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John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 15:55

Verse 55 As to the second clause, in which he triumphs over death and the grave, it is not certain whether he speaks of himself, or whether he meant there also to quote the words of the Prophet. For where we render it, “I will be thy destruction, O death! — thy ruin, O grave!” the Greeks have translated it, “Where, O death, is thy suit? (143) where, O grave, thy sting?” Now although this mistake of the Greeks is excusable from the near resemblance of the words, (144) yet if any one will... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

The doctrine of the resurrection. This chapter, and the thirteenth, on Christian love, stand out, even among the writings of St. Paul, as pre-eminently beautiful and important. No human words ever written have brought such comfort to millions of mourners as the words of this chapter, which form a part of the Burial Service of almost every Christian community. It is the more deeply imprinted on the memory of men because it comes to us in the most solemn hours of bereavement, when we have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

The exposition and defence of the resurrection. This chapter stands, as it were, by itself in the Epistle, and indeed in the Scripture. The Gospels relate the fact of our Saviour's rising from the dead; but St. Paul in this passage, remarkable alike for closeness of reasoning, for fervent of eloquence, and for elevation of spiritual treatment, writes as the theologian of the resurrection. In opposition to false teachers who had arisen in the Corinthian Church, the apostle maintains the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:50-54

Corporeal transformation. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Concluding argument and exhortation If "flesh and blood" is "corruption," and cannot inherit "incorruption," what then? Educate the present body to the offices of the mind; let every function do its legitimate work, and every organ be faithful to the organism; refine, beautify, ennoble it by all natural and providential agencies; it is, nevertheless, "flesh and blood," and inherits "corruption." No such corporeal structure could go to heaven unchanged. The earthly body of Jesus Christ,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:53

This mortal must put on immortality. When we are "clothed upon" by our "house from heaven," and have put off "this tabernacle," in which we groan being burdened, then "mortality will be swallowed up of life" ( 2 Corinthians 5:3 , 2 Corinthians 5:4 , where we also find the metaphor of a robe of immortality, mixed up with the metaphor of a building). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:53

The mind exchanging the mortal for the immortal "And this mortal must put on immortality," etc. Paul uses this language in relation to the body. What he means, I presume, is that the mortal shall be exchanged for the immortal. To lint on "immortality" upon mortality is scarcely conceivable. But the receiving of the immortal instead of the mortal is what we can appreciate, and what we may well desire. When the apostle calls upon us elsewhere to put on the "new man," he means exchange... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:54

Death is swallowed up in victory . A free citation from the Hebrew of Isaiah 25:8 . The words "into victory" are the LXX . rendering in other passages ( Amos 1:11 ; Amos 8:8 ) for the Hebrew lanetsach, foreverse The metaphor, "is swallowed up," implying "the swallowing of the all swallower," is found in the rabbis (comp. Hebrews 2:14 , Hebrews 2:15 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

The victory of immortality. In this, as in some other passages of St. Paul's writings, logic breaks into rhetoric, prose into poetry, reasoning into fervid exclamation. Anxious to convince, the apostle was nevertheless of a temperament too fervid to be restrained within the boundaries of argument. And when his soul was lifted up above the level of human thought, when inspiration carried him into the third heaven, then he could no longer discourse; but discourse kindled into song. If there... read more

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