1 Corinthians 15:31

31 Brothers and sisters, I swear to you on my pride in you which Christ Jesus our Lord has given me: I face death every day.

1 Corinthians 15:31 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:31

I protest by your rejoicing
Some copies read, "our rejoicing"; and so the Ethiopic version, which seems most natural and easy; since it follows,

which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord;
who in him could rejoice and glory in afflictions and sufferings, which he endured as a preacher of the Gospel for his sake; and which being certain and evident, and what might be depended upon, he makes a protestation by it, saying,

I die daily;
which is to be understood, not in a spiritual sense of dying unto sin; he was dead unto sin, as to its damning power, through the death of Christ, and as to its governing power, through the Spirit and grace of Christ, but still it was living and dwelling in him; but in a corporeal sense: he instances in himself in particular, who was one that was in jeopardy or danger of his life every hour; he always bore in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, and was continually delivered to death for Jesus' sake; death was always working in him, he expected it every day, and was ready for it; he did not count his life dear unto himself, but was very willing to lay it down for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; which he would never have done, if he had not good reason to believe the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:31 In-Context

29 However, people are baptized because the dead [will come back to life]. What will they do? If the dead can't come back to life, why do people get baptized as if they can [come back to life]?
30 Why are we constantly putting ourselves in danger?
31 Brothers and sisters, I swear to you on my pride in you which Christ Jesus our Lord has given me: I face death every day.
32 If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus, what have I gained according to the way people look at things? If the dead are not raised, "Let's eat and drink because tomorrow we're going to die!"
33 Don't let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.
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