John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:25

"For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet." — 1 Corinthians 15:25 (ASV)

For he must reign. He proves that the time has not yet come when Christ will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, intending to show at the same time that the end has not yet come, when all things will be put into a right and peaceful state, because Christ has not yet subdued all his enemies.

This must happen, because the Father has placed him at his right hand on the condition that he is not to give up the authority that he has received until they have been subdued under his power.

And this is said for the comfort of the pious, so that they may not be impatient because of the long delay of the resurrection. This statement occurs in Psalm 110:1.

Paul, however, may seem to interpret the word until more subtly than its simple and natural meaning requires; for the Spirit does not in that passage indicate what will happen afterwards, but simply what must happen before. I answer that Paul does not conclude that Christ will deliver up the kingdom to the Father because it was predicted that way in the Psalm, but he has used this quotation from the Psalm to prove that the day of delivering up the kingdom had not yet arrived, because Christ still has enemies to deal with. Paul, however, explains in passing what Christ’s sitting at the right hand of the Father means, when instead of that figurative expression, he uses the simple word reign.

The last enemy — death. We see that there are still many enemies that resist Christ and stubbornly oppose his reign. But death will be the last enemy that will be destroyed. Therefore, Christ must still be the administrator of his Father’s kingdom. Believers, therefore, should take courage and not give up hope, until everything that must precede the resurrection is accomplished.

It is asked, however, in what sense he affirms that death shall be the last enemy that will be destroyed, when it has already been destroyed by Christ’s death, or at least by his resurrection, which is the victory over death and the attainment of life? I answer that it was destroyed in such a way that it is no longer deadly to believers, but not in such a way that it causes them no uneasiness.

It is true, the Spirit of God dwelling in us is life; but we still carry a mortal body with us (1 Peter 1:24). The substance of death in us will one day be drained off, but this has not happened yet. We are born again of incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), but we have not yet arrived at perfection.

Or, to summarize the matter briefly with an analogy, the sword of death, which could penetrate our very hearts, has been blunted. Nevertheless, it still wounds, but without any danger; for we die, but by dying we enter into life. In short, as Paul teaches elsewhere regarding sin (Romans 6:12), this must be our view of death—that it dwells indeed in us, but it does not reign.