1 Corinthians 15:35

33 Do not be deceived: ^a“Evil company corrupts good habits.”

34 ^aAwake to righteousness, and do not sin; ^bfor some do not have the knowledge of God. ^cI speak this to your shame.

A Glorious Body

35 But someone will say, ^a“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

36 Foolish one, ^awhat you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.

38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind¹ of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also¹ celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

42 ^aSo also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

43 ^aIt is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, ^a“The first man Adam became a living being.” ^bThe last Adam became ^ca life-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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1 Corinthians 15:36 >>

What Does 1 Corinthians 15:35 Mean?

First-century questioning about the body in the resurrection likely arose from Gnostic teaching that God has no body, and that since humanity is made in God's image, believers would also lack a body. This question is as modern as ever. The illustration of sowing answers it: a seed does not pop back out unchanged; what emerges as a living plant differs from what was planted. Likewise, what goes into the coffin or ground is not what comes out. Believers are the seed, called Abraham's seed, and what arises depends on what was put into the ground. The seed must be good, having put to death the self and produced the fruit of God's Spirit, so it rises in the resurrection to life.

1 Corinthians 15:35-37

When a person sows a seed, a seed does not pop right back out of the ground. What comes out of the ground—a living plant—is different from what is put into it. This becomes the illustration to describe the resurrection from the dead: What goes into the coffin—or into the ground—is not what comes out.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Thirteen)

1 Corinthians 15:35

Do things ever change, or do the same questions keep coming around all the time? This sounds as modern as last year—God has no body. So people in the first century were questioning what kinds of body the sons of God will have in the resurrection. Why were they questioning that? Because there were undoubtedly people, most likely of the Gnostic persuasion, who were saying that God does not have a body. And, they argued, since we are to be made in the image of God, we will not have a body either.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part One)

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 1 Corinthians 15:35:

Genesis 1:26-27
Hosea 14:6-7
Luke 1:26-30
Luke 1:41-42

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1 Corinthians 15:36 >>

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A Glorious Body

What Does 1 Corinthians 15:35 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning