1 Corinthians 15:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

NIV: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

NASB: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

CSB: sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;

NLT: Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

KJV: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

NKJV: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

Paul is helping the Corinthians understand that a believer's resurrected body will not be some reanimated, lesser version of the body before death. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The two bodies, though related, will not be of the same kind. They will be as different as a bird's body is from a fish's body (1 Corinthians 15:39) and as different as a man's body is from a star (1 Corinthians 15:40).

The previous verse began to spell out specific differences between the sin-corrupted frame of a believer in this life and the glorified, perfected body to come in the resurrection. The first difference mentioned was that our bodies before death are perishable. They come with an expiration date. They are wearing out. The resurrected body is eternal; it is deathless.

Now he adds that the pre-death body is sown in dishonor. Because of the analogy Paul used earlier (1 Corinthians 15:37), this term can be taken in more than one way. The word "sown" may refer to how the body is buried: planted in the ground. The other possibility is that Paul means "sown" here in reference to how the body is initially born into sin. In other words, that the earthly body grows from a state of sin. In either case, the sin we're born into and the sin we commit causes our physical bodies to be dishonorable, and they do not become honorable simply because we die.

Instead, for the believer in Jesus Christ, a transformation takes place. The believer's body is resurrected in glory. The use of the word "glory" connects to Paul's example of the radiant bodies of the stars in the heavens. Bible teachers often refer to resurrected bodies as "glorified bodies:" free of all dishonor of sin and full of the eternal light of God's glory.

Paul goes on: These pre-death bodies are sown in weakness, severely limited in physical, moral, spiritual strength. The believer's body, though, is resurrected in power beyond our current imagining.

First Corinthians 15:35–49 describes how the resurrected bodies of believers will be different from our current bodies. Resurrected bodies will not be reanimated corpses or some lesser version of our pre-death frame. The opposite is true. Our current, corrupt bodies are like seeds that are sown to bring to life the plant. These forms are temporary, dishonorable, and weak. Our transformed bodies will be eternal, glorified, and powerful, made from the materials of heaven, not earth, and built for an eternity with God.

Paul provides thorough teaching about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. This is a direct counter to some group of Corinthians who did not believe in such a resurrection. He shows that natural death is not the end of life for Christians; it is the last step before receiving a glorified, resurrected body like that of the risen Christ. That ''spiritual'' body will be as different from our current bodies as a star is from a fish. In that moment, for all who have believed in Christ, living and dead, death will be defeated for good.

In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians' thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.