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Tag: 1 Corinthians

  • First Corinthians Synopsis- Do everything in love

    First Corinthians Synopsis- Do everything in love

    Love — exceeds wisdom, but does not exclude it.

    Would you say that this pretty much sums up Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church?

    You desire wisdom (and some of you have it), but seek the love of God available to us through our Lord Christ Jesus.

    1 Corinthians 16: 

    I recommend that you read 1 Cor 16 here [in the link above], since I will not detail much of this closing chapter (into which of course Paul's letters were not divided) in this brief synopsis.

    Paul closes his epistle to the Corinthian saints first by asking for their charity to help the struggling and persecuted church in Jerusalem. (Their regimen should be like what the Apostle set in place for the Galatian churches.

    Part of the collection of gifts and delivery of other epistles (letters) always depends upon who may be available at the time.

    Paul is not in person, which is why he writes, and neither is Apollos.

    The Apostle closes his letter with several detailed instructions, explanations of where and why they travel with the Gospel, and specific mention of several individuals (to whom we will get after looking back at Paul’s entire epistle to the Corinthians).

    Basically, this is his personal closing like any of us would end a personal letter to loved ones.

    Corrective Behavior – Guided by Love

    Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love ​[agapē] — ​but the greatest of these is love.

    1 Corinthians 13:13 Christian Standard Bible 
    We addressed this central theme of agape love in 1 Corinthians 13.
    To have and to hold Christian Love

    John MacArthur introduces Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

    Although the major thrust of this epistle is corrective of behavior rather than of doctrine, Paul gives seminal teaching on many doctrines that directly relate to the matters of sin and righteousness.

    In one way or another, wrong living always stems from wrong belief.

    John MacArthur :: Bible Introductions – 1 Corinthians

    Another introduction to Paul’s first epistle put’s it this way:

    Summary: 1 Corinthians addresses issues within the Corinthian church, emphasizing unity, moral integrity, and spiritual gifts.

    Paul advises on matters like divisions, immorality, and worship practices, highlighting love as the greatest virtue.

    He confirms the resurrection of Christ and its implications for believers.

    1 Corinthians Overview – Theme: Christian Living

    We might note Paul's caution in the verses preceding our opening verse here. 

    Many of you know this and understand that it has little to do with age and more to application of Christ's love in your mortal life.

    When I was a child,

    I spoke like a child,

    I thought like a child,

    I reasoned like a child.

    When I became a man, I put aside childish things.

    1 Corinthians 13:11 CSB

    The Apostle’s entire letter to worshipping saints of the church in Corinth sought to correct childish morals with the firm and gentle love of God.

    megas agapē – the Greatest Love

    In addition to Paul, advice on LOVE also proceeds from the words of Jesus.

    “Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.

    Gospel of Matthew 24:12 CSB

    Christ is prophesying signs of the end of the age.

    Let the Common Era reader understand.

    Like the Apostles Paul, John and others, Jesus also addresses His followers (any disciples) as “little children.”

    “Little children, I am with you a little while longer…

    .. you are also to love one another.

    By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

    Gospel of John 13:33a,34c-35 CSB

    Paul’s great dilemma in ‘fathering’ the Corinthians was to correct some of these disobedient children in the faith with the love Christ commands for each of us who claim Jesus as Lord.

    The Wisdom of Mature Love in Christ

    What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

    1 Corinthians 4:21 CSB

    Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up...

    But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.

    1 Corinthians 8:1,3 CSB

    Speaking of human wisdom, Paul compares it by saying that ‘knowledge makes arrogant’ [KJV] gnōsis physioō;

    while agapē Love edifies [KJV].

    Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8
    Grow-up from the wisdom of an arrogant child, beloved believer, into the love and faith in Christ Jesus who loved us so much as to have died for us.

    And we all know and many can quote some translation of Paul’s famous ‘love chapter’ 13 highlighted above.

    If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…

    13-1 CSB

    How many clanging christians in our Common Evangelicalism claim Jesus without love?

