1 Corinthians 15

Saturday, 7 March 2015

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 1 Corinthians 15:13

“But” is given as a contrast to what was just said, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” Those in the church who denied a literal resurrection of the body had not thought through their faith very well. If there is no such thing as a literal resurrection, then it must logically follow that Christ didn’t literally resurrect either. If He did, and we move to Him as our Head by faith, then we are “in” Him and we will naturally resurrect when the fullness of time comes for that to occur.

Also implied in this verse is that the Apostles, and all of the others noted as having seen the resurrected Christ, are either liars or delusional. Paul said that “Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead.” This is based on the eyewitness testimony of that noted list given in verses 5-8. However, “if there is no resurrection” then the testimony that Christ resurrected is false. If it is false, then what on earth are people doing in church?

The resurrection is wholly and inextricably tied to the sinless death of Christ. If there was no sinless death, then there was no resurrection. If there was a resurrection, then there must have been a sinless death. One cannot have one without the other. If one is false, they are both false. If both are false, then there is no gospel and there is no true church. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Life application: Don’t let people cause your faith to be diminished by fine sounding arguments. The doctrines of the Bible are perfectly revealed in the Bible and show a perfect plan given by the perfect Creator. If you have a doubt about one of the primary doctrines of the faith, then research it while praying for God to lead you to competent scholars with knowledgeable commentaries on the issue you are struggling with.

Lord God, the Bible tells me that Christ the Man died in sinless perfection. As the wages of sin is death, then I can logically see that He must also have resurrected, because He had no sin of His own. If He resurrected, it was as a Man with a body, not just as a spirit-being. If this is true, then I know I will resurrect with an eternal body as well. I have moved from Adam to Christ through Your gracious Gift of love. No fear here! I shall walk forever in Your presence. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Amen.

Friday, 6 March 2015

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 1 Corinthians 15:12

Paul has clearly presented the gospel message concerning Christ. It is this same message which was “believed” by those in Corinth. The purpose and effect of this preaching takes us right back to his earlier words that it is the gospel “by which also you are saved.” A moment later he said, “unless you believed in vain.” Salvation implies more than just this life. It implies something which transcends this life. If it doesn’t, then his coming words in verse 19 are all the more poignant – “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

In this gospel message which they believed, and which he reiterated to them, is the fact “that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” His words here repeat this thought by saying, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

What he is surely referring to here is that some in the church denied that there would be a resurrection of the dead. These were probably either Epicureans, who denied any sort of future life, or another group known as the Stoics who denied a physical, bodily resurrection. Instead they taught that a future life was spiritual in nature. Paul’s words now, and in the verses to come, will logically dispel such nonsense. They will also to show the consequences of such a notion.

In order to show them the utter folly of this, he tells them that the message that was preached, and which they believed, already demonstrated that there had been one example of a literal, bodily resurrection; that of Jesus. He went to great lengths to show that not only did it occur, but that it was witnessed by a large list of people, thus confirming the surety of the matter. If there was one such resurrection, then it naturally followed that there would be more.

The premise of calling on Christ is that the individual moves from fallen Adam to the risen Christ. If we are in Christ, then we will follow him from death to life. It is the logical and natural outcropping of the matter. This will continue to be explained in detail throughout the chapter.

Life application: What God does is logical and reasonable. If “the wages of sin is death,” and if Christ had no sin, then death could not hold Him. If we are “in Christ” and our sins are no longer counted against us, then we too must rise to eternal life as well. It is impossible to be any other way. Don’t have doubts, but have full confidence in the surety of eternal life – all granted because of the work of God in Christ!

O God – I come before You in full confidence. I will rise again to eternal life. There is no “maybe” and there is no “what if.” Man dies because of sin, but my sin is nailed to the cross, never to be reckoned against me. All of Your wrath has been poured out on Another. And yet, because He was without sin, He rose. As I am in Him now, I too shall rise. No fear here. I come before You in full confidence, O God. Hallelujah and Amen.

Thursday, 5 March 2015

Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. 1 Corinthians 15:11

Paul begins verse 11 with two conjunctions, “Therefore, whether.” The “therefore” covers all the way back to the first verses of the chapter which said –

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2

After that, he gave the pertinent points of the gospel message; the same message which is preached by all the apostles. It is these words which were preached and it is those same words that were believed by the Corinthians. Therefore, having believed, they are truly saved. Their belief was not grounded in a false gospel, but the true gospel, and their faith is not in vain.

This then explains the often-confused concept of verse 2. It is that verse which people incorrectly assume can mean a “loss of salvation” is possible. The reason is because they look at the verse out of context. The entire context of these first 11 verses shows us that this is not the case, but that salvation is eternal. If one believes, they are (emphatic) saved.

The word “whether” refers to the party who spoke the message – either himself or one of the other apostles. It didn’t matter which, it didn’t matter how they became apostles, it didn’t matter whether he was once a persecutor of the church, etc. Regardless of those issues, the message spoken was the same as from any or all of the apostles.

The word Paul uses for “preach” in this verse is kerusso. There are different words used in the Greek which are translated as “preach.” Of them, one indicates “to prophesy.” That would be a spiritual instruction or exhortation. Another would be to evangelize. This word in verse 11 means “to proclaim.” It indicates the stating of the facts of the message of the gospel. Paul has “proclaimed” them to those in Corinth and they are in unison with the proclamation of the other apostles. It is the one, only, true, and saving message; it is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Life application: Verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 15 took many surrounding verses to understand correctly. When citing individual verses, context must be maintained. If it is not, then a false understanding of what is being relayed may occur. In this case, salvation is conditioned upon belief in the true gospel message. If that message is heard, received, and believed, then it saves the one who believes… for all time!

