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• 1 CORINTHIANS 15 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 (ESV) 

  ²⁹ 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? ³⁰ Why are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! ³² 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.” ³³ Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” ³⁴ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 15 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (ESV) 

  ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 15 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT:  1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (ESV)

  ¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 15 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT: 

  1 Corinthians 15:9-11 (ESV) 

  ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 15 – COMMENTARY

  Introduction:

  “Chapter 15 falls into two main sections.  Verses 1-34 present Paul’s arguments for the certainty of the bodily resurrection, while verses 35-58 discuss the nature of resurrection bodies.”[1]

  v.1 “The gospel was something which the Corinthians had received. No man ever invented the gospel for himself[…] It is something which he receives. Therein indeed is the very function of the Church. The Church is the repository and the transmitter of the good news.”[2]

  vv.1-2 “If you are not persevering in the Christian faith, this is evidence that you did not have saving faith in the first place.”[3]

  “The faith which collapses is the faith which has not thought things out and thought them through. For so many of us faith is a superficial thing. We tend to accept things because we are told them and to possess them merely at secondhand. If we undergo the agony of thought there may be much that we must discard, but what is left is really ours in such a way that nothing can ever take it from us.”[4]

  vv.3-8 “Two lines of evidence for the death and resurrection of Christ are given here: (1) the testimony of the OT (e.g., Ps 16:8-11; Isa 53:5-6, 11) and (2) the testimony of eyewitnesses (Ac 1:21-22). Six resurrection appearances are listed here. The Gospels give more.”[5]

  vv.3-4 “what I received I passed on to you as of first importance. Here Paul links himself with early Christian tradition. He was not its originator, nor did he receive it directly from the Lord. His source was other Christians. The verbs he uses are technical terms for receiving and transmitting tradition.  What follows is the heart of the gospel: that Christ died for our sins (not for his own sins; cf. Heb 7:27), that he was buried (confirmation that he had really died) and that he was raised from the dead.

  “on the third day. Cf. Mt 12:40. The Jews counted parts of days as whole days. Thus the three days would include part of Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, and Sunday morning.”[6]

  vv.12-19 “Some at Corinth were saying that there was no resurrection of the body, and Paul draws a number of conclusions from this false contention. If the dead do not rise from the grave, then (1) ‘not even Christ has been raised’ (v.13); (2) ‘our preaching is useless’ (v.14); (3) ‘so is your faith’ (v.14); (4) we are ‘false witnesses’ that God raised Christ from the dead (v.15); (5) ‘your faith is futile’ (v.17); (6) ‘you are still in your sins’ (v.17) and still carry the guilt and condemnation of sin; (7) ‘those also who have fallen asleep [have died] in Christ are lost’ (v.18); and (8) ‘we are to be pitied’ who ‘only for this life . . . hope in Christ’ (v.19) and put up with persecution and hardship.”[7]

  v.12 “Christ has been raised. Christ was raised historically on the third day. Paul uses this same verb form (that expresses the certainty of Christ’s bodily resurrection) a total of seven times in this passage (vv.4, 12-14, 16-17, 20).”[8]

  “[T]he position of some in the Corinthian church is specified in verse 12[…], and it is to this challenge that Paul responds.  By denying the resurrection, the Corinthians were almost certainly not denying life after death; virtually everyone in the ancient world believed in that.  Rather, they would have been disputing the Jewish and Christian doctrine of bodily resurrection and endorsing one of the more Greek forms of belief that limited the afterlife to disembodied immortality of the soul (cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-18).”[9]

  vv.20-22 “firstfruits. The first sheaf of the harvest given to the Lord (Lev 23:10-11, 17, 20) as a token that all the harvest belonged to the Lord and would be dedicated to him through dedicated lives. So Christ, who has been raised, is the guarantee of the resurrection of all of God’s redeemed people (cf. 1Th 4:13-18).

  “death came through a man. Through Adam (Ge 3:17-19). the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. Through Christ, the second Adam, ‘the last Adam’ (v.45; cf. Ro 5:12-21).

