1 Corinthians 15:55-57

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 15:57

Verse 57 57.But thanks be to God From this it appears, why it it was that he made mention both of sin and of the law, when treating of death. Death has no sting with which to wound except sin, and the law imparts to this sting a deadly power. But Christ has conquered sin, and by conquering it has procured victory for us, and has redeemed us from the curse of the law. (Galatians 3:13.) Hence it follows, that we are no longer lying under the power of death. Hence, although we have not as yet a... 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 15:50-58

Conclusion and exhortation. 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 15:54-57

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? A triumphantly fervid exclamation of the apostle, loosely cited from Hosea 13:14 . The apostles and evangelists, not holding the slavish and superstitious fetish worship of the dead letter, often regard it as sufficient to give the general sense of the passages to which they refer. O grave, where is thy victory? In the best attested reading (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), "death" is repeated, and in the best manuscripts this clause precedes the last. But if the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Death in idea. "O death, where is thy sting?" etc. These words, which are a shout of victory evoked by what has preceded, suggest to us the popular and the Christian ideas of death. Notice— I. THE POPULAR IDEA . The language implies that the bulk of the race view death not as the writer did; that the idea to them had a "sting" a "victory," and a connection with felt guilt. 1. The popular idea has a sting. "O death, where is thy sting?" This is a vivid personification of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin. Because death is the wages of sin ( Romans 6:23 ). Death is represented as a venomous serpent. The strength of sin is the Law. The best comment on this expression is to be found in the Epistle to the Romans; see especially Romans 4:15 ; Romans 7:10-12 . It must be admitted that this passing allusion to a distinct doctrine does not seem, at first sight, to harmonize with the glorious unity of the subject. No one can read it without a slight sense of jar, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 15:57

Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. The victory consists in the defeat of death by the Resurrection, and the forgiveness of sin through Christ's atone-merit, and the nailing to his cross of the torn and abrogated Law which made us slaves to sin and death ( Colossians 2:14 ). "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" ( Romans 8:37 ). Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Who, by fulfilling the Law, has robbed it of its condemning power ( Romans 8:1... read more

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