PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians
Hodge, Charles, 1797–1878 · 167,870 words · 392 reading sections
342 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 34.35.
bodies. And even the sun, moon and stars differ from each other in glory ; why then may not our future differ from our present bodies in glory? vs. 40.41. Such not only may be, but will be the case. The body deposited in the grave is cor- ruptible, mean, weak, and, in a word, natural ; as raised from the grave, it will…
443 wordsSECTION 362I. CORINTHIANS 15, 85.36. 343
particle 8c, which might be merely explanatory, yet the apos- tle really answers, in what follows, both questions, viz.. How it is possible for life to come out of death, and. What is to be the nature of the body after the resurrection. The latter dif- ficulty was the main one, and therefore to that the most of what fo…
431 wordsSECTION 363344 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 36.37.
the power of God." Who knows where the principle of the organic life of the body is ? It may be in the soul, which when the time comes may unfold itself into a new body, gathering or regathering its materials according to its own law ; just as the jjrinciple of vegetable life in the seed unfolds itself into some gorgeo…
449 wordsSECTION 364I. CORINTHIANS 15, 38.39.40. 345
38. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. What is deposited in the earth is very different from that which springs from it. Every seed produces its own plant. The product depends on the will of God. It was determined at the creation, and therefore the apostle says that God, i…
395 wordsSECTION 365346 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 40.41.42.
trast between the bodies of these celestial beings and those of men. 2. Others suppose that the reference is to the bodies of the saints in heaven. There are many kinds of bodies here on earth, and there are also celestial as well as terrestrial bodies. The one differing from the other in glory. 3. The common opinion i…
424 wordsSECTION 366I. CORINTHIANS 15, 42.43.44. 347
will differ from another. This, no doubt, is true ; but it is not what Paul here says or intimates. His object is simply to show the absurdity of the objection founded on the assumption that the body hereafter must be what it is here. He shows that it may be a body and yet differ as much from what it is now as the ligh…
468 wordsSECTION 367348 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 44.45.
ties as those of brutes. A natural body consists of flesh and blood ; is susceptible of pain and decay ; and needs air, food, and rest. It is a mere animal body, adapted to the conditions of an earthly existence. What a spiritual body is, we know only from Paul's description, and from the manifestation of Christ in his…
435 wordsSECTION 368I. CORINTHIANS 15, 45. 849
/So it is written^ i. e. the Scriptures are in accordance with the preceding representation. They represent Adam as having been created with an animal nature, and therefore as having an animal body. Whereas, the second Adam is a person of a far higher order. The proof with regard to the nature of Adam does not rest exc…
470 wordsSECTION 369350 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 45.
in Scripture elsewhere than here. The appropriateness of the designation is evident. Christ is the second great head and representative man, of whom Adam is declared to have been the tyi)e, Rom. 5, 14. Was made a quickening spirit. Adam was in his distinctive character, that is, as distinguished from Christ, an animal …
476 wordsSECTION 370I. CORINTHIANS 15, 45.46.47. 351
this earth, and had an earthly body ; the person of Christ was constituted in reference to his reigning in heaven, and there- fore he has a spiritual body. The apostle argues from the na- ture of Adam to the nature of his body ; and from the nature of Christ to the nature of his body. This argument does not involve the…
405 wordsSECTION 371352 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 47.48.49.
the natural precedes the spiritual, is here illustrated by the fact that Adam came before Christ. The first man was of the earth, i. e. formed out of the earth, and therefore earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. Here the text is doubt- ful. The authorities are about equally divided for and against the readin…
401 wordsSECTION 372I. CORINTHIAKS 15, 49.50. 353
after are to be of the same kind as those which we have here. This is not so. They are to be Hke the body of Christ. As we have borne the image of Adam as to his body, we shall bear the image of Christ as to his body. The idea that as we have derived a corrupt nature from Adam, we derive a holy nature from Christ, thou…
441 wordsSECTION 373864 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 51.
51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, A mystery; something revealed, and which could not otherwise be known, Matt. 13, 11. 1 Cor. 4, 1, and often else- where. What is here expressed by saying, I show you a mystery, is in 1 Thess. 4, 15 expressed by saying, 'This I say u…
517 wordsSECTION 374I. CORINTHIANS 15, 51. 355
Comp. 1 Thess. 4, 15-17. The modern commentators, both German and Enghsh, understand the apostle as expressing the confident expectation that he and others of that generation should survive the coming of Christ. * Though we (who are now alive) shall not all die, we shall all be changed.' But 1. This is altogether unnec…
455 wordsSECTION 375356 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 52.
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 change in question is to be instantaneous ; in a mo- ment^ literally, an atom^ i. e. in a portion of time so short as to be incapable of further divisio…
455 wordsSECTION 376I. CORINTHIANS 15, 52.53.54.55. 357
press teaching in 2 Thess. 2, 2-12 on the subject, it is far more natural to understand him as contemplating the vast company of believers as a whole, and saying ' Those of us who are dead shall rise, and all who are alive shall be changed.' 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal (must) put…
373 wordsSECTION 377858 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 55.56.
Bcen^ the invisible worlds the abode of the dead in the widest sense. It depends on the context whether the immediate reference be to the grave, the place of departed spirits, or hell, in the modern sense of that word. Here where the spe- cial reference is to the bodies of men and to the deUvery of them from the power …
468 wordsSECTION 378I. CORINTHIANS 15, 66.57. 859
sin for two reasons. 1. Because without law there would be no sin, Rom. 4, 15. The very idea of sin is want of conformity on the part of moral creatures to the law of God. If there be no standard to which we are bound to be conformed, there can be no such thing as want of conformity. Sin is the cor- relative, not of re…
463 wordsSECTION 379860 I. CORINTHIANS 15, 57.58.
almighty power, he new creates the soul after the image of God, and, what is here principally intended, he repairs ail the evils which death had inflicted. He restores us to that state. and even to more than that state, from which sin had cast us down. He rescues our bodies from the grave, and fashions them like unto h…
398 wordsSECTION 380CHAPTER XYI.
Treats, 1. Of the collection to be made for the saints in Jerusalem, vs. 1-9. 2. Of Timothy and ApoUos, whom the apostle commends to the confidence of the Corinthians, vs. 10-14. 3, The third paragraph contains exhorta- tions and greetings, vs. 15-20. 4. The last paragraph is the salutation written with Paul's own hand…
401 wordsSECTION 381362 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 1.2.
prospects of usefulness in Ephesus would detain him in that city until Pentecost, vs. 5-9. As to Timothy and Apollos he exhorts them to treat the former in such a manner that he might be free from fear among them, for he was worthy of their confidence, vs. 10. 11. Of the latter he says he had urged him to go to Corint…
394 wordsSECTION 382I. CORINTHIANS 16, 2. 363
The collection was to be made every Lord's day ; eveiy one was to contribute ; and the contributions were to be in proportion to the means of the giver. These are the three principles which the apostle had established among the churches of Galatia, and which he urged the Corinthians to adopt. Upon the first day of the …
463 wordsSECTION 383364 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 2.3.
be objected that the whole expression is thus obscure and awkward. ' Let every one at home place, treasuring up what he has to give.' The words do not mean to lay by at home^ but to lay by himself. The direction is nothing more definite than, let him place by him,self\ i. e. let him take to himself what he means to giv…
439 wordsSECTION 384I. CORINTHIANS IG, 3.4.5. 865
to collect the money; it was to be committed to men of their own selection ; but Paul, as the author of the collection, was to send it to Jerusalem. If the apostle deemed it wise to place himself above suspicion, and to avoid giving even the most malicious the opportunity of calling his integrity in ques- tion, as is i…
407 wordsSECTION 385866 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 6. 7.
6. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whither- soever I go. ' I pass through Macedonia, but I will abide mth you.' His visit to the former was to be transient, to the latter pro- longed. In the second Epistle he speaks of himself as in Mace- donia, and in Acts…
410 wordsSECTION 386I. CORINTHIANS 16, 8.9.10. 367
8. 9. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and (there are) many adversaries. There were two reasons, therefore, for his remaining at EjDhesus, his abundant opportunities of usefuhiess, and the ne- cessity of withstanding the adversaries of the gospel. Paul's pl…
406 wordsSECTION 387368 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 10.11.12.
request shows the nature of the evil ■v\hich he apprehended, for he worJceth the work of the Lord. If they would recog- nize this, Timothy would be satisfied. The worJc of the Lord^ as in 15, 58, may mean either that work in which the Lord himself is engaged ; or that which he has prescribed. As I also do. A comprehens…
400 wordsSECTION 388I. CORINTHIANS 16, 13. 14. 15. 16. 369
1, 12. I greatly desired him ; or, I of ten exhorted him^ that he would come^ &c. W does not here mean, in order that, but indicates the purport of the request. 13. 14. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you Hke men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. These coneise exhortations form a fitting c…
397 wordsSECTION 389370 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 16.17.18.
The family of Stephanas was the first family in Achaia that embraced the gospel. In Rom. 16, 5, Epenetus, according to the common text, is said to have been the first fruits of Achaia ; but there the true reading is Asia ; so that there is no conflict between the two passages. Of the family of Ste- phanas it is said, t…
416 wordsSECTION 390I. CORINTHIANS 16, 18.19.20. 371
' you owe whatever in my letter serves to refi'esh you.' Others think that the apostle refers to the effect of the return of these brethren to Corinth, and the assurances they would carry with them of the apostle's love. Or, Paul may mean, that what re- freshed him, must also gratify them. They would rejoice in his joy…
397 wordsSECTION 391372 I. CORINTHIANS 16, 20.21.22.
This was the conventional token of Christian affection. In the East the kiss was a sign either of friendship among equals, or of reverence and submission on the part of an inferior. The people kissed the images of their gods, and the hands of princes. In the early church, the custom was for Christians when they met to …
411 wordsSECTION 392I. CORINTHIANS 16, 22.23.24. 373
come in the glory of his Father and with all his holy angels, to take vengeance on those who know not God, and who obey not the gospel. So deeply were the apostles impressed with the divinity of Christ, so fully were they convinced that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, that the refusal or inability to recognize him…
178 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1857). Text from OCR of an original Internet Archive scan; OCR may contain recognition errors.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.