Now, it is important when Paul points out that Christ did not merely die, but that He died for our sins. If he had said merely that Christ died, somebody could very well reply, “Well, so what? Everybody dies.” But when he says that Christ died for our sins, he puts that in a different category altogether. People die for different reasons, such from old age or an illness. Some might even die in a heroic fashion on behalf of somebody else. Or we might die as a martyr for some noble cause. Jesus did not die in any of those ways. He died for our sins, which means that He died in our place, as our substitute.
Now, it is important when Paul points out that Christ did not merely die, but that He died for our sins. If he had said merely that Christ died, somebody could very well reply, “Well, so what? Everybody dies.” But when he says that Christ died for our sins, he puts that in a different category altogether. People die for different reasons, such from old age or an illness. Some might even die in a heroic fashion on behalf of somebody else. Or we might die as a martyr for some noble cause. Jesus did not die in any of those ways. He died for our sins, which means that He died in our place, as our substitute.
Paul has some interesting terminology here that is not at once apparent in our English translations but is more so in Greek and probably in the Hebrew terms that stand behind it. Paul says that he delivered to the Christians in Corinth that which he had received. Those two terms, “delivering” and “receiving,” to us sound like just incidental verbs. But in the language of rabbinic literature, those two terms were important because they describe what was the essential duty of a disciple of a master.
1 Corinthians 15 is the most comprehensive chapter in the New Testament on the resurrection. It joins Hebrews 11, which is the great chapter on faith, and 1 Corinthians 13, the great chapter on love. There are many other great chapters in the Bible, of course. But I think of those three together because at the very end of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (v. 13). I think 1 Corinthians 15 fits into that list well because the resurrection is the essence of the Christian hope.
Finally, Paul talks also of the benefit of this for unbelievers. It is interesting how he does it. He begins to talk about it in verse 22, saying that tongues are signs, not for believers, but for unbelievers; while prophecy is for believers, and not for unbelievers. What he means by that is that tongues is a miracle, which is something that the unbelieving world will notice, whereas in the experience of Christian people, it would not get their attention in the same way.
Paul says that if you are really thinking about other people, if you are really concerned about them, and if you are beginning to exercise the kind of love about which he spoke in the thirteenth chapter, you will recognize that people are hurting. So in your worship services you will not be trying to call attention to yourself as so many people do. But rather you will seek to do that which is helpful to them.
As he talks about prophecy here, he does so in three areas. Prophecy is better than speaking in tongues for the church, the individual, and for the sake of unbelievers. In the first place Paul says that prophecy in this sense, that is, communicating the Word of God in a clear and applicable way is better than tongues because it helps the church to grow.
Finally, at the very end of the chapter he gives this principle where he tells the Corinthians to “be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues” (v. 39). You see, when you speak about all these difficulties or dangers in the practice of the gift, it might be our tendency to say, “Well, a gift like that which produces obvious disruption in the church and which is attended by so many dangers of misunderstanding probably should not be practiced, and might even be invalid. But Paul does not do that. He has far more balance and judgment than we do.
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