    Love – ἀγάπη -agapē

    suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up…

    13:4 NKJV

    Synopsis of 1 Corinthians

    The opening and closing of Paul’s epistle both appeal to the individual love [agapē] of the Corinthians the Apostle knew and loved so well.

    He contrasted the morals and behaviors of those who challenged their faith in Christ Jesus to the childish ways of the wisdom of the world worshipping SELF — even with the crowds in Corinth’s temples of worship of myths and wisdom of the logic of mythological man-created gods and goddesses.

    Wisdom of the Cross *a few points 

    * from ROAD MAPS for the PAULINE EPISTLES - Kress Biblical Resources
    • The church must deal with unrepentant sin. (5)
    • The church must deal with disputes among its members. (6)
    • Stay focuses on serving Christ whether married or single. (7)
    • The right practice and purpose of the Lord’s Supper (11)
    • Spiritual gifts should unify and build up the church (12)
    • Spiritual gifts should prioritize the proclamation of the truth to others in an orderly manner — not pacification of self. (14)
    Our Imperishable Resurrection Body Raised in Glory and Power
    • The RESURRECTION is certain
    • The RESURRECTION is supernatural
    • The RESURRECTION is our sure hope and motivation

    HOW IS YOUR CHURCH DOING WITH THESE?

    Paul loved the Corinthian saints as Christ has loved us.

    The Apostle closes his epistle with these important points:

    • Plans and communication are important for and effective gospel ministry.
    • Personal relationships and communication are important for and effective gospel ministry.
    In closing, let's look at what the Apostle writes to the leaders and saints of Corinth — and to the pastors and Sunday sheep of our Common Era christian flocks. 

    After all, when you write to someone you love, don't you want to leave them with a final thought about you and what you write to them?

    Final Exhortation

    16:13

    γρηγορέω – Be alert

    “Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.[in which the Son of Man is coming.]

    Gospel of Matthew 25:13

    Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, [NASB]

    στήκω – stand firm in πίστις – the faith

    Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? ”

    And they were terrified[filled with awe] and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him! ”

    Gospel of Mark 4:40-41 CSB

    ἀνδρίζομαι – act like a man [be courageous]

    andrizomai – Middle voice from ἀνήρ (G435) – man, husband, sir, fellow (not a boy or woman)

    κραταιόω – be strong.

    The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him.

    Gospel of Luke 2:40 CSB

    6:14

    Let all that you do be done in love.

    1 CORINTHIANS 16:14 ESV – Paul’s closing appeal to the CHURCH

    Paul’s talking AGAPE here.

    Other translations read:

    • Let all your things be done with charity. – KJV
    • And do everything with love. – NLT
    • All that you do must be done in love. – NASB20

    One FINAL WARNING

    Whoever does not love our Lord Yeshua The Messiah,

    let him be damned. our Lord has come.

    1 Corinthians 16:22 – Aramaic Bible in Plain English

    Quite a CONVICTING affirmation!

    Other translations use simply Lord, or ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ but the Person of their intent is the same Lord and God NONE dare oppose!

    1 Corinthians 16:22 Translations

    • let him be Anathema
      • accursed
    • that person is cursed
    • let that person be cursed!
      • tis & eimi (here) are not specific to males
    • a curse be on him.
    • Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. 
    Don't get to hung up on the specific words — or English parts of speech.

    The seriousness of the Apostle’s line-in-the-sand for Christians cannot be missed.

    The term “curse” translates from the Greek “anathema,” meaning something devoted to destruction.

    In the Jewish context, it referred to things set apart for God, often through destruction, as seen in Joshua 6:17 with the fall of Jericho.

    Paul uses strong language to stress the seriousness of rejecting Christ,

    aligning with Galatians 1:8-9, where he condemns any gospel contrary to the one he preached. This reflects the early church’s struggle against false teachings and the necessity of maintaining doctrinal purity.

