The church at Corinth had a significant segment who were beginning to deny the resurrection from the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul addressed this issue with them in detail. Being one of the foundational truths of Christianity, it was absolutely vital for them to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and their own bodily resurrection from the dead in the future when Christ returns. Heaven awaits those who are saved, who will be resurrected with spiritual bodies to enjoy endless bliss with the Lord. Paul concludes this chapter with this exhortation, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” The enjoyment of their reward in their resurrected state was an incentive for them to abound in their work for the Lord. One may work in vain in many endeavors on earth. A farmer’s crop can be ruined, an investor’s savings can be lost or stolen, but the work we do for the Lord is guaranteed to be rewarded if we stay faithful (1 Peter 1:4). Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
Often when we are considering certain verses in the Scriptures, we fail to recognize the context that helps round out our understanding of a particular verse. This failure is even more common when a verse is located next to a chapter division. Chapter and verse divisions, handy as they may be in finding a particular portion of the Scriptures, were not part of the original documents but were added centuries after the Bible was completed (Langton gave us the chapters in 1200s and Stephanus gave the verse divisions in the 1500s).
The verses following 1 Corinthians 15:58 show a labor in the Lord that is not in vain – helping the poor (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). The particular need at the time Paul wrote the letter was a famine that afflicted the people of Judea. The churches of Christ were committed to sending relief to these people by the hands of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 11:27-30). The principle we learn is that we should be giving when we are gathered together, motivated by love for the Lord and others. Second Corinthians shows the continuation of this process and the good it did for all that were involved. Jew-Gentile relations in the church were healed because so many Gentiles were willing to help the Jews of Judea. While the church makes providing for the poor in the family of God the first priority, all men, even those outside the church, are benefited by God’s people doing good works (Galatians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 9:13).
Instead of being focused on accumulating as much wealth for ourselves as possible, we should help the poor who are in true need (Galatians 2:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). If we do not help them, we are not of the truth, and have no good eternal reward to anticipate (1 John 3:17-18; cf. Luke 16:19-31). Thus, in view of the resurrection, where we will experience riches that are incorruptible, we should abound in doing the work of the Lord, including giving to the poor.
-Mark Day
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