The Rapture: Victory Over Death
First Corinthians 15:50-58, and First Thessalonians 4:15-18

The rapture: victory over death DIG: What is the rapture? Why is it so important for believers to understand? Why is the shofar so important to this message? What does the word “rapture” mean? How does this motivate you to witness to those you know who might be “left behind” if they don’t make a commitment to follow Messiah as their Lord and Savior? How would Paul’s words have comforted the Thessalonians or the Corinthians? Why do people ignore the reality of the Rapture today?

REFLECT: Does the reality of Messiah’s return encourage you or threaten you? Who do you long to see again that has passed away? How would you feel if they weren’t there? How can you be better prepared for that time? What is the most comforting thing here for you as you consider your own death? Or the death of a dear friend or loved one? What here is the hardest for you to understand? What has been the toughest death for you to experience? Do you get discouraged when your service is unnoticed or taken for granted?

Death is defeated, the King is alive.

The longest chapter in the book comes to a magnificent climax. Paul makes it clear that those who are raptured will not have bodies of flesh and blood. However, our spirits/souls will be with the Lord  because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (Second Corinthians 5:8). In a poetic passage the apostle rejoices in the triumph that Messiah has won over death itself. This calls for thanksgiving, praise and glory to ADONAI, the source of victory.

Our rapture (15:50-54): Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God. It is not this body that will enter the life of the world to come. And I’m glad that God is not going to send our bodies to a repair shop because I would like to trade mine in for a new model. Something that decays cannot share in what does not decay (15:50). This is what caused the Corinthian confusion in the first place. They asked, “How can people possibly rise when their bodies have completely rotted away?” They didn’t understand that our bodies must be different in order to inherit heaven (to see link click Dv – Our Resurrection Bodies). However, like the seed that is planted (15:42-44), it continues its identity, but in a radically and wonderfully different form.⁵⁰⁸

People could never have worked out for themselves what will happen at the Rapture, but ADONAI has revealed it. Look, I will tell you a mystery (Greek: mysterion), which is a truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed (Romans 11:25b) – not all of us will die! But we will all be changed, from the natural to the supernatural (15:51)! For the believer, death is a doorway and not an empty pit. When we die, it’s as if we will fall asleep here on earth and wake up in heaven (Philippians 1:21 and 23). And for those believers who are alive at the time Yeshua returns, they will not have the experience of dying at all.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your immeasurable greatness of power that conquered death, raising Messiah and seating Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20). How glorious the thought that though life is full of problems, illnesses, trials, and misunderstandings; those who love Yeshua as our Lord, know for sure that when the trumpet is blown we will leave this earth to be with You forever! How gracious You are to not only forgive us, but to also take us to live with You in heaven for all eternity (John 14:1-3)!

Your steadfast love is amazing! As You are united to and dwell within each of us who love You (John 14:20,23), Your presence in us enables us to also conquer death. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (Romans 6:5). How incredibly great is Your steadfast love! David went thru many hard trials but he was an overcomer because he had learned the secret to overcoming in trials is to S-T-O-P: Look up to You and remember your Steadfast love (Psalms 59:9-10), Trust in God and not be afraid (Psalms 56:3-4 and 11) and Offer Praise (Psalm 56:3-10).

Praise You for the glorious thought of living for all eternity with You in complete peace and joy in heaven. Eternity is such a long time. I desire to serve You with all my heart and soul now on earth, not complaining about trials, but rather letting You use them to purify and mold me to be more like Messiah. You have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua Messiah (First Peter 1:6c-7). In the name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

For the raptured, the change will be in a moment, the blink of an eye. It will not be a process, like a supernatural metamorphosis. It will be an instantaneous recreation from one form to another, from the earthy to the heavenly. And the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. That change will occur at the final shofar (15:52), or the ram’s horn which is sounded one hundred times on Rosh ha’Shanah, the Jewish New Year (see the commentary on Leviticus Ee – Rosh Ha’Shanah). Within Judaism the shofar has multiple symbolism, including God’s creation and kingship, His revelation at Mount Sinai, prophetic warning, repentance, alertness, battle, Abraham’s offering of Isaac (and its connection with God’s mercy), the ingathering of God’s people in exile, final judgment and resurrection (Matthew 24:31).⁵⁰⁹

When we say this, we base it on the Lord’s own word. While the common experience for most will be having to die in order to participate in rapture, there will be some people living at that time who will also participate. We who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God’s shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up (the Latin word for caught up is rapturo, from which comes the term rapture) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord (First Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Because earthly, natural bodies cannot occupy the eternal Kingdom, there has to be such a Day and such a moment, for this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the TaNaKh (Isaiah 25:8) will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (15:53-54). Death is not merely destroyed so that it cannot do further harm, while all of the harm which it has brought on God’s children remains. Death and all of its apparent victories are undone for God’s children. What looked like a victory for death and like a defeat for us when our bodies die and decay shall be utterly reversed so that death dies in absolute defeat and our bodies live again in absolute victory.⁵¹⁰

So encourage each other with these words (First Thessalonians 4:18). The fact that believers who have died will be resurrected to join the living believers with the Lord Yeshua when He comes, that they will actually precede those who are alive in that day, that those who are alive will be united with them, and that they will all be with the Lord forever, give abundant reasons for being encouraged. Not only do believers not grieve like unbelievers, but followers of Messiah can actually look forward eagerly to that great day. This is the great hope of the Church, to see the Lord and be united with Him forever. It is that which every believer should anticipate with joy. It is the blessed fulfillment of our certain hope, which is the appearing of the Sh’khinah glory of our great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah (Titus 2:13).⁵¹¹

Our victory song (15:55-58): There is a preacher of the old school, but he speaks as boldly as ever. He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels to every part of the globe and speaks in every language. He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion, and the subject of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent preacher, often stirring feelings which no other preacher could, and bringing tears to eyes that never weep. No one is able to refute his arguments, nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals. He shatters lives with his message. Most people hate him; and deep down, everyone waits for him. Every gravestone is his pulpit, every website prints his text, and someday we all will be his sermon. His name? Death.

Therefore, quoting Hosea, Paul asks: Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting (First Corinthians 15:55; Hosea 13:14). To continue with the metaphor, Paul implies that death left its sting in Messiah, as a bee leaves its stinger in its victim. Yeshua bore the whole of death’s sting in order that we would have to bear none of it. However, right now death does have a sting. Right now it appears as though death does have the victory, for there is not a single person who will escape death if the Lord delays His Coming. But what appears to be a victory for the angel of the Abyss (Revelation 9:11), will ultimately end in his defeat, for death itself will be defeated along with its angel (Revelation 20:10, 14-15).⁵¹²

To make his point, the apostle reminds us that the sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah (15:56). This verse sums up what is taught at length in Romans 3:19-31, 5:12-21 and 7:1-25. The harm in death is caused by sin. Here is how it works: it was through one individual (Adam) that sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned (Romans 5:12). Only where there is sin, can death deal a fatal blow. Where sin has been removed, death can only interrupt the earthly and usher in the heavenly. That is what Messiah has done for those who have trusted in Him. Our sins have been forgiven for His sake (First John 2:12). Right now death is not gone, but the sign of death, sin, is gone. For if, because of the offense of one man (Adam), death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua Messiah (Romans 5:17)!

It is not, of course, that believers no longer sin, but that the sins we commit are already covered by Messiah’s atoning blood, so that sin’s effect is not permanently fatal. The blood of God’s Son, Yeshua, purifies us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7b). However, for unbelievers, who have rejected Messiah’s sacrifice on their behalf; instead of accepting the Sacrifice, they become the sacrifice, and death’s sting remains in them for all eternity.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah (First Corinthians 15:57; Romans 7:24-25)! Messiah lived a sinless life on our behalf, completing the Torah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dg – The Completion of the Torah), removing our sin by Himself by paying the penalty for it, satisfying every claim of God’s holiness with a perfect sacrifice; and conquering death by being raised from the dead. All of that great victory He accomplished for us and gave to us. Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf (Galatians 3:13a). He took our curse, our guilty verdict, and instead, gave us victory in its place.

For believers, death has no more power, because God has taken away our sin. Since God shares a common physical nature as human beings, He became like them and shared that same human nature; so that by His death he might render ineffective the one who had power over death (that is, the Adversary), and thus set free those who had been in bondage all their lives because of their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). For believers, death is but the passing of our spirits from this life to the next, leaving the earth to be with the Lord. Paul had only one reason for wanting to remain on earth: to continue his ministry for Messiah on behalf of others. But for his own benefit and joy he had only one desire: to go off and be with Messiah – that is better by far (Philippians 1:23-24).

In Messiah’s victory over death, death’s sting has been removed; it is declawed, defanged, disarmed, and destroyed. Death and sh’ol were hurled into the lake of fire . . . and He will wipe away every tear from the eyes of believers. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain (Revelation 20:14 and 21:4).

So, as a result of everything that Messiah has done for us, we should stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain (15:58). In other words, we should strive to stay in the will of God, not being erratic, scatterbrained, or easily discouraged, but to use our spiritual gifts to the fullest in the knowledge that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh will make them effective. Because ADONAI has so abundantly gone beyond Himself for us who deserve nothing from Him, we should determine to work as vigorously as we can in service to Him, to whom we owe everything. How can we take it easy when so many around us are going to hell and so many believers around us need encouragement, and help of every sort?

No, until the Lord returns there are souls to reach and ministries of every sort to be completed. Every believer should work uncompromisingly as the Spirit has gifted and leads. Our money, time, energy, talents, gifts, bodies, minds and spirits should be invested in the Lord’s work. Our praise and thanksgiving must be given hands and feet. As James tells us: Indeed, just as the body without a spirit is dead, so too faith without actions is dead (James 2:26). Our work for the Lord, if it is truly for Him and done in His power, cannot fail to accomplish what He desires. Every good work that believers do in this life has eternal benefits that the Lord Himself guarantees: Yeshua says: Pay attention! I am coming soon, and My rewards are with Me to give to each person according to what he or she has done (Revelation 22:12). Thus, we have God’s own promise that our efforts are not in vain.⁵¹³

Our Resurrection Bodies
15: 35-49

Our resurrection bodies DIG: Who are the two Adams mentioned here? How are they alike? How are they different? What do they have to do with the resurrection? How does Paul make it clear that he is talking about our having bodies, not about being dismembered souls?

REFLECT: What do you learn from these verses about what a resurrected body might be like? How does the hope of resurrection affect your view of death? How does your hope of resurrection affect how you use your current body? And to tell others about Messiah?

If you want a glimpse of what our new, resurrected bodies will be like, take a look at Yeshua. He was raised with the same kind of body that we will be given when we are raised to life.

Having proved the necessity of the resurrection, Paul can go on to discuss his readers’ concern about the practical details. But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have” (15:35)? Those in Corinth who denied the resurrection did so primarily because of the influence of Gnostic philosophy, which considered the body to be inherently evil and only the spirit to be good. They asked, “How can people possibly rise from the dead when their bodies have completely rotted away?” These verses, therefore, are absolutely crucial to the argument of this entire chapter (to see link click Dq – The Resurrection of the Dead), since it responds to the real issue that led to their denial of the resurrection.

Paul was convinced that the resurrection was not some resurrection of a corpse, but, like Messiah, the firstfruits (see Dt – Messiah: The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep), would be transformed into a heavenly body. As he would later write to the Philippians, “Messiah will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like His glorious body, using the power which enables Him to bring everything under His control” (Philippians 3:21). Because the Corinthians could not fathom how this was possible, they had given up any hope that it was possible. They believed that resurrected bodies would be unfit for heavenly existence. So the skeptics concluded that there is no resurrection.

But why would anyone who acknowledges God as Creator think His restoring bodies, in whatever way, would be any more difficult for Him than making them in the first place? As Paul asked when he was before King Agrippa: Why do you people consider it incredible that God raises the dead (Acts 26:8)? Why do people still today, including some believers, become confused and bothered about how God could restore bodies of those who have been lost at sea, blown up in an explosion, or cremated? Why is His restoring bodies more miraculous and unbelievably than His creating the universe? And besides, every dead body, no matter how well embalmed, eventually disintegrates.⁴⁹⁶ Paul answers the questions: In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have? in four ways:

1. An illustration of resurrection (15:36-38): Paul first counters the Corinthian objection by pointing to the miracle of the harvest. Yeshua used the same seed-sowing illustration: I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest (John 12:24). But because the resurrection seemed impossible from a Gnostic point of view, Paul responded accordingly: You fool (15:36a)! The fool is the opposite of the wise (see Ax – A Faulty View of God’s Gifts). Everyone knows that a seed’s life springs from its death. The harsh description of a fool has deeper biblical roots, however. Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The fool does not suffer from an intellectual deficiency, but fails to take God into account.⁴⁹⁷

The main teaching of the illustration from nature is that death and resurrection are transitions to a higher life. Nothing in the background of either the Greek or Jewish members of the Corinthian church would have prepared them for the idea that the life beyond the grave would be superior to this life. The Greek culture looked upon the best position in the land of the dead as inferior to the lowest position in the world. Even the TaNaKh painted a very unattractive picture of the land beyond death. At best, it was some kind of shadowy existence. The lament of the psalmist that in death there is no remembrance of You (Ps 6:5), and the dead do not praise ADONAI, nor any who go down into silence (Ps 115:17) stands in stark contrast to the statement that Paul would later give to the Philippians, “For me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21).