    Biblehub.com Study Bible – 1 Corinthians 16:22

    a FINAL word

    Unfamiliar to MOST Common Era christians, Paul uses the words: μαράνα θά — marana tha – [English: “Maranatha“]

    Most English translations substitute its meaning — an invitation worthy of our most serious consideration.

    Of Aramaic origin (meaning our Lord has come).

    The Apostle concludes his epistle to the Corinthian church:

    The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

    My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

    And thus do I conclude our study of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, joining the Apostle in His love for all of you.

    Talk of JESUS . com

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

  • Our Imperishable Resurrection Body Raised in Glory and Power

    Our Imperishable Resurrection Body Raised in Glory and Power

    1 Corinthians 15: CSB

    Paul , in a first letter to the Corinthians, addresses the logic (Promethean though it be to some skeptics of the Gospel), and presents a body of evidence about the resurrection body.

    Resurrection is Certain

    The Apostle begins with Christ’s resurrection. Then Paul argues (logically to these wisdom-seeking Achaeans) to the nature of death and resurrection of the dead in general. The Apostle’s closing arguments of this logic-based epistle calls the question of the nature of our resurrection body. 

    OUTLINE
    • The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection
      • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
    • Resurrection Essential to the Gospel (CSB)
    • The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality (NKJV)
    And Now the News – Just the Facts
    • The Resurrection of the Dead
      • 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 KJV
    And Now the News – Resurrection of the Dead
    Our Look at the Resurrection Body on TalkofJESUS.com will also separate these topics more fully.
    • Resurrection Essential to the Faith (CSB)
      • 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
      • Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours
      • 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
    • The Risen Christ, Our Hope (NKJV)
      • 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
      • The Last Enemy Destroyed
      • 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
    Death Put Under the Authority of God —Resurrection — in Order

    ..that God may be all in all.

    A LOGICAL ARGUMENT — a COURT CASE — a testimony, a closing argument. Call the Apostle’s defense of the Gospel GOOD NEWS of the resurrection of the body what you will.

    Paul concludes his letter with an authoritative approach to separating the heretical hopes of life and death (as our end) from the foundational NEW Testament of the glory of the resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus as the first-fruits of our GOOD NEWS!

    The last enemy to be abolished is death.

    1 Corinthians 15:26 CSB

    IF the Resurrection Body Perishes

    Remember, Paul writes to defend Christ, who he has seen! 

    And now the Apostle takes the stand opposing the prosecutorial case of the Promethean philosophers accusing the saints of Corinth of worshiping a 'dead Jesus.'

    Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?

    If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

    1 Corinthians 15:29 ESV

    Great question, right?

    Rhetorical, certainly; but Paul may have been responding to an actual case and question presented to him by the leadership of the Corinthian church.

    WHY REPENT, for Christ’s sake— if our Savior is now dead?

    (Baptism, of course, is a public witness that you have permanently changed your lifestyle – fruit of your beliefs —  having given up your former sins in order to follow the living Lord, Christ Jesus of the Cross.)

    Paul then testifies(as I included previously) that he had been willing to die in Ephesus (which, of course, most the the Corinthians would have already heard the Apostle proclaim in person).

    His prosecution of those who doubt the resurrection is direct:

    Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

    1 Corinthians 15:33 CSB

    ARE SOME in Corinth deceiving the saints who have heard and proclaimed Paul’s Gospel?

    No doubt.

    And the Apostle gently reminds the faithful of how they remain ignorant concerning the gospel, after which he will answer some questions of their ignorance.

    Come to your senses [lit. sober up] and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God.

    I say this to your shame.

    1 Corinthians 15:34

    The Nature of the Resurrection Body

    The example of Christ

    • Christ died.
    • After three days Christ rises from the grave.
    • He appears for forty days to many, (as Paul has already witnessed) with a resurrection body
      • DIFFERENT from His incarnate body;
      • DIFFERENT than simply a spirit;
      • and actually different in appearance to several witnesses — JESUS had a resurrection body
      • and THEN ASCENDS into the clouds of HEAVEN!

    Will OUR resurrection body be like HIS?

