1 Corinthians 15:44-46

1Co 15:44 It is planted a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body. If what is planted is soulish, what is raised is spiritual.
1Co 15:45 Scripture puts it this way, “the first man, Adam, turned into a living soul”; the last Adam turned into a life-making spirit.
1Co 15:46 But the spiritual does not come first, the soulish does; the spiritual comes next.

soul and spirit and resurrection

Paul is still arguing for the necessity of a resurrection. It seems that in Corinth there are some leaders who are promoting a theological mixed bag when it comes to human nature. They have infused elements of the Greek philosophical doctrine of human immortality with the Christian teaching of resurrection. They appear to teach both. Thus, they are saying that humanity presently consists of a mortal soul and an immortal spirit at the same time. The soulish part dies, but the spirit lives on. With that understanding, it is easy to see how they can conclude that a physical resurrection is unnecessary.

Paul says no. He concedes that there is a distinction, but it has to do with the whole human being, not parts. Our whole being is soulish, and we inherited it from Adam. When Adam sinned, he became completely mortal, and so did all of us. That is why we die. The good news is that when Christ overcame sin and death, he became a life making spirit. So, we have the potential for immortality, because he has planned a resurrection for us as well.

But Paul reminds the Corinthians that there is an order to the events. That means that until our turn — our resurrection day — we still suffer the consequences of our relationship to the first Adam. One of those consequences is mortality. That is why we need the resurrection.

LORD, thank you for raising Christ, and giving us the hope of eternal resurrection life when our life-maker returns.