you: The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict. iii. His replacement was a man named Sosthenes, who was beaten by the Roman officials in a bit of anti-Semitic backlash against the Jews who tried to persecute Paul. : If the Corinthian Christians did not continue to, , one day they might let go of the gospel. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. Mans flesh only is informed by a reasonable and immortal soul, not so the flesh of other creatures: and hence the difference. (Trapp). : Our resurrection body will be glorious! It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentilesthat a man has his father's wife! means good news. As the word was used in ancient times, it didnt have to describe the message of salvation in Jesus Christ; it could describe any good news. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, not the will of any man.. body, suited for life in heaven, not only life on this earth. e. It pleased God: God takes pleasure in accomplishing our salvation in a way no one would have expected. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. If the cross is the, iv. also implies there were some people or some things which might want to snatch the true gospel away from the Corinthian Christians. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. b. It predates the writing of the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation by decades. The great gospel of Jesus Christ, the very power of God unto salvation made empty and of. iv. Sharing the Word of God with passion for Christ. They are saints together, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. There will come a day when in Gods eternal plan, He gives those dead in the Lord their resurrection bodies, and then in an instant He gathers all His people to meet Jesus in the air. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. The work of God in the Corinthian Christians could be seen by what they said, by what they learned, by a supernatural element in their lives, and by their expectant anticipation of Jesus return. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdombut we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. We know He lives because the historical evidence, , the brother of Jesus, who is seen as a prominent leader in the church in Acts 15. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. Is God supposed to do it or am I supposed to do it? a. These bodies which are subject to disease, injury, and one day decay, are unsuited for heaven. The hearing and trusting of the true gospel will bring the, . Probably, Sosthenes was Pauls scribe (or, more technically, his amanuensis). An objection commonly raised concerning the necessity of baptism is based on Paul's statement to the church at Corinth - cf. 3. Paul writes this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloes household visited and told him about the condition of the the Corinthian church. What you sow: Paul says our bodies are like seeds which grow into resurrection bodies. Adam (, ) is one head of the human race, and all mankind was brought under death by Adam. The Corinthian Christians did not deny Jesus resurrection; they denied. Our resurrection body will be a heavenly (. ) Paul will tell the Corinthian Christians something they could not have known by reason or research. Einstein thought that their estimate was a little generous, but he replied: Is it possible that God exists in the 95% that you dont know?, d. Through the foolishness of the message: The Corinthians wanted to believe that the gospel itself was a sublime form of wisdom, as the Greeks considered wisdom (sophia). In these first 10 verses, Paul refers to Jesus in every verse, for a total of 11 times. Even more foolish than dividing Jesus is to center parties in the church around men. In the Septuagint it is one of the words used to denote the people of Israel in their religious character as Yahwehs assembly. (Bruce in his. In Ephesians 1:10, Paul reveals Gods eternal purpose in history: When He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, to men, to Satan, and even to death. But Hodge recognizes that Paul isnt necessarily referring to only believers of. David has been happy to be part of the Blue Letter Bible . The Corinthians were a rich church, not only materially, but also in their speech and knowledge of Jesus (, all utterance and in all knowledge the testimony of Christ, ), and in that they lived in anticipation of Jesus coming (, i. How much of this came in because of they kept evil company? (1-2) Preface to the proclamation of Pauls gospel. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. So also is the resurrection of the dead: Its hard to understand what our resurrection bodies will be like, so Paul will use contrast to help us, giving four contrasts between our present body and our future resurrection body. iv. But he had no desire to compete with other apostles for the Most Valuable Apostle award. The ancient Egyptians, at the end of a big banquet, often escorted a wooden image of a man in a coffin around the tables, telling people to have a good time now, because youll be dead sooner than you think. Verse 1. Sin is the ultimate cause of death (Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:17), and the result cant be defeated unless the cause is defeated. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. The disunion is unnatural and must be cured.. I will not fear thee, death, why should I? ii. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-2. They are saints together with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. i. Paul tells them just what kind of apostle he is, a called apostle. He was not shy about saying he worked harder than any of the other apostles did. If Jesus is not God, He cannot offer a complete sacrifice for sins. iv. The gospel is the message of the cross. i. Freud was wrong when he said: And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be. Compare that with Pauls triumphant declaration, Death is swallowed up in victory! We shall rise in a full and perfect age, (as is generally thought) and without those defects and deformities which may here make our bodies appear unlovely. (Poole), ii. c. The world through wisdom did not know God: There is a constant tendency to think that the smartest and wisest humans will know the most about God. a. 1. