1 Corinthians 15:56

Contextual Overview

⁵¹ But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed. ⁵¹ Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵¹ Beholde I shewe you a mystery. We shall not all slepe: but we shall all be chaunged ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹ But look! I tell you this secret: We will not all sleep in death, but we will all be changed. ⁵¹ Look, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sting: Genesis 3:17-19, Psalms 90:3-11, Proverbs 14:32, John 8:21, John 8:24, Romans 5:15, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:27

the strength: Romans 3:19, Romans 3:20, Romans 4:15, Romans 5:13, Romans 5:20, Romans 7:5-13, Galatians 3:10-13

Reciprocal: Genesis 2:17 - surely Job 18:14 - the king Romans 7:7 - is the law Romans 7:8 - For without

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The sting of death is sin,.... Death has a sting, and which was originally in it, and that is sin; sin is the cause of death, it is what has given rise and being to it; it entered into the world by it, and is supported in its empire through it; it gives it its resistless power, which reaches to all sorts of persons, young and old, rich and poor, high and low, bond and free; it gives it all its bitterness, agonies, and miseries; and it is by that it does all the hurt and mischief it does; and it may fitly be compared to a sting, for its poisonous and venomous nature:

and the strength of sin is the law; not that the law of God is sinful, or encourages sin: it forbids it under the severest penalty; but was there no law there would be no sin, nor imputation of it; sin is a transgression of the law: moreover, the strength of sin, its evil nature, and all the dreadful aggravations of it, and sad consequences upon it, are discovered and made known by the law; and also the strength of it is drawn out by it, through the corruption of human nature; which is irritated and provoked the more to sin, through the law's prohibition of it; and this is not the fault of the law, but is owing to the vitiosity of nature; which the more it is forbidden anything, the more desirous it is of it; to which may be added, that sin is the more exceeding sinful, being committed against a known law, and that of the great lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; whose legislative power and authority are slighted and trampled upon by it, which makes the transgression the more heinous; it is the law which binds sin upon a man's conscience, accuses him of it, pronounces him guilty, curses, condemns, and adjudges him to death for it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sting of death - The sting which death bears; that with which he effects his purpose; that which is made use of to inflict death; or that which is the cause of death. There would be no death without sin. The apostle here personifies death, as if it were a living being, and as making use of sin to inflict death, or as being the sting, or envenomed instrument, with which he inflicts the mortal agony. The idea is, that sin is the cause of death. It introduced it; it makes it certain; it is the cause of the pain, distress, agony, and horror which attends it. If there had been no sin, people would not have died. If there were no sin, death would not be attended with horror or alarm. For why should innocence be afraid to die? What has innocence to fear anywhere in the universe of a just God? The fact, therefore, that people die, is proof that they are sinners; the fact that they feel horror and alarm, is proof that they feel themselves to be guilty, and that they are afraid to go into the presence of a holy God. If this be taken away, if sin be removed, of course the horror, and remorse, and alarm which it is suited to produce will be removed also.

Is sin - Sin is the cause of it; see the note at Romans 5:12.

The strength of sin - Its power over the mind; its terrific and dreadful energy; and especially its power to produce alarm in the hour of death.

Is the law - The pure and holy law of God. This idea Paul has illustrated at length in Romans 7:9-13; see the notes on that passage. He probably made the statement here in order to meet the Jews, and to show that the law of God had no power to take away the fear of death; and that, therefore, there was need of the gospel, and that this alone could do it. The Jews maintained that a man might be justified and saved by obedience to the law. Paul here shows that it is the law which gives its chief vigor to sin, and that it does not tend to subdue or destroy it; and that power is seen most strikingly in the pangs and horrors of a guilty conscience on the bed of death. There was need, therefore, of the gospel, which alone could remove the cause of these horrors, by taking away sin, and thus leaving the pardoned man to die in peace; compare the note on Romans 4:15.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 56. The sting of death is sin — The apostle explains himself particularly here: death could not have entered into the world if sin had not entered first; it was sin that not only introduced death, but has armed him with all his destroying force; the goad or dagger of death is sin; by this both body and soul are slain.

The strength of sin is the law. — The law of God forbids all transgression, and sentences those who commit it to temporal and eternal death. Sin has its controlling and binding power from the law. The law curses the transgressor, and provides no help for him; and if nothing else intervene, he must, through it, continue ever under the empire of death.