1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15
Of the Resurrection of the Dead. 1 Corinthians 15, 1–58
The effect of unbelief in the doctrine of the resurrection: V. 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. V. 33. Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners. V. 34. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.
Paul cites a specific instance in which his hope of the future life sustained him: If after the manner of men I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, of what use is it to me? If the dead do not rise (there is only one thing to do): Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!
Some scholars, including Luther, believe that the apostle had actually been condemned to be thrown to the wild beasts in the stadium at Ephesus and that he was saved by a miracle.") But it is probable that Paul is speaking figuratively, and that he is referring to the mob at Ephesus which was stirred up by the shrine-makers, Acts 19, 23-41. or to the Jews that were always lying in ambush to kill him, Acts 20, 19. If he had endured all the hardships involved in that struggle, as men generally do, for the sake of the applause, money, glory, etc., it would have been without benefit to him under the circumstances, if the arguments of the ignorant Corinthians were sound.
For if there is no resurrection of the body, a person may just as well join in the slogan of the frivolous mockers of the world: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, Is. 22, 13. If death is the end, if physical death is equivalent to annihilation, then the Christians may as well throw their Christianity overboard and live according to the adage: A short life and a merry one!
But Paul holds up a finger of warning: Be not seduced! Do not let anyone mislead you! Evil conversations, evil companionships, corrupt good manners. If a person courts temptation in the company of loose people, his moral nature is bound to suffer. His character will be undermined by evil talk; his honesty will be overcome by roguery. The apostle quotes this as a sort of proverb, a word which was probably in the mouth of everybody, though it is also embodied in classical Greek poetry, originally in Euripides, but also in Menander (Cobern, The New Archeological Discoveries, 43).
With an exclamation full of apostolic majesty Paul turns to the entire Corinthian congregation: Sober up properly and cease to sin! He wants them all to return to and cultivate a mind full of soberness, saneness, common sense, and to that end also to recognize the sinfulness of this doctrinal position, as held in their midst, since false doctrine is a sin against the first table of the Law. For some of their members were deliberately holding to a position of ignorance, as Paul feels obliged to say, to the shame of them all. With all their boast of wisdom they are deliberately adhering to false views, which subvert the entire structure of Christian doctrine. This evil could be corrected only by a thorough reaction based upon the open acknowledgment of the wrong views existing in their midst, and by the speedy acceptance of the revealed truth.