1 Corinthians 15:50

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

Verse 49 Read Chapter 15 Verse 51

Ambrosiaster

AD 400

By “flesh” Paul means disobedience, and by “blood” he means an evil and wicked life. Not only will neither of these things inherit eternal life; both must be put under control in this life. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

< 1 min1/11

Go to Commentary

Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

There will then be such a common accord between flesh and Spirit—the Spirit quickening the servant flesh without any need of sustenance from it. There will be no further conflict within ourselves. And just as there will be no more external enemies to bear with, so neither shall we have to bear with ourselves as enemies within.

< 1 min2/11

Go to Commentary

Clement Of Alexandria

AD 215

"For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit in corruption.". "Hoc autem dico, fratres, quod caro et sangnis regnum Dei non possunt possidere, neque corruptio possidet in corruptionem."

< 1 min3/11

Go to Commentary

Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

And they assert that this very great error prevailed among his disciples, that they imagined he had risen in a mundane body, not knowing that "flesh. Among the other . But if they cast out the Spirit, and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than of the Spirit, then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, "That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; ". Then, again, as the wild olive, if it be not grafted in, remains useless to its lord because of its woody quality, and is cut down as a tree bearing no fruit, and cast into the fire; so also man, if he does not receive through faith the engrafting of the Spirit, remains in his old condition, and being

1 min4/11

Go to Commentary

Isaac of Syria

AD 700

By “incorruption” he means the knowledge of that other world, and by “corruption” and “flesh and blood” he designates the corrupting passions of both the soul and the body, the realm of whose motions is in the “mind of the flesh.” … And by the “kingdom of God” he means the lofty, noetic theoria of the blessed intuitions of that eternal effulgence, into which the holy soul is permitted to enter only by means of the incorruptible intuitions that are exalted above corruption, flesh and blood.

< 1 min5/11

Go to Commentary

Jerome

AD 420

Let us by no means scorn the flesh, but let us reject its works. Let us not despise the body that will reign in heaven with Christ. “Flesh and blood can obtain no part in the kingdom of God.” This does not refer to flesh and blood as such but to the works of the flesh.

< 1 min6/11

Go to Commentary

John Chrysostom

AD 407

By “flesh” Paul here means willful evil deeds. The body by itself is not the obstacle; rather it is because of our wickedness that we cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

< 1 min7/11

Go to Commentary

John Chrysostom

AD 407

Do you see how he explains himself again, relieving us of the trouble? Which he often does: for by flesh he here denotes men's evil deeds, which he has done also elsewhere; as when he says, But you are not in the flesh: and again, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8-9 So that when he says, Now this I say, he means nothing else than this: therefore said I these things that you may learn that evil deeds conduct not to a kingdom. Thus from the resurrection he straightway introduced also the doctrine of the kingdom also; wherefore also he adds, neither does corruption inherit incorruption, i.e., neither shall wickedness inherit that glory and the enjoyment of the things incorruptible. For in many other places he calls wickedness by this name, saying, He that sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. Galatians 6:8 Now if he were speaking of the body and not of evil doing, he would not have said corruption. For he nowhere calls the body corruption, ... Read More

1 min8/11

Go to Commentary

Methodius of Olympus

AD 311

For He truly was made man, and died, and not in mere appearance, but that He might truly be shown to be the first begotten from the dead, changing the earthy into the heavenly, and the mortal into the immortal. When, then, Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit in corruption.". a man not far removed either from the times or from the virtues of the apostles, says that that which is mortal is inherited, but that life inherits; and that flesh dies, but that the kingdom of heaven lives. When then, Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven"

1 min9/11

Go to Commentary

Severian of Gabala

AD 425

Heretics get really mixed up about this. Paul did not say that flesh and blood would not rise from the dead but that they cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What this means is that the earthly flesh and blood which we now have is perishable, but it will be clothed with immortality, and in that state we shall enter the kingdom. .

< 1 min10/11

Go to Commentary

Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220

For what are this next words? "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.". there is to be no flesh, how then shall it put on in corruption and immortality? Having then become something else by its change, it will obtain the kingdom of God, no longer the (old) flesh and blood, but the body which God shall have given it. Rightly then does the apostle declare, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; ". (since this substance enters not the kingdom of Gods. -he shows that when he wrote the words, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". But "flesh and blood "you say, "cannot inherit the kingdom of God.". "connects what follows with the preceding words) "that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". they will rise again for the judgment, because they rise not for the kingdom. Again, I will say, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; ". Otherwise, if they say that you are not in Christ, let them also say t... Read More

1 min11/11

Go to Commentary