The Sins Easter Day Condemns
1 Corinthians 15:34
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.


This warning, in the midst of an elaborate argument about the resurrection, reminds us that Christianity is intended to be a regulative rather than a speculative system, that it is a law for our life, not merely a theme for our thought. Paul brings to bear the resurrection as an argument against sinning. It is an argument against —

I. DEGRADING THE BODY. It is the body that is to rise as well as the spirit. Avoid, then, both the extreme of pampering it in animalism, and of despising it in asceticism.

II. ABSORPTION IN THIS WORLD. Beyond the time-world there is another; beneath the sense-world there is another. Live for the unseen and the eternal.

III. WRONGING CHRIST, For us He was the Conqueror, which implies that for us He went through the battle. The resurrection is —

1. The seal of His Divinity. Shall we slight His Divinity?

2. The sign of His power. Shall we defy His power?

3. The token of His love. Shall we neglect His love?

(U. R. Thomas.)



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

WEB: Wake up righteously, and don't sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.




The Shame of Living Without the Knowledge of God
Top of Page
Top of Page