Lord Jesus, I am so grateful that my salvation is not contingent upon anything I do after believing the gospel message. It was based on faith, and it is a done deal. And yet, I know that rewards in heaven are based on what I do now. So Lord, give me the wisdom, the desire, and the get-up-and-go gumption to do wonderful things in Your name. I long for a pleased look upon Your face when I come before You. May it be so! Amen.

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Previously speaking of his state of unworthiness as an apostle, Paul now shows the attention that he committed to the high honor that was bestowed upon him. He went from a persecutor of the church to a staunch defender and supporter of it. The cause of Christ became his sole passion (even his soul-passion) and desire. And so to show this contrast between his past and who he had become, he begins with the words “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”

His conversion was solely “by the grace of God.” He was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church, and on the way there the Lord appeared to him personally. There was nothing he did to deserve it. He was looking to destroy the notion of the Lord, but instead the Lord lavished His grace upon him in a personal appearance and calling. He could have been destroyed, but the Lord mercifully spared him.

And not only had the Lord spared him unto the calling of an apostle, but Paul notes that “His grace toward me was not in vain.” Grace which is taken for granted will be displayed in wasted effort. If you give a sluggard a thousand dollars (grace), it will be spent by the end of the day on useless things which will be in the garbage by the weekend. But if you give a thousand dollars to a diligent, energetic person who will strive to make a better life for himself, that same money will turn into a business, a home, education for his children, and an inheritance for his family.

The sluggard will soon be back, asking for more; the diligent soul will be back to repay what was given and to acknowledge your goodness to him. The Lord knew the man He was selecting and He knew the great and effective ministry he would produce. And so Paul was selected. In response to this act of grace, he notes that “I labored more abundantly than they all.”

All of the other apostles had been granted their title and ministry while Christ was alive. Though undeserving of their title, just as Paul was, they had grown into it and were comfortable with it. Paul, on the other hand, had it almost thrust upon him. He understood the weight of glory which had surrounded him and he knew that he could never repay the grace and mercy he received. And therefore he labored in a way that no other did. He who rightly perceives the grace he has received will show gratitude for it. Paul was such a person.

And yet, despite laboring with all of his effort for the cause of Christ, he was humble enough in his heart, and wise enough in his mind to proclaim that it was “not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Every breath a man takes is by the grace of God.

The gifts we possess are all grace. Paul understood this and used his past experience, his make up, his knowledge, and every part of who he was to work for Christ. It was all of grace and therefore it was all Christ. The selection was made and Paul understood what that meant. He notes this several times in his writings. A good example is to be found in Colossians –

“To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” Colossians 1:29

Life application: Can we boast about what we have received? Certainly not! And yet how often we do. Let us credit the glory to God in all things that we accomplish for Him. Let us exalt Christ who so effectively works in us for His good purposes and pleasure

Lord, I cannot take credit for anything I have done for You. The knowledge I possess is from the brain You have given me and the experiences You have granted for me. The money I have was from working with hands that You fashioned and with a physique which You designed. The time I live, the place where my feet are, and the very air that I breathe all came from You. And so how can I boast about the things which I have done in this life? It all stems from You. Use me according to Your wisdom; I am Your workmanship ready for service to You. Amen.

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 Corinthians 15:9

In explanation of his previous verse where he said he was “born out of due time,” he now notes that “I am the least of the apostles.” He wasn’t claiming this in gifts received, work-effort put forth, or rank and status. He was an apostle equal to the others, he notes in 2 Corinthians 11 that he labored more than all the others, and he is noted throughout Acts and the epistles as having an overflowing abundance of the gifts of the Spirit.

What he is referring to is his deserving of respect and honor. His calling was out of the order of the other apostles and without prior education by Christ. He felt that because of this he was “not worthy to be called an apostle.” Specifically, during that time of spiritual darkness, he not only wasn’t neutral to the gospel, but he actually “persecuted the church of God.” His persecution of the church is noted in Acts 8 and 9, but he gives great detail of what this constituted in Acts 26 –

“This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.” Acts 26:10, 11

He also mentions those areas of his life which he felt disqualified him from any esteem in his epistles, and he never seemed to quite forgive himself even though the Lord had washed him clean of all of his transgressions. Or it could be that he simply didn’t want to forget his past, lest he exalt himself above other sinners in need of a Savior. It could even be that he reminded himself often of his past so that he would never fall back into his old ways. Whatever his actual thoughts, he carried his past with him and he spoke of it freely.

Life application: All in Christ “have a past.” Some are “worse” than others, but James notes that one infraction of the law breaks the whole law. Therefore, we all stand guilty before God without the shed blood of Christ. Let us cling to this notion, not exalting ourselves over others, and in the hope of never returning to a life of sin. Let us live for Christ, exalting Him for His infinite grace and mercy.

Lord, I know that there needs to be a balance in how I approach those who have not yet called on Christ. Their sin is to be condemned and yet their souls need to be renewed. Help me to discern rightly between those who are perverse and antagonistic towards You, and those who are simply stuck in whatever addiction or perversion they are caught in. Help me be a light to the lost while still being firm towards the belligerent among us. It is often hard to know the right course, and so give me wise discernment in this, O God. Amen.