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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

221–240 of 1,043
1 Corinthians 15:6

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

This is not recorded in the Gospels, but Paul knew it independently of them.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:8

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

By “untimely” Paul means that he was born again outside time, because he received his apostleship from Christ after the latter had ascended into heaven.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:9

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Paul is least because he was the last in time, not because he was inferior in any way to the others.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Paul says all this in order to show that despite his great sins and unworthiness, the grace of God was not given to him for nothing.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:18

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

Paul says this because the Corinthians will not want to listen to the false prophets once they realize that if they do so their dead, whom they love, will be taken from them.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:19

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

It is clear that we hope in Christ both for this life and for the next one. Christ does not abandon his servants but gives them grace, and in the future they will dwell in eternal glory.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:20

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

Paul says this in order to get at the false prophets who claimed that Christ was never born and thus cannot have died. The resurrection from the dead proves that Christ was a man and therefore able to merit by his righteousness the resurrection of the dead.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:22

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Adam died because he sinned, and so Christ, who was without sin, overcame death, in that death comes from sin. Everyone, the righteous and the unrighteous alike, dies in Adam, and everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, will also be raised in Christ. But the unbelievers will be handed over for punishment, even though they appear to have been raised from the dead, because they will receive their bodies back again in order to suffer eternal punishment for their unbelief.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:28

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

The subjection of Christ to the Father means that every creature will learn that he is subject to Christ, who in turn is subject to the Father, and will thus confess that there is only one God. But Christ’s subjection to the Father is not the same thing as our subjection to the Son, because our subjection is one of dependence and not the union of equals.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:29

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

1 Corinthians 15:30

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

The theme here is that unless there is such a fact as the resurrection of the dead, all this is pointless.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:37

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

If a seed dies and comes back again with so much additional benefit to the human race, why is it incredible that a human body should rise again, by the power of God, with an equally improved substance?

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:39

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

Let the Sophists explain this if they can! All the philosophers of this world are unwilling to submit their minds to the law of God in order to believe in him. Instead they confound one another with diverse and mutually contradictory theories, none of which can be proved. God, on the other hand, does not argue. Instead, he demonstrates his power by raising Christ from the dead.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:43

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

The body is sown in dishonor because it is placed in a coffin where it rots and is eaten by worms. But when it rises again, it will do so in glory, and all trace of this dishonor will vanish.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:49

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

This means that just as we have borne the corruptible body of the earthly Adam, so we shall in the future bear an incorruptible body, like that of the resurrected Christ.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:50

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

By “flesh” Paul means disobedience, and by “blood” he means an evil and wicked life. Not only will neither of these things inherit eternal life; both must be put under control in this life.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:52

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The last trumpet is the one which is sounded when the battle is over. After a thousand years, when the antichrist has been destroyed and the Savior has reigned, Satan will be released from his prison in order to lead astray the nations of Gog and Magog, who are demons, in order that they might attack the fortresses of the saints. They will fail, and when they are defeated they will suffer the same fate as the antichrist and the false prophet. It is then that the last trumpet will sound the final victory.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:55

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

“Death” here refers to the devil, who is being insulted.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:57

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

Christ did not win the victory for himself but for our benefit. For when he became a man, he remained God, and by overcoming the devil, he who never sinned gained the victory for us, who were bound in death because of sin. The death of Christ defeated the devil, who was forced to surrender all those who had died because of sin.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Those who persevere in a life of faith and good works have the assurance that they will be accepted by God and receive their reward and that they will not be led astray by wicked arguments.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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