1 Corinthians 15:58
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Where this sits
The final verse of the resurrection chapter. Paul has just spent fifty-seven verses arguing that the dead are raised.
Reflection
The word therefore is carrying an entire chapter, and it is worth knowing which one.
Paul has just written the longest sustained argument in the New Testament about resurrection — that Christ was raised, that the dead will be raised, that the body sown in corruption is raised in incorruption, that death is swallowed up in victory. Fifty-seven verses of it.
And then he lands on: therefore, be steadfast, and always abound in the Lord's work.
That is not where most readers expect a resurrection chapter to end. Having established that the grave is not final, Paul draws a conclusion about Monday. The doctrine's practical consequence is not detachment from the present but investment in it.
The reason is in the last clause. Your labour is not in vain in the Lord. The whole chapter exists to make that sentence true. If the dead are not raised, Paul has already said, we are of all men most pitiable and eating and drinking is the reasonable response. The resurrection is what makes ordinary work durable — because the person doing it will still exist.
And labour is not a lofty word. It means toil, the kind that leaves you tired. Paul does not promise it will feel significant. He promises it will not be lost.
- Theme:
- Perseverance
- Book:
- 1 Corinthians