Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?

Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom, then announces the mystery that not all will die but all will be changed in an instant at the last trumpet. When the perishable is clothed with imperishability and the mortal with immortality, death's victory is overturned, its sting exposed as sin empowered by the law, and thanks are given to God for victory through Jesus Christ.

N⁵⁰ow I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — ⁵²in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵“Where, O Death, is your victory? ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore