The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

  3And cthough I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body 1to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

  4dLove suffers long and is ekind; love fdoes not envy; love does not parade itself, is not 2puffed up;

  5does not behave rudely, gdoes not seek its own, is not provoked, 3thinks no evil;

  6hdoes not rejoice in iniquity, but irejoices in the truth;

  7jbears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

  8Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

  9kFor we know in part and we prophesy in part.

  10But when that which is 4perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

  11When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

  12For lnow we see in a mirror, dimly, but then mface to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

  13And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

  1 Corinthians 14

  Prophecy and Tongues

  1Pursue love, and adesire spiritual gifts, bbut especially that you may prophesy.

  2For he who cspeaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

  3But he who prophesies speaks dedification and eexhortation and comfort to men.

  4He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

  5I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; 1for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

  Tongues Must Be Interpreted

  6But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by frevelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching?

  7Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?

  8For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?

  9So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.

  10There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without 2significance.

  11Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a 3foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

  12Even so you, since you are 4zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the 5edification of the church that you seek to excel.

  13Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may ginterpret.

  14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

  15What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. hI will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing iwith the understanding.

  16Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” jat your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?

  17For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

  18I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;

  19yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

  Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers

  20Brethren, kdo not be children in understanding; however, in malice lbe babes, but in understanding be mature.

  21mIn the law it is written:

  n“With men of other tongues and other lips

  I will speak to this people;

  And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,”

  says the Lord.

  22Therefore tongues are for a osign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

  23Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, pwill they not say that you are 6out of your mind?

  24But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.

  257And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report qthat God is truly among you.

  Order in Church Meetings

  26How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, rhas a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. sLet all things be done for 8edification.

  27If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.

  28But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

  29Let two or three prophets speak, and tlet the others judge.

  30But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, ulet the first keep silent.

  31For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

  32And vthe spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

  33For God is not the author of 9confusion but of peace, was in all the churches of the saints.

  34xLet 10your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the ylaw also says.

  35And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

  36Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?

  37zIf anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.

  38But 11if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

  39Therefore, brethren, adesire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.

  40bLet all things be done decently and in order.

  1 Corinthians 15

  The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality

  (cf. Mark 16:9–20)

  1Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel awhich I preached to you, which also you received and bin which you stand,

  2cby which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless dyou believed in vain.

  3For eI delivered to you first of all that fwhich I also received: that Christ died for our sins gaccording to the Scriptures,

  4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day haccording to the Scriptures,

  5iand that He was seen by 1Cephas, then jby the twelve.

  6After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have 2fallen asleep.

  7After that He was seen by James, then kby all the apostles.

  8lThen last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

  9For I am mthe least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because nI persecuted the church of God.

  10But oby the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, pyet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

  11Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

  The Risen Christ, Our Hope

  (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13–18)

  12Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

  13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, qthen Christ is not risen.

  14And if Christ is not risen, then our preac
hing is empty and your faith is also empty.

  15Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because rwe have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

  16For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

  17And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; syou are still in your sins!

  18Then also those who have 3fallen tasleep in Christ have perished.

  19uIf in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

  The Last Enemy Destroyed

  20But now vChrist is risen from the dead, and has become wthe firstfruits of those who have 4fallen asleep.

  21For xsince by man came death, yby Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

  22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall zbe made alive.

  23But aeach one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

  24Then comes the end, when He delivers bthe kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

  25For He must reign ctill He has put all enemies under His feet.

  26dThe last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

  27For e“He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

  28fNow when all things are made subject to Him, then gthe Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

  Effects of Denying the Resurrection

  29Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

  30And hwhy do we stand in 5jeopardy every hour?

  31I affirm, by ithe boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, jI die daily.

  32If, in the manner of men, kI have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, l“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

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

  34nAwake to righteousness, and do not sin; ofor some do not have the knowledge of God. pI speak this to your shame.

  A Glorious Body

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

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

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

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

  39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind 6of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

  40There are also 7celestial bodies and 8terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

  41There 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.

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

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

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

  45And so it is written, u“The first man Adam became a living being.” vThe last Adam became wa life-giving spirit.

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

  47xThe first man was of the earth, ymade9 of dust; the second Man is 10the Lord zfrom heaven.

  48As was the 11man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; aand as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.

  49And bas we have borne the image of the man of dust, cwe12 shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

  Our Final Victory

  50Now this I say, brethren, that dflesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

  51Behold, I tell you a 13mystery: eWe shall not all sleep, fbut we shall all be changed—

  52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. gFor the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

  53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and hthis mortal must put on immortality.

  54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: i“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

  55“Oj14 Death, where is your sting?

  O Hades, where is your victory?”

  56The sting of death is sin, and kthe strength of sin is the law.

  57lBut thanks be to God, who gives us mthe victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

  58nTherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing othat your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

  1 Corinthians 16

  Collection for the Saints

  1Now concerning athe collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also:

  2bOn the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.

  3And when I come, cwhomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.

  4dBut if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.

  Personal Plans

  (cf. Acts 19:21)

  5Now I will come to you ewhen I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia).

  6And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may fsend me on my journey, wherever I go.

  7For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, gif the Lord permits.

  8But I will tarry in Ephesus until hPentecost.

  9For ia great and effective door has opened to me, and jthere are many adversaries.

  10And kif Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for lhe does the work of the Lord, as I also do.

  11mTherefore let no one despise him. But send him on his journey nin peace, that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren.

  12Now concerning our brother oApollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however, he will come when he has a convenient time.

  Final Exhortations

  13pWatch, qstand fast in the faith, be brave, rbe strong.

  14sLet all that you do be done with love.

  15I urge you, brethren—you know tthe household of Stephanas, that it is uthe firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to vthe ministry of the saints—

  16wthat you also submit to such, and to everyone who works and xlabors with us.

  17I am glad about the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, yfor what was lacking on your part they supplied.

  18zFor they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore aacknowledge such men.

  Greetings and a Solemn Farewell

  19The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, bwith the church that is in their house.

  20All the brethren greet you. cGreet one another with a holy kiss.

  21dThe salutation with my own hand—Paul’s.

  22If anyone edoes not love the Lord Jesus Christ, flet him be 1accursed. gO2 Lord, come!

  23hThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

  24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

  1 Corinthians Commentaries

  1 Corinthians 1

  1:1 apostle. Lit. “a sent one.” Paul establishes his authority as an emissary of the Lord Jesus by God’s appointment (9:1; 15:8; cf. Acts 9:
3–6, 17; 22:11–15), made especially necessary because so much of the message of this epistle is corrective (2:1–7). See notes on Rom. 1:1; Eph. 4:11. Since he was delegated by God to speak and write, resisting him was resisting God. Sosthenes. Probably Paul’s secretary, a former leader of the Corinthian synagogue who had become a brother in Christ. On one occasion, he was beaten for bringing Paul before the civil court at Corinth (Acts 18:12–17).

  1:2 saints. Not referring to a specially pious or revered person canonized by an ecclesiastical body, but a reference to everyone who by salvation has been sanctified, that is, set apart from sin in Christ Jesus (cf. Gal. 1:6; Eph. 4:1, 4; Col. 3:15–17; 1 Tim. 6:12; Heb. 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. 2:9, 21; 3:9; 2 Pet. 1:3; Jude 1).

  1:3 Grace to you and peace. A greeting Paul used in all his letters. The basic meaning of “grace” is favor; “peace” is a result of God’s saving grace (John 14:27; Phil. 4:7).

  1:4 grace of God…given. This looks at the past, i.e., their salvation, when God justified them by undeserved and unrepayable love and mercy, forgiving their sin through the work of His Son.

  1:5 enriched in everything by Him. In the present, the believer has everything the Lord has to give and therefore everything he needs (see 3:21; Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; 2 Pet. 1:3). The two particular blessings spoken of here are related to presenting the truth of God’s Word. utterance. In regard to speaking for God (cf. Acts 4:29, 31; Eph. 6:19; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 3:15), believers are able to speak when God wants them to because of His enablement. Prayer reaches out for that ability (cf. Acts 4:29, 31; Eph. 6:19), and diligence in study of God’s Word aids it (2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 3:15). all knowledge. God provides believers with all the knowledge they need in order to speak effectively for Him (cf. 2:9; Matt. 11:15; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 1:9, 10).

  1:6 testimony of Christ…confirmed in you. This is a reference to the moment of salvation when the gospel was heard and believed and settled in the heart. At that moment, the enabling of v. 4 took place, because one became a recipient of the grace of God.

  1:7 come short in no gift. “Gift” in Gr. is specifically “a gift of grace.” While the blessings of speech and knowledge were primarily for evangelizing the lost, the spiritual gifts (chaps. 12–14) edify the church. Because these gifts are given to each believer (12:11, 12) without regard for maturity or spirituality, the Corinthians, though sinful, had them in full. the revelation. Paul looks to the blessing of future grace. At the Lord’s second coming, His full glory, honor, and majesty will be revealed in blazing splendor (Rev. 4:11; 5:12; 17:14), at which time all true believers will be fixed solidly forever as holy and without sin in full resurrected glory and purity to live in heaven with God forever. See Eph. 5:25–27; 2 Cor. 11:2.