Thus, the questions posed here in 15:35 were not those of someone who wanted to know, but were mocking taunts of someone who thought they already knew. As with most of the questions put to Yeshua by the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, the purpose was to entrap and embarrass, not discover truth. To point out the foolishness of their objection, Paul gives a common illustration from nature. When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies (15:36b). Before Messiah could bear the fruit of salvation for us, He had to die. Likewise, before we can participate in the fruit of His resurrection, we too must die. Just as with crops, there had to be an end to the old before there could be a beginning of the new.

Also, in both the growing of crops and in the resurrection of bodies there is a difference between the original and final forms. What you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else (15:37). When Yeshua was raised from the dead His glorified body was radically different from the one which He died, so much so that Mary didn’t even recognize Him (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Me – Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene). Resurrection had changed Messiah’s body in marvelous and radical ways, and at His Second Coming all resurrection bodies will be changed marvelously and radically.

But in spite of the differences, there is nevertheless a continuity between the old and the new. God gives it the body He intended for it; and to each kind of seed He gives its own body (15:38). The seed changed radically, but it was still a seed. A wheat seed does not become barley, and a flax seed does not become corn. After Yeshua was raised, no one recognized Him unless He revealed Himself to them. But once revealed, He was recognizable. The disciples knew His face, and they recognized His wounds. In a similar way, our resurrected bodies as believers will have a continuity with the bodies we have now. Our bodies will die and change form, but they will still be our bodies. Surely it is not too hard to believe that the God who has worked this process daily through the centuries in His creation of plants, can do the same for us.⁴⁹⁸

2. The form of resurrected bodies (15:39-42a): From grain and plants, Paul turns to flesh. All flesh is not the same kind of flesh. The variety in creation reflects the will of the Maker. And God provides each of the animals, fish, and birds with bodies that are perfectly suited to their environments. So, there is one kind of flesh for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another for birds and another for fish (15:39). Paul wanted to correct the Corinthians of the mistaken impression that all flesh is the same so that they can begin to appreciate that the resurrection body is not identical with the earthly body.⁴⁹⁹

Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. Listed in descending order of their radiance, the blazing sun has one kind of beauty, the soft glow of the moon another, and the twinkling of the stars yet another. Indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty (15:40-41). Although their structure is the same, their appearance is vastly different. Although the substance of our earthly bodies is the same whether they are lying in the grave or beautiful in resurrection, their appearance in these two is vastly different.⁵⁰⁰ The point is that each has its own beauty, so that in his argument, Paul contends that even though the earthly body must die, the resurrection body is not without its own beauty. Since the Corinthians recognized that heavenly bodies were different from earthly bodies, they should not expect the resurrected body to be a recycled earthly body. The body that is raised will be transformed into something entirely different from what is known on the earth and something entirely appropriate for a heavenly existence.⁵⁰¹

So it is with the resurrection of the dead (15:42a). Resurrection bodies will differ from earthly bodies just as radically as heavenly bodies differ from earthly. And resurrection bodies will be as individual and unique as are all the other forms of God’s creation. Every star is different, just as every plant is different, every animal is different and every human is different. Why would anyone think it too hard for Him to re-create and resurrect earthly bodies, no matter what the form might be?⁵⁰²

3. The contrasts of the resurrection (15:42a-44): Paul points to a number of differences between the body now and the body raised, and begins with decay. The chief objection the typical Greek had to any doctrine of resurrection was that by its very nature the body decays. He looked for an existence when the soul would no longer be handicapped by his decaying body. Paul connects this very state with the resurrected body.⁵⁰³ He acknowledges that the earthly body decays, dies, and is put into the grave. A day is coming, however, when like a grain of wheat, our bodies will die (Ecclesiastes 3:20; Psalm 103:14-16). When the body is “sown,” that is, born, it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay (15:42b). But he insists that the body that will be taken from the grave at the resurrection will be a transformed body. When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. Paul’s point is that the resurrected body is not a spruced-up version of the physical body. The two bodies are completely different.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your mighty power that raises to new life those who love and worship You as Lord and Savior. Praise Your wisdom and powerful design that changes a creeping caterpillar into a beautiful flying butterfly. As heaven is totally new and different from the earth You created, so also will be the fantastic new and amazing body that You create for those who love You. Just as an old house is torn down and a new one is built in its place, so Your mighty power will give those who love You new bodies.

It’s not possible to be without pain or crying in our earthly body now. What a joy to think of our new body that will not feel pain nor cry (Revelation 21:4). Just as a baby in the womb of its mother cannot even begin to comprehend how life will be outside of the womb; so neither can we as we live on earth, comprehend how awesome our resurrected bodies will be. I praise You for Your love and attention to every detail to give us new bodies and a new life with no crying, dying, sadness nor pain. How absolutely wonderful! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

I will live my life here on earth to show my thanks. There are many problems now, but I keep my eyes focused on living with You for all eternity. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). I follow You and trust in Your steadfast love. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds (Psalms 36:5). I bow in worship and thanks for how great and loving You are! In Your Son’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Paul continues to pick out those features of bodily life that seemed to the Greek to demonstrate the foolishness of the idea of the resurrection, and to show that they have no relevance to the resurrection. When sown, it is weak. Our present bodies are characterized by weakness. We are not only weak in our physical strength and endurance but also resistant to disease and harm. But not so our new bodies, when raised, it will be strong, raised to life by the same power that raised Yeshua from the grave (15:43). We are not told what our strength will entail, but it will be immeasurable compared to what we now possess. We will no longer have to say that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Anything our heavenly spirits determine to do our heavenly bodies will be able to accomplish.⁵⁰⁴

When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a spiritual, not in the sense of being composed of spirit, but a body controlled by the Spirit, perfectly suited for the spiritual realm in which we will be living forever and ever (15:44). In Second Corinthians 5:1, Paul contrasts this earthly body to a tent that is to be torn down and replaced by an eternal house waiting in the heavens (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bb – Going Home). The spiritual body is a body that eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered the human mind (2:9), that is transformed into the likeness of Messiah (Second Corinthians 3:18).⁵⁰⁵ In our present earthly existence the body simply “is” – neither to be admired (or lavishly decked out), nor put down (as we are the temple of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh). Since it serves as the present vehicle of our life on this planet, one should properly care for it as the gift that it is; but “care” should not also lead to worship, just as it should not lead to hatred.⁵⁰⁶

4. The prototype of the resurrection (15:45-49): The contrast between our earthly and resurrected bodies is perhaps most clearly seen by placing Adam and Yeshua side by side. In fact, the TaNaKh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being and a prototype of our earthly bodies. We received this body from our first parent, Adam. He was made of dust, and so are we (Genesis 2:7). But the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit and a prototype of our heavenly bodies (15:45). But the resurrection body is suited to a spiritual environment. In His resurrection body, Yeshua was able to move quickly from place to place, and even walk through locked doors; yet He was also able to eat food, and His apostles were able to touch and feel Him (Luke 24:33; John 20:19-29). Through Adam we have inherited our earthly bodies; through Messiah we will inherit spiritual bodies in the resurrection.

Paul points out the obvious: Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. The first man (Adam) is from the earth, made of dust; the second man (Messiah) is from heaven. People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven (15:46-49). Just as we will exchange Adam’s ordinary human body for Messiah’s spiritual body, we will exchange Adam’s image for Messiah’s image.

Our new body comes at death. Whatever happens to our present bodies – whether they are healthy or unhealthy, beautiful or plain, short-lived or long-lived, or whether they are indulged or tortured – they are not our permanent bodies, and we should not hold them too dearly. Our blessed hope is that these created ordinary human bodies will one day be recreated into spiritual bodies. Although we only have a glimpse of what those new bodies will be like, it should be enough to know that we shall be like Him (First John 3:2c).⁵⁰⁷

Resurrection Incentives
15: 29-34

Resurrection Incentives DIG: Why is bodily resurrection important? What three powerful incentives does Paul give? What’s wrong with the idea that believers will not have bodies in eternity? What things would be true if Messiah had not been raised from the dead?

REFLECT: What does the resurrection mean to you personally? Think of a loved one that has passed away that you really miss seeing, being with, and talking to. How does the resurrection comfort you? How can you use the resurrection to witness about the Lord?

If you remove the resurrection, you have removed one of the greatest motivations the Lord gives for coming to Messiah and for living for Him.

Paul is almost ready to discuss what a resurrection body might look like (to see link click Dv – Our Resurrection Bodies). But before doing so, he has a few final considerations on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. He shows the Corinthians how the false doctrine of no resurrection that was being spread by some in the church made no sense, neither practically nor theologically. He then proceeds with a final warning.⁴⁹¹

When the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, asked Yeshua the mocking and insincere question about whose wife a certain woman would be in the resurrection (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ja – Whose Wife Will She Be at the Resurrection?), He first told them that they understood neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. After declaring that there is no marriage in heaven, He continued: And as for whether the dead are resurrected, haven’t you read what God said to you, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jaocb?” He is the God of the living, not the dead (Matthew 22:31-32). The emphasis is His statement was on the verb “I am” because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were spiritually alive at the time Yeshua spoke, and one day would be united with their glorified bodies in the resurrection. It is as if Paul was saying, “Presently, right now, I am the God of Abrahm, Isaac, and Jacob.” That statement was true because there is life after death.

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You that we can know for sure that there is life after death. No matter how good or how bad this life is, it is a wonderful thought that there is a real heaven where You are in complete control and where You have wiped out crying, dying, sadness and pain. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4). Thank You for being the God of Abrahm, Isaac, and Jacob, for that means that You never get old nor forget my name, but You have all the time in the world to purify and refine me (First Peter 1:7). You have my name constantly before You, so I never walk alone for You are always present with me (Hebrews 13:5).

It is such a comfort that Messiah totally defeated death and rose in triumph! For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him  (Romans 6:5, 8). Life in heaven after the resurrection of our earthly bodies, is like going to a party that never stops for we will live with You forever in Your home of peace and joy! Thank You so much for all You suffered so we could go to heaven. As best as I can, I want to live my life in loving obedience to You. I want You to be first in my thoughts, time and affection. You are the best, and worthy of all my love! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

Scripture is not theological, impractical, or irrelevant. Because the Sadducees denied any resurrection, they could not think right or live right, as is obvious in their response to the life and work of Messiah. Right doctrine is inseparably connected to right moral behavior and right principles are given to lead to right conduct. God’s truth not only is to be believed, but it’s to be properly responded to. In other words, we need to obey God’s Word. When its truth is denied, there are devastating moral and spiritual consequences.

Paul’s major thrust here in 15:29-34 is that if you remove the resurrection, if you deny this crucial and wonderful truth of God’s redemptive work, you have removed one of the greatest motivations the Lord gives for coming to Messiah and for living for Him. Therefore, Paul points out three powerful incentives the resurrection gives.

An incentive for salvation (15:29): The context is the resurrection. There are two groups of believers in view here. The first group incorrectly thinks that they can be baptized for their dead pagan loved ones and thus snatch them out of the flames of hell and send them to heaven. The second group does not believe in the resurrection. What Paul does here is use the first group as an example to the second group, emphasizing the incentive for salvation.

To the first group: Otherwise, what will those believers do who are baptized for the dead (15:29a)? When Paul mentions those who are baptized, he was simply referring to pagan Gentiles who had become believers (and subsequently baptized) as a result of the persuasive testimony of other faithful believers who had since passed away. The pagans heard the Good News and looked at their lives and said to themselves, “I want what they have in this life, and I also want to be able to see my unsaved loved ones who have died.” Evidently, some believers in Corinth were promoting this false view of baptism which Paul used as an argument against the second group who denied the resurrection.

This group of misguided Corinthian believers failed to understand that since one person’s faith cannot save another, then certainly one person’s baptism cannot save another. Baptism is simply an outward sign of an inward conviction. No one is saved by baptism – not even living people, muchless dead ones. It is appointed for mankind to die once and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There was no hope of a second change of salvation for the lost because death ends all opportunity for redemption and for spiritual help of any kind. This should have been a real example to those who denied the resurrection in Corinth. Since there is a resurrection, however, this is a real incentive for witnessing to unbelievers.

This verse does not teach that we can have a vicarious, or proxy, baptism for the dead, as claimed by ancient gnostic heretics such as Marcion and by the Mormon church today. In their practice, individuals go to their local Mormon temple, dress appropriately for a baptism, representatively adopt the name of a person who has died, and then the Mormon is baptized in water for that deceased person. This way, the dead person has supposedly fulfilled the requirements of salvation in the afterworld and can enjoy further spiritual benefits in the spiritual realm. But, the Mormons are incorrect. They have usurped this verse and taken it out of context. If one person’s faith cannot save another, then clearly one person’s baptism cannot save another. The only way any person has ever come to God is by faith.

To the second group: Therefore, Paul asked rhetorically: In reality, if the unregenerate dead are not raised to heaven at all, ever, why then are many present believers being baptized for them (15:29b)? Paul reasoned that even if some of the Corinthian believers were ignorantly and vainly attempting to be baptized for their dead pagan loved ones so they could see them again; nevertheless, there is a resurrection (see the commentary on Revelation Ff – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection), and that should be the real motivation for witnessing to unbelievers!

