1 Corinthians 15:33

A Few Weeks Ago, We Started a Sunday Night Sermon Series Called “Twisted Scripture”

We are Looking at Different Verses Throughout the Old and New Testaments That are Commonly Twisted/Misinterpreted

Sometimes We Will Run Across a Verse That Seems to Be Teaching Something Very Clear

But Often if We Keep the Verse in It’s Proper Context, We Discover it to Mean Something Quite Different

Today, We are Going to Do 2 Lessons From This Series

Tonight We are Going to Look at Jeremiah 29:11, and This Morning, We are Looking at 1 Corinthians 15:33

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB)

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

NIV = Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

NKJV = Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

But I Really Like the NLT Because, Though it’s Word for Word Accuracy is Not Very Good, it Captures What Paul is Actually Saying in this Passage

NLT = Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

We Are Going to Be Figuring Out in this Lesson What Was Being Said That Was Deceiving the Corinthian Christians

This is a Verse That is Pretty Popular Amongst Christians

We Often Tell Children and Teenagers to Be Careful Who They Hang Around, Because They Will Be Corrupted

And There’s No Doubt That Their is Some Truth to That

We See So Many Christians, Young and Old, Who Have Fallen Away Because of the Friends and Company They Allow to Influence Them

But We Have to Be Careful Exactly How We Apply This

Christians Having Immoral, Irreligious Friends is Not a Bad Thing

Jesus Spent Time With, Ate With, Discipled, and Kept Company With Tax Collectors, Prostitutes, Murderers, Sinners, and Pharisees

And He Expects Us to Do the Same

Paul Even Told the Corinthians in this Very Same Letter That Christians Shouldn’t Keep Ourselves From Associating With Immoral People

1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (NASB)

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;

I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.

But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Christians are Supposed to Interact With Non-Christians

But We Aren’t Supposed to Interact, Fellowship, or Keep Company With Other Christians Who Live Immorally

Understanding That Principle, We Already Have a Big Hint as to What Paul is Teaching Us in Our Key Verse About Bad Company Corrupting Good Morals

Let’s Look at the Context Now

1 Corinthians 15 is the Resurrection Chapter

He Begins this Section of His Letter Like This:

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (NASB)

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

He Begins By Announcing to Them that He is Going to Go Back Over the Gospel Message That He Preached to Them

The Message They Received/Accepted, Stand in, and are Being Saved By if They Remain Faithful to it

What Was That Message?

That Jesus Died For Our Sins, He Was Buried, and He Was Raised From the Dead

He Goes On to Mention That Over 500 People Witnessed Jesus Resurrected

And He Includes Himself

But, Paul is Noticing a Problem at Corinth

1 Corinthians 15:12 (NASB)

Now 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?

He Wants to Know Why There are People at Corinth Saying There is No Resurrection From the Dead

For Whatever Reason, They Were Willing to Accept Jesus’ Resurrection But Not Their Own Future Resurrection

But Paul Tells Them if Resurrection Doesn’t Exist For the Followers of Jesus, it Doesn’t Exist For Jesus Either

1 Corinthians 15:16–19 (NASB)

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

In Verse 20, Paul Tells Them That Christ’s Resurrection Was Only the First Fruits

Just as He Resurrected, So Will We When He Returns

1 Corinthians 15:29 (NASB95)

Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

Paul Makes an Argument For the Future Resurrection By Mentioning Baptism For the Dead

There Have Apparently Been Over 200 Different Interpretations to What Paul is Talking About in This Verse

I’m Not Positive of What He’s Talking About…

But it Does Seem Like He is Mentioning it as Something He Doesn’t Agree With

He Uses “Those” and “They” to Refer to People Who are Baptized For the Dead

He Doesn’t Refer to Them as “We” or “You” Seemingly to Distance Himself From that Type of Thing

Regardless of What Paul is Specifically Referring to...

We Know That People Were Being Baptized For the Dead With Hope of a Future Resurrection

“Why Would Those People Be Baptized For the Dead if There Were No Coming Resurrection?”

1 Corinthians 15:30–31 (NASB)

Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Paul Argues Again, “Why Would We Go Through All the Dangers We Go Through?”

Why Would He Risk His Life Every Single Day if There Were No Hope of Resurrection For Him or For Those to Whom He Preaches the Gospel?

Choosing to Die Daily Would Be Crazy, Unless You Believed You Would Live Again

1 Corinthians 15:32 (NASB)

If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

I Think the NIV Makes Paul’s Point a Little Clearer

NIV = If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

What Good Were the Persecutions Paul Suffered in Ephesus if There is No Resurrection?

If There is No Resurrection, You Need to Live it Up While You’re Still Alive!

A Few Years Ago, the Phrase “You Only Live Once” Became Really Popular

That is to Say, “You’ve Only Got One Life to Live, So Live it Up!”

Don’t Suffer For Christ’s Sake!

Don’t Strive to Live a Faithful, Moral Life

Don’t Treat Others With Love or Put Them First

Love Yourself and Put Yourself First

Just Live Like the World

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!

Because Once You Die, Life is Over, and There’s Nothing Left to Look Forward to or Enjoy!

Live it Up While You’re Alive

That Leads Us Up to Our Verse

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB)

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

The Context is Focused Entirely On Resurrection

And Specifically On How There are Some at Corinth Who Don’t Believe in Resurrection

So What is Paul Trying to Get Across in this Verse?

"Don’t Be Deceived By These Resurrection Deniers!”

“By Keeping Company/Associating With These False Teachers, You are Going to End Up With Corrupted Morals.”

How?

Because When One Doesn’t Believe in the Resurrection…

When One Has No Future Hope

They Will Live in the Present in Whatever Way Brings Them Happiness and Pleasure

When You've Got Nothing to Look Forward to, Then You’ll Live Your Life For Right Now

Just as Paul Said in Verse 32, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

And Also in Verses 17-19:

If There is No Resurrection, Our Faith is Worthless

If There is No Resurrection, All Who Have Tried to Live Faithful Lives in Christ Before Us are Just Dead Forever

If Christians Only Have Hope, Joy, and Peace in this Life, Then People Ought to Feel Sorry For Us

Because We are a Miserable Group of People Who Strive to Be Like Jesus, Suffering Persecutions and Difficulties All of Our Lives

But Have No Reward to Look Forward to

If You’re a Christian But You Don’t Believe in the Resurrection, Paul Says, You Will Be Either a Miserable Individual or You Will Eventually Fall Away

Notice What Paul Says Next:

1 Corinthians 15:34 (NASB)

Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

ESV = “Wake up from your drunken stupor”

NIV = “Come back to your senses”

Paul is Letting the Corinthians Have it For Allowing This Disbelief in the Resurrection to Continue to Persist in Their Congregation

He Tells Them That They Need to Wake Up/Correct This Thinking and Stop Sinning

There are Some Among Them Who Have No Knowledge of God

NLT = “some of you don’t know God at all”

If You Don’t Know God’s Plan of Redemption, Reconciliation, and Renewal That Culminates in Being Resurrected Like Jesus…

Then You Don’t Know God at All

If You Don’t Know God’s Purpose and Plan For Humanity Through the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, Then You Don’t Know God

There are Some in Corinth Who Deny the Resurrection

And That is Proof That They Do Not Know God

This Was to Bring Shame On the Entire Congregation

Why?

Because They Allow Such a False, Foolish, and Baseless Belief to Persist Among Them

1 Corinthians 15:33 Twisted

Be Careful Who You Keep Company With

If You Spend Time With Immoral People, Their Immorality Will Start to Rub Off On You

So Don’t Be Deceived into Forsaking Jesus For Worldly Ways

There’s a Lot of Truth to That Isn’t There?

We See it Happen All the Time When Christians Allow Themselves to Be Influenced By Others, Instead of Being the Influence

Jesus Spent a Great Deal of Time With Immoral People

But He Was the One Influencing Them Toward Faith and Repentance

There’s a Lot of Truth in the Way We Typically Interpret This Verse

But That Doesn’t Mean We Have Rightly Interpretted it

1 Corinthians 15:33 UnTwisted

Don’t Let Those Who Don’t Believe in Resurrection Deceive You into Disbelief as Well

Your Morals Will Be Corrupted By Keeping Company With Such False Teachers

False Teaching Always Leads to Immorality

If There is Anything We Should Take Away From This Text, It’s This:

There’s No Limit to the Importance of Having Hope in the Resurrection

This Text is More Applicable to the Church Today Than Many Christians Realize

The Sadducees and Greeks Didn’t Believe in a Bodily Resurrection

Many of Them Believed in a Disembodied Existence After Death

We Call It, “Dying and Going to Heaven”

They Didn’t Believe That a Person’s Spirit Would Be Reunited With Their Body (Resurrection)

They Believed Once You Die, You Then Go On to Whatever Reward is Waiting For You

Death is Where Our Hopes Lie

Many Christians Today Believe the Same Idea

That the Christian Hope is to Die and Go to Heaven

But That is Not What the Bible Teaches at All

Sure, Paul Looked Forward to Dying and Being With Christ

But That Was to Exit a Life of Persecution and Enter into a Waiting Period of Rest

Paul Always, in All of His Writings, Presents Resurrection as the True Hope

When We See Jesus Resurrect, We See His Physical Body Come Back to Life and Leave the Tomb

He Was the First Fruits of the Final Resurrection

What Happened to Him Will Happen to Us

We Will Experience a Bodily, Physical Resurrection

Paul Continues in this Chapter By Describing How God Will Change/Transform Our Resurrected Bodies into Perfect/Incorruptible Bodies

There Were Some Christians in Corinth Who Did Not Have the Proper Hope of Resurrection to Look Forward to

Christianity Without Resurrection to Eternal Life is Not Worth it

And if You Don’t Have a Proper Understanding and Faith in Your Future Resurrection, Then You Will Soon Realize That

You Will Realize that Christianity is Too Much of a Hassle For Such a Little Pay Off

How Many Christians Have Fallen Away Because They Did Not Know the Hope that Awaits Us?

Here is the Hope That Awaits Us and Our Motivation to Stay Faithful to Our Lord and King:

1 Corinthians 15:51–58 (NASB)

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

When Jesus Returns, We Will Be Taken Out of Death and Our Spirits Will Reconnect With Our Bodies

We Will Be Transformed

Death Will No Longer Have the Last Laugh

It Will Be Destroyed

We Will Be Victorious

And We Will Live and Reign With Jesus and Each Other Forever

With That as Your Hope, Stay Strong and Keep Up Your Good Works For Jesus

You Will Not Have Done Them For Nothing