1 Corinthians 15:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

NIV: Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God--I say this to your shame.

NASB: Sober up morally and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

CSB: Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

NLT: Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.

KJV: Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

NKJV: Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

Paul has moved from asking pointed questions to giving pointed commands to those who say there is no resurrection for believers. In the previous verse, he told them not to be deceived by those who believed such things. Now he gets even more blunt by telling them to wake up from their drunken stupor. In modern terms, this might be said as "snap out of it!"

Paul isn't talking about actual alcohol-induced drunkenness, but about a stupor of the soul and mind. This group had allowed themselves to get bogged down in theological and philosophical arguments. Instead, they should have held to the clear truth that because Christ was raised physically from the dead, all those who belong to Him will be raised, as well.

Paul commands them to stop sinning by entertaining this false idea in their hearts and minds. They should not allow it to lead them in the direction of immoral actions. The bottom line is that, no matter how clever they imagine themselves to be in worldly terms, they don't have the right knowledge of God. Paul insists that they should be ashamed of this. Knowing and believing God is the only path to right living.

First Corinthians 15:12–34 describes all the implications for Christians if there is no resurrection, at all. Most importantly, that would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ was not raised, then Paul's preaching of the gospel was false, and the faith of those who believed it was worthless. All remain in their sins. Christ, though, was raised from the dead, and when He returns for those who are His, all who have died in Christ will be resurrected to new life, as He was after the crucifixion. Finally, Christ will reign on earth before delivering the kingdom to the Father.

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.