1 Corinthians 15:33-34 exhorts the Corinthians to repent of sin and abstain from the bad influences in their midst. Some have been falsely teaching that this life is all there is and that we are not resurrected to eternal life. If that's true, there is no point in living for Christ and rejecting sin. But this is a lie leading to sin; believers will be raised to eternal life and we will be accountable for what we did in this life. Therefore, stay away from deceptive people encouraging sin. The way the Corinthians have been living is shameful and ignorant.
In 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, Paul warns the Corinthians that bad company corrupts good morals (v 33), and commands them to sober up and stop sinning, because some among them have no knowledge of God. The warning comes in words their own culture supplied: Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals" (v 33).
The phrase, Do not be deceived (v 33), signals that the Corinthians were being deceived, sitting under teaching that sounded sophisticated while it led them astray concerning the faith. Paul answers it with a proverb his readers knew from their own culture: "Bad company corrupts good morals" (v 33), a line from the Athenian playwright Menander that had become a common saying.
Just as he quoted a pagan poet to the Athenians (Acts 17:28), Paul enlists Greek wisdom against a Greek error. The bad company in view is the circle of resurrection deniers inside the congregation; their ideas were contagious, and belief spreads through relationships. Keep company with those who live as though death is the end, and their hedonistic habits become yours. It is an observed reality--we pick up the habits of the peer group we join.
Paul quoted the Greek poet, but he could have quoted Proverbs 13:20 or Proverbs 22:24-25 which say the same thing. As Paul notes in Romans 2:14-15, non-believers are still made in God's image and can discover what is right and true. The antidote for the poison of bad company is good judgment, which Paul exhorts next: Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame (v 34).
Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning (v 34). The phrase, Become sober minded, is literally in Greek "Awake to righteousness." The picture is of someone who awakening from a slumber. The Corinthians needed to wake up to a reality that what is right is being polluted by what is wrong. To awaken is to recognize. The action to take after the awakening is to stop sinning.
We can infer from his previous statement in 1 Corinthians 15:32 (if the dead are not raised then living a hedonistic lifestyle makes sense) that what is in view here is that the Corinthians were falling into a lifestyle of eating and drinking "for tomorrow we die." This might have been reflected in the problem Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 11:29-34, where it seemed the Corinthians were sinning regarding eating to excess.
What they need to do is to wake up to their error, and the judgment that will stem from it. As Paul asserts in the next recorded letter to Corinth, every believer will have their deeds judged and rewarded, good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). He already asserted in this letter that sin leads to destruction of reward (1 Corinthians 3:15). The believers in Corinth needed to awake to righteousness, and start doing what is right rather than sinning.
The phrase, stop sinning, assumes sinning is in progress; the resurrection-denying atmosphere had already produced immoral fruit. This could also be a source of the visible disorder Paul addressed in the preceding chapters. As Paul admitted, sexual immorality, self-seeking (divisions), and the puffing up of self is rational behavior if we decide that the rewards of hedonism is what profits us most. But, as Paul has emphasized, the foundation of this reasoning is false.
Throughout this letter, Paul has continuously sought to shift his readers' focus from near to far, from temporal to eternal. To deny self in this life as an investment in the next. The slumber the Corinthians need to awaken from has its root in ignorance: for some have no knowledge of God (v 34).
In the church that boasted "we all have knowledge" (1 Corinthians 8:1), some were ignorant of God Himself. In particular, it seems they were strangers to His power to raise the dead. This is the same charge Jesus laid against the Sadducees, who also did not believe in the resurrection: "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).
The Greek word translated no knowledge is "aggnosis" which stems from the root "gnosis" ("ag" turning "knowledge" to a negative, no knowledge). The root "gnosis" also appears in 2 Peter 1:5 where Peter includes it as part of a progression of Christian maturity: faith, moral excellence (Greek "arete"), knowledge ("gnosis"), self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love. We can see that knowledge of God is an early-stage foundation for Christian maturity.
Jesus used the verb form of the noun "gnosis" when He defined eternal life as knowing God and Jesus whom He sent (John 17:3). Knowledge is a key to gain maturity, which leads us to know God intimately, which leads to the greatest experience of life. The ignorance of the Corinthians is a matter of shame (I speak this to your shame (v 34)).
The shame Paul points to likely refers to the entire thought of vv 33-34. It is a matter of shame, not honor, for those in Corinth who showed the lack of judgment to seek the company of people who do not believe the resurrection, resulting in hedonistic, sinful lifestyles. They ought to know better. The fact that they did not is a matter of shame. But Paul is giving them knowledge, and the opportunity to repent and turn.
Paul speaks to them as a spiritual father, which he is to them. In 1 Corinthians 4:14, Paul wrote to admonish them as his beloved children--his spiritual children. On this point, shame is the fitting description. Paul's shame is not to judge; Paul made it clear earlier that it was not appropriate for him or anyone else to execute the judgment that rightly belongs to God (1 Corinthians 4:5).
Paul’s shaming of his spiritual children is to discipline them to grow, learn and gain benefit. A good parent tells their children the truth, that they might grow in knowledge and gain wisdom to live constructively. In this Paul imitates the Lord; he is doing for His children in the Lord what the Lord does also (Hebrews 12:4-6).
1 Corinthians 15:33-34
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
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1 Corinthians 15:33-34 meaning
In 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, Paul warns the Corinthians that bad company corrupts good morals (v 33), and commands them to sober up and stop sinning, because some among them have no knowledge of God. The warning comes in words their own culture supplied: Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals" (v 33).
The phrase, Do not be deceived (v 33), signals that the Corinthians were being deceived, sitting under teaching that sounded sophisticated while it led them astray concerning the faith. Paul answers it with a proverb his readers knew from their own culture: "Bad company corrupts good morals" (v 33), a line from the Athenian playwright Menander that had become a common saying.
Just as he quoted a pagan poet to the Athenians (Acts 17:28), Paul enlists Greek wisdom against a Greek error. The bad company in view is the circle of resurrection deniers inside the congregation; their ideas were contagious, and belief spreads through relationships. Keep company with those who live as though death is the end, and their hedonistic habits become yours. It is an observed reality--we pick up the habits of the peer group we join.
Paul quoted the Greek poet, but he could have quoted Proverbs 13:20 or Proverbs 22:24-25 which say the same thing. As Paul notes in Romans 2:14-15, non-believers are still made in God's image and can discover what is right and true. The antidote for the poison of bad company is good judgment, which Paul exhorts next: Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame (v 34).
Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning (v 34). The phrase, Become sober minded, is literally in Greek "Awake to righteousness." The picture is of someone who awakening from a slumber. The Corinthians needed to wake up to a reality that what is right is being polluted by what is wrong. To awaken is to recognize. The action to take after the awakening is to stop sinning.
We can infer from his previous statement in 1 Corinthians 15:32 (if the dead are not raised then living a hedonistic lifestyle makes sense) that what is in view here is that the Corinthians were falling into a lifestyle of eating and drinking "for tomorrow we die." This might have been reflected in the problem Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 11:29-34, where it seemed the Corinthians were sinning regarding eating to excess.
What they need to do is to wake up to their error, and the judgment that will stem from it. As Paul asserts in the next recorded letter to Corinth, every believer will have their deeds judged and rewarded, good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). He already asserted in this letter that sin leads to destruction of reward (1 Corinthians 3:15). The believers in Corinth needed to awake to righteousness, and start doing what is right rather than sinning.
The phrase, stop sinning, assumes sinning is in progress; the resurrection-denying atmosphere had already produced immoral fruit. This could also be a source of the visible disorder Paul addressed in the preceding chapters. As Paul admitted, sexual immorality, self-seeking (divisions), and the puffing up of self is rational behavior if we decide that the rewards of hedonism is what profits us most. But, as Paul has emphasized, the foundation of this reasoning is false.
Throughout this letter, Paul has continuously sought to shift his readers' focus from near to far, from temporal to eternal. To deny self in this life as an investment in the next. The slumber the Corinthians need to awaken from has its root in ignorance: for some have no knowledge of God (v 34).
In the church that boasted "we all have knowledge" (1 Corinthians 8:1), some were ignorant of God Himself. In particular, it seems they were strangers to His power to raise the dead. This is the same charge Jesus laid against the Sadducees, who also did not believe in the resurrection: "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).
The Greek word translated no knowledge is "aggnosis" which stems from the root "gnosis" ("ag" turning "knowledge" to a negative, no knowledge). The root "gnosis" also appears in 2 Peter 1:5 where Peter includes it as part of a progression of Christian maturity: faith, moral excellence (Greek "arete"), knowledge ("gnosis"), self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love. We can see that knowledge of God is an early-stage foundation for Christian maturity.
Jesus used the verb form of the noun "gnosis" when He defined eternal life as knowing God and Jesus whom He sent (John 17:3). Knowledge is a key to gain maturity, which leads us to know God intimately, which leads to the greatest experience of life. The ignorance of the Corinthians is a matter of shame (I speak this to your shame (v 34)).
The shame Paul points to likely refers to the entire thought of vv 33-34. It is a matter of shame, not honor, for those in Corinth who showed the lack of judgment to seek the company of people who do not believe the resurrection, resulting in hedonistic, sinful lifestyles. They ought to know better. The fact that they did not is a matter of shame. But Paul is giving them knowledge, and the opportunity to repent and turn.
Paul speaks to them as a spiritual father, which he is to them. In 1 Corinthians 4:14, Paul wrote to admonish them as his beloved children--his spiritual children. On this point, shame is the fitting description. Paul's shame is not to judge; Paul made it clear earlier that it was not appropriate for him or anyone else to execute the judgment that rightly belongs to God (1 Corinthians 4:5).
Paul’s shaming of his spiritual children is to discipline them to grow, learn and gain benefit. A good parent tells their children the truth, that they might grow in knowledge and gain wisdom to live constructively. In this Paul imitates the Lord; he is doing for His children in the Lord what the Lord does also (Hebrews 12:4-6).