If Tomorrow We Die

Death is such an influencer, but humans are an inconsistent and fickle race. Paul has already made the doctrinal case: if there is no resurrection, Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty, and our faith is meaningless (1 Cor. 15:12-19). But Christ has been raised, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (15:20). In verses 29-34, Paul stopped arguing about belief and asked about life. If we really believed there was no resurrection, would our lives make sense?

Paul began with a strange verse: “What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” (15:29). We do not know exactly what practice he meant, and Paul neither commanded nor endorsed it. His point was their inconsistency. Whatever they were doing only made sense if the dead are not raised. Why act out burial and rising if there is no rising?

Paul then asked why he risked his life every day. If the dead are not raised, his suffering was foolish, and the only honest philosophy is, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (15:30-32). False teaching does not stay in the head. “Bad company ruins good morals,” Paul warned. “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (15:33-34). A denied resurrection soon becomes a lived denial: live for pleasure, protect yourself, and do not bother with holiness.

We do our own version of this. Some who believe in the resurrection of the dead do not live out that belief by what is practiced. We baptize people into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). We take the Lord’s Supper until he returns (1 Cor. 11:26). We also stand at gravesides and say, “We’ll see them again.” Our baptisms, Suppers, and funerals all assume the dead will be raised. Then (some among us) will go home and live as if we will not be raised from the dead, instead treating retirement as ultimate security, where comfort now is the reward, and this life as all there is. We hold grudges, give cautiously, avoid cost for Christ, and fear death as if it were the end.

Waking up means forgiving now, giving generously, risking comfort for Christ, pursuing holiness, and facing death with genuine hope lived out, not despair.