Before proceeding, I would like to add a word of caution. There are those, like the Mormons, who build a whole doctrine off of one verse. Others, even believers, have very strong opinions built upon one verse in the Bible. When the Protestant Reformation began, they used the expression, “Scripture interprets Scripture.” By this they meant that obscure passages in Scripture must be understood in light of clearer ones. Since the Bible is God’s Word, it must be consistent within itself. No one part of the Bible can contradict any other part. One divine Author – the Ruach Ha’Kodesh – inspired the entire Bible, so it has one marvelous, supernatural unity. This is called “the synthesis principle.” If we hold to an interpretation of one passage that does not square with something in another passage, one of the passages is being interpreted incorrectly – or possibly both of them. The Spirit of God does not disagree with Himself. And the passages with obvious meanings should interpret the more difficult ones. Therefore, one should never build any doctrine on a single obscure or unclear text.⁴⁹²

An incentive for service (15:30-32): The second incentive that hope of the resurrection gives us is for service. Why, otherwise, would believers endure and sacrifice so much? If there were no resurrection of the believing dead, then suffering and dying for the sake of the gospel would be masochistic, suffering for suffering’s sake. As Paul has already pointed out: If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone (15:19).

For that matter, why make this life miserable if this life is all there is? Why keep facing danger hour by hour and dying every day, if we have no security to look forward to (15:30-31)? Why engage in self-denying ministry if death ends it all? It’s as if Paul is saying, “ If Messiah’s resurrection was the only resurrection (as some of the Corinthians believed) then His being raised was no victory for us. He would not have been the first fruits of more to come (see Dt – Messiah: The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep). He would not have conquered death, but only made it a greater mockery for those who put their trust in Him. But, as always, Yeshua is our model, and for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). It was His anticipation of the resurrection, of being raised to be with His Father once again, that gave our Lord the notice for dying on our behalf. He was willing to die for us because He knew He would be raised for us.⁴⁹³

If my fighting figuratively with “wild beasts” in Ephesus (see the commentary on Acts Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus) was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? Although this was not an experience in the arena, it was like it to Paul in that he saw no hope of deliverance. Why face that kind of danger if this life is all there is?⁴⁹⁴ If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (First Corinthians 15:32; Isaiah 22:13 and 56:12).

An incentive for sanctification (15:33-34): Paul ends this section with a warning, presumably to those in Corinth who were under the influence of the heretical doctrine of no resurrection. Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character” (15:33). This timeless principle can also be applied to all of us no matter what age or generation. Peer pressure , going along with the crowd, can lead an otherwise good person into bad behavior. Apparently there were some people in Corinth doing exactly this, believing there were no consequences for immoral behavior since there was no resurrection. Such people had no true knowledge of God despite claiming to be so wise (see An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom). As a result, they were being easily led into sinning.⁴⁹⁵ So, he warned them very bluntly: Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! I say this to your shame (15:34). What a shameful thing to be living selfishly living in sin while multitudes die without Messiah!

Resurrection Incentives
15: 29-34

Resurrection Incentives DIG: Why is bodily resurrection important? What three powerful incentives does Paul give? What’s wrong with the idea that believers will not have bodies in eternity? What things would be true if Messiah had not been raised from the dead?

REFLECT: What does the resurrection mean to you personally? Think of a loved one that has passed away that you really miss seeing, being with, and talking to. How does the resurrection comfort you? How can you use the resurrection to witness about the Lord?

If you remove the resurrection, you have removed one of the greatest motivations the Lord gives for coming to Messiah and for living for Him.

Paul is almost ready to discuss what a resurrection body might look like (to see link click Dv – Our Resurrection Bodies). But before doing so, he has a few final considerations on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. He shows the Corinthians how the false doctrine of no resurrection that was being spread by some in the church made no sense, neither practically nor theologically. He then proceeds with a final warning.⁴⁹¹

When the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, asked Yeshua the mocking and insincere question about whose wife a certain woman would be in the resurrection (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ja – Whose Wife Will She Be at the Resurrection?), He first told them that they understood neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. After declaring that there is no marriage in heaven, He continued: And as for whether the dead are resurrected, haven’t you read what God said to you, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jaocb?” He is the God of the living, not the dead (Matthew 22:31-32). The emphasis is His statement was on the verb “I am” because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were spiritually alive at the time Yeshua spoke, and one day would be united with their glorified bodies in the resurrection. It is as if Paul was saying, “Presently, right now, I am the God of Abrahm, Isaac, and Jacob.” That statement was true because there is life after death.

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You that we can know for sure that there is life after death. No matter how good or how bad this life is, it is a wonderful thought that there is a real heaven where You are in complete control and where You have wiped out crying, dying, sadness and pain. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4). Thank You for being the God of Abrahm, Isaac, and Jacob, for that means that You never get old nor forget my name, but You have all the time in the world to purify and refine me (First Peter 1:7). You have my name constantly before You, so I never walk alone for You are always present with me (Hebrews 13:5).

It is such a comfort that Messiah totally defeated death and rose in triumph! For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him  (Romans 6:5, 8). Life in heaven after the resurrection of our earthly bodies, is like going to a party that never stops for we will live with You forever in Your home of peace and joy! Thank You so much for all You suffered so we could go to heaven. As best as I can, I want to live my life in loving obedience to You. I want You to be first in my thoughts, time and affection. You are the best, and worthy of all my love! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

Scripture is not theological, impractical, or irrelevant. Because the Sadducees denied any resurrection, they could not think right or live right, as is obvious in their response to the life and work of Messiah. Right doctrine is inseparably connected to right moral behavior and right principles are given to lead to right conduct. God’s truth not only is to be believed, but it’s to be properly responded to. In other words, we need to obey God’s Word. When its truth is denied, there are devastating moral and spiritual consequences.

Paul’s major thrust here in 15:29-34 is that if you remove the resurrection, if you deny this crucial and wonderful truth of God’s redemptive work, you have removed one of the greatest motivations the Lord gives for coming to Messiah and for living for Him. Therefore, Paul points out three powerful incentives the resurrection gives.

An incentive for salvation (15:29): The context is the resurrection. There are two groups of believers in view here. The first group incorrectly thinks that they can be baptized for their dead pagan loved ones and thus snatch them out of the flames of hell and send them to heaven. The second group does not believe in the resurrection. What Paul does here is use the first group as an example to the second group, emphasizing the incentive for salvation.

To the first group: Otherwise, what will those believers do who are baptized for the dead (15:29a)? When Paul mentions those who are baptized, he was simply referring to pagan Gentiles who had become believers (and subsequently baptized) as a result of the persuasive testimony of other faithful believers who had since passed away. The pagans heard the Good News and looked at their lives and said to themselves, “I want what they have in this life, and I also want to be able to see my unsaved loved ones who have died.” Evidently, some believers in Corinth were promoting this false view of baptism which Paul used as an argument against the second group who denied the resurrection.

This group of misguided Corinthian believers failed to understand that since one person’s faith cannot save another, then certainly one person’s baptism cannot save another. Baptism is simply an outward sign of an inward conviction. No one is saved by baptism – not even living people, muchless dead ones. It is appointed for mankind to die once and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There was no hope of a second change of salvation for the lost because death ends all opportunity for redemption and for spiritual help of any kind. This should have been a real example to those who denied the resurrection in Corinth. Since there is a resurrection, however, this is a real incentive for witnessing to unbelievers.

This verse does not teach that we can have a vicarious, or proxy, baptism for the dead, as claimed by ancient gnostic heretics such as Marcion and by the Mormon church today. In their practice, individuals go to their local Mormon temple, dress appropriately for a baptism, representatively adopt the name of a person who has died, and then the Mormon is baptized in water for that deceased person. This way, the dead person has supposedly fulfilled the requirements of salvation in the afterworld and can enjoy further spiritual benefits in the spiritual realm. But, the Mormons are incorrect. They have usurped this verse and taken it out of context. If one person’s faith cannot save another, then clearly one person’s baptism cannot save another. The only way any person has ever come to God is by faith.

To the second group: Therefore, Paul asked rhetorically: In reality, if the unregenerate dead are not raised to heaven at all, ever, why then are many present believers being baptized for them (15:29b)? Paul reasoned that even if some of the Corinthian believers were ignorantly and vainly attempting to be baptized for their dead pagan loved ones so they could see them again; nevertheless, there is a resurrection (see the commentary on Revelation Ff – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection), and that should be the real motivation for witnessing to unbelievers!

Before proceeding, I would like to add a word of caution. There are those, like the Mormons, who build a whole doctrine off of one verse. Others, even believers, have very strong opinions built upon one verse in the Bible. When the Protestant Reformation began, they used the expression, “Scripture interprets Scripture.” By this they meant that obscure passages in Scripture must be understood in light of clearer ones. Since the Bible is God’s Word, it must be consistent within itself. No one part of the Bible can contradict any other part. One divine Author – the Ruach Ha’Kodesh – inspired the entire Bible, so it has one marvelous, supernatural unity. This is called “the synthesis principle.” If we hold to an interpretation of one passage that does not square with something in another passage, one of the passages is being interpreted incorrectly – or possibly both of them. The Spirit of God does not disagree with Himself. And the passages with obvious meanings should interpret the more difficult ones. Therefore, one should never build any doctrine on a single obscure or unclear text.⁴⁹²

An incentive for service (15:30-32): The second incentive that hope of the resurrection gives us is for service. Why, otherwise, would believers endure and sacrifice so much? If there were no resurrection of the believing dead, then suffering and dying for the sake of the gospel would be masochistic, suffering for suffering’s sake. As Paul has already pointed out: If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone (15:19).

For that matter, why make this life miserable if this life is all there is? Why keep facing danger hour by hour and dying every day, if we have no security to look forward to (15:30-31)? Why engage in self-denying ministry if death ends it all? It’s as if Paul is saying, “ If Messiah’s resurrection was the only resurrection (as some of the Corinthians believed) then His being raised was no victory for us. He would not have been the first fruits of more to come (see Dt – Messiah: The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep). He would not have conquered death, but only made it a greater mockery for those who put their trust in Him. But, as always, Yeshua is our model, and for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). It was His anticipation of the resurrection, of being raised to be with His Father once again, that gave our Lord the notice for dying on our behalf. He was willing to die for us because He knew He would be raised for us.⁴⁹³

If my fighting figuratively with “wild beasts” in Ephesus (see the commentary on Acts Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus) was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? Although this was not an experience in the arena, it was like it to Paul in that he saw no hope of deliverance. Why face that kind of danger if this life is all there is?⁴⁹⁴ If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (First Corinthians 15:32; Isaiah 22:13 and 56:12).

An incentive for sanctification (15:33-34): Paul ends this section with a warning, presumably to those in Corinth who were under the influence of the heretical doctrine of no resurrection. Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character” (15:33). This timeless principle can also be applied to all of us no matter what age or generation. Peer pressure , going along with the crowd, can lead an otherwise good person into bad behavior. Apparently there were some people in Corinth doing exactly this, believing there were no consequences for immoral behavior since there was no resurrection. Such people had no true knowledge of God despite claiming to be so wise (see An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom). As a result, they were being easily led into sinning.⁴⁹⁵ So, he warned them very bluntly: Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! I say this to your shame (15:34). What a shameful thing to be living selfishly living in sin while multitudes die without Messiah!

Messiah: The Firstfruits
of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep
15: 20-28

Messiah: The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep DIG: In this passage, Paul draws a comparison between Adam’s death and Messiah’s death. What did the death of Messiah give us that Adam’s death did not? Sin entered the world when humans sinned against God. How will Messiah’s death eventually destroy sin? What is the central proof Paul continually points to as evidence for the hope of our resurrection?

REFLECT: What proof do you see that there is life after death? Paul’s belief in life after death helped him face danger and endure hardship. How does that same belief help you face life today? How does it help you face death? Why is Yeshua’s resurrection from the dead so important in the life of a believer? How should knowing that Yeshua was raised from the dead affect the way you live your life? What hope does Messiah’s resurrection offer you (Romans 6:5; Philippians 3:10; and Peter 1:3)?

Just as the Feast of Passover was fulfilled by the death of Messiah, the Lamb of God;
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was fulfilled by the sinlessness of His sacrifice;
the Feast of First Fruits was therefore fulfilled by the resurrection of Messiah.

By means of his deductions, Paul has doggedly pursued the Corinthian error to its last, desperate conclusion. All of the deductions which Paul has knit so tightly together (to see link click Ds – The Importance of Messiah’s Resurrection) he now unravels in one motion. They collapse like a house of cards when the breath of the truth is blown upon them. Logic, the genuine logic of reality, however, requires one more thing: the undeniable fact that Yeshua Messiah did rise from the dead. Even the Corinthian doubters admitted this fact. But something had blinded their eyes so that they failed to see that this one fact destroyed all their previous pitiful arguments. With a sudden dramatic turn, which is as effective as all the reasoning by deduction which Paul had employed up to this point, he hurled the Feast of First Fruits at the Corinthian error (see the commentary on Leviticus Ef – Rasheet). This was the coup de gras. The knock-out punch. Only with its glorious connection with God’s final triumph could the resurrection’s full significance be appreciated.⁴⁹⁰

The Redeemer (15:20-22): But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (15:18), meaning something akin to, “He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died” (15:20). The day is coming when all God’s people who have died will be raised to eternal life. This wasn’t the first time the Corinthian doubters had heard this. Five years earlier Paul had written from Corinth to the believers in Thessalonica, “Now brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with Him those who have died. When we say this, we base it on the Lord’s own word: We who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angles, and with God’s shofar; those who have died united with Messiah will be the first to rise, then we who are still alive will be caught up (see Dw – The Rapture: Victory Over Death) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will always be with the Lord. So, encourage each other with these words” (First Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The significance of the firstfruits was not only that it preceded the harvest, but that they were a first installment of the harvest. The fact that Messiah was the firstfruit indicates that something else, namely, the harvest of the rest of the crop, is to follow. In other words, Messiah’s resurrection could not have been in isolation from ours. His resurrection requires our resurrection, because His resurrection was part of a larger resurrection of the redeemed since the beginning of time.

The fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits can be seen in the resurrection of Messiah. It is a harvest festival and the barley loaves are waved before ADONAI. Think of it! The grain that had come from the earth was then being lifted up high for all Isra’el to see! Yeshua Himself alluded to His resurrection in similar terms when He said: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds . . . and as for Me, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself (John 12:23-24, 32). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is perfectly symbolized in the wave offering of First Fruits. Yeshua rose on the third day. So, we can see the sovereign hand of God in regard to the timing of Resheet. It was imperative for Messiah to die exactly on the Passover in order to fulfill the prophecies, and for Him to be risen from the dead on First Fruits.

Dear Great and Almighty Father, Praise Your mighty power which is greater than even death! What a comfort to know that though life is full of problems and trials will be over soon and all who love You will have an eternal life of joy and peace. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  (Romans 8:18). Thank You for Your great love that was willing to suffer intense pain and shame (Hebrews 12:2) by dying of the cross as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) so that You could give Your righteousness to those who love You (Second Corinthians 5:21).

Though my heart rejoices at eternity with You, I am deeply grieved and very concerned about family and friends who know About You but who only take the part of the gospel that they like. They forget how important Your holiness is, and they want Your gift of heaven without it changing their hearts. Your Word teaches the opposite. You see each person’s heart, whether their love is only words, or if they truly love You in first place above all else in their lives. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?”  And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Please open the eyes of my family and friends to see that you offer them the greatest happiness that they will ever have with their sins forgiven, but they must turn from sins to loving You the most. Yes, they may get laughed at or poked fun at, but the joys of heaven will be forever. Please bring into their lives friends and events to guide them to focus on living for what will give them eternal joy. Let them ponder Your deep love and may they seek to love You back- no matter the earthly cost. Please give them a moment of spiritual clarity.  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7). In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The resurrection that Paul speaks about here is permanent resurrection. The TaNaKh tells us of people who were miraculously brought back to life. The widow from Zarephath had her dead infant son raised from the dead by the prayers of Elijah (First Kings 17:22); The Shunammite’s Son was raised from the dead by the prayers of Elisha (Second Kings 4:8-37). In the B’rit Chadashah, Paul raised Eutychus from the dead at Troas (Acts 20:1-12). The widow from Nain had her son brought back to life by Yeshua (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Eb – Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son), and Jairus’ daughter was also raise from the dead by the Master Healer (see the  The Life of Christ Fh – Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman), as was Lazarus (see the The Life of Christ Ia – The Resurrection of Lazarus: The First Sign of Jonah).

So, if all these people were raised from the dead, how is Yeshua the firstfruits? All of them passed through death a second time. Messiah, however, was the first to be raised never to die again! He is the firstfruits of more to come, and as believers, we are the more to come. We will die, only to rise to eternal life. As John said: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

Through Messiah, as a man, came the resurrection of the dead, just as through Adam, the first man, came death (15:21). Paul’s point here is that Yeshua’s humanness was completely involved both in His resurrection and in ours. It was because Messiah died, was buried, and was raised as a man, that He could become the first fruits of all others who would be raised to glory. The first fruits and the harvest were from the same crop.

Paul continues to explain how the great truth of the one resurrection of Messiah affects believers. The convincing analogy comes from the first man: For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with Messiah all will be made alive (15:22). Just as Adam was the forerunner of everyone who dies, so Messiah is the forerunner of everyone who will be raised to life. In each case, one man doing one act caused the consequences of that act to be applied to every other person identified with him. Those who are identified with Adam, every person who has ever been born, is subject to death because of Adam’s sinful act. Likewise, those who are identified with Messiah, every person who has been born again in Him, is subject to resurrection to eternal life because of Messiah’s righteous acts. In Adam all have inherited a sin nature and will therefore die (see the commentary on Romans Bm – The Consequences of Adam). In Messiah all who believe in Him have inherited eternal life and will be made alive, in body as well as in spirit (see the commentary on Romans Bn – The Contrast to Adam).

The Redeemed (15:23): But each in its own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of His Second Coming are the full harvest (see Dx – A Timeline of the Resurrection). Unlike the grain harvest, however, this full harvest is far removed in time from the resurrection of Messiah (15:23). We do know, in fact, we are told that we cannot know when the Lord will come to raise and rapture His people and set up His Kingdom (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44, 50). We do not know the time, the specific generation or moment, but we do know the order. The next event on Ha’Shem’s prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the Church (see the commentary on Revelation Bg – The Sequence of Pretribulational Events).

The Restoration (15:24-28): The final event in God’s timetable is the culmination, when Messiah establishes His Eternal Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fq – The Eternal State) and hands it over to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power (First Corinthians 15:24; also see Second Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians 6:12). At that time all things will be restored as they were originally designed and created by YHVH to be. In the end, it will be as it was in the beginning (see the commentary on Genesis Ad – The Anticipation of Eternity). Sin will be no more, and ADONAI will reign supremely, without enemy and without challenge. Here is the culmination: Messiah turns over the restored world to God His Father, who sent Him to recover it.

For He has to rule until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy, of both God and mankind, to be done away with will be death, for “He put everything in subjection under his feet” (Psalm 8:6). Lest any of his readers misunderstand, Paul goes on to explain the obvious: But when it says that “everything” has been subjected, obviously the word does not include God, who is Himself the one subjecting everything to the Messiah. From the time of His incarnation until the time He presents the Kingdom to His Father, Messiah assumes the role of a Servant, fulfilling the divine task as assigned by His Father. But when the final work is accomplished, He will assume His former, full, glorious place in the perfect harmony of the Trinity. Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then He will subject Himself to God, who subjected everything to Him; so that God may be everything in everyone (1 Cor 15:25-28; also see Zechariah 14:9; Dani’el 7:14).

The Reality: Explorers know that every expedition eventually comes to an end. Vacationers know that no trip will last forever. And our journey in this life certainly won’t. This heart will feel a final pulse. These lungs will empty a final breath. The hand that directs this pen across the page will fall limp and still. Barring the return of Messiah, I will die. So will you . . . As the psalmist asked: Who can live and not see death? Who can save himself from the power of the grave (Psalm 89:48)? Young and old, good and bad, rich and poor. Neither gender is spared; no class or race is exempt. No one has power over the time of their death (Ecclesiastes 8:8).

The finest surgeon might enhance your life but can’t eliminate your death. The writer to the Hebrews was blunt: People are destined to die once (Hebrews 9:27). Exercise all you want. Eat nothing but healthy food, and pop fistfuls of vitamins. Stay out of the sun, away from alcohol, and off drugs.

Do your best to stay alive, and, still . . . you die.

Death seems like such a dead end, until we read of Yeshua’s resurrection account . . . Then the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Yeshua, who was crucified. He is not here, He has risen, just as He said” (Mt 28:5-6). He has risen. Three words in English. Just one in Greek: egerthe.

So much rests on the validity of this one word. If it is false, then the whole of our faith collapses like a poorly told joke. Yet, if it is true, then God’s story has turned your final chapter into a preface. If the angel was correct, then you can believe this: Yeshua descended into the oldest cell of death’s prison and allowed the warden to lock the door and melt the keys in a furnace. And just when the demons began to dance and prance around, Yeshua pressed his pierced wrists and hands against the inner walls of the cavern.

From deep within, He shook the cemetery.

The bodily resurrection means everything. If Yeshua lives on only in spirit and deeds, He is but one of a thousand dead heroes. But if He lives on in the flesh and bone, He is the King who pressed His heel against the head of death (Genesis 3:15). What He did with His own grave, He promises to do with yours . . . empty it.

The Importance of Messiah’s Resurrection
15: 12-19

The importance of Messiah’s resurrection DIG: What false teaching was being spread among the Corinthians? Locate the “ifs” in these verses. From these seven statements, what problems emerge both for the Corinthians and Paul if there is no resurrection.

REFLECT: When did you connect the resurrection of Messiah with your own victory over death? What difference has that made to you in terms of hope? Of courage? Your sense of purpose? When have you felt life was futile? What helps you go on when those feelings come?

Without the resurrection, the Gospel is meaningless.

Having established historically the truth of Messiah’s resurrection (to see link click Dr – The Evidence for Messiah’s Resurrection)and the fact that this was the tradition that all the apostles endorsed and were preaching, Paul is now ready to move on to the next step in his argument. That affirmation in Messiah’s resurrection formed the basis for His double-edged argument in Chapter 15. Because Messiah was raised, resurrection from the dead was obviously possible; and, on the other hand, unless people in general can be resurrected, Messiah Himself could not have been raised because He was fully human. The two resurrections stand or fall together; there could not be one without the other. In verses 13-29 the apostle demonstrates that the resurrection is not only possible, but essential to the faith, by giving seven disastrous consequences, four theological and three personal that would result if there were no resurrection.⁴⁸⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that not only is it for sure that You rose from the dead – smashing sin’s power, but how wonderful that those who love You are united with You in both Your death and in Your resurrection. For if we have become joined together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also will be joined together in His resurrection (Roman 6:5). It is so comforting to know the problems and trials of this world will soon be over and all who love Messiah and confess him as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10), are absolutely guaranteed to be raised up to heaven to live with ADONAI forever!

Praise You that I do not have to wait till heaven to be with You – for You have promised to be with me and in me now on earth. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in You (John 14:16-17). What a joy it is to have You always with me, guide and love me. Praise You that even when we sleep or go on a journey, You are always awake and always with me wherever I go. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Heb 13:5c). Thank You for making those who love You to be Your children, and for being such a wonderful Father! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of resurrection. Amen

The Theological Consequences of No Resurrection: The foundation of apostolic teaching was that Messiah rose from the dead and that all who believed in Him would also be raised. In spite of that fact, serious doubts about it had infected many of the Corinthian believers. It is those doubts that Paul forcefully addresses. His argument is simple logic. But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead (here Paul uses the perfect tense (a past completed action with continuing results into the future), how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised; and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also, your trust is in vain; furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised (15:13-15).

1. Messiah would not be risen: The first and most obvious consequence of there being no resurrection would be that not even Messiah has been raised from the dead, using the perfect tense (a past completed action with continuing results). “As anyone should easily deduce,” Paul argues, “if the dead cannot rise, Messiah did not rise.” He was fully human; He physically lived and died and lived again. So if there is no such thing as a physical resurrection for all believers, not even Messiah has been raised.

But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead (15:12)? It seems safest to assume that these deniers of the resurrection were a few educated members of the congregation who revived some of the views that were advocated by the Greek philosophers (see the commentary on Acts Cb – An Unknown God in Athens). These doubters were not denying the resurrection of Messiah per se, only the future resurrection of all believers. But Paul will soon point out, you can’t have it both ways. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised (15:13). What would be the effects if it were true that Messiah had not been raised from the dead?

2. Preaching of the gospel would be meaningless: And if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also, your trust is in vain (15:14). The second consequence of there being no resurrection would be that preaching of the gospel would be in vain . . . completely meaningless. As Paul had just said, the heart of the Good News is Messiah’s death and resurrection on our behalf: For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the TaNaKh says; and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says (15:3-4). Without the resurrection the Good News would be Bad News, and there would be nothing worth preaching. It would be an empty, hopeless message for meaningless nonsense, just as worthless a pagan gibberish. Unless our Lord conquered sin and death, making a way for men to follow in that victory, there is no Good News to proclaim!

3. Faith in Messiah would be worthless: Just as no resurrection would make preaching Messiah meaningless, it would also make faith in Him worthless. Faith in such a gospel would be in vain (kenos, meaning empty, fruitless, void of effect, or to no purpose). A dead Savior could not give life. If the dead do not rise, Messiah did not rise and WE will not rise. We then could only say with the psalmist: Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure (Psalm 73:13). If there were no resurrection, the hall of the faithful in Hebrews 11 would be the hall of the foolish. They would have been faithful for nothing. They would have been mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, afflicted, ill-treated, and put to death completely in vain. All believers of all ages would have believed for nothing, lived for nothing, and died for nothing.

4. All witnesses to and preachers of the resurrection would be liars: Furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised (15:15). If there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead for all believers, then every person who claimed to have witnessed the risen Messiah (15:6) and every person who preached the risen Messiah is a liar, including Paul and the other apostles (we). If the apostles, the prophets, and the writers of the B’rit Chadashah lied about the heart of the gospel, why should we believe anything else they said? All their teaching stands or falls together, based on the resurrection.

Although Paul does not mention it specifically, it clearly shows that if the resurrection were not true, Messiah Himself lied, or at best was tragically mistaken. In either case, He hardly would have qualified as the divine Son of God or the world’s Savior and Lord. Yeshua would not have been a Victor . . . but a victim. Or, if the writers of the B’rit Chadashah completely misrepresented what both Messiah and the apostles taught, then it would be a worthless document that no reasonable person should trust.⁴⁸⁸

The Personal Consequences of No Resurrection: For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost. If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone (15:16-19).

5. All mankind would still be in their sins: Paul restates his major argument. For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either. A dead Messiah would be the most disastrous consequence from which all the other consequences would result. And if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins (15:16-17). After repeating the consequence that a believer’s faith would be useless, or in vain (15:14), the apostle points to the additional result that believers would be no better off than unbelievers. We would still be in our sins just as much as the most wicked and unbelieving pagan. We would all be in the same boat as the unbelievers to whom Yeshua said: You . . . shall die in your sin (John 8:21).

