1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

In this chapter the apostle treats of the reformation of the dead.

1. He establish the certainty of our Saviour’s reformation, vers. 1—11. 2. He from this truth sets himself to refuse those who said there is no reformation of the dead, vers. 1 to—10. 3. From our Saviour’s reformation he establishes the reformation of the dead, and confirms the Christians in the belief of it by some other considerations, vers. 1 to—15. 4. He enforces an abolition against this truth, and takes an exception to those who are well done to be made in the bodies of believers at the reformation, vers. 3 to—51. 5. He informs us what a change will be made in them that shall be living at the sound of the last trumpet, and the complete conquest the last shall then obtain ever death and the grave, vers. 52—57. And, 6. Some of the arguments which a very serious exhortation to Christians to be rejoiced and diligent in their Lord’s service, because they know they shall be so gloriously rewarded by him, vers. 58.

2. MOREOVER, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand; 2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures: 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. 6. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once: of whom the greater part remain unto this preient, but some are fallen asleep. 7. After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. 8. And I last of all he was seen of me: also, as of one born out of due time. 9. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was delivered upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11. Therefore whether it were I or they, do we preach, and do ye believed.

The reformation of the dead being a chief article of the Christian faith, the apostle here asserts and establishes the doctrine, in opposition to some false teachers who had attempted to undermine and overturn this glorious truth, 2 Tim. ii. 17, 18.

1. He reminds them of that gospel which he had formerly preached unto them, which they had received from his lips, and in the faith of which they had hitherto persevered. By which also, he adds, ye are saved with an everlasting salvation, if ye keep in memory, or hold fast, what I preached unto you, as ye certainly will, unless ye have believed in vain, taking up with mere notions, and resting in outward profession, without having ever really the root of the matter in you. For I delivered unto you first of all, or among the most capital points of the Christian faith, and as the foundation on which all our hopes in time and eternity are built, that which I also received by immediate revelation, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, which had foretold his substitution and sufferings in the future’s stead; and that he was buried; having truly tasted of death, he was laid in the grave; and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; being delivered for our offences, he was raised again for our justification; and in his reformation we have an earnest of our own, for, which was the cause of death, being by him done away. And of the fact of his being risen we have the most authentic evidence, to I have told you, that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, which name they bore, though their original number, by the apostles of Judas and the absence of Thomas, was not complete. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this preient, but some are fallen asleep in Jesus. After that he was seen of James, the brother or near kinsman of the

Lod.

death, when the dead bodies of his people shall be raised to immortal life, no more to sin corruption. For he, even God the Father, hath put all things under his fist, and appointed him to be head over all things to his church. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that this refers only to all created beings, and that he is excepted which did put all things under him; for God himself can be subject to none. And when all things shall be finished unto him, and the ends of his mediatorial kingdom answered in the compleat salvation of his people, both in body and food, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him; he will then resign the peculiar administration committed to him, surrendering himself as the head of his church, and the members of his body mystical, into his Father’s hands, to receive those eternal rewards which are due to him in virtue of his finished work, that God may be all in all, and henceforth the delegated power and authority of Jesus, as Mediator, shall cease, and the one glorious God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, shall be the immediate fountain of dominion and blessedness to the church triumphant for ever.

3. He argues the certainty of the resurrection from the very baptism of Christians. Eije what shall they do which are baptized? If there be no resurrection, how absurd and strange would it be to take up the Christian profession, when, if they had nothing in prospect after death, and here stood exposed to every misery, and the danger of daily martyrdom, they would been merely baptized for the dead, and to be of all men most miserable, if the dead rise not at all. Why are they then baptized for the dead? what with such a prospect would ever be persuaded on an embrace Christianity? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour, and ready to find our testimony with our blood, if we had not the glorious hope of a better resurrection? I protect by your režírsity which I have in Christ’s Jesus, by all the comforts of Christianity, and as surely as that Spirit lives who is the author of them, I do daily, living continually in the nearer views and expectations of martyrdom. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, encountering men brutally and savage in their tempers, and have exposed myself to confidels as dangerous as those which the condemned criminals sustain, when obliged to encounter wild beasts in the public theaters; what advantage is we, what benefit could I may from such perilous adventures, or what could ever induce me than to hazard my life, if the dead rise not? Surely if that was the case, that nothing was to be hoped for after the grave, it would be our wisdom rather to adopt the principles of Epicurus, than of Christianity, and to say, Let us eat and drink, for numerous use did, and rather enjoy present pleasure, than suffer needless pain, if there were no hereafter, and death put an end to us for ever. Note. (1.) Nothing but the prospects of eternity can possibly engage any to the practice of Christianity. “I’ll we have realising views by faith of the things not seen, it is impossible we should truly take up the crolls. (2.) One great support in suffering, is a respect to the recompense of the reward.”

