📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 15:26
What does 1 Corinthians 15:26 mean?
"The last enemy that will be abolished is death."
— 1 Corinthians 15:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?
Explanation
1 Corinthians 15:26 states simply that death, among all the enemies that oppose God's purposes, will be the final one to be destroyed. In plain language, Paul is saying that death is not a permanent or neutral part of reality—it is an enemy, a hostile force opposed to life and to God's good intentions for creation—and that this enemy's defeat is certain, though it comes last in the sequence of God's redemptive work.
To understand the context, this verse sits within Paul's extended argument in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, a congregation that included some members who were doubting or denying the future bodily resurrection of believers, likely influenced by Greek philosophical ideas that viewed the body as unimportant or even something to escape. Paul responds by first establishing that Christ himself was raised bodily from the dead (verses 1-11), then arguing that if Christ was raised, believers will be raised too (verses 12-23). Verse 26 falls within a passage (verses 20-28) describing the order of end-time events: Christ's resurrection as the "firstfruits," then the resurrection of those who belong to Christ at his coming, then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every ruling power, authority, and force that opposes him—death being named as the last of these.
Theologically, this verse makes several important points. First, it identifies death as an enemy, not as a natural friend or a neutral part of the created order. This aligns with the broader biblical narrative
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