What does "The sting of death is sin" mean in 1 Corinthians 15:56? Text and Immediate Context “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law” (1 Corinthians 15:56). Paul writes these words in a climactic section (vv. 50-58) explaining how Christ’s bodily resurrection secures the future resurrection of believers, thereby emptying death of its terror. Verse 56 is inseparably tied to the triumph cry of v. 55: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Paul answers his own question by exposing what, exactly, makes death deadly. Old Testament Background Death entered creation when Adam sinned (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Romans 5:12). Genesis portrays a very good, death-free world (Genesis 1:31). Young-earth chronologies derived from the Masoretic genealogy (e.g., Ussher, A.M. 1 = 4004 B.C.) underscore that death is historically subsequent to, and caused by, human sin—not an evolutionary mechanism woven into God’s “very good” design. Fossil layers displaying rapid burial of organisms (e.g., polystrate tree trunks in Carboniferous coal seams) comport with a global Flood judgment (Genesis 7-8) rather than deep-time gradualism, reinforcing the biblical linkage of sin → judgment → death. Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 15:56 1. The cause-and-effect relation: Death holds a “sting,” but that sting is not intrinsic to biological mortality alone; it is sin. Death minus sin would be a mere transition (cf. 2 Kings 2:11). With sin, death becomes a penal event carrying spiritual and eternal consequences (Hebrews 9:27). 2. The Law’s role: God’s Law does not create sin; it exposes and energizes it (Romans 7:7-13). Like sunlight revealing bacteria in a petri dish, the Law magnifies sin’s seriousness, so when the Law confronts fallen humanity, sin seizes the opportunity and “kills” (Romans 7:11). Hence “the power of sin is the Law.” 3. The logical flow: If the Law heightens sin, and sin puts the lethal barb in death, then whoever fulfills the Law and removes sin simultaneously removes death’s sting—which is exactly what Christ achieved (1 Pt 2:24). Christ’s Victory over Sin and Death By rising “on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:4) in history—corroborated by multiple, early, eyewitness groups (1 Corinthians 15:5-8) and conceded even by hostile critics like Tacitus (Annals 15.44)—Jesus broke sin’s legal claim (Colossians 2:14-15). The empty tomb, attested by enemy acknowledgment of its vacancy (Matthew 28:11-15), and the willing martyrdom of eyewitnesses (Acts 4-7) verify that death’s sting has been defanged for those “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Law, Sin, and Behavioral Science Behavioral data confirm Scripture’s anthropology: moral transgression produces guilt, anxiety, and relational fracture—observable “sting” phenomena (Psalm 32:3-4). Secular models struggle to explain why moral wrongdoing triggers universal conscience responses. The biblical model coherently attributes this to the Law written on human hearts (Romans 2:15), lending empirical heft to Paul’s logic. Practical Implications for Believers 1. Assurance: Sin forgiven, the believer no longer faces death as judgment but as entrance into Christ’s presence (2 Corinthians 5:8). 2. Motivation for holy living: Freed from the Law’s condemnation, we fulfill its righteous requirement by the Spirit (Romans 8:4). 3. Evangelistic urgency: Unbelievers still feel the sting; proclaiming the gospel offers the antidote (1 Corinthians 15:58). Pastoral Application Grief is appropriate, yet it is tempered with hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). At funerals, we rightly lament sin’s wreckage but simultaneously celebrate Christ’s conquest, grounding comfort not in platitudes but in historical resurrection. Conclusion “The sting of death is sin” teaches that sin gives death its lethal, condemning force, a force intensified by God’s holy Law. Christ’s atoning death and resurrection neutralize that sting for all who trust Him. Therefore, death remains an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) but a defeated one, awaiting final eradication when mortality is swallowed by life. |
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