4. The apostle closes with a solemn caution. Be not deceived by those false teachers who endeavour to lay the foundation of your hopes: And communications corrupt good manner; the bad principles of these seducers could not but produce immoral practice; and to be connected and intimate with such men was dangerously infectious. Note. Bad company should be flunned as the plague. Awake then to righteousness; be on your guard, and for that we walk as becomes your body profession; for I perceive by these dangerous doctrines which are breached among you, that force of you have not the knowledge of God, and of his mind and will, as revealed in his gospel. I speak this to your shame, that men of such bad principles and corrupt conversation should be among you, permitted as teachers, or suffered to communicate with the church as members. Note. We are blameless not only for the evils we commit ourselves, but for those which we connive at in others.

5. But some man will say, ‘How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36. Thou fool, ’that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. 37. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain. 38. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39. 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. 40. There are also mistical bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for and far different from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: 43. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: 44. It is sown a natural body, it

is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam was made a living God, the first Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46. Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49. And as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

c. 35-49. Two plausible objections against the resurrection are here suggested. (1.) How are the dead raised up? what power is sufficient for such a work, to recover the scattered atoms? and, (2.) First what body do they come? with the same identical particles, or in some other shape and form. In answer to the objection, the apostle explains, ‘One fool. Probably the persons who opposed the doctrines of the resurrection pretended to high attainments in science, and to reason as philosophers; but they proved their ignorance, rather than their wisdom, and erred, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

1. That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. The same power therefore that every year raides from under the dead, where the seed was sown and corrupted, a pheromone hawed, can raise from the grave the body which hath returned to his dust again; and it would be as absurd to object against the possibility of the one as the other.

2. As to the manner of the resurrection, and with what body we shall come from the grave, to continue the fidelitude, I answer. That which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, without any of that rich chastling which afterward it produces, the blades, the ear, and those the full corn in the ear; it may choose of wheat, or of some other grain, that dies and revives again: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body; so ordering it in infinite wisdom, that every seed produces its own spruce. In quality indeed the resurrection-body will differ from the present, though its identity of person the same. Nor is this strange, when we see out of the same materials, that bodies of very different qualities are formed. 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; the substance is originally the same, though by divine power wonderfully diversified in quality. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but though all formed of the first created matter, they greatly differ in excellence; the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another: such difference will there be between the present and the resurrection-body, as between a clod and a star. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star different from another star in glory, is of greater magnitude, and thines with greater splendor; it also is the resurrection of the dead: we are raised by the same divine power as the corn vegetates; and that almighty hand which modifies the same matter in the different bodies around us, can make the like glorious difference between our present and our resurrection-body, though the manner here may be so as unconceivable. It is sown in corruption, from the day of its generation till it is putrefied in the dust; it is raised in incorruption, incapable of putrefaction or dissolution. It is sown in dishonour, in life full of defilement, covered with shame, in death loathsome and most contemptible; it is raised in glory, like unto Christ’s glorious body, flaming as the stars for ever and ever. It is sown in weakness, is at present liable to a thousand infirmities, pain, weariness, sickness, accidents, and death, and in the grave must be a prey for worms: it is raised in power, vigorous and active, fit to join the immortal soul, and without weariness to leave God in his temple day and night without ceasing for ever. It is sown a natural body, that needs the constant support of meat, and drink, and sleep, like the beasts that perish: it is raised a spiritual body, requiring none of these animal refreshments, and will be like the angels. There is a natural body, such as we now possess; and there is a spiritual body, suited to the celestial world which is the inheritance of the saints. And so it is written, The first man Adam, from whom we derive our present body, was made a living God, was endued with animal life, and required all those supports which we do: the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, our second common head and representative, was made a quickening spirit, possessing life in himself, and the fountain of it to his people; having since his resurrection a spiritual body, and by virtue of his power, and our union with him, he shall fashion our bodies like his own. However, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual: Adam’s animal body was first, Christ’s spiritual body afterwards; and such is the order also established for us, first to hear the natural, then to receive the spiritual body. The first man was of the earth, formed from the clay, and by his son as become surely, returning to the dust from whence he came. The second man, our better representative,

tive,