If Yeshua did not rise from the dead, then sin won the victory over Him and, as a result, continues to be victorious over all mankind. If Yeshua remained dead, then, when we die, we too will remain dead. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and if we remain dead, then death and eternal punishment are the only prospect of believer and unbeliever alike. But ADONAI DID raise our Lord up from the dead, He who was delivered over to death because of our offenses was raised to life in order to make us righteous (Romans 4:25). Because Messiah does live, we too will live (John 14:19). The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Isra’el the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven (Acts 5:30-31 The Message).

6. All former believers would have eternally perished: Also, if there is no resurrection, then those who have fallen asleep (Greek: koimethentes) in union with the Messiah are lost (15:18). The phrase here fallen asleep does not refer to what is often called soul sleep, but was a common euphemism for death (First Corinthians 15:6; Matthew 27:52; Acts 7:60; Second Peter 3:4). If there is no resurrection, then every believer is lost for all eternity. Obviously the same consequence would apply to every believer who has died since Paul penned this letter. Paul himself, all the other apostles, Ausustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Wesley, D. L. Moody, Charles Spurgen, Carl Friedrich Keil, Franz Delitzsch, Alfred Eidersheim, Billy Graham, and every other believer of every other age would spend eternity in torment, without God and without hope. Their faith would have been in vain, their sins would have been unforgiven, and their destiny would be damnation.

7. Believers would be the most pitiful people on the earth: In light of these other consequences, the last is rather obvious. If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiful than anyone (15:19). Without the resurrection, and the salvation and blessings it brings, our faith would be pointless and pitiful. Without the resurrection we would have no Savior, no grace, no forgiveness, no gospel, no meaningful faith, no life, and no hope of any of those things. Our life would be a mockery, a charade, and a tragic joke. We have no Savior but Messiah, no Redeemer but Messiah, and no Lord but Messiah. As a result, if Messiah is not raised, He is not alive and our faith is lifeless. We would have nothing to justify our beliefs, our Bible, our preaching, our witnessing, our service for Him or our worship of Him. And nothing to justify our hope in either this life or the next. However, we are not to be pitied, for Paul immediately continues: But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (15:20).⁴⁸⁹

The Evidence for Messiah’s Resurrection
15: 1-11

The evidence for Messiah’s resurrection DIG: Why does Paul remind them of the gospel? What were the first things Paul passed on to the Corinthians? What are the three main points of the gospel? What were the five pieces of evidence? Why the emphasis on the testimony of eyewitnesses? Why the emphasis on God’s grace? Why was Paul a special eyewitness?

REFLECT: What hope does knowledge of your future resurrection to eternal life give you? How can this resurrection hope enable you to withstand evil and pain in your life? What would be the consequences if we were not raised from the dead? What evidence does Paul use to prove that Yeshua Messiah really did rise from the dead? Who can you tell about it?

Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the TaNaKh says;
He was buried, and He was raised on the third day.

Before we get into this chapter, it would be good to define the meaning of the resurrection. The resurrection is not spiritual, but physical. The Greek word is anastasis nekron, which means the standing up of a corpse. These bodies of ours are to be raised; the resurrection in Scripture always refers to the body. Thus, it cannot refer to spiritual resurrection. In Paul’s day, in Corinth and in the Roman world, there were three philosophies concerning death and life after death. There was Stoicism, which taught that the soul merged into deity at death. There was, therefore, a destruction of the personality. Such a concept makes the resurrection a nonentity. Then there was Epicurean philosophy, which was materialistic. It taught that there was no existence beyond death. So, there would be nothing to resurrect. The third was Platonism, which taught the immorality of the soul, believing in a process like transmigration. You still find that teaching in Platonism today in the religions of India and the cults in America. It denies bodily resurrection. Because of these philosophies, when Paul mentioned the resurrection while he was in Athens (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Cb – An Unknown God in Athens – 17:16-34), the Athenians mocked him.⁴⁷⁷ Immortality of the soul, yes; but resurrection of the body, no! The Sadducees also denied the resurrection of the body (Matthew 22:23; Acts 23;8) and this view is still widely held today. We need to understand very clearly that Paul is not talking about a spiritual resurrection. The soul does not die. The second a body dies; the person goes somewhere else. If that person is a child of God, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:6-8). However, if a person is not a child of God, then he goes to a place of torment.⁴⁷⁸

The doctrinal problem on which this chapter focuses was not the Corinthians’ disbelief in Messiah’s resurrection, but confusion about their own. Paul was not trying to convince them that Yeshua rose from the dead, but that one day they, too, would be raised to eternal life with Him. Nevertheless, to lay the foundation, in the first eleven verses he reviews the evidence for Yeshua’s resurrection, a truth he acknowledges they already believe. Paul gives five evidences, or testimonies.⁴⁷⁹ His death and resirrection was a fact that could be corroborated by people who were still living at the time First Corinthians was written.

The testimony of the Church: The first testimony is not stated explicitly, but is implied. The very fact that the Corinthian believers, and all other believers everywhere, had received the gospel, believed in Yeshua Messiah, and had been miraculously changed, was in itself a testimony to the power of the Gospel, which is the power of the resurrection of Messiah. The apostle told them that what he was about to say was nothing new to them. Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand and by which you were saved (15:1-2a). The first verse is masterly in every respect. It fits the situation exactly. Paul does not begin by naming the subject which he intends to cover and by stating why he intends to do so. He immediately places the question of resurrection in the context of the gospel, because belief in the Resurrection is an indispensable component of it, not a side issue. Only after reminding the Corinthians how important resurrection is, can he address the difficulty which prevented some of them from believing in it, namely, their inability to imagine how it could happen.⁴⁸⁰

Paul’s qualifying statement: Provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain (15:2), does not teach that true believers are in danger of losing their salvation, but it is a warning against non-saving faith (see the commentary on Hebrews Al – How Shall We Escape If We Ignore So Great a Salvation). So, a clearer rendering would be . . . “if you hold fast to what I preached to you, or if you have not crossed the line from mere knowledge to faith, your outward appearance of faith will have been in vain.” John said: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us (First John 2:19). Therefore, it must be recognized that some of the Corinthians lacked this true saving faith (15:34) and, as a result, did not continue to obey the Word of God.⁴⁸¹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your abundantly gracious offer of Your righteousness to all who love and follow You! He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Earth’s pains will be gone and the wonderful peace and joy of life in heaven will be for all eternity. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). All who are wise love You with all their heart for You are such a wonderful Father to Your children on earth and You have planned wonderful joys for them in heaven. Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard, that have not entered the heart of mankind – these things God has prepared for those who love Him (First Ccorinthians 2:9).

Praise Your wisdom that is able to see into each person’s heart to discern if they have real saving faith or if it is just an outward appearance of following you. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23)! It is a joy to love and obey You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The testimony of Scripture: In verses 3 and 4 you will see the three essentials of the gospel: (1) we are sinners, (2) Messiah died to save us from our sins, and (3) using the perfect tense (a past completed action with continuing results into the future) Yeshua was raised from the dead and is alive today. So simple that a young child can understand it, and yet so profound that for more than two thousand years the best theological minds the world has ever produced have yet to get to the bottom of these three truths. For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this:

1. We are sinners. A person cannot be saved unless he understands what he is being saved from. The Bible declares: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 NIV). ADONAI is holy and every one of us has fallen far short of His holiness. Isaiah said it this way: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Isaiah 53:6a NIV). Consequently, our penalty for our sins is spiritual death, our eternal separation from God.

2. The Messiah died to save us from our sins, in accordance with what the TaNaKh says. He died. That is a historical fact. Very few would deny that. This confirms His death. Back to the Isaiah passage: And ADONAI has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6b). Paul put it this way: God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with Him we might fully share in God’s righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21). The holiness of YHVH demands that we live a morally perfect life. The justice of Ha’Shem demands that when we don’t, we must pay a penalty for our sins. The love of the LORD provided that payment: He sent His one-and-only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). As Yeshua hung on the cross, ALL of our sins – past, present, and future – were placed on Messiah. And because of His sin offering, our Lord satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that He is free to act on behalf of sinners.

3. He was buried. This needs to be added. Why is that important? It proves He didn’t just disappear. It means that they literally had His body. And he was raised on the third day (see the commentary on Jonah As – The Sign of Jonah). The resurrection is part of the gospel. The tomb was empty. A dead Savior is no use to anyone. But Yeshua is not a dead Savior. He is our living Savior, standing at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33). In accordance with what the TaNaKh says in all three of its major sections – The Torah (Leviticus 23:9-15), the Prophets (Isaiah 53:10-12a) and the Writings (Psalm 16:9-11, as quoted in Acts 2:25-32); all are to be understood as referring to Messiah’s resurrection (15:3-4). But is the general resurrection taught in the TaNaKh? Yes, certainly in Isaiah 26:14, “Your dead will live, [God’s] dead body will rise,” and even more unmistakably in Dani’el 12:2, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life,” which corresponds to Isaiah 26:14, “and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This double resurrection is the same as that taught by Yeshua: Those who have done good (Greek: agathos, meaning intrinsically good, as to believers it describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life) to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).⁴⁸²

Which resurrection do you think you are headed for? If I asked you if you were a sinner, what would you say? Romans 3:23 says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That includes you and me, doesn’t it? Most people feel that being good gets you into heaven and being bad keeps you out. That simply is not true; we all have sinned. What would you say sin is? I think we can agree that we are both sinners; now let’s define sin. Some have said, “I’m not perfect,” or “I have made some mistakes.” But what do you think the Bible means by sin? Well, the Bible says that everyone practicing sin breaks God’s law – indeed, sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Have you ever disobeyed your parents? Have you ever misused the name of God? Have you ever told a lie? This is what sin is. It’s breaking God’s law. And any time you break a law there is a penalty. If you run a stop sign, the penalty is a fine. If you rob a bank, the penalty is jail. What is the penalty for breaking God’s law?

The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). The wages of work is money, but the wages of sin is death. In other words, what I earn – the penalty, the punishment of sin – is death. Death is separation. The Bible speaks of two kinds of death that is two kinds of separation. The first death is separation of the body and the soul. If I were to die right now my body would fall to the floor, but my soul, the real me, would go somewhere else. But the Bible speaks of another death, one it calls the second death. This is separation of the soul from God. Now, the penalty of sin is death, spiritual death, and separation from the LORD. To put it simply – hell. All this is really bad news. But there is good news.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). We were spiritually dead and unable to make the first move toward God because we inherited Adam’s sin nature that rebelled and separated us from Him. So, God made the first move toward us by sending His one and only Son to die in our place for the payment for our sins. We stand before the Son of God, guilty of sin, and facing a death penalty. But Yeshua, as judge (Jn 5:27), comes down from behind the seat of judgment, takes off His judicial robe and stands beside us. It is there that He says to us, “I will take your place. I will die for you.” And if you were the only person in the world, He still would have died for you. The penalty for sin is death, but Messiah died and paid for sin so we do not have to go to hell.

It is not what you do for God that saves you, it is what God has already done for you.
You don’t get to heaven by what you do; you get to heaven by what you believe.

What is it that I need to believe in, to trust in, to have faith in, to be saved?

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 and First Corinthians 15:3b-4). If you believe this, you are saved.
Nothing else matters.

Salvation = faith + nothing (not baptism, not good works, nothing means nothing). Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Now is the day of  salvation (Hebrews 11:6 and Second Corinthians 6:2c).

Would you like to be saved right now?

Pray this simple prayer in faith. But before you do, I want you to remember that saying a prayer does not save you, trusting in Yeshua Messiah does. God, I admit that I have sinned. I believe Yeshua Messiah died for my sins and I want to trust Him to save me right now. Lord, please come into my heart and make me a new person. I accept your gift of salvation.

If you were to die right now, where would you go?

Why should God let you into His heaven?

That’s right, because Yeshua died to pay for your sins.⁴⁸³

If you prayed that prayer in faith see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith.

The testimony of eyewitnesses: It is significant that Paul says that Yeshua appeared to those who saw Him after the Resurrection. Until He revealed His identity to them, not even Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-16), the two disciples on the Emmaus road (Lk 24:15 and 31), or the disciples gathered together on Easter evening (John 20:19-20) recognized Him. The gospel accounts consistently speak of Messiah’s appearing after His resurrection (Mt 28:9; Mark 16:9, 12, 14; Lk 24:31-39; Jn 21:1). He was recognized only by those to whom He chose to reveal Himself, and there is no record that He revealed Himself to anyone else.

One of the requirements for apostleship was having seen the resurrected Messiah (Acts 1:22), and the first apostle to whom He appeared was Kefa, that is, Peter (Luke 24:34). We are not told the exact time or occasion for that appearance. We only know that it was sometime after His appearance to Mary Magdalene and before His appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. We are not told why the Lord appeared to Peter first, but it possibly was because of Peter’s great remorse over having denied his Lord, and because of his role as a leader among the apostles and the early Messianic Community until the Counsel of Jerusalem Act 15.

Messiah next appeared to the Twelve (15:5) as they were fearfully assembled (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mj – Jesus Appeared to His Apostles). The apostles laid the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20), which from the beginning based its beliefs and practices on their teaching (Acts 2:42). Those men whom the Lord used to establish His Church on earth all saw Him in His resurrected body (Acts 1:22). They were capable, honest, and reliable witnesses to the most important event in history (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mi – It Is True! The Lord Has Risen).

And afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time. The quality of specific witnesses is represented by the apostles, all of whom were known by name and could easily be questioned. The quantity of witnesses is seen in the five hundred brothers who saw the risen Messiah at one time. Scripture gives no indication who those people were, or where Yeshua appeared to them, but they were surely well known in the early Messianic Community, and, like the Twelve, would often have been questioned about seeing the risen Savior. Even at the time of Paul’s writing, more than two decades later, the majority of them were still alive, though some had died (15:6).

Later he was seen by James, the half-brother of Yeshua, then by all the emissaries (15:7). He was originally a skeptic. Like his brothers, he did not at first believe that Yeshua was the Messiah (John 7:5). But now this member of Yeshua’s own household, this one who for several years did not recognize Him as the Messiah, was a witness, a powerful and convincing witness, to His resurrection. Perhaps, as with Paul, it was the experience of actually seeing the resurrected Messiah that finally brought James to saving faith. In any case, the convincing testimony of a family member and former unbeliever was added to that of the apostles and the five hundred.⁴⁸⁴

The testimony of a special witness: One of the greatest witnesses of The resurrection was Paul himself, for as an unbeliever, he was thoroughly convinced that Yeshua was dead. In his letters Paul wrote, there are fifty-three references to the resurrection of Yeshua. The radical change in his life – a change that brought him persecution and suffering – is certainly evidence that the Lord had indeed been raised from the dead. And last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time to be one of the original apostles. For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me (15:8-10).

At this point, Paul’s readers would say, “Yes, we agree that Yeshua was raised from the dead.” Then Paul would reply, “If you believe that, then you must believe in the resurrection of all the dead!” Messiah came as a man, one-hundred percent human, and experienced all that we experience, except that He never sinned. If there is no resurrection, then Messiah was not raised. If He was not raised, then there is no gospel to preach. If there is no gospel to be preached, then what you and I have believed is useless and we are still awash in our sins (15:17). If there is no resurrection, then believers who have died have no hope. The conclusion is obvious: Why be a believer if we have only suffering in this life and no future glory in the next? The resurrection is not just important; it is everything, because all that we have now or will ever have hinges on it.⁴⁸⁵

The testimony of the common message: The last testimony to Messiah’s resurrection was that of the common message that every true apostle, prophet, and pastor preached. Anyhow, whether it was I or they – Peter, the Twelve, the five hundred, James, or anyone else – this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed (15:11). Without question, the preaching and teaching in the early Messianic Community centered on the death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah. It was the pivotal message that was proclaimed. There was no dispute about the truth or the importance of the doctrine, which hardly would have been the case had it been a lie. Except for a few isolated heresies, the doctrine of Messiah’s resurrection has not been questioned within the Church until our modern age of skepticism and humanism. Believers, whether ancient or modern, know only the Gospel of the risen Savior.⁴⁸⁶

The Resurrection of the Dead
15: 1-58

If Chapter 13 is the great “love chapter” and Hebrews 11 is the great “faith chapter,” then this is the great “resurrection chapter.” Unlike most of First Corinthians, Chapter 15 is devoted entirely to doctrine, and to a single doctrine at that. In these 58 verses, Paul gives the most extensive treatment of the resurrection in all of Scripture. Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of the Gospel. The resurrection is the pivot on which all believers turn, and without which none of the other truths in the Bible would matter much. Without the resurrection, our faith would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.

Because it is the cornerstone of the gospel, the resurrection has been the target of Satan’s greatest attacks against the Church. If the resurrection were to be eliminated, the life-giving power of the gospel would be eliminated, the deity of Messiah eliminated, salvation from sin eliminated, and eternal life eliminated. If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in Messiah, we are more pitiful than anyone (15:19). If Messiah did not live past the grave, those who trust in Him surely cannot hope to do so.⁴⁷⁵

Apparently, in spite of sitting under Paul’s teaching for eighteen months, some of the believers of the church in Corinth were confused by false teachers who claimed apostolic authority (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) who had infiltrated their congregation. Those false teachers had sowed seeds of confusion about the resurrection of Messiah. Consequently, some in the congregation actually denied belief in the resurrection. The truth of the resurrection had doctrinal and practical implications for life that were too important to ignore. Paul dealt with the issue head-on.

Others were confused about the nature of the resurrection, both Messiah’s and theirs. In response, Paul devoted a full fifty-eight verses to straightening out their misunderstanding of the bodily resurrection of all of Yeshua’s followers, ending with the victory chant borrowed from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14, “When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage will be fulfilled, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?”

The resurrection of Messiah is absolutely central to the gospel – the Good News that God can save sinners. As Paul later wrote in this chapter, “If the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins (15:17). It’s no wonder, then, that much of the attack of our adversary – the devil – is aimed directly at the resurrection. Corrupt the message of the resurrection and you corrupt the message of the gospel itself. Remove the foundation of the resurrection of Messiah, and the Church will crumble under its own weight. Everything we hold near and dear rises or falls on the reality of the resurrection.⁴⁷⁶

Order in Public Worship
14: 29-40

Order in public worship DIG: What guidelines does Paul give for speaking in tongues? Why? What guidelines did he give for prophesying? Why? When does it seem likely that prophecy ceased? What was Paul’s concern regarding wives during public worship during the first century? Why did Paul have to defend his apostolic authority in such a strong manner?

REFLECT: How can you tell when people are more interested in exhibition than in building others up in your place of worship? How can you apply these lessons in order to public worship today? Is your worship team focused on entertaining you, or bringing you into the Most Holy Place, into the presence of ADONAI? How can you build someone up this week?

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

The Corinthian church had many serious problems. Like many believers today, they had great difficulty in not mimicking the unbelieving and corrupt society around them. They wanted to be in God’s Kingdom, while keeping one foot in the kingdom of this world. They wanted to have the blessings of this life but hang on to the pleasures of the old. In other words, they wanted to have the best of both worlds, but Paul plainly warned them that that was impossible. Clearly, they were a mess. We have had twenty-one centuries learning how to “do church,” but in 55 AD, the Corinthian church was still in its infancy. The Word of God does not change, but cultures do change, and Paul was writing in the culture of his day.

Only after teaching broadly and presenting general principles in 12:1 to 14:25 does Paul give specific rules for the use of the verbal spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues in public worship. In doing so he follows his pattern in 8:1 to 11:1 (to see link click Bj – Concerning Our Freedom in Messiah), there, also, the general principles came at the end of the discussion concerning our freedom in Messiah.⁴⁶⁷

The primary emphasis in verses 26 through 40 is that the worship service should be conducted in an orderly fashion, contrary to what had been happening in Corinth up to that time. What is our conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, let everyone be ready with a psalm or a teaching or a revelation, or ready to use his genuine gift of tongues or give an interpretation. All of God’s spiritual gifts are beneficial if done in an orderly manner. But that was the problem. Everyone wanted to participate at the same time. They were not interested in serving, or learning, or building others up, but only in self-expression and self-glory. Everyone vied for attention and preeminence. Therefore, Paul directed their focus to others by telling them to let everything be for building up the Body of Messiah (14:26).

Tongues in public worship: If the true gift of tongues (Greek: glossa) is exercised, let it be by two or at most three, and each in turn; and let someone interpret (14:27). Such a command would not be fitting if Paul had in mind the pagan gibberish (see Dn – Pagan Gibberish is Unproductive) of a private prayer language. The Greek word for interpret is hermeneuo, which means translation as in John 9:7 and Hebrews 7:2. The gift of interpretation was a supernatural ability to translate a language one had never heard so that the congregation might be built up by the message (14:5). You cannot translate gibberish.⁴⁶⁸

However, an interpreter must be present if tongues were spoken. Although speaking in languages and translating them were distinct gifts, they were not to be used apart from each other. An interpreter could not exercise his gift unless someone was speaking in the genuine gift of tongues, and the speaker should not exercise his gift unless there was an interpreter present. Paul’s instruction assumed that the congregation knew which believers in the congregation had the gift of interpretation. Paul continued: And if there is no one present who can interpret, let the people who speak in tongues keep silent when the congregation meets. The rule was clear and simple: no interpreter . . . no speaking in tongues. In that case, a person who still felt compelled to speak was to meditate and pray. That is to say, they can speak silently to themselves and to God (14:28).

Prophecies in public worship: Judging from Paul’s letters to Titus (64 AD) and Timothy (67-68 AD), prophets ceased to function in the Church even before the end of the apostolic age. In those letters he makes considerable mention of church leadership – elders, deacons, deaconesses, and bishops – but makes no mention of prophets. Along with the apostles, prophets were a part of the foundation of the early Church (Ephesians 2:20). And when Paul wrote to Corinth in 55 AD, prophets were still very central to the ministry there. In fact, nowhere in this letter is there mention of a pastor, elder, or overseer. Since prophets were leaders in the Corinthian church, Paul was compelled to give four regulations for prophesying:

First, let only two or three prophets speak at any given service (14:29a). Those prophets spoke for the Lord in two ways. In some instances, they gave new revelation from God to the church. And, by reiterating what the apostles taught, they also proclaimed what had previously been revealed, much as preachers and teachers of the Word do today.

Second, while some prophets spoke in public worship, the other prophets present were to weigh (Greek: diakrino, meaning to pass judgment) what they said (14:29b). The judging prophets may have had the gift of discernment (see Cq – The Distinguishing of Spirits), or they may have tested what was said with their word of knowledge (see Cl – The Word of Knowledge). In any case, they were collectively to evaluate the validity of the prophetic messages.

Paul reinforced the principle of prophets judging one another’s messages by saying: The prophets’ spirits are under the prophets’ control. This can mean either that each individual prophet should not let himself or herself be carried away into unseemly behavior, or that the prophets as a group can exercise control as needed over individuals among their number. But clearly, uncontrolled ecstatic utterance had no place in the public worship, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace (14:32-33a). Here is the key to the whole chapter. Our worship of God should reflect the character and nature of YHVH. He is the God of shalom and harmony, not strife and confusion (Romans 15:33; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Hebrews 13:20). ADONAI cannot be honored where there is disharmony and competition, self-serving and self-glorifying. Chaos and discord in public worship is certain proof that the Ruach is not in control. Where the Spirit rules there is always shalom (James 3:14-18).⁴⁶⁹

In addition, believers must not play fast and loose with the issues of inspiration and revelation. An accurate understanding of those doctrines is essential for distinguishing between the voice of God and the human voice. In the past men who professed to speak for God, but spoke on their own opinions were to be executed (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Since continuing revelation has ceased even before the canon of Scripture was completed, we are instructed to shun false prophets and heretics (First John 4:1).⁴⁷⁰

Third, and if something is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let the first one be silent (14:30). A new revelation took precedence over the reiteration of something that had already been taught. It was not that the truths in the new revelation were necessarily more important than those then being proclaimed, but, at that moment, the news should be heard while it was fresh from the Lord. That is not an issue in the Church today because the revelation aspect of the prophetic ministry ceased with the completion of the B’rit Chadashah. But apparently such conflicts in the early church sometimes occurred. When they did, the prophet with the new revelation was to be given the floor. To put it another way, when God spoke directly, everyone was to listen.

Fourth, whether to give new revelation or to reinforce previous revelation, the prophets were to prophesy one by one. Just as with speaking in tongues, it was essential that only one person speak at a time, with the result that all will learn something and all will be encouraged (14:31).⁴⁷¹

Wives in public worship: As in all the congregations of God’s people, let the wives remain silent when public worship the congregation meets; they are certainly not permitted to speak out. Paul urged that public worship not be turned into a disruptive question-and-answer session. It is very believable that these women assumed that prophets or prophetesses functioned much like the oracle at Delphi, who only prophesied in response to questions, including questions about purely personal matters. Paul argues that prophecy in the congregation of believers was different. Prophets and prophetesses spoke only in response to the prompting of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. Paul, then, limited such questions to the home. Rather, let them remain subordinate, as also the TaNaKh (as a general principle) says; and if there is something they want to know, let them ask their own husbands at home (we assume that unmarried women or widows could ask the elders or other men in their own families). For it is shameful for a woman to [disrupt] a congregational meeting (14:33b-35). Paul wanted things done in an orderly manner. Apparently certain wives in the Corinthian congregation needed to hear this instruction. There were more than uncovered heads that were inappropriate in regard to their participation in public worship (see Bx – Man is Born of Woman), and Paul was not about to avoid those issues.⁴⁷²

Paul places his instruction precisely here in his letter because it is here that he is dealing with matters of decorum and order in public worship. His advice may seem curt and abrupt only if one ignores that he has already discussed the applicable general principles, and that the people asking this question were already familiar with the context of the problem, since they brought it up in the first place. If we could not supply such a framework for these verses, we might have to conclude, as some do, that Paul, under the inspiration of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, was demeaning women. Or even worse, some even deny that First Corinthians 14:34-35 as authentic to the letter. That is a very slippery slope.

There are a number of places in the TaNaKh where a subordinate role for women is assumed or prescribed, although other places envision an equal or superior role. The Talmud reports that Rabbi El’azar ben-‘Azaryah (early second century) gave a homily on the verse, “Assemble the people – the men, the women, and the little ones” (Deuteronomy 31:12), in which he said, “If the men came to learn, the women came to hear” (Chagigah 3a). To “learn” in Judaism is to study by discussing and thus to fully understand, because one’s questions get answered; whereas to “hear” is to listen to the discussion by not participate in it.⁴⁷³

There were times in informal meetings and Bible studies where it was entirely proper for men and women to share equally in exchanging questions and insights. Paul is not implying that women could not prophecy, teach, or pray at church. We know that there were women prophetesses (Acts 21:9), and in this very letter Paul permits women to pray and prophesy in public worship (11:5). But when the church came together in public worship God’s standards were clear: there needed to be order. Obviously many of the Corinthian believers, men and women alike, had opposed Paul on this matter. They were determined to follow their own principles and standards regardless of what the apostle or other mature leaders said. In its pride and arrogance, the church wanted to decide on its own what was godly and proper. They acted as if they had a corner on the truth and probably dared others to question them.