  “in Adam all die. All who are ‘in Adam’—i.e., his descendants—suffer death. in Christ all will be made alive. All who are ‘in Christ’—i.e., who are related to him by faith—will be made alive at the resurrection (cf. Jn 5:25; 1Th 4:16-17; Rev 20:6).”[10]

  v.22 “How will all be made alive?  Paul does not suggest a universal salvation here, implying that all will be saved.  Though every human being (those in Adam) faces physical death because of sin, every believer (those in Christ) can anticipate eternal life because of the resurrection.”[11]

  v.23 “each in his own turn. Christ, the firstfruits, was raised in his own time in history (c. A.D. 30), and those who are identified with Christ by faith will be raised at his second coming. His resurrection is the pledge that ours will follow.”[12]

  v.24 “the end. The second coming of Christ and all the events accompanying it. This includes his handing over the kingdom to the Father, following his destroying all dominion, authority and power of the persons and forces who oppose him.”[13]

  v.32 “More than likely, wild beasts is a metaphor for Paul’s human opponents in Ephesus. Wild beasts was a label commonly given to wicked people.  Just the same sort of opponents Paul faced in Corinth. He survived such opponents wherever he encountered them by persevering in his confidence in the resurrection.”[14]

  v.33 “The application of the quotation is that those who are teaching that there is no resurrection (v.12) are the ‘bad company,’ and they are corrupting the ‘good character’ of those who hold to the correct doctrine (cf. Pr 13:20).”[15]

  v.34 “stop sinning. The sin of denying that there is a resurrection and thus doubting even the resurrection of Christ, all of which had a negative effect on the lives they were living.

  “some who are ignorant of God. Even in the Corinthian church. This, Paul says, is a shameful situation.”[16]

  vv.35-49 “In discussing the nature of the resurrection body, Paul compares it to plant life (vv.36-38), to fleshly beings (v.39) and to celestial and earthly physical bodies (vv.40-41).”[17]

  vv.36-39 “Plant organisms, though organized similarly in their own order, are different; the seed sown is related to the new plant that sprouts, but the new sprout has a different and genuinely new body that God has given it.”[18]

  “He takes the analogy of a seed. The seed is put in the ground and dies, but in due time it rises again; and does so with a very different kind of body from that with which it was sown. Paul is showing that, at one and the same time, there can be dissolution, difference and yet continuity. The seed is dissolved; when it rises again, there is a vast difference in its body; and yet, in spite of the dissolution and the difference, it is the same seed. So our earthly bodies will dissolve; they will rise again in very different form; but it is the same person who rises. Dissolved by death, changed by resurrection, it is still we who exist.

  “In the world, even as we know it, there is not one kind of body; each separate part of creation has its own. God gives to each created thing a body suitable for its part in creation. If that be so, it is only reasonable to expect that he will give us a body fitted for the resurrection life.”[19]

  vv.42-44 “In applying these analogies, the apostle says that in the case of the resurrection of the dead, God will take a perishable, dishonorable, weak (and sinful) body—‘a natural body’ characterized by sin—and in the resurrection make it an imperishable, glorious, powerful body. ‘Spiritual body’ does not mean a nonmaterial body but, from the analogies, a physical one similar to the present natural body organizationally, but radically different in that it will be imperishable, glorious and powerful, fit to live eternally with God. There is continuity, but there is also change.”[20]

  v.46 “We must read this as we would read great poetry, rather than as we would dissect a scientific treatise[…].  Paul insists that, as we are, we are not fit to inherit the Kingdom of God. We may be well enough equipped to get on with the life of this world, but for the life of the world to come we will not do.  A man always needs to be changed to enter into a higher grade of life; and Paul insists that before we can enter the Kingdom of God we must be changed.”[21]

  v.51 “mystery. Things about the resurrection body that were not understood but are now revealed […]

  “We will not all sleep. Some believers will not experience death and the grave.

  “we will all be changed. All believers, whether alive when Jesus comes again or in the grave, will receive changed, imperishable bodies.”[22]

  v.52 “The last trumpet was common imagery in Jewish literature dealing with the end times. It is, figuratively speaking, the trumpet that blows to herald the Lord’s return and announce judgment. There are similar references to trumpets in 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 8:2; 11:15.”[23]

  “Wherein lies the fear of death? Partly it comes from fear of the unknown. But still more it comes from the sense of sin. If a man felt that he could meet God easily then to die would be only, as Peter Pan said, a great adventure. But where does that sense of sin come from? It comes from a sense of being under the law. So long as a man sees in God only the law of righteousness, he must ever be in the position of a criminal before the bar with no hope of acquittal. But this is precisely what Jesus came to abolish. He came to tell us that God is not law, but love, that the centre of God’s being is not legalism but grace, that we go out, not to a judge, but to a Father who awaits his children coming home. Because of that Jesus gave us the victory over death, its fear banished in the wonder of God’s love.”[24]

  v.56 “The sting of death is sin. It was sin that brought us under death’s power—it was Adam’s sin that brought his death and ultimately ours (see Ro 5:12).

