dead, lie had nothing to do. ' Why do they allow themselves,' he asks, ' to be baptized for the dead ? ' That, as would ap- pear, is what his opponents did. As an additional argument for the doctrine which he is defending, he urges, that its denial destroys at least one of the great motives to self-denial. ' If there be no resurrection, on which all our hopes as Christians depend, why should we voluntarily encounter perpetual dan- ger ? > It is to be remembered that, according to Paul's doctrine and previous argument, if there be no resurrection, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not risen, there is no atonement, no reconciliation with God. We are in a state of final and hopeless condemnation. What is the use of labouring to save men, if there be no salvation ?
31. I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Paul solemnly assures his readers that he was constantly in jeopardy, for, says he, I die daily ^ i. e. I am constantly ex- posed to death, 2 Cor. 4, 10. By your boasting which I have. This is not the meaning, but, '•By my boasting concerning you? That is, ' as surely as I boast of you, and rejoice over you.' The pronoun v/Aercpav, your^ is to be taken objectively (as in Rom. 11, 31 ; comp. also 1 Cor. 9, 12) the boasting of which you are the object. Which I have in Christ Jesus, i. e. which I have in communion with Christ. It was a rejoicing which he, as a Christian minister, had over them as the seals of his ministry.
32. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not ? let us eat and drink ; for to-morrow we die.
The apostle refers to one, and probably a recent instance of his exposure to death. J^ after the manner of men, i. e. with those views and interests which determine the conduct of ordinary men, i. e. without hope in the resurrection. I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, This may be understood either literally or figuratively. Against the literal interpreta- tion is urged, 1. The improbability that, as a Roman citizen, he should have been subjected to that punishment. But his being a Roman citizen did not prevent his being thrice beaten with rods, by Roman magistrates, or at least, by others than