Part 221

15:21. For by a man came death: and by a man the resurrection of the dead.

15:22. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

15:23. But every one in his own order: the firstfruits, Christ: then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.

15:24. Afterwards the end: when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father: when he shall have brought to nought all principality and power and virtue.

15:25. For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.

15:26. And the enemy, death, shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet. And whereas he saith:

15:27. All things are put under him; undoubtedly, he is excepted, who put all things under him.

15:28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

The Son also himself shall be subject unto him. . .That is, the Son will be subject to the Father, according to his human nature, even after the general resurrection; and also the whole mystical body of Christ will be entirely subject to God, obeying him in every thing.

15:29. Otherwise, what shall they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not again at all? Why are they then baptized for them?

That are baptized for the dead. . .Some think the apostle here alludes to a ceremony then in use; but others, more probably, to the prayers and penitential labours, performed by the primitive Christians for the souls of the faithful departed; or to the baptism of afflictions and sufferings undergone for sinners spiritually dead.

15:30. Why also are we in danger every hour?

15:31. I die daily, I protest by your glory, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

15:32. If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not again? Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.

Let us eat and drink, etc. . .That is, if we did not believe that we were to rise again from the dead, we might live like the impious and wicked, who have no belief in the resurrection.

15:33. Be not seduced: Evil communications corrupt good manners.

15:34. Awake, ye just, and sin not. For some have not the knowledge of God. I speak it to your shame.

15:35. But some man will say: How do the dead rise again? Or with what manner of body shall they come?

15:36. Senseless man, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first.

15:37. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be: but bare grain, as of wheat, or of some of the rest.

15:38. But God giveth it a body as he will: and to every seed its proper body.

15:39. All flesh is not the same flesh: but one is the flesh of men, another of beasts, other of birds, another of fishes.

15:40. And there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial: but, one is the glory of the celestial, and another of the terrestrial.

15:41. One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars. For star differeth from star in glory.

15:42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption: it shall rise in incorruption.

15:43. It is sown in dishonour: it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness: it shall rise in power.

15:44. It is sown a natural body: it shall rise a spiritual body. If there be a natural body, there is also a spiritual body, as it is written:

15:45. The first man Adam was made into a living soul; the last Adam into a quickening spirit.