  “the power of sin is the law. The law of God gives sin its power, for it reveals our sin and condemns us because of our sin.”[25]

  v.57 “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Victory over the condemnation for sin that the law brought (v.56) and over death and the grave (vv.54-55), through the death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Ro 4:25).”[26]

  v.58 “Therefore. Because of Christ’s resurrection and ours, we know that serving him is not empty, useless activity.

  “your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Our effort is invested in the Lord’s winning cause. He will also reward us at his second coming (Mt 25:21; cf. Lk 19:17).”[27]

  “Appropriately, Paul returns from [this]… theological reflection to the practical implications for the Corinthians (v.58).  Since Christ has been raised in bodily from, they too will one day be physically transformed.  Therefore they should remain unswervingly committed to orthodox theology and totally dedicated to the work of the gospel—the purity of living and the faithful exercise of their distinctive avenues of service.  No matter what the cost in this life, they can count on the ultimate triumph of all God’s people and all his purposes.”[28]

  “The Christian life may be difficult, but the goal is infinitely worth the struggle.”[29]

  [1] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 295.

  [2] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

  [3] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [4] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

  [5] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [6] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [7] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [8] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [9] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 294-295.

  [10] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [11] Quest Bible Notes NIV, (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 1649.

  [12] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [13] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [14] Quest Bible Notes NIV, (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 1649.

  [15] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [16] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [17] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [18] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [19] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

  [20] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [21] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

  [22] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [23] Quest Bible Notes NIV, (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 1649.

  [24] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

  [25] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [26] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [27] Kenneth Barker, The New International Version Study Bible Notes CD, Pradis [software], (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995) notes for verse.

  [28] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 317.

  [29] William Barclay, Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series CD, The Bible Library v.3.2 [software], (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1975) notes for verse.

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (ESV)

  ¹ Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

  ³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 14 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT:

  1 Corinthians 14:26-40 (ESV) 

  ²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 

  ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

  As in all the churches of the saints, ³⁴ the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

  ³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But all things should be done decently and in order.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 14 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 (ESV) 

  ²⁰ Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹ In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵ the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 14 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 14:13-19 (ESV) 

  ¹³ Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 14 – COMMENTARY

• BIBLE TEXT:

  1 Corinthians 14:6-12 (ESV) 

  ⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

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• 1 CORINTHIANS 14 – COMMENTARY

   Introduction:

  “This significant chapter deals with two important subjects: (1) the relative value and use of prophecy and speaking in tongues (vv.1-25) and (2) orderly conduct in public worship (vv.26-40).”[1] 

  v.1 “What makes prophecy so important? Prophecy is a message that edifies, comforts or encourages the church (v.3). Since Paul places a premium on strengthening the church, he values prophecy highly.  Prophecy is understandable to the mind (unlike speaking in tongues). Like Old Testament prophecy, New Testament prophecy was intended to challenge and strengthen the church.  People see various expressions of prophecy in preaching, teaching and spontaneous exhortations, among others.”[2]

  v.2 “The gift of speaking in a tongue was a concern of the Corinthian church because the use of the gift had caused disorder in worship. Speaking in tongues is a legitimate gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority rather than as a means to spiritual unity. Spiritual gifts are beneficial only when they are properly used to help everyone in the church. We should not exercise them only to make ourselves feel good.”[3]

  vv.13-14 “With the possibility of a non-understood tongue before them, Paul now argues that its interpretation be sought. He urges this not only so that those who hear but do not understand may know the meaning, but also that the speaker himself may be benefited by getting an intellectual as well as a spiritual blessing from the exercise. The expression ‘my mind is unfruitful’ means that the mind does not intelligently share in the blessing of the man’s spirit. The mind (the nous) is that faculty involved in conscious, meaningful reasoning and understanding of a thinking, reasoning person.[…] Paul desires the Corinthians to have a complete blessing here, both in their spirits and in their minds.”[4]

