1 Corinthians 15: 56 - Sting and Strength

Last night, in family scripture study, we read 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In that chapter, the following verse stuck out to me, and right now I'd like to elaborate on it.

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1 Corinthians 15: 56

The Sting of Death is Sin

Those with faith in an afterlife don't often see death as fearfully as those who think death is the end of their existence. The notable exception to this norm is those who know they have lived in sin. For those who have unresolved sins in their past, death can be a nerve-racking experience because death leads to judgement which, in their case, will likely lead to punishment - just, divine punishment. But for those who have faith in an afterlife and have lived righteously are sometimes not afraid to die, because their death also leads to judgement, which in their case will likely lead to a reward - a just, divine reward. Thus, the sting of death, the thing that makes death fearful, is usually sin.

The Strength of Sin is the Law

This part of the verse made less sense until I really thought about it. Theoretically, the laws of God justify those who obey them. But the problem is that that's much harder than it sounds. In fact, with the sole exception of Jesus Christ, no one has ever managed to be justified by the Law. Instead, the law condemns all those who have knowingly broken it, which is all of us. According to the law and justice of God, we have all sinned, so none of us are perfect, so none of us are worthy to return to live with God. Thus, the strength that our sins have to keep us out of heaven is given to them by whatever of God's laws we have broken.

But hope comes in the next verse:

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15: 57

Jesus Christ is our Savior in at least two ways. Through the Atonement, Christ paid the price of our sins so He could remove our sins from us, thus undoing the strength of sin. This also takes away the sting of death by removing the fear of Eternal punishment. He also broke the bands of death through resurrection, providing the means by which we will all be resurrected, further reducing the sting of death. Jesus Christ defeated both sin and death, and made it possible for us to do the same. Because of Jesus, we can have hope that our afterlife can be a pleasant one and that we can live with God again.