The Future of The Righteous

1 Corinthians 15 is a chapter that deals with the resurrection of the dead, specifically, the resurrection of the righteous. In its context, Paul is speaking to believers and explaining to them the important of Jesus rising from the dead since there were some who were saying that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. Paul tells the Corinthians that if that were true, their faith would be meaningless because Jesus needed to raise again in order that He may raise our dead bodies to life at the end of the age. If Christ didn’t have the power to raise Himself up, He certainly wouldn’t have the power to raise us up. Paul then proceeds to make his case for the resurrection of the dead, the hope of the resurrection for the believer, and what this will look like.

However, the resurrection of the unrighteous is not part of his discussion. Generally, in the Bible, the resurrection of the wicked is not emphasized or talked about as much as the resurrection of the righteous because the fate of the wicked is to be ultimately consumed. Their resurrection at the end of the age is so short-lived that it’s hardly worth talking about. Instead, the emphasis the Bible places on the wicked is on their destruction (Ps. 49; Mal. 4:1; Mt. 3:12). This is why that when the Bible mentions resurrection without specific reference to the unrighteous, the focus is really on just the righteous (e.g. Mt. 22:29-33; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). The Bible often overlooks the resurrection of the unrighteous not because it isn’t true but because it’s a moot point. An example of this would be in Philippians 3 when Paul is saying that he counts all things as loss … that he may know Christ … in order that he may “attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:11). As if, by fighting the good fight of faith he would not be resurrected from the dead… Paul’s wording here would make sense if he believed that the wicked and faithless would not receive life forever. He treats the resurrection of the dead as if it only applies to believers since only to believers is it really practically significant. The only significance the resurrection of the unrighteous has is that they will stand trial before God to give an account of their deeds and be informed of their just punishment.

I recommend that you read 1 Corinthians 15 first before reading the section below. After reading it forwards, you may have to track with me reading it backwards. That is, I will attempt to follow Paul’s arguments in reverse order. Not that the argument is in reverse but rather, the logical flow of the argument is reversed in how I will attempt to loosely paraphrase Paul’s arguments.

We can thank God because He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 57). This victory is a victory over death. The sting of death is sin, that is, because of sin, death came. But we have victory over death because Jesus conquered death when He rose from the grave. He conquered sin when He died and He conquered/fulfilled the law when He lived a perfect life. As a result of this, sin will no longer produce the sting of death because we are united to Christ in both His death and His resurrection. Christ’s death took away both the power and the penalty of sin while His resurrection has given us eternal life. Therefore, at the last day, death will be swallowed up in victory. And how will it be swallowed up? By being abolished when Christ puts all things in subjection under His feet. At that time, death will be no more. No one will ever die again. The perishable will put on the imperishable and the mortal will put on immortality. This is a “must,” that is, it is a necessary consequence of our union with Christ. At the last trumpet, the dead in Christ “will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

However, this reality will not be for everyone because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. In our earthly state, we are only flesh and blood. We are perishable. This is our inheritance from the first Adam. However, from the second Adam, Christ, we will receive the inheritance of His imperishable nature. There is an earthly and perishable nature from Adam which all receive because they are born of Adam but there is a heavenly and imperishable nature which we will receive because we are born of God. The earthly nature from Adam will only result in death but since we have a heavenly nature from Christ, we can inherit the imperishable. When the resurrection of the dead happens, our perishable, weak, natural, and dishonored bodies will be raised in glory, power, and to imperishable and spiritual bodies. Whereas for the unrighteous, when their bodies awake from slumber, they will awake to disgrace and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2), for they will not be raised imperishable. Their bodies will not receive power and glory. Their dishonor will remain.

Someone will say, “How will this look like? If our dead bodies are raised, is it the same body? The same substance? What kind of body will we have?” Are you a fool? If you sow a seed into the ground, the seed dies and is no longer a seed when it springs up to life. It is a new body. In the same way, God will give to each one a body of its own. There are various kinds of fleshly bodies of creatures and there are various kinds of heavenly bodies of the stars but no one body is alike. They all differ from one another. So also it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body is placed into the ground as a natural body but it will be raised as a spiritual body. And “Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly” (v. 49).

At the end of the age, Christ will put all things in subjection under His feet. This includes the abolition of all rule, all authority, all power, and every last enemy. The very last enemy He will defeat is death. That is, the death that Adam brought to all men. But without Christ rising from the dead, He would not have power over death. But since He rose, He is the proof, the first fruits (cf. Mt. 27:50-53), that we also can rise from the dead through His resurrection power. Therefore, in Christ, all will be made alive. However, those who are not Christ’s will not be ultimately made alive forever since they only belong to the earthy man, Adam. This promise of life is only for “those who are Christ’s.” (end of paraphrase)

When the imperishable “must” put on the imperishable, this is not a necessity from any spiritual, natural, or logical law for the unbeliever since the law condemns them to death and the only nature they have is the earthly one. The necessity is only for those who are Christ’s, since those who are in Christ are united to Him in His resurrection (Ro. 6:5). But someone may ask, “how does it logically follow then that unbelievers will be raised to life to only die again in the second death? If they will be raised to life, how will they not also be immortal? And by what power have they come to life?” You fool! (just channeling my inner Paul here). Did we not just go over this? God can give anyone any kind of body He wants. Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God and since unbelievers do not and will not have a heavenly nature or inherit God’s kingdom, they will receive back a body of an earthly nature. Also, Jesus can awake anyone from the dead anytime He wants. He awoke Lazarus but just because He rose Lazarus to life again, does this mean Lazarus never died again? No. Lazarus went on to die a second time because Jesus only rose the earthly body. When the end of the age comes and both the righteous and the wicked are raised from the dead, the wicked will have earthly bodies raised while the righteous will have heavenly bodies raised. Therefore, the wicked will perish while the righteous will have put on immortality and will proclaim the victory they have through Christ over death. For believers, immortality is a necessary consequence of Jesus’ resurrection. “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:28-29).

The phrase “death is swallowed up in victory” is not applicable to the unbeliever since the victory we’re speaking of here is “the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” To say that unbelievers will be immortal would be the same thing as to say “death is swallowed up in victory” since immortality means that those people would never die again. But what kind of existence would an immortal existence of suffering be? It certainly could not be described as anything resembling “victory.” An additional problem also arises if one thinks that unbelievers will be immortal. Verse 56 says that “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” If unbelievers are kept alive in Hell, they will assuredly be continually sinning, gnashing their teeth in anger against God. The sting of sin produces death. For example, let’s say a super deadly killer hornet stings you. That sting will kill you. You will die. That’s what sin does, it brings forth death. So then, how is someone in Hell continually alive if the sin they are still committing is supposed to produce death? You might say, “maybe it’s just a symbolic kind of death…” But is it? Does the text allow for that interpretation since this whole time it has been speaking about bodily resurrection?

Someone might also say, “what about the soul? Isn’t the soul spiritual? Isn’t the soul immortal? That’s not an earthly thing, is it?” But let’s take a closer look at verses 42-49. Paul makes some contrasting statements regarding “perishable” to “imperishable,” and “natural body” to “spiritual body.” Then he says, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Now watch closely. Right after Paul says this, he gives an example of both the natural and the spiritual and says, “So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” So, the example of the natural is “Adam” while the example of the spiritual is Christ. And if we continue reading the passage, we will clearly see Paul lay this out, “The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.” To be clear, I don’t believe “living soul” in this context is specifically referring to a consciousness that is separate from the body. A soul in this context is just the whole person: heart, mind, soul, body. Basically, a living being. But the point that both I and Paul are making is that this living being is by nature earthly, not heavenly. Therefore, a future spiritual existence is not a necessary reality or truth for an earthly creature. However, if we partake in the divine nature of Christ, then we receive His “life-giving spirit” and therefore will belong to the “heavenly.” But apart from Christ, there is no life, there is no heavenly, there is no lasting resurrection.

The benefits of Christ’s resurrection are for believers because some of these key words and phrases:

1 Corinthians 15

• “by a man [Jesus] also came the resurrection of the dead” (v. 21)

• “in Christ all will be made alive” (v. 22)

• “those who are Christ’s” (v. 23)

• “it is raised in glory” “it is raised in power” “it is raised a spiritual body” (v. 43)

• “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (v. 45)

• “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (v. 50)

• “we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed” (v. 51)

• “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 57)

1 Thessalonians 4

• “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (v. 14)

• “the dead in Christ will rise…” (v. 16)