    Paul assures those in Corinth who receive such questions

    (as if WE must explain HOW God does such things).

    But someone will ask,

    “How are the dead raised?

    What kind of body will they have when they come? ”

    1 Corinthians 15:35 CSB 

    'Would you rather be dead?' I might quickly reply to the Promethean prosecutor with the cunning to take CHRIST out of my personal witness.

    Paul responds:

    You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

    And as for what you sow ​— ​you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

    1 Corinthians 15:37-38 CSB

    A Perishable Body and our Resurrection Body

    For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans,

    another for animals,

    another for birds,

    and another for fish.

    There are heavenly bodies

    and earthly bodies,

    but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind,

    and the glory of the earthly is of another.

    1 Corinthians 15:(39),40 ESV

    Paul points to the sun and moon and stars all being different in nature, as well as distinct from each other.

    What is sown is perishable

    THEN the Apostle compares DEATH to the seed planted —

    • It is sown in dishonor;
    • It is sown in weakness;
    • It is sown a natural body;

    ζῳοποιέω – zōopoieō

    • it is raised in glory.
    • it is raised in power.
    • it is raised a spiritual body.
    Then Paul proceeds logically from mortal death to the spiritual body, with a comparison of ADAM (the first man) to CHRIST (the first fruits from death).
    • If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

    So it is written,
    The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

    1 Corinthians 15:45 CSB

    The Apostle refers to JESUS as ‘the last adam,’ in Greek: eschatos — a superlative for the last or extreme [adam] — Ἀδάμ.

    THEN the Spirit adds through Paul:

    πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν –

    [became] a life-giving spirit.

    CHRIST [the quintessential adam in the image of GOD —  born, buried and risen in a resurrection body —  ζῳοποιέω – zōopoieō [quicken (9x), give life (2x), make alive (1x)] pneuma [spirit].

    Christ + the LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT

    Paul THEN compares the adam from the dust of the earth to the second adam from heaven — HE IS the very perfect incarnate IMAGE of God the Father — Creator and Authority over all creation and creatures.

    And as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly.

    1 Corinthians 15:49

    the soul of man is immortal and imperishable - Plato background stars and earth For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. Paul to Greek Corinthians

    ἰδού – Behold..

    ἰδού, a demonstrative particle (in Greek writings from Sophocles down)

    Beloved saint of Christ, you have heard this before — hundreds of times in the preaching of the Gospel. And the apostle to the gentiles uses it here — ‘idou‘ or in English, behold.

    Behold, G2400 a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:23 KJV

    And, behold, G2400 one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

    Gospel of Matthew 19:16 KJV

    And, behold, G2400 there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

    Gospel of Matthew 28:2 KJV

    And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, G2400 Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

    Gospel of Matthew 28:9 –

    And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

    manger of a timeless Christ "I will be with you always even to the end of the earth
    (‘lo’ and ‘behold’ are the same Greek word drawing forth our attention)
    (Beloved saint, you know the rest — and Paul reminds of our hope in the Gospel and of our commission by Christ.)

    mystērion

    Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery:

    We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

    1 Corinthians 15:50b-52a

    Don’t we want that? CHANGED immediately? SLEEPERS AWAKE!

    For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

    For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

    When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

    Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah

    He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

    Isaiah 25:8 KJV

    O death, where is thy sting?
    O grave, where is thy victory?

    1 Corinthians 15:55 KJV

    a Closing Call for Repentance 

    Surely Paul's letter will be received by all the saints of Corinth with thanksgiving and a renewed faith in the resurrection body because of Christ.

    The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

    But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    1 Corinthians 15:56-57 KJV 

    And the Apostle's plea to all saints in every time and each temporal place:

    So then, dear brothers and sisters,

    be firm.

    Do not be moved!

    Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

    1 Corinthians 15:58 New English Translation

    P.S.

    As is his custom, Paul will close his epistle with some personal greetings and instructions [Chapter 16]

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

    God-willing, perhaps you and I should add our own personal applications of the Apostle’s great instructions to the church concerning issues of the resurrection body, death, resurrection, ascension and time of the last judgment and eternal life.