  “There is a proper place for the intellect in Christianity. In praying and singing, both the mind and the spirit are to be fully engaged. When we sing, we should also think about the meaning of the words. When we pour out our feelings to God in prayer, we should not turn off our capacity to think. True Christianity is neither barren intellectualism nor thoughtless emotionalism. See also Ephes. 1:17-18; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9.”[5]

  v.20 “Verse 20 forms the transition to the last paragraph of this first section of chapter 14.  A preoccupation with tongues without concern for their effect on oneself and others is childish.”[6]

  vv.22-25 “The way the Corinthians were speaking in tongues was helping no one because believers did not understand what was being said, and unbelievers thought that the people speaking in tongues were crazy. Speaking in tongues was supposed to be a sign to unbelievers (as it was in Acts 2). After speaking in tongues, believers were supposed to explain what was said and give the credit to God. The unsaved people would then be convinced of a spiritual reality and motivated to look further into the Christian faith. While this is one way to reach unbelievers, Paul says that clear preaching is usually better (1 Cor. 14:5).”[7]

  v.25 “When Paul imagines that outsiders who are converted by the word of prophecy will declare, ‘God is really among you,’ he is recalling a scenario long envisioned by Israel’s prophets: the Gentiles will come to acknowledge that the God of Israel is the one God of the whole world.  First Corinthians 14:25 echoes the language of Isaiah 45:14, which says Gentiles from Egypt and Ethiopia will come and bow down before Israel, saying, ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other; there is no god besides him” (cf. also Zech. 8:22-23; Isa. 49:23; 60:10-16).  Thus when the church prophesies authentically, it becomes the instrument through which God accomplishes the eschatological conversion of the nations—or at least a foretaste of that final event.  In short, Paul sees prophecy as a powerful tool of evangelism, but he sees tongues (in public worship) as a hindrance to making the gospel understood.”[8]

  vv.26-30 “The third person imperatives ‘it must be done’ in these verses show that Paul is not so much addressing his remarks to particular individuals as to the corporate entity, the church, which itself should maintain this decorum. All these imperatives are in the present tense, indicating that the church was to keep a constant supervision over all these aspects of its service.”[9]

  v.26 “Everything done in worship services must be beneficial to the worshipers. This principle touches every aspect—singing, preaching, and the exercise of spiritual gifts. Those contributing to the service (singers, speakers, readers) must have love as their chief motivation, speaking useful words or participating in a way that will strengthen the faith of other believers.”[10]

  vv.34-35 “Does this mean that women should not speak in church services today? It is clear from 1 Cor. 11:5 that women prayed and prophesied in public worship. It is also clear in 1 Cor. 12-14 that women are given spiritual gifts and are encouraged to exercise them in the body of Christ. Women have much to contribute and can participate in worship services.

  “In the Corinthian culture, women were not allowed to confront men in public. Apparently some of the women who had become Christians thought that their Christian freedom gave them the right to question the men in public worship. This was causing division in the church. In addition, women of that day did not receive formal religious education as did the men. Women may have been raising questions in the worship services that could have been answered at home without disrupting the services. Paul was asking the women not to flaunt their Christian freedom during worship. The purpose of Paul’s words was to promote unity, not to teach about women’s role in the church.”[11]

  v.40 “His final word on the matter is directly connected with the number one priority of edification: all things should be done decently and in order (40).  The first word focuses on the way Christian worship appears to onlookers, the second on the ability of each individual Christian to function properly in his or her own place.  As the latter is encouraged in an atmosphere of true love, so the net result will be a community life which attracts outsiders by its harmony and beauty.”[12] 

  [1] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians 14.

  [2] Quest Study Bible, notes on v.1 (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994) 1585.

  [3] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2083.

  [4] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians 14:13-14.

  [5] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2084.

  [6] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 270.

  [7] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2084.

  [8] Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation Series (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1987) 239.

  [9] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for 1 Corinthians 14:26-30.

  [10] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2084-2085.

  [11] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2085.

  [12] David Prior, The Message of 1 Corinthians, The Bible Speaks Today Series (Downers Grove, IL:  Inter-Varsity, 1992), 253.

• BIBLE TEXT: 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (ESV) 

  ¹ Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. ² For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

• God [What truths about God’s person, activity or character does the text reveal?]

• Lessons/insights 

• Apply and obey [How does today’s text apply to me? How will I obey or respond to the truths from today’s text?]

• Prayer