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Sins of the World

A friend writes to our church website and asks:

What does 1 Cor. 15:22 refer to?  It seems to me, in considering the context of what Paul is saying in this chapter, that all will be resurrected back to life.  Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1 John 4:10) past, present, future; right? I take the "all" to include everyone.

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Dear friend,

Thank you for a very good question. 

First of all, you’re absolutely correct that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for all sins.  You quote 1 John 4:10, which stresses that God the Father sent His Son “to be the propitiation for our sins” (NKJV).  And perhaps even more clearly, 1 John 2:2 says that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and no for ours only but also for the whole world.”  This is telling us that there is no other “propitiation”—no other satisfaction of the righteous wrath of God toward sin—than the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross.  If God’s wrath toward anyone’s sins will ever be satisfied (“propitiated”) anywhere in the world at any time in history, it will only be through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ; and there is no other propitiation to be found for the fallen human family except in Him.

And second, it’s absolutely true that there is a resurrection from the dead for everyone.  Jesus Himself makes this clear.  But we have to take the whole of Scripture into account; and recognize that not everyone who will be resurrected will be resurrected to what may properly be called “life”.  In John 5:25-29, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” 

Clearly, there are “two resurrections in Scripture; and it’s of the utmost importance to keep them distinct.  Revelation 20 describes these two resurrections—the first being a resurrection to life, and the second being a resurrection to judgment.  In Revelation 20:4-6; the apostle John describes the first when he writes; “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.  Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.  And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.  Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” 

This first resurrection occurs at the beginning of Jesus’ thousand-year reign upon the earth.  John stresses the blessedness and holiness of that redeemed man or woman who has part in it.  But the second follows after that thousand-year reign on earth is completed; and John writes of it in dreadful terms in verses 11-15; “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.  And they were judged, each one according to his works.  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

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The reason I’m stressing these two resurrections is to make the point that though Jesus is the only propitiation for the sins of mankind, each and every individual of mankind is clearly not the personal beneficiary of that atoning sacrifice.  Clearly, not everyone will be saved; because not everyone will have trusted Christ.  Those who have trusted Jesus will be resurrected unto what is properly called “life”, and others who did not are resurrected unto condemnation and to the dreadful prospect of ‘the second death’. 

And this relates to the passage you were asking about.  1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”  The context, of course, is the subject of “resurrection” (vv. 12-19).  But I don’t believe that this verse should be understood to say that all of mankind will be resurrected unto life.  For one thing, that would be contrary to the immediate context of the passage.  Though Paul is speaking of “resurrection” in the general sense, he is not meaning this to be understood as speaking of all resurrections—that is, both of the righteous unto life, and the unrighteous unto judgment.  If we stick strictly to the context, he is only speaking to Christians—those of Corinth who have believed the gospel message, have placed their faith in the saving work of Christ, and are now redeemed by His atoning sacrifice (see verses 1-2).  And so, whatever he is saying on the subject, he seems to be teaching what needs to be understood by believers.  And so, the “resurrection” that he is speaking of in this verse is best to be seen as referring to the resurrection of the just.

Second, I would argue that this cannot be made to refer to a universal resurrection to life because of the rhetorical point Paul is trying to make in it.  In the most immediate sense, he is seeking to show the spiritual basis for two distinct states of being—first, the state of ‘death’ in which unredeemed humanity exists; which has its basis in the sin of Adam; and second, the state of ‘life’ in which the believer now enters; which has its basis in the atoning work of Jesus.  In the previous verse, Paul writes, “for since by one man came death, by Man [that is, the Son of God who became a man on our behalf] also came the resurrection of the dead” (v. 21).  His purpose is not to speak of a universal resurrection; but rather, of the  basis of the resurrection unto life that is the sure hope of those who are in Christ.  As Paul later says in verse 45, “And so it is written, ‘the first man Adam became a living being.’  The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 

And thirdly, I would argue my point by stressing the larger context of the rest of Scripture.  I made reference earlier of passages that show that there are two different resurrections to two different destinies.  And however we take 1 Corinthians 15:22, we cannot take it to mean something that is in contradiction to what other passages of Scripture clearly teach about the destiny of unredeemed people.  Clearly, the teaching of the Bible is that not all will be saved; but only those who have placed their trust in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

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So to sum up: Yes, all humanity will be resurrected.  But no, not all of humanity will be resurrected to “life”.  Jesus Christ—and Him alone—is the propitiation for the sins of humanity; but only those who have placed their trust in His atoning work on the cross as the propitiation for sins will be resurrected to “life”.

My response to this “hard” truth is, first, to thank God that in His great mercy, He has led me to place my trust in Jesus.  I have no hope of “life” except in Him; but because of Him, my hope of life is sure and certain!  And second, my response is to be rekindled in my passion to tell others about His love; and to urge them to receive His atoning work on the cross by faith while they can.

Thank you again for writing.  But most of all, thanks to the Father for the unspeakable gift of life through His Son (1 John 5:11-12). 

In His love,

Greg Allen
Pastor

(All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

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