    Talk of JESUS . com

  • Death Put Under the Authority of God —Resurrection — in Order

    Death Put Under the Authority of God —Resurrection — in Order

    For God has put everything under his feet.

    1 Corinthians 15:27a CSB

    How can this include DEATH?

    Is death not the antithesis of LIFE —decay into deep darkness the defeat of created man?

    How can the resurrection of the dead — even those martyred in Christ — take place?

    The Apostle Paul continues to address the concerns of the Corinthian church putting all things in order and now addressing THE END.

    The Order of Resurrection

    The apostle to the gentiles (Hellenists, that is, Greeks including Corinthians) began his logical argument with
    The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection and logically continued to connect those facts.

    And Now the News – Resurrection of the Dead

    LAST TIME, we ended with Paul’s astounding opening statement about death and resurrection about an ORDER of the Resurrection:

    Then comes the end…

    1 Corinthians 15:24a CSB

    I stumbled over it. Do you?

    THE END…

    Isn’t DEATH, after all, the end?

    And in the end
    The love you take
    Is equal to the love
    You make…

    “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,
    All good children go to heaven…
    Everybody’s laughing
    Everybody’s happy
    Here come the Sun King…

    Of course, we all have much anti-Christ philosophy replaying in the mortal minds of our imaginings (it isn’t hard to do..).

    The cultural challenges of the resurrection were no less for Paul and the Corinthians than the Promethean philosophical objections of the 20th century and this Common Era. 

    AGAIN, as we first addressed in the Facts:

    Cultural ‘science‘ of Promethean Logic

    Prometheus, in Greek religion, one of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Forethinker. In common belief he developed into a master craftsman, and in this connection he was associated with fire and the creation of mortals.

    Source: Britannica

    Perhaps they also hope against hope that these things aren’t really so..

    in a self-deceived way..

    the problem here is not merely cognitive..

    but.. Promethean…

    from WARRANTED CHRISTIAN BELIEF PP290-294

    NO – Death is NOT ‘The End.’

    The Apostle Paul will address this — DEATH and its threats did not phase him and should not prevent those possibly facing martyrdom for claiming Jesus Christ and the resurrection to the crowds of Corinth.

    What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?

    If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

    1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV

    Paul has emphasized order in worship and now, the Apostle even presents an order in the resurrection of the dead, rather than random godless chaos without form.

    1 Corinthians 15: 

    King James Version

    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

    1 Cor 15:3-4 KJV

    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

    v. 20

    AND what were the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Twelve sent to some with the Gospel?

    The Fruit of Faith (an illustration from a parable of Jesus)

    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

    But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

    from Gospel of Luke 12:19-20 KJV

    And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:

    Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

    Gospel of Luke 12:4-5 KJV – Jesus on death and judgment 

    Some foreboding in our Lord's call to stand up to death — is there not?

    Saul of Tarsus & the fearless witness of Paul

    When Paul had met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, Christ’s new apostle to the gentiles came to understand the reality of WHY those Saul had previously persecuted and killed had not changed their testimony — even as these saints of Ephesus or Corinth faced mortal death.

    (And remember Stephen as he was stoned to death in Jerusalem?)

    Just three or four years after he writes to the Corinthians, Paul also will witness the resurrection to King Herod Agrippa II, hearing his case brought by the Jews until Paul appeals to Caesar.

    Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

    Acts of the Apostles 26:22-23 NKJV

    Christ the firstfruits of Resurrection

    For as in Adam all die, even so 

    in Christ shall all be made alive.

    But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

    1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV

    WHAT AN ILLUSTRATON! — āḏām [man – אָדָם] — made in the image of God — now mortal and re-destined to dust — in Christ (and Christ alone) redeemed and revived from DEATH — death, common to every creature made alive for a time by God.

    Let me explain the REIGN of Christ, Paul reasons:

    Once again, in the more AUTHORITIVE-sounding King James Version, let's examine Paul's text in words provoking push-back from Christians unaccustomed to such absolute authority of a most-powerful King.

    Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;

    when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

    For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

    1 Corinthians 15:24-25 KJV

    IS this the JESUS we know?

    Afterward —The Whole Harvest

    At the same time the wicked shall rise also. But they are not taken here into the account.

    v. 23

    Then — After the resurrection and the general judgment. Cometh the end — Of the world..

    When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father, and he (the Father) shall have abolished all adverse rule, authority and power — Not that the Father will then begin to reign without the Son, nor will the Son then cease to reign…

    But this is spoken of the Son’s mediatorial kingdom.. which will then commence.

    John Wesley; Parallel Commentary on the NEW TESTAMENT, p.580

    John Wesley provides explanation and delineation of the roles of the Father and of the Son — in the time between the resurrection of ALL the dead and prior to the Judgment — and until the end. 

    The King James Bible Commentary provides additional insight into Paul's explanation to the Corinthians of the end time.

    ” The logic is inescapable.

    KJB Commentary on 1 COR 15:14 , p.1496

    If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain.

    The proclamation of the Gospel (vs.1-11) is hollow. Not only that, but your faith is .. ‘groundless.’

    Faith in a dead saviour is both preposterous and pathetic.

    ibid. 

    Much in the way Wesley's explanation of 'Who does what?' helps us, the KJB commentary also guides our understanding of the order of THE END [vs.23-26].

    The end refers to he end of the kingdom of God. At that time he will have put down all rule.

    27-28 .. However two facts must be accounted for here:

    • First, when Paul say s that the Son is subject to the Father he is not speaking of the Son in terms of his essence, but in terms of his function, or ministry, as the incarnate Son.
    • Second.. At this present time the administration of the messianic kingdom is given to the Son.
      • However, at the conclusion of the messianic kingdom this function will be returned to the triune God that God may be all in all.

    ibid.

    WE don’t trust God, because of many who have claimed God — or Christ Jesus — in ways worthy of our suspicion.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    The Apostle Paul is trying to show the Corinthians (and us) something about the order of God we do not understand, as well as the Authority all flesh tends to resist.

    ὑποτάσσω – ‘Put under’ (in order)

    Believe only Scripture and an order of the resurrection makes sense in the redemptive providential plan of God.

    Misapply portions of the Gospel or add an oversimplified imagined LIFE after death without consequence for opposing God and your gospel claims will prove false — Promethean in the sense that you know that it can NOT be true (but you continue to hope that it is).

    Take a look at the Biblical use of the word — hypotassō — primarily a military term that Paul uses NINE TIMES here IN TWO VERSES:

    1 Corinthians 15:25-28 — For He must reign…

    v.26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

    For he hath put G5293 all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under G5293 him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put G5293 all things under G5293 him.

    And when all things shall be subdued G5293 unto him, then shall G5293 the Son also himself be subject G5293 unto him that put G5293 all things under G5293 him, that God may be all in all.

    1 Corinthians 15:27-28 KJV — Lexicon :: Strong’s G5293 – hypotassō

    How does New Testament Scripture use this term [ὑποτάσσω]?

    • to arrange under, to subordinate
    • to subject, put in subjection
    • to subject one’s self, obey
    • to submit to one’s control
    • to yield to one’s admonition or advice
    • to obey, be subject
    Personally, most of us (including Christians) do not like any part of this kind of order.

    Let every soul be subject G5293 unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

    Romans 13:1 KJV

    How are YOU, dear saint of Christ, doing with that?

    YES, the Apostle Paul — put under Christ — obediently presents the resurrection of the body in order.

    NEXT, he will talk about the resurrection body. And shortly Paul will urge the saints of Corinth to submit to those who have labored with the Apostle bringing forth the firstfruits of Achaia [16:15-16].

    What do you think?

    (logically and Biblically, of course) about the order of DEATH and the Resurrection?

    Are you prepared to die daily (along with Paul) for the Lord Christ Jesus?

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