The Corinthians put themselves above Scripture, either by ignoring it or interpreting it in ways that fit their own preconceived notions. Therefore, Paul challenged them with his most biting and sarcastic words yet: Did the Word of God originate with you Gentiles? No! It originated with the Jewish people and the TaNaKh. Or are you the only people it has reached? (14:36). He said, in effect, “If you didn’t write Scripture, then obey it! If you are not the sole receivers of God’s Word, then subject yourselves to it as faithful children of God, as all the congregations of God are obliged to do.” No believer has the right to overrule, ignore, alter, or disobey God’s Word. No one is to put themselves above God’s Word.

Then, Paul continued the challenge: If anyone thinks he is a prophet or is endowed with the Spirit, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is a command of the Lord (14:37). In the context of what Paul has been focusing on with reference to prophets and tongues, it seems that spirituality must refer primarily to those who spoke in the true gift of tongues, the special spiritual language that the Corinthians valued so highly. His point was this, “If a person claims to be a prophet or to have the gift of tongues, or any other spiritual gift, the mark of his true calling and faithful ministry will be his acknowledging that what I teach as an apostle are the truths of God. If a person is truly called or gifted of God and was sincerely trying to follow Him, he will submit the exercise of that calling and gift to the principles God has revealed to me as His commandments.” What Paul taught was not optional.

On the other side of the coin: But if someone doesn’t recognize this, then let him remain unrecognized (14:38). This play on words carries the idea that anyone who disregards the Word should himself be disregarded. The mark of a false prophet (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) or a counterfeit of tongues, or of a person who misuses a true calling or gift, was his rejection of what Paul taught. Because such people rejected the apostle’s teaching, they were rejected as legitimate servants of God. This emphasis on authority comes at an appropriate place in the book because so many Corinthian believers wanted to disregard Paul’s words about order in public worship. Paul says that the church should reject such ignorant, disobedient, self-styled rejectors.

Paul concludes the chapter with a summary appeal for the Corinthians to hold prophecy, the teaching and preaching of God’s Word (see Dl – The Word that Builds Up), in the superior position of their public worship, but not to reject the legitimate speaking in tongues. So, my brothers, eagerly seek to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. The phrase do not forbid is in the plural and does not advocate individual speaking in tongues, but refers to the church as a group allowing the proper gifts to be exercised. Tongues were a limited gift, both in purpose and duration, but it was the Lord’s gift, and, as long as it was active, it was not to be despised or hindered. But let all things be done in a proper and orderly way (14:39-40).⁴⁷⁴

Tongues are a Sign
14: 20-25

Tongues are a sign DIG: Why should our understanding of the gift of tongues start with what happened in Jerusalem at Shavu’ot, rather than what was happening in Corinth? What did Luke’s audience know? What did Paul’s audience know? Why are tongues called languages? In what three ways were tongues a sign? To whom was this sign specifically given? Why?

REFLECT: What kinds of experience have you had with people speaking in tongues? Have you ever had someone doubt your salvation because you haven’t had a “second” blessing? What would you say to some who said you weren’t saved because you didn’t speak in tongues? How can you be a part of Paul’s declaration that “All Isra’el will be saved?” Who can you talk to?

Tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, specifically unbelieving Jews.

Ironically, there is much confusion about the gift of tongues (Greek: glossai) today, as there was in the days when Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. This is in good part due to the extraneous material that is introduced. The subject is one that concerns exegesis (finding out what the biblical author meant when he wrote the text) alone. We need to ask, “What do the Scriptures say about this gift?” We can rule out all ecstatic utterance (to see link click Ce – The Pagan Background of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts). And especially we don’t construct in advance a theory about these tongues and then interpret the Scriptures according to it.

Since the promise regarding tongues was first fulfilled at Shavu’ot in Jerusalem, and since this phenomenon didn’t appear in Corinth for a number of years after the first occurrence, we must ask whether there was a difference between the tongues spoken in Jerusalem and the tongues spoken in Corinth. The answer is that they were the same. As the promises that Yeshua made (John 15:26 and 16:7-15) are one, so the fulfillment of those promises are the same, regardless of the place or time where the fulfillment occurs.

The next step is to recognize the fact that Luke’s description as given in Acts (see the commentary on Acts Al – The Ruach Ha’Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot) is foundational for what Paul writes in Corinthians. Others, playing theological Houdini, reverse this. They seek to determine what happened in Corinth and either square Luke’s account with what they think occurred at Corinth, or come up with two different gifts of tongues. This is the wrong way to go about approaching the subject. For Luke is the one who fully describes what the tongues are, while Paul takes for granted that his readers know what they are, and therefore, offers no description. Luke writes for a reader (Theophilus) who may never have heard of this gift, at least may never have seen this gift in operation. Paul writes for readers who have often heard members of their own congregation speak in tongues. This is critical as to the Scriptural starting point for understanding tongues.

Luke reports that there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When the Ruach came each of the 120 believers began to talk in different languages (Greek: glossai), as the Spirit enabled them to speak. Totally amazed, those Jewish pilgrims, who had come from all over the world, were hearing the impossible. The Galilean disciples were speaking various known languages. The pilgrims asked in astonishment: How is it that we hear them speaking in our native languages? Then a list of the different countries, and by implication, different languages spoken in those countries, is given. The pilgrims even stated what they heard: How is it that we hear them speaking in our own native languages about the great things that God has done (Acts 2:1-11). There can be no doubt that the languages spoken by the Galilean disciples were unknown to them prior to Shavu’ot. And this is the decisive factor in understanding how the true gift of languages functioned in Corinth. It functioned in Corinth exactly as it did in Jerusalem. They were one and the same.⁴⁶¹

From Shavu’ot until today, the prevalent idea of the Church has been that the gift of tongues was the power of preaching the Gospel to different peoples to each in its own language, without having learned it. This gift, it was thought, explained the rapid spread of the gospel. John Chrysostom (died in 407 AD), an early Church father, who served as archbishop of Constantinople, described the gift, saying, “Immediately, one made his voice be heard in the language of the Persians, another in that of the Romans, another in that of the Indians, another in some other tongue.” Theodore, bishop of Cyrus (393 to 457 AD), and an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, asked in a positive light, “Is it possible to conceive behavior stranger [to the natural mind] on the part of a Greek speaking in Arabic or Chinese to express the gospel which filled his heart?”

Brothers, don’t be children in your thinking. As Paul begins to explain the true purpose of tongues, he appeals to the Corinthians to be mature in their thinking (14:20a). It was their loveless immaturity and worldliness that caused their theological, spiritual, and moral problems, including their misuse of tongues. Before they could comprehend what the apostle was trying to say, they would have to stop being children in their thinking.

In evil, however, the Corinthians were anything but babes (14:20b). They were highly advanced in every sort of sin. They had virtually all the manifestations of the flesh and almost none of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-23). They were children, tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive (Ephesians 4:14). By their selfish, ego-building abuse of the gift of tongues they were, among other things, ignoring the rest of the family of God.

They could not be taught because they were not interested in learning. They were only interested in using spiritual means and fellow believers in whatever ways would serve their own needs. They were not interested in truth, but experience; not in right doctrine or right living, but only in good feelings. Experience always won out over truth, emotions always won out over reason, and self-will always won out over God’s will. Unlike the Bereans (Acts 17:11), the Corinthians did not bother to check what they heard against Scripture. They did not take the time to test the spirits to see whether they were from God (First John 4:1). If something sounded good, they believed it; if it felt good, they did it. Like the Israelites in the time of the judges, everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

As Paul explains the true purpose of tongues, he begins with a freely rendered passage from Isaiah 28:11-12. In the TaNaKh it is written (Greek: from grapho, in the perfect tense, meaning a past completed action with continuing results), “By other tongues, by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people. But even then they will not listen to me, says 

ADONAI.” Those other tongues, Paul said, are what you now know and experience as the gift of languages. And God has given this gift as a sign not for believers but for unbelievers (14:21-22a). Here is the heart of Chapter 14 and the most important truth about this gift. It was given as a sign, and as a sign to unbelievers, specifically unbelieving Jews, just like it was in Isaiah 28:11.

It was a sign of judgment, a sign of blessing, and a sign of authority.

A sign of judgment: Some fifteen years or so before Isaiah prophesied about the other tongues by the lips of foreigners, the northern kingdom of Isra’el had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 BC because of unbelief and apostasy. The prophet then warned the southern kingdom of Judah, that the same judgment awaited her at the hands of the Babylonians. However, the proud religious leaders of Judah would not listen to Isaiah. His teaching was too simple. He talked to them, they claimed, as if they were babies. Those barely weaned toddlers and babies just taken from the breast. They said he taught them as if they were infants, “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there (Isaiah 28:9-10 NASB). Ha’Shem had indeed spoken to them simply, in order that the least mature among them could understand and so that no one living in the Southern Kingdom would have an excuse for not knowing the LORD’s will and promise. The essence of His promise was that if the nation would submit to Babylon, they could rest, the exhausted could rest, and then they could relax . . . but Judah wouldn’t listen (Isaiah 28:12).

About 800 years before Isaiah, YHVH had warned the Jews that ADONAI [would] raise up a nation against [them] from far away, from the end of the earth, just as the eagle swoops down, A nation whose language [they would] not understand (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Fj – Military Siege). The strange language of their conquerors would be a sign of God’s judgment. About 100 years after Isaiah, Ha’Shem warned through Jeremiah, “I will bring on you a distant nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know (see the commentary on Jeremiah Bb – Judah’s Invasion from a Distant Nation). The sign of judgment would be a language they did not know.

When the disciples spoke at Shavu’ot and were heard in their own language by Jews from many different countries (Acts 2:7-11), those Jews should have known that God’s judgment was imminent. His judgment had fallen on rebellious Isra’el, and then on rebellious Judah. How much more would it fall on those of His people who now had crucified the Son of God? In 70 AD that great judgment fell, when Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Roman general Titus. Over one million Jews were slaughtered; hundreds of thousands more were taken captive; the Temple was plundered, desecrated, and then utterly destroyed; and the rest of the city was burned to the ground (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple Remembered on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD). Just as Yeshua had predicted when He wept over the city: For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another – and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it (Luke 19:43-44)!

After the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially the destruction of the Temple, the reason for tongues ceased to exist for the nation. The judgment of which it was a sign had come. After the Shavu’ot manifestation of tongues, Peter, by implication, reminded the Jews of that judgment: Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah – this Yeshua whom you have executed on a stake (Acts 2:36)!⁴⁶²

A sign of blessing: The second sign was a residual benefit of the first. The gift of tongues was a sign that God would no longer work through one nation, and one favored people. The universal Church, founded on the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), Yeshua Messiah, was for all peoples of all nations. It is a Church of many languages, but no barriers. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male or female; for in union with Messiah Yeshua, you are all one (Galatians 3:28).

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your deep love for all nations. How awesome that in heaven there will be people from all nations, as John saw in his vision. After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count – from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues – was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands (Revelation 7:9). Your love is so amazing – wide and deep high and long (Ephesians 3:18)! You open the gates of Your glorious Kingdom to all who love and follow You (Romans 10:9-10), no matter their nationality, age, rich or poor, etc., and You so graciously cloth them with Yourself. For you are all sons of God through trusting in Messiah Yeshua.  For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua (Galatians 3:26-28). Praise Your power that joins those who love You to Yourself not only in Your death, but also in Your resurrection. For if we have become joined together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also will be joined together in His resurrection (Romans 6:5). I will thank You for Your love by loving You back with my thoughts, finances and actions. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

With great compassion and sorrow for his fellow Jews, Paul wrote: It is by means of their stumbling that salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. But with a note of great hope, he continued: Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world – that is, if Isra’el’s being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter – how much greater riches will Isra’el in its fullness bring them (Romans 11:11-12)! A few verses later he explains more fully: For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won’t imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra’el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness; and that it is in this way that all Isra’el will be saved. As the TaNaKh says, “Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (see the commentary on Romans Da – The Redemption of Isra’el). The way would always be open for individual Jews to come into the Kingdom, for the hardening of their hearts was only partial, and on the last three days of the Great Tribulation, all those surviving Jews that are hold up in Bozrah will be saved (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ).⁴⁶³

A sign of authority: Those who preached the judgment and the promised blessing were the apostles, whose authority was validated by signs, wonders and miracles (Second Corinthians 12:12; Romans 15:19). In the Dispensation of the Torah, humanity was divided into two groups, Jews and Gentiles. But in the Dispensation of Grace, because of what went on in the intertestamental period, there were three groups of people in the world at that time, Jews, Gentiles and Samaritans (Matthew 10:5-6). Peter would be the key person (pun intended) in bringing in the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (Acts 8), and the Gentiles (Acts 10) into the Church by receiving the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. Once he opened the door it stayed open.

The Jews at Shavu’ot: At Caesarea Philippi Peter declared that Yeshua was, “The Messiah, the Son of the living God.” In response, Jesus said: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). Whenever the words key or keys is used symbolically in the Bible, it always symbolizes the authority to open or close doors (Judges 3:25; First Chronicles 9:27; Isaiah 22:20-24; Matthew 16:19a; Revelation 1:18, 3:7, 9:1 and 20:1). As a result, Peter was responsible to open the doors of the Church to three different ethnic groups. First, at Shavu’ot Jews were saved after the disciples spoke in tongues, this confirmed Peter’s authority (see the commentary on Acts An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd).

The Samaritans in Samaria: Philip proclaimed the Good News about the kingdom of God and the name of Messiah Yeshua to the Samaritans, and both men and women were immersed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the message of God, they sent Peter and John to check it out. The two apostles were sent to authenticate Samaritan salvation because Peter had the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and to pray that the Samaritans would receive the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. When Peter and John arrived, they began laying their hands on the Samaritan believers and it became obvious that they were receiving the Ruach Ha’Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in tongues, which, for the second time, was the confirmation of Peter’s authority (Acts 8:13-17).

The Gentiles at the house of Cornelius: After God instructed Peter that what He has made clean, Peter must not consider unholy (see the commentary on Acts Bf – Peter’s Vision), the apostle received an invitation to go to the house of a Roman centurion. Normally, it would have been strictly forbidden for a Jew to enter the house of a Gentile. But his heart and mind had changed since he had learned the lesson of his vision, saying: I truly understand that God is not one to show favoritism, however, in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. When Peter preached the gospel, Cornelius and his whole household were saved and spoke in tongues, confirming, for the third time, that Peter held the keys to the Kingdom (see Acts Bg – Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius).

But prophecy, Paul goes on to say, is for believers (14:22b). As indicated by italics in some Bibles, is for a sign is not in the Greek text and was supplied by the Bible translators who wrote their own theology into their translation. According to Greek grammar such a meaning is possible, but not required. Because prophesying is nowhere else spoken of as a sign, I do not believe that is Paul’s meaning here. He was not saying that prophecy is a sign to believers as tongues was a sign to unbelievers.⁴⁶⁴

The limited function of the genuine gift of tongues can be seen in the fact that even during its proper time in history, it could be misused and become a hindrance to worship and to evangelism. Paul’s description is concrete and vivid. The Corinthians loved and admired ecstatic utterance above all other gifts. So, Paul grants them their wish in an imaginary scene. He pictures a worship service in which they all speak in a pagan gibberish. But interpretation is, of course, disregarded. The imaginary scene continues. So, suppose the whole congregation comes together with everybody speaking in ecstatic utterance, and uninstructed people or unbelievers come in. They know nothing of counterfeit tongues. They just sit down and take it all in, listening to the unintelligible torrent of sounds. Won’t they say you’re crazy (14:23)? Was this the effect the Corinthians wanted to produce? This, Paul suggested, would certainly not advance the cause of Messiah in Corinth, but only conveyed weirdness.⁴⁶⁵

On the other hand, if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or uninstructed person enters, he is convicted of sin by all, he is brought under judgment by all. Paul continues to contrast tongues with prophecy, showing prophecy’s superiority. Prophecy is used here in its most general sense of speaking forth God’s Word (see Dl – The Word that Builds Up). When the Word is proclaimed it speaks to the heart of people and brings conviction of sin, the first step in coming to faith. The convicted person comes to see himself as he really is, because the secrets of his heart are laid bare. His sinful intentions and acts are revealed to him. Consequently, he will fall on his face and worship God, saying, “God is really here among you” (14:24-25)! The Church’s most powerful testimony is not in ecstatic speech, but in its clear proclamation of the powerful Word of God, which is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword – it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).⁴⁶⁶

Pagan Gibberish is Unproductive
14: 13-19

Pagan gibberish is unproductive DIG: What part does the mind play in worship? What were the values and limits of tongues? How does Paul illustrate his point? Since Paul was specifically gifted with the true gift of tongues, why didn’t he talk about it more? Why wasn’t Paul giving instructions for governing the use of tongues in the Church today?

REFLECT: What experience, if any, have you had with someone supposedly speaking in tongues? Were you built up by what you heard? Was there an interpretation? Things that were flashy, exciting, and powerful attracted the Corinthians. They knew the “love of power” more than the “power of love.” In what ways do you see that tendency in your congregation?

Spirituality involves more than the mind, but it never excludes the mind.

The charismatic tendency to suspend the intellect and let emotion run amok is the essence of what Paul wrote against in this chapter. In condemning the Corinthians’ misuse of ecstatic utterance in the church (to see link click Ce – The Pagan Background of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts), the apostle argued that all ministry of the spiritual gifts in the congregation should be aimed at people’s minds. For God is not a God of confusion (14:33).⁴⁵³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being a God of perfect order, down to the exact number of protons, neutrons and electrons in each atom. Our planet is exactly the precise distance from the sun and the precise tilt for life to occur. Praise You that though You are a God with emotions, great love and wrath, Your emotions do not rule over Your wisdom. He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36). Your wrath is in control and will play out in the exact timing of punishment. Sin is entirely awful, yet You patiently wait till the sin is complete before punishing (Genesis 15:16c).

There is never any confusion or rushing in anything that You do. Every word You speak is precise and exact. Each and every action You take is wisely planned and done in an orderly manner. Even when you come from heaven riding on a white horse to conquer with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). You are in complete control (Revelation 19:15). How emotional is a wedding, yet You do not rush events, even when the next event on the calendar is the wedding of the Lamb, and His bride has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7c). You know that the wedding supper of the Lamb is coming, yet You never miss a beat in orchestrating the events of history exactly in the precise and planned order. I thank You for being such a reliable Father with strong emotions of love for good and hatred of evil, yet You rule not by Your emotions but it is Your wisdom that guides Your heart. You are wonderful in Your love, wrath and orderliness and I worship You! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Nowhere does the Bible teach that the true gift of tongues is anything other than human languages. Nor is there any suggestion that the true gift (see Dk – The Priority of God’s Word over Tongues) was any different than the miraculous languages described in Acts 2 (see the commentary on Acts Al – The Ruach Ha’Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot). The Greek word in both places is glossa. In Acts, it is clear that the disciples were speaking in known languages. Unbelieving Jews who were in Jerusalem for the festival were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in their own language (Acts 2:6b). Then Luke went on to name some fifteen different countries and areas whose languages were being spoken (Acts 2:8-11). This point cannot be overlooked or minimized.⁴⁵⁴

Regarding a private prayer, or “heavenly” language in one’s prayer closet, this violates the solid, bedrock principle, that spiritual gifts are for others, not for self-gratification. Neither Luke nor Paul refer to any heavenly language. In fact, tongues are plural for many languages, not singular. And if tongues are for unbelievers, when one is in their prayer closet speaking in tongues, alone with God, where is the unbeliever?

Some believe that Mark 16:18 indicates “a heavenly language” where it says: they will speak with new tongues (Greek:kainos glossai). There are a couple of problems with this interpretation. First, it is doubtful that Mark 16:9-20 was an original part of the Greek text and there are several reasons for omitting these verses. The Greek text does not appear in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of the gospel (It does appear, however, in some early manuscripts), many of the Greek words in this section are different from the vocabulary Mark uses throughout the rest of his gospel, and the Greek style is much different from that used elsewhere in Mark. Secondly, kainos never means “new” in the sense of “unheard of,” and is never applied to the gift of tongues. Kainos always means “new” compared with what is “old,” as differing from the “old.” The Corinthians had their own language, which was “old” to them; and when they heard their members speak in the true gift of tongues, they were “new” to them because they were foreign languages, other than the one they were accustomed to hearing. Instead of proving that Paul has in mind “the language of heaven” when he uses kainos, the term, in fact, proves just the opposite.⁴⁵⁵

Therefore, someone who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret (4:13). In this section Paul continues to teach about counterfeit tongues, and therefore continues to speak sarcastically (4:8-10). This is indicated in the first place by the fact that he uses the singular tongue (see Dl – The Word that Builds Up: the interpretive key to this chapter), which refers to pagan gibberish. In the second place, what he says here cannot apply to the true gift of tongues. If Paul were not speaking sarcastically of ecstatic utterance, he would be asking the Corinthians to interpret pagan gibberish, which would be impossible. Paul sarcastically rebukes the carnal Corinthian believers for their immaturity (14:20). It’s as if Paul were saying, “While you are jabbering away in your unintelligible gibberish, you could at least ask God to give you some way of making it beneficial to the church. Because as you now play around with ecstatic utterance, you need to realize that it’s both pagan and pointless.”

In the pagan rites with which the Corinthians were so familiar, speaking in ecstatic utterances was considered to be communing with the gods spirit-to-spirit. The experience tended to bypass the mind and normal understanding. For if I pray in ecstatic utterance, my [breath] does pray, but my mind is unproductive (14:14). Here, Paul uses the Greek word pneuma, which can be translated spirit, wind, or breath, in the sense of [breath]. It is impossible that pneuma here refers to the Holy Spirit, as most charismatics believe – His Spirit being revealed through our spirits. All believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but if Paul was speaking of the Holy Spirit in relation to “my spirit,” then grammatically and theologically he would also be speaking of the Holy Spirit in relation to my mind. The Holy Spirit cannot be praying through a person while bypassing his or her mind. What the carnal Corinthians were praying was as empty and mindless as the ecstasies they used in their pagan temples. They were merely talking to the air (14:9)!⁴⁵⁶

From the earliest days of Pentecostalism, the quest for ever more unusual and spectacular manifestations of spiritual gifts has sabotaged rationality in the movement. Reports of inexplicable, even implausible, mystical phenomena are rife in the charismatic and Pentecostal tradition. No tale, it seems, is too fantastic to gain an eager following. Many appear to believe that God’s power can be displayed only in ways that are unearthly, eerie, or preposterous. As a result, some charismatics disdain logic, reason, and common sense in their eagerness to embrace such reports.

Worse, the entire movement has absorbed the erroneous notion that whatever is truly spiritual must transcend or bypass people’s rational senses. Spiritual gifts supposedly operate by suspending the faculties of human reason. One might think that the strongest evidence of the Spirit’s power is when someone lapses into a stupor. As a result, the folklore of the charismatic movement is filled with outrageous accounts of behavior that resembles trances, seizures, subliminal messaging, hypnosis, suspended animation, frenzy, and hysteria. These are often cited as proof that God is at work in the movement.⁴⁵⁷

So, what about it? The answer is that there is no place for mindless, ecstatic prayer. Paul declares that praying and singing with his spirit must be accompanied by praying and singing with his mind also (14:15). It is obvious that building the church up cannot exist apart from the mind. Spirituality involves more than the mind, but it never excludes the mind (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10). In Scripture, and certainly in the writings of Paul, no premium is placed on ignorance. Quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, Yeshua reinforced the command in the TaNaKh that we should love ADONAI with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] mind (Matthew 22:37).

Praying or singing in pagan gibberish would serve no purpose, and Paul would have none of it. Otherwise, if you are giving thanks with your spirit, how will someone who is ignorant of what was being spoken possibly understand what he hears. In the worship service, for example, he would not know when to say, “Amen,” when you have finished giving thanks, since he doesn’t know what you are saying? The person uttering mysteries in the spirit would undoubtedly think that he was giving thanks very nicely, but no one else would be able to understand him. It would merely be noise to them. No one would be built up as they should have been when the true gift was used properly (14:16-17). In other words, the believers speaking in ecstatic utterance was being selfish, ignoring the rest of the people in the congregation, muddying the message the gift was designed to communicate, and doing it all just to gratify their own egos, to show off, and to supposedly demonstrate their spiritual superiority over others.⁴⁵⁸

In case the Corinthians would think he no longer recognized the true gift of tongues after reading this, Paul said: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you (14:18). He made it clear that he was not condemning the genuine gift of tongues, or enviously criticizing a gift that he himself did not possess. Here, Paul uses the plural tongues. He is no longer speaking hypothetically; he had had more experience than any of the Corinthians in speaking in tongues. He knew what the proper use of the true gift involved and did not involve. We can be sure that he didn’t use the gift in any perverted way for personal gratification. He used it the same way it was used at Shavu’ot, to bring a supernatural message to those ADONAI wanted to reach, and as a miraculous sign (see Do – Tongues are a Sign) verifying the gospel and his apostolic authority. Yet, he considered that gift so low in value as compared to his other gifts and ministries that he never mentioned a specific use of it in all his writings.⁴⁵⁹

The gift of languages (glossa) had a proper place for a fixed time as a miraculous confirming sign to unbelievers (14:22a), with the accompanying purpose of building up the church through interpretation. But Paul continues to say that in a congregation meeting he would rather say five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a counterfeit tongue (14:19)! Using the singular (tongue) again to refer to pagan gibberish, he emphasizes that an uncountable number of sounds in unintelligible tones has no place in the church because it’s useless. To speak a very short sentence of five words with his mind, giving a message that would instruct or encourage his hearers, was far more valuable to Paul than a limitless number of words in ecstatic utterances that was incomprehensible.

Because Paul knew that the true gift of tongues would cease in a few years, he was not giving instructions for governing tongues in the Church today. He was not even giving such instruction to the Corinthians, because he was speaking of the counterfeit use of the genuine gift, which was based in self-centered emotionalism that did not originate with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. Paul was giving them, as well as believers of all ages, a warning against using self-serving, worldly, ineffective, and God dishonoring substitutes for the true spiritual gifts that God has ordained to be ministered in the power and in the fruit of the Spirit, and for the blessing and the building up of His Church.⁴⁶⁰