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changedin a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. They both describe a work in progress. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory., O Death, where is your sting? : Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble. Paul was in Athens a day or two; he stayed in Corinth for a year and a half. Death has no power over the person found in Jesus Christ. You dont understand the tension between Christ and crucified. i. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption: The word corruption does not mean moral or ethical corruption, but physical, material corruption. At some point before He died, before the veil was torn in two, before He cried out, ii. Next, come every day, just as you did at conversion, to the cross of Jesus, as a poor guilty sinner. Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. By man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead, : Here, Paul communicates the same ideas found in Romans 5:12-21. But largely, the smarter one sees himself, the less regard he has for God. Where is the disputer of this age? July 15, 2017 / by Enduring Word 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 - Diversity and Unity in the Gifts of the Spirit. (Read 1 Corinthians 14:15-25) There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. i. Paul came to Corinth from Athens, where he contended with the great philosophers of the day in terms they could understand (Acts 17:16-34). We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. d. Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints: Paul continued his description of the Corinthian Christians. Were the ones really right with God!, : There was the Jesus Party, who declared You all are so carnal, following after mere men. Jesus work for us didnt just come out of thin air; it was planned from all eternity and described prophetically in the, iv. If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage. That he does, : I am in constant peril of my life. Pauls life was lived so on the edge for Jesus Christ that he could say, , . His life was always on the line; there were always people out to kill him. The resurrection body of Jesus was material and could eat (Luke 24:39-43), yet it was not bound by the laws of nature (Luke 24:31, 24:36-37). 1. i. a. - The point is that reliable people have claimed to have seen the resurrected Christ in the flesh (sarx) and upon that confession we have come to believe. ii. all the credit for the change in His life. But Paul meant it. i. Paul had an extensive history of contact with the city of Corinth, beginning with when he established the church in Corinth, coming there after Athens and staying a year and a half (Acts 18). We write a letter by saying who the letter is to first, and we conclude with writing who the letter is from. b. When Paul came to Corinth in A.D. 50 the city was famous for hundreds of years before he was born. e. If the dead do not rise, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Pauls third proof for the resurrection in this section is also compelling. We should work hard in everything now, working for the Lord, because right now counts forever! (5-8) Concrete evidence of Jesus resurrection. figuratively, in reference to his violent and wild human opponents (as he faced at Ephesus in Acts 19:21-41). Not only did they see Jesus after His death, but they saw Him in a manner which revolutionized their faith and trust in Him. Their problem with the resurrection also indicated the source of many of their moral problems. Yet, these positives were no great credit to the Corinthian Christians themselves. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. God loves them, bears them hearty good-will, and bestows on them his fatherly smiles and blessings. Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Where did the Corinthian Christians get their strange ideas about the resurrection, ideas Paul spent this chapter trying to correct? Paul writes this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloes household visited and told him about the condition of the the Corinthian church. is a softer way of describing the death of a believer, Paul tells us that not all Christians will die, but there will be a final generation who will be transformed into resurrection bodies at the return of Jesus before they ever face death. This is a question Paul doesnt really answer in the following verses, because the answer is obvious. Those baptized by the great apostle Paul had no advantage over those baptized by some unknown believer. : God takes pleasure in accomplishing our salvation in a way no one would have expected. 3. He specifies utterance and knowledge, v. 5. i. ii. He can be confident because. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. But death is an enemy nonetheless. Instead of being torn apart, Paul pleads that they would be joined together in the, : A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated. Without grace there is and can be no peace, but when grace is ours, peace must of necessity follow. (Lenski). So, he persecuted the church before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). There is another significant difference between Pauls ministry in Athens and his work in Corinth. Paul isnt condemning all learning or education; he merely says that by themselves they are useless for obtaining spiritual wisdom. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. As is evident from 1 and 2 Corinthians, Pauls standing and authority as an apostle were not appreciated among the Christians of Corinth. d. Those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved: The verb tenses of are perishing and are being saved are significant. Every Christian must take seriously their responsibility to not only have a good past, and a good present, but to determine to have a great future with the Lord, also. Love suffers long: Love will endure a long time. He was once scandalized by a crucified Christ; it infuriated him that one obviously cursed by God (according to Deuteronomy 21:23) should be honored as Messiah and Lord. The Listener's Bible: NIV Edition Copyright 2011 by Max McLean. ? Corinth was a major city of business, especially because of its location. Paul now will show why this is true of the cross and the message of the gospel. ii. He had the right, and the authority, to command the Corinthian Christians in these matters. The Greek word has both a Gentile and a Jewish background. The plain fact is that Paul did not know when these events would take place, and nowhere does he claim to know. : In Pauls day, the Jewish world was looking for a, . : There are all different kinds of bodies in Gods creation, including, . : Paul would argue hard for his apostolic credentials, because he knew he had to be respected as an apostle. There was an old, contentious Quaker who went from one meeting to another, never finding the true church. "Love is patient, love is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) is a favorite Bible verse about love.It is used often in Christian wedding ceremonies.In this famous passage, the Apostle Paul describes 15 characteristics of love to the believers in the church at Corinth.With deep concern for the unity of the church, Paul focuses on various aspects of love between brothers and sisters in the body of . The Greeks regarded Christ crucified as foolishness. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Therefore, the resurrection of Jesus is not some add on to a more important work on the cross. (26-29) Gods foolish wisdom is also displayed by whom He has chosen for salvation. Mans flesh only is informed by a reasonable and immortal soul, not so the flesh of other creatures: and hence the difference. (Trapp). He wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth from the city of Ephesus (Acts 19), which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, knowing death is a defeated enemy because of Jesus work, can almost taunt death, and mock it. An example of this is in Acts 23:12-13, when more than forty men took a vow that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. The Corinthian Christians are, , but this isnt exclusive to them. He is. It is wisdom of a different order altogether. In putting the strong and wise and great to shame, God does not exalt the weak and uneducated and worthless, but brings all of them down to one common level. (Calvin). Famous athletic contests known as the, iii. 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 - The Gospel of Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 - The Glory of the Resurrection 1 Corinthians 16 - A Collection and a Conclusion 1 2 Bible Commentary Quick Navigation Start Here! Angels and human beings denote the universe, as gazing upon the conflicts and struggles of the apostles. We know that Peter had a wife, because . i. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. : Does this mean everyone is resurrected? They are shown to have, at times, morality problems, doctrine problems, church government problems, spiritual gift problems, church service problems, and authority problems. The growth of the ivy, covering the message, showed the spiritual decline. b. Although Jesus bore the full wrath of God on the cross, iii. Certain divines tell us that they must adapt truth to the advance of the age, which means that they must murder it and fling its dead body to the dogs which simply means that a popular lie shall take the place of an offensive truth. (Spurgeon). Encouraging and getting others to study, believe, and rely on God to be real. For the grace which was given to you by Jesus Christ: This was the specific reason for Pauls gratitude. The bottom line is this: is the church influencing the city, or is the city influencing the church? Where is the scribe? iii. Ironside says that the last trumpet was a figure of speech that came from the Roman military, when they broke camp. When we understand what Paul meant when he wrote, , If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable, , then we understand what a difficult life Paul lived. b. ii. If you do not believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead in a resurrection body the way the Bible says He did, then, g. When you know what rests on the resurrection, you know why, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. He would gladly say, i. Paul quotes from an ancient, secular comedy play, Thais, written by Menander. At the first meeting of the resurrected Jesus with His disciples, Thomas was absent and Judas had killed himself. isnt detailed in the gospels, but is suggested by Matthew 28:10 and 28:16-17. Paul knew that God gives His grace, we work hard, and the work of God is done. And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam, , gave us one kind of body. . (14-19) What if there is no resurrection? : This is not a quotation from the Old Testament, or even from the words of Jesus. To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. This is not always the case; some of the most brilliant men of history have been Christians (such as Isaac Newton). If one preaches the word with a reliance on wisdom of words, they can make the gospel of no effect. : In the previous part of the chapter, Paul demonstrated beyond all doubt that Jesus rose from the dead, and the importance of that fact. I am of Cephas: There was the Peter Party, who declared We are following in the footsteps of the man who is first among all the apostles. All will be resurrected in the sense that they will receive a resurrection body and live forever. b. From the first, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Jesus does not belong to any one party. These cliques ignore the truth of unity over all diversity in the church, even if they were all in the name of spirituality. Click on the different category headings to find out more. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. David Guzik is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, California. The words message of the cross sound kind of noble and religious to our twentieth-century ears. They are not lost; they are sown. (Spurgeon). Otherwise, you have believed in vain. Either the present dead in Christ are with the Lord in a spiritual body, awaiting their final resurrection body; or because of the nature of timeless eternity, they have received their resurrection bodies already because they live in the eternal now.. ii. He is a life-giving spirit. Paul will tell the Corinthian Christians something they could not have known by reason or research. ii. He is describing them as they appear to the perishing man, the wise man of this age. c. To put to shame the wise: This explains part of the pleasure of God described in 1 Corinthians 1:21. No. He has destroyed the wisdom of the wise, just as He said He would., i. They were called saints. It was prosperous, busy, and growing; it had a deserved reputation for the reckless pursuit of pleasure. I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily, : Paul will boast a little here. Secondly, it was right and proper for Paul to live as if the coming of Jesus was imminent, though he did not in fact know when Jesus would return. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. This was the. 1. Yet in the first chapter of Acts, Jesus brothers are among the followers of Jesus (Acts 1:14). Used by permission. I am of Paul: There was the Paul Party, who declared We are following in the footsteps of the man who founded our church, the apostle Paul. c. Enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and in all knowledge: This was the effect of grace in the life of the Corinthian Christians. For I delivered unto you first of all . ii. iv. . Click on the different category headings to find out more. The unspiritual, worldly conduct of the Corinthians . Paul shows how the resurrection of Jesus not only proves His own resurrection, but it proves the, If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. There may have been many more meetings that are not described in the gospels. We dont become righteous by focusing on ourselves, because Jesus became for us righteousness. i. (39-41) The analogy of living and heavenly bodies. So, preaching a high moral standard is not preaching the gospel, preaching the universal fatherhood of God is not preaching the gospel, and preaching the universal brotherhood of man is not preaching the gospel. Declare that His solutions prepares another generation for life. After what has been said about the value of love only one admonition is in place: "Pursue love!" It was on a four-and-one-half mile-wide isthmus of land. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. : This probably refers to the first meeting Jesus had with His assembled disciples, mentioned in Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-43, and John 20:19-25. The students discussed it for a while and decided they had 5% of all human knowledge amongst themselves. God loves to rebuke the idolatry of human wisdom, and He often does it by choosing and using the foolish things of the world. Remove this, and all our hopes for eternity sink at once. b. See passages such as Numbers 16:3, Numbers 20:4, Deuteronomy 23:1, and 1 Chronicles 28:8. iii. iv. The pursuit of human wisdom may bring an earthly contentment or happiness (though this is rare), but in itself, it can never bring the true knowledge of the true God. So he was fired from or quit his job as ruler of the synagogue! First Corinthians 15 is a great way to open discussions about the historical shape of early Christian confession and faith. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. It was founded on a promise of God, when He said for I have many people in this city (Acts 18:10). It involves truth-telling, fortitude, constancy, and tolerance (1 Corinthians 13:4-5,7). Therefore, if Jesus is not risen, He is unable to save. Jesus plainly spoke of both, i. c. But that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment: The contrast to divisions is to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. The hearing and trusting of the true gospel will bring the power of God into your life. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. But they were. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother. They both describe a work in progress. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11) The word resurrection, usually points out our existence beyond the grave. All rights reserved worldwide. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. (35) What is the nature of the resurrected body? Session 2: God's Answer Is Yes! For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. What is an apostle of Jesus Christ? Was Paul crucified for you? a. Raised in incorruption raised in glory raised in power: Our resurrection body will be glorious! Christ has obtained a victory over the law; he has stopped its mouth, and answered all its demands; he has been made under, and subject to it; he has obeyed its precepts, and bore its penalty, and has delivered his from the curse and condemnation of it, so that they have nothing to fear from it; it is dead to them, and they to that: he has also ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-2) Preface to the proclamation of Paul's gospel. God has made different churches and different ministries with different callings and characters, because the job of preaching the gospel is too big for any one group. It doesnt matter if you get the praise or the encouragement; sometimes you will and sometimes you wont. ii. : In the wording of the ancient Greek, it is even stronger: : Paul says our bodies are like seeds which grow into resurrection bodies. Everything good the Corinthian Christians have from God has come to them by. They were not looking for the message of the cross. a. God has called the weak and ignorant first, but not exclusively; shepherds first, then wise men; fishermen first, then the educated (like Paul, who was himself an educated man). Third, hold this world with a loose hand. We have all borne the image of the first Adam, and those who put their trust in the last Adam will also bear His resurrection image. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Then Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to respond to these reports. It is important to understand that when Paul says, . Paul says, In light of what God says in Isaiah 29:14, now where is your wise man? You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. He was a changed man, forgiven, cleansed, and full of love when he used to be full of hate. Conceivably, if Paul had not worked as hard as he did, the grace of God would still have been given to him, but in some measure it would be given. Instead, a stalk of wheat grows. Pottery and Corinthian brass (a mixture of gold, sliver and copper) from the city were world famous. what kind of cancer did nancy kulp have,