1 Corinthians 15:54-57 reflects on Old Testament prophecies and shows that when believers are resurrected and given eternal bodies, God's promise will be complete that no one will die again, nor will we sin. We will live, thank God, forever and in perfect joy and obedience to God, victorious at last over the pain and temptations of this life we will have then left behind forever. This is possible because of Jesus the Messiah, our Savior and King.
In 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, Paul announces the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8 andHosea 13:14 (when deathis swallowed up in victory (v 54)), explains that the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law (v 56), and givesthanks to God for the victory through Jesus Christ. Paul describes the prophetic word of God coming to pass when the resurrection event takes place:
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" (vv 54-55).
When the resurrection of believers takes place, which Paul speaks of in the previous verses in this chapter, and the clothing act of 1 Corinthians 15:53 is complete where mortality is shed and immortality is put on, two ancient prophecies come true.
First, that DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory fulfills Isaiah 25:8. In that passage the LORD of hosts is pictured as hosting a banquet for all peoples on His "mountain." This "mountain" might be the New Jerusalem, which is pictured in Revelation as descending from heaven and as the place where God will dwell among humans on the new earth (Revelation 21:3, 10, 22).
In the new earth "there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Humans will be able to dwell in God’s unveiled presence, as He will dwell on earth in the brightness of His glory to the extent that the sun will not be necessary to provide light (Revelation 21:23).
"He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8)
Isaiah pictures God as swallowing the swallower. Death swallows every human. Now the Lord has swalloweddeath. We see in Revelation 20:14 that Death and Hades are both cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of this era. Neither will have any further effect on God’s people.
Isaiah wrote roughly seven centuries before Paul, yet the phrase then will come about the saying that is written treats the promise’s fulfilment as certain. What the LORD speaks is certain to come to pass, so it is appropriate to be written as a definitive outcome; whatever the Lord says is sure to come to pass (Isaiah 55:11).
The taunt of verse 55, O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?, takes up Hosea 13:14, where the LORD speaks of rescuing "Ephraim" or Israel from death: "O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting?"
Hosea's words come amid judgment on an unfaithful Israel. Israel was judged for its unfaithfulness to its covenant vow to God (Exodus 19:8,2 Kings 17:15-18). The judgment was according to the covenant/treaty into which the Israelites entered with God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). But part of God's covenant/treaty with Israel is His promise that when Israel fell, He would redeem them again (Deuteronomy 32:36). Hosea 13:14 also promises restoration after judgment. Paul adds a fulfillment to the prophecy and applies it to all of humanity.
Paul, reading Hosea 13:14 in the light of Christ, the resurrected messiah, applies the verse as the victory song of the redeemed over death. Sheol, the grave that swallowed every son of Adam, is asked to produce its sting and cannot. Isaiah's promise and Hosea's taunt come true together because both rest on the same dependable word of God.
Paul's application of this prophecy to all believers reflects the reality that in Christ all peoples are united into His covenant promises. In Christ, there is no distinction, no partiality among peoples (Galatians 3:28). Paul now adds the role the law plays in giving power to sin: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (v 56).
The Greek word 'kentron' rendered sting in the phrase The sting of death is sin is used to describe the stinger of a venomous creature. Sin is the venom that brings death to all of humanity. The phrase "the wages of sin isdeath" (Romans 6:23) means that the consequence of sin isdeath.
Death is separation (James 2:26). Sinis living apart from God's design. Accordingly, when we sin, sin causes separation from God's design, which is death. Sin leading to death is a definitional cause-effect relationship.
When explaining to Nicodemus how to be spiritually born again, Jesus used a venomous bite to illustrate that sin brings death. In John 3:14-15,Jesus referred to the Old Testament account of Moses lifting up a bronze serpent on a pole so that all who looked on it would be healed of venomous snake bites and live; Jesus used this as an illustration of His own forthcoming death. Jesus was "lifted up" on a pole (a cross), just as the bronze snake was "lifted up." And in being so "lifted up," Jesus bore all the sins of the world. The entire debt of the law was paid in full on the cross (Colossians 2:14).
Death has power over human beings because human beings are guilty under the law, as Paul asserts: and the power of sin is the law. Thelaw of God defines sin by making it clear what behavior is consistent with His character and design for us and what is not. The law exposes behavior that departs from His ways, and sin seizes the commandment as an opportunity to exploit, so that "when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died" (Romans 7:9-10).
The chain of law => sin => death is a progression Christ broke at every link. He kept the law perfectly (Hebrews 4:15). He was made "sin on our behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He paid all of our debts under the law (Colossians 2:14), and became "a curse for us" under the law's sentence (Galatians 3:13). Jesus extinguished death's claim in His own body, and defeated death through His resurrection. As Paul asserted earlier, it is the resurrection that redeems humanity from Adam's fall (1 Corinthians 15:22).
When Jesus rose, death was conquered. Jesus's resurrection is the anti-venom for the poison of sin. Jesus paid all the claims under the law, so that all who believe in Christ are granted eternal life (John 3:14-15,Colossians 2:14). Just as the prophecies of Jesus had to come true because God spoke them, so do the prophecies in Isaiah and Hosea predict an inevitability that death will be defeated altogether. This fulfillment takes place through resurrection. Jesus, as the first fruits, guarantees an abundant harvest.
Through quoting the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Hosea, Paul demonstrates that resurrection was in God's plan all along. This is not a new innovation from God's point of view. The new (and false) innovation is the idea that there is no resurrection. This claim being made in Corinth is out of step with God's plan. Paul has assertively corrected that false notion in this chapter. The idea that there is no resurrection is false according to prophecy, it is inconsistent with nature (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) and inconsistent with the testimony of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:15).
Now the argument that began as a rebuke ends as a praise: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (v 57). The verb is present tense; God givesthe victory now, continuously, as a gift already secured. Thevictory arrives as a gift received, through our Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam who fought the battle alone now spreads the victory to all who believe.
Speaking of a future victory as a current reality is somewhat like the past prophetic tense often found in the Old Testament. There, future prophecies are spoken of in the past tense to convey the complete certainty that they will come to pass. In this case, the present tense emphasizes that we have the opportunity to walk in victory now, even before it is possessed in full through the elimination of the presence of sin in the new earth (2 Peter 3:13).
By walking in the Spirit, believers can walk in the resurrection power of Jesus and overcome sin through walking in obedience, resulting in righteousness (Romans 6:16,Galatians 5:16-18). In doing so, believers can, by faith, live in the victory of the resurrection now, even while living in hope of a future resurrection which will free us from the presence of sin.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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1 Corinthians 15:54-57 meaning
In 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, Paul announces the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 (when death is swallowed up in victory (v 54)), explains that the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law (v 56), and gives thanks to God for the victory through Jesus Christ. Paul describes the prophetic word of God coming to pass when the resurrection event takes place:
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" (vv 54-55).
When the resurrection of believers takes place, which Paul speaks of in the previous verses in this chapter, and the clothing act of 1 Corinthians 15:53 is complete where mortality is shed and immortality is put on, two ancient prophecies come true.
First, that DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory fulfills Isaiah 25:8. In that passage the LORD of hosts is pictured as hosting a banquet for all peoples on His "mountain." This "mountain" might be the New Jerusalem, which is pictured in Revelation as descending from heaven and as the place where God will dwell among humans on the new earth (Revelation 21:3, 10, 22).
In the new earth "there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Humans will be able to dwell in God’s unveiled presence, as He will dwell on earth in the brightness of His glory to the extent that the sun will not be necessary to provide light (Revelation 21:23).
Isaiah 25:8 states in full:
"He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken."
(Isaiah 25:8)
Isaiah pictures God as swallowing the swallower. Death swallows every human. Now the Lord has swallowed death. We see in Revelation 20:14 that Death and Hades are both cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of this era. Neither will have any further effect on God’s people.
Isaiah wrote roughly seven centuries before Paul, yet the phrase then will come about the saying that is written treats the promise’s fulfilment as certain. What the LORD speaks is certain to come to pass, so it is appropriate to be written as a definitive outcome; whatever the Lord says is sure to come to pass (Isaiah 55:11).
The taunt of verse 55, O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?, takes up Hosea 13:14, where the LORD speaks of rescuing "Ephraim" or Israel from death: "O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting?"
Hosea's words come amid judgment on an unfaithful Israel. Israel was judged for its unfaithfulness to its covenant vow to God (Exodus 19:8, 2 Kings 17:15-18). The judgment was according to the covenant/treaty into which the Israelites entered with God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). But part of God's covenant/treaty with Israel is His promise that when Israel fell, He would redeem them again (Deuteronomy 32:36). Hosea 13:14 also promises restoration after judgment. Paul adds a fulfillment to the prophecy and applies it to all of humanity.
Paul, reading Hosea 13:14 in the light of Christ, the resurrected messiah, applies the verse as the victory song of the redeemed over death. Sheol, the grave that swallowed every son of Adam, is asked to produce its sting and cannot. Isaiah's promise and Hosea's taunt come true together because both rest on the same dependable word of God.
Paul's application of this prophecy to all believers reflects the reality that in Christ all peoples are united into His covenant promises. In Christ, there is no distinction, no partiality among peoples (Galatians 3:28). Paul now adds the role the law plays in giving power to sin: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (v 56).
The Greek word 'kentron' rendered sting in the phrase The sting of death is sin is used to describe the stinger of a venomous creature. Sin is the venom that brings death to all of humanity. The phrase "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) means that the consequence of sin is death.
Death is separation (James 2:26). Sin is living apart from God's design. Accordingly, when we sin, sin causes separation from God's design, which is death. Sin leading to death is a definitional cause-effect relationship.
When explaining to Nicodemus how to be spiritually born again, Jesus used a venomous bite to illustrate that sin brings death. In John 3:14-15, Jesus referred to the Old Testament account of Moses lifting up a bronze serpent on a pole so that all who looked on it would be healed of venomous snake bites and live; Jesus used this as an illustration of His own forthcoming death. Jesus was "lifted up" on a pole (a cross), just as the bronze snake was "lifted up." And in being so "lifted up," Jesus bore all the sins of the world. The entire debt of the law was paid in full on the cross (Colossians 2:14).
Death has power over human beings because human beings are guilty under the law, as Paul asserts: and the power of sin is the law. The law of God defines sin by making it clear what behavior is consistent with His character and design for us and what is not. The law exposes behavior that departs from His ways, and sin seizes the commandment as an opportunity to exploit, so that "when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died" (Romans 7:9-10).
The chain of law => sin => death is a progression Christ broke at every link. He kept the law perfectly (Hebrews 4:15). He was made "sin on our behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He paid all of our debts under the law (Colossians 2:14), and became "a curse for us" under the law's sentence (Galatians 3:13). Jesus extinguished death's claim in His own body, and defeated death through His resurrection. As Paul asserted earlier, it is the resurrection that redeems humanity from Adam's fall (1 Corinthians 15:22).
When Jesus rose, death was conquered. Jesus's resurrection is the anti-venom for the poison of sin. Jesus paid all the claims under the law, so that all who believe in Christ are granted eternal life (John 3:14-15, Colossians 2:14). Just as the prophecies of Jesus had to come true because God spoke them, so do the prophecies in Isaiah and Hosea predict an inevitability that death will be defeated altogether. This fulfillment takes place through resurrection. Jesus, as the first fruits, guarantees an abundant harvest.
Through quoting the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Hosea, Paul demonstrates that resurrection was in God's plan all along. This is not a new innovation from God's point of view. The new (and false) innovation is the idea that there is no resurrection. This claim being made in Corinth is out of step with God's plan. Paul has assertively corrected that false notion in this chapter. The idea that there is no resurrection is false according to prophecy, it is inconsistent with nature (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) and inconsistent with the testimony of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:15).
Now the argument that began as a rebuke ends as a praise: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (v 57). The verb is present tense; God gives the victory now, continuously, as a gift already secured. The victory arrives as a gift received, through our Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam who fought the battle alone now spreads the victory to all who believe.
Speaking of a future victory as a current reality is somewhat like the past prophetic tense often found in the Old Testament. There, future prophecies are spoken of in the past tense to convey the complete certainty that they will come to pass. In this case, the present tense emphasizes that we have the opportunity to walk in victory now, even before it is possessed in full through the elimination of the presence of sin in the new earth (2 Peter 3:13).
By walking in the Spirit, believers can walk in the resurrection power of Jesus and overcome sin through walking in obedience, resulting in righteousness (Romans 6:16, Galatians 5:16-18). In doing so, believers can, by faith, live in the victory of the resurrection now, even while living in hope of a future resurrection which will free us from the presence of sin.