For this corruptible must needs put on incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality.
The verse states a necessity: the body we have now cannot enter glory as it is. Everything hangs on the little word "this" — the body that decays and dies is the very body that puts on what death cannot touch.
One writer defines the term, then shows how it lands on the dead and on the living:
A J PollockThe word immortality means not being liable to death, and in 1 Corinthians 15:53 it refers to the body. At the coming of the Lord the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible, while the living Christians will put on immortality. It is the body that in death goes to corruption, and in resurrection puts on incorruptibility.
The word appears only three times in Scripture. Two of those are in this chapter. The third speaks of God Himself:
A J PollockFirst, as to God Himself. He only has immortality, in the sense that it is inherent in Him, not bestowed, not acquired, but His, as in His own nature and being (1 Timothy 6:16). The other two cases (1 Corinthians 15:53-54) have to do with the saints alive on this earth when the Lord comes. They have mortal bodies, able to die and liable to death. Yet if the Lord comes, they will bypass death altogether, and mortality will put on immortality.
The need goes back to the previous verse. The problem is not just sin in us, but our whole present condition:
J. N. DarbyFlesh and blood, not merely sin, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Corruption (for that is what we are) cannot inherit what is incorruptible. So the apostle now reveals plainly what will happen: all the saints will enjoy incorruptibility. Death is conquered. Death does not have to come upon all. Still less does everyone have to decay. But flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of glory.
A change of heart is not the same as a change of body:
A. PridhamTo have a right to God's kingdom, we must ourselves be born of God. To inherit it, we must in fact change in form as well as in nature… So God's saints, whether dead or living, need more than the conversion of their hearts to Him. They must undergo a further change.
Paul does not say we drop the perishable body. He says it puts on something more. One writer draws out that contrast, using the older wording "corruptible" and "incorruption" where the ESV reads "perishable" and "the imperishable":
William Kelly"For this corruptible must" — not just put off corruption, but "put on incorruption, and this mortal" must not just slip out of this mortal life, as people say, but "put on immortality."
This is why the desire of the believer is not simply to die. Death removes the body; the hope here adds to it:
Hamilton SmithHe did not merely want to be unclothed and so escape present trials, blessed as that will be. He longed for the full blessing of having the new body. He was looking for the rapture. Then the bodies of living believers will become bodies of glory, without passing through death.
Commentators differ on whether the verse's two halves point to two groups. One writer takes them that way:
Leslie M. GrantVerse 53 insists that it is "this corruptible" that must "put on incorruption"! That is, our present body is the one that must take on an altered condition. This no doubt refers primarily to those who have died, while "this mortal" refers to those still living, though subject to death. Putting on immortality means being clothed with what death cannot touch.
Others hold that both phrases describe the one unfit body from two angles:
J. N. DarbyI do not believe that 1 Corinthians 15:53 speaks of two classes. "This mortal" speaks of the body as joined in life to the soul. "Corruptible" is its nature when it is not kept alive. Neither state is fit for glory, where only an undying and incorruptible body belongs.
The change is not something a believer receives at death. It waits for one event:
William KellyDeath is not swallowed up in victory when a Christian dies and goes to be with Christ; but when He comes, and the dead are raised, and the living changed. What was done individually in the case of Enoch and Elijah, will be done on a grand scale at His coming. All the living saints then will be changed, and will go to be with the Lord, without passing through death.
- Must — the need is not only moral but physical. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so conversion of heart is not enough.
- This — the same body is in view. Our present body takes on a new condition; it is not swapped for another.
- Put on — the language is of clothing, not discarding. Believers long not to be unclothed by death but to be clothed with a body death cannot touch.
- Body — immortality here means not being liable to death, and it applies to the body. God alone has it in Himself; to us He gives it.
- When — at the coming of the Lord, the dead raised and the living changed. Commentators differ. Do the verse's two halves name those two groups, or describe one unfit body twice?
But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written Death has been swallowed up in victory.
This verse names a moment. It is the point where an old prophecy finally comes true. Two questions follow. When is death swallowed up? And who is covered by the words "the perishable" and "the mortal"?
The word "then" fixes an event. Commentators say it is not the moment a Christian dies. It is the moment of resurrection and change at Christ's coming. They also stress that the verse says put on, not merely put off.
William Kelly"For this perishable body must" — not merely put off corruption, but — "put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must" not merely shed this mortal life, as people say, but "put on immortality." So "when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality" — clearly the glorified state — "then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'" Death is not swallowed up in victory when a Christian dies and goes to be with Christ. It happens when He comes, when the dead are raised, and when the living are changed.
One writer separates what is better for us from what is victory for Him.
William KellyTo depart and be with Him, with the soul apart from the body, is "far better" than the present life. Yet that is not His victory. For the body it is the last experience of what sin brought in. His victory comes "when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality" — then, and not before, "shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"
The two phrases are not repetition. Commentators read them as covering believers who have died and believers still alive when Christ comes.
Leslie M. GrantVerse 53 insists that it is "this perishable body" that must "put on the imperishable"! That is, our present body is the one that must be brought into a changed condition. This no doubt refers first of all to those who have died, while "this mortal body" refers to those still living, though still subject to death. To put on immortality is to be clothed with what death cannot touch.
Why two words? Because a body can be in two states.
Truth & TestimonyA living body is mortal, subject to death. A dead body is subject to corruption.
The saying Paul quotes comes from one place only. (Older translations of Isaiah 25:8 read "in victory"; the ESV has "He will swallow up death forever.")
W. TrotterWhere is this saying written? In only one other place in Scripture. In Isaiah 25:8 you will find the passage that the apostle quotes: "He will swallow up death in victory."
In Isaiah the words stand beside Israel's deliverance. That setting fixes the timing.
William KellyThe resurrection coincides with the deliverance of Israel, which itself will be "life from the dead" for the world (Rom. 11:15). So the first open stroke at death will be at this very time... It is when His reign over the earth is to begin, not when it ends.
Does death itself then stop existing? One writer answers with a picture.
W. TrotterThe swallowing up of death in victory is not necessarily the destruction of death. Think of an enemy who has long been winning. He has laid his grim grip on the rightful subjects of some mighty prince. The prince's armies may swallow that enemy up in victory and set all his captives free — and yet the tyrant's life may be spared. He may even be spared to act as jailer to the prince's enemies. It is exactly so here. Death has held the bodies of God's beloved people in his grasp. At the coming of the Lord, the Prince of life, he will be forced to release every captive. Still death is not destroyed. For a thousand years longer it acts, so to speak, as the jailer of those unhappy ones who have lived and died in sin. They too will be raised in the resurrection of judgment, and then death itself will be destroyed.
The event is future, but the thanksgiving is not postponed.
H. L. RossierDeath itself, of course, is not yet swallowed up... But when "the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'" Then Christ's place, beyond everything that could hinder us, will be ours, even as to our bodies. Yet before these things happen, we can already say: "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
- Written — the words come from Isaiah 25:8, the only other place they appear. There they stand beside Israel's deliverance, at the start of Christ's reign.
- Then — the fulfilment waits for one moment. Not a believer's death, not the comfort of being with Christ, but resurrection and change at His coming.
- Put on — the body does not merely shed corruption. It puts on the imperishable, and death can never touch it again.
- Both — "this perishable body" covers those already in the grave, "this mortal body" those still living. Two conditions, one shared outcome.
- Not yet destroyed — Christ releases every captive, yet death survives as jailer until the end. Even now the thanks are ours through our Lord Jesus Christ.