John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:45

"So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit." — 1 Corinthians 15:45 (ASV)

As it is written, The first Adam was made. So that it would not seem to be some new contrivance concerning the animal body, he quotes Scripture, which declares that Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7)—meaning, that his body was made alive by the soul, so that he became a living man.

The question is asked, what is the meaning of the word soul here? It is well known that the Hebrew word נפש (nephesh), which Moses uses, is used in a variety of senses; but in this passage, it means either vital motion or the very essence of life itself.

The second of these I rather prefer. I observe that the same thing is affirmed concerning beasts—that they were made a living soul (Genesis 1:20, 24), but as the soul of every animal must be judged according to its kind, there is nothing to hinder that a soul, that is to say, vital motion, may be common to all; and yet at the same time, the soul of man may have something peculiar and distinguishing: namely, immortal essence, as the light of intelligence and reason.

The last Adam. This expression we do not find anywhere written. Therefore, the phrase It is written must be understood as referring exclusively to the first clause. But after bringing forward this testimony of Scripture, the Apostle now begins himself to draw a contrast between Christ and Adam.

“Moses relates that Adam was furnished with a living soul; Christ, on the other hand, is endowed with a life-giving Spirit. Now it is a much greater thing to be life, or the source of life, than simply to live.”

It must be observed, however, that Christ also, like us, became a living soul. But, besides the soul, the Spirit of the Lord was also poured out on him, so that by his power he might rise again from the dead and raise up others. This, therefore, must be observed, so that no one may imagine (as Apollinaris did of old) that the Spirit was in Christ instead of a soul.

Moreover, the interpretation of this passage can also be drawn from the eighth chapter of Romans, where the Apostle declares that the body, indeed, is dead on account of sin, and we carry in us the elements of death; but that the Spirit of Christ, who raised him up from the dead, dwells also in us, and that he is life, to also raise us up one day from the dead (Romans 8:10–11).

From this you see that we have living souls, inasmuch as we are men, but that we have the life-giving Spirit of Christ poured out on us by the grace of regeneration. In short, Paul’s meaning is that the condition we obtain through Christ is greatly superior to the lot of the first man, because a living soul was conferred on Adam in his own name and in that of his posterity, but Christ has procured for us the Spirit, who is life.

Now, concerning why he calls Christ the last Adam, the reason is this: that as the human race was created in the first man, so it is renewed in Christ. I will express it again, and more distinctly: All men were created in the first man, because whatever God designed to give to all, he conferred on that one man, so that the condition of mankind was settled in his person.

He by his fall ruined himself and those who were his, because he drew them all, along with himself, into the same ruin. Christ came to restore our nature from ruin and raise it up to a better condition than ever. They are, then, as it were, two sources, or two roots of the human race. Therefore, it is not without good reason that the one is called the first man, and the other the last. This, however, gives no support to those madmen who make Christ to be one of ourselves, as if there were and always had been only two men, and that this multitude that we see were a mere phantom! A similar comparison occurs in Romans 5:12.