1 Corinthians 15:51 - Meaning and Application

To confirm what he has said about this change, Paul now tells the Corinthians what had been hidden from them until then: not all believers will die, but all will be changed. Those who are alive when our Lord returns will be caught up into the clouds without dying (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Yet this passage makes clear that they still must pass from corruption to incorruption.

The form of their living bodies will be changed, just as the bodies of the dead will be raised. This will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). What can almighty power not do? The same power that calls the dead to life can quickly change the living. They must be changed, just like the dead, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

This is the mystery Paul makes known to the Corinthians: “I show you a mystery,” that is, I open up a truth that had been dark and unknown before. The gospel reveals many mysteries. It makes known truths that were once hidden, brings to light truths that were only dimly understood, and also reveals some things that will never be fully known in this life.

Paul here makes known one truth that was not known before, that the saints alive at our Lord’s second coming will not die, but will be changed. This change will happen in a moment, at the sound of the last trumpet. Elsewhere he says that the Lord himself will come down with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Here he says that the trumpet will sound. It is the loud summons for all the living and all the dead to appear before Christ’s judgment seat.

At that call, the graves will open. The dead saints will rise incorruptible, and the living saints will be changed into the same incorruptible state (1 Corinthians 15:52). Paul next gives the reason for this change: “This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53).

How else could a person be fit to live in an incorruptible world, or be ready for an eternal inheritance? How can what is corruptible and mortal enjoy what is lasting, holy, and immortal? This corruptible body must become incorruptible, and this mortal body must be changed into immortal, so the person can enjoy the blessedness God has prepared. It is this corruptible body that must put on incorruption, this ruined frame that must be raised again. What is sown must be made alive. The saints will come in their own bodies (1 Corinthians 15:38), not in different ones.

Paul then shows what will follow this change in both the living and the dead in Christ: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (Isaiah 25:8). Mortality will then be swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:4). Death will be fully defeated and conquered, and the saints will be forever delivered from its power. It will be so completely overcome that it will never again appear in the place where the risen saints dwell.

Because of this, the saints will sing their song of triumph. When this mortal has put on immortality, death will be swallowed up forever. Christ keeps death from swallowing his saints when they die, and when they rise again, death will be swallowed up for good as far as they are concerned. Then they will break out in victory.

They will boast over death as a defeated enemy and mock that great destroyer: “O death, where is your sting? Where is your power to harm? What has become of your deadly force? We were dead, but now we live again, and we will die no more. You are beaten and stripped of your weapon, and we are beyond your reach. O grave, where is your victory? What has become of it? Where are your spoils and your trophies? We were once your prisoners, but the prison doors have been forced open, the locks have been broken, our shackles have fallen off, and we are free forever.”

The seeming victor is defeated and forced to give up his captives. The grave’s triumph is over. Death’s bonds are broken, and the saints are at liberty. Death will never hurt them again, and the grave will never imprison them again. In a moment, death’s power, and the grave’s conquest and spoils, are gone. As far as the saints are concerned, even the marks of them will not remain.

In this way they will rise, once made immortal, to honor their Savior and praise God’s grace. They will boast over conquered death. The reason for this triumph is hinted at here. First, Paul shows where death gets its power to hurt: “The sting of death is sin.” Sin gives death its poison. Sin alone gives death the right to wound and kill. Sin unforgiven, and nothing else, keeps anyone under death’s power. “The power of sin is the law,” meaning God’s warning against lawbreakers, the curse spoken against them, gives sin its force.

Sin is the parent of death and gives death all its harmful power. Through one man, sin came into the world, and death through sin (Romans 5:12). It is death’s cursed child and offspring. Second, Paul shows how believers gain victory over death through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:56). Death’s sting is sin, but Christ has taken out that sting by dying. He has made atonement for sin, and he has obtained forgiveness for it. Death may hiss, but it cannot really hurt.

The power of sin is the law, but our Redeemer removed the law’s curse by becoming a curse for us. In this way sin is stripped of its power and sting through Christ, by his coming in the flesh, his suffering, and his death. Death may seize a believer, but it cannot sting him or keep him forever. A day is coming when the grave will open, death’s bonds will be loosed, the dead saints will live again, and they will be made incorruptible and immortal, beyond death’s reach forever.

Then it will be clear that, for them, death has lost its power and its sting. All of this comes through Christ, who died in their place. By dying, he conquered death and stripped the grave of its victory. By faith in him, believers share in his triumphs. They often rejoice ahead of time in hope of this victory, and when they rise in glory from the grave, they will boldly triumph over death.

It is entirely due to God’s grace in Christ that sin is forgiven and death is disarmed. The law puts weapons into death’s hand to destroy the sinner, but forgiveness takes that power away from the law and removes death’s sting.

It is by God’s grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that we are freely made right with him (Romans 3:24). So it is no surprise that this victory of the saints over death should end in thanks to God: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

The best way to make our joy holy is to turn it into praise for God. We enjoy our blessings and honors in the right way when God receives glory from them, and when we gladly give that glory to him. This also deepens and lifts our joy. We know at once that we have done our duty and enjoyed our pleasure.

And what could be more joyful than the saints’ victory over death when they rise again? Will they not then rejoice in the Lord and be glad in the God who saves them? Will their souls not magnify the Lord? When God shows such wonders to the dead, will they not rise and praise him? (Psalm 88:10). Those who still remain under death’s power have no heart for praise, but such victories will surely set the saints’ tongues on fire with thanksgiving.

They will praise God for the victory itself, because it is great and glorious. They will also praise him for the way the victory is won, because it is given by God through Christ Jesus. This victory is not won by our own power. It is God’s power, and it is not given because we are worthy, but because Christ is worthy, and by his death he has won this conquest for us. Should not that make the victory more precious to us and stir our praise to God even more?

See how many streams of joy open up for the saints, and how much thanksgiving rises to God, because of our Redeemer’s death and resurrection, his sufferings and his victories. With what cheers will the saints, rising from the dead, praise him! And how the highest heaven will ring with his praise forever! “Thanks be to God” will be the heart of their song, and the angels will join the chorus and give their loud Amen, Hallelujah.