Victory over Death; Doctrine of Perseverance; 1 Cor 15:53-58

As Paul brings in the concept of inheritance in this chapter it is related to the last verse, verse 58: NASB “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.” The first word in the verse is the word “therefore.” Whenever we see a “therefore” we have to see what it is there for. It is a conclusion. In this chapter there are 57 verses that do not contain what could be called take-home-practical. Paul has one verse out of fifty-eight that is take-home-practical. It takes 57 verses to straighten out our thinking. Once thinking is straightened out, then the application flows fairly easily. It is not difficult to apply Scripture once we straighten out our thinking. So when our thinking is based on carnal concepts, pagan concepts, or human viewpoint concepts the application seems really difficult. The reason we don’t understand is because we are operating on pagan presuppositions. The reason for pointing this out is because this last exhortation to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord is directly related to this idea of inheritance, that if we are going to be heirs of the kingdom in all of its sense and to have rewards in eternity, then we have to fulfil that mandate.

Part of what will happen to us, as well as to carnal believers, is that we will receive a resurrection body. When Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God he is not excluding carnal believers, they will receive a resurrection body as well. There are certain things that every believer will have in common. We will all have a resurrection body, we will all be in heaven, we will all have inexpressible joy, we will all experience the truth that there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death, for the old things have passed away. But for believers who have pursued spiritual maturity, for believers who have received rewards at the judgment seat of Christ, for believers who have studied the Word, made it a part of their life and their thinking and made doctrine a priority in their life, there will be special advantages in heaven, special capacities to enjoy heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:53 goes on to describe the process of the resurrection. The reason is given why this must take place. NASB “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” It is introduced by the Greek word gar [gar] which always expresses a reason. Then it uses the particle dei [dei], “it is necessary.” This indicates something that is mandatory and not optional. It should be translated: “For it is necessary for this perishable to put on the imperishable.” It is an aorist middle infinitive of enduo [e)nduw] which means simply to put on or to clothe; “and it is necessary for this mortal to put on immortality.”

The same idea is expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NASB “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this {house} we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.” We groan because on a day-to-day basis we are faced with the infirmities of living in a fallen world and living in fallen bodies.

1 Corinthians 15:54 NASB “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.” In verse 54 Paul shifts the focus to the future. When resurrection has occurred then there will be a fulfilment of prophecy. When all have been resurrected and the last believer has received his resurrection body then this will be brought to pass. This phrase is taken from Isaiah 25:8 which is a promise to the Jews: NASB “He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.” Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit takes the first phrase, paraphrases it, and says at this time, at the last resurrection, death will be swallowed up in victory. It will be completed and all the consequences of spiritual death will be removed.

At this point we have to understand what he means by death. The Bible speaks of seven different deaths: spiritual death which is the penalty for sin; physical death which is the consequence of sin; sexual death which is described in the Bible in relation to Abraham and Sarah because they had lived far beyond the normal child-bearing years; position death which is for the believer only and described in Romans 6:1-4; carnal death, described in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Revelation 3:1; Hebrews 6:1; the sin unto death, 1 John 5:16, reserved for the rebellious believer who goes out under a miserable death because of his disobedience to God; the second death, Revelation 20:11, for unbelievers only, their eternal condemnation in the lake of fire.

Then in 1 Corinthians 15:55 we have a quote from Hosea 13:14: NASB “O DEATH [qanatoj], WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O  DEATH [Hades], WHERE IS YOUR STING?” (Majority text view) What produces a sting?

1 Corinthians 15:56 NASB “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” What produces death? It is sin. The sting is produced by something: death. The power of sin is the law. This is parallel to what Paul says in Romans 7:5 NASB “For while we were in the flesh [carnality], the sinful passions, which were {aroused} by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” The law brings to our attention, sin. The law produces sin because it makes us aware of sin. [57] “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”—victory over spiritual death, over the penalty of sin, over law because grace removes the law. This is our victory over death because of Christ’s payment for sin on the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.” “Be [become: ginomai] steadfast” is a present passive imperative, a deponent verb which means it has an active voice meaning though it has a passive form. The word “steadfast” means to hold your ground. Don’t back up. It is the Greek verb hedraios [e(draioj], meaning to take a seat. Don’t fall back, don’t regress in your spiritual life. “Immovable” is the Greek word ametakinetos [a)metakinhtoj] which means not to shift or change. “…knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.” The way that should be translated is: “is because you know that your labour by means of the Lord [e)n plus the dative]…” When we are involved in Christian service in relationship to the filling of the Holy Spirit and by means of the Lord then this has eternal value. This concept of work is difficult for a lot of Christians who are grace oriented, but again and again and again Paul emphasizes the importance of work and labour. 1 Peter 1:17 NASB “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay {on earth;}.” So we will be judged according to our works. Revelation 22:12 NASB “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward {is} with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”  Ephesians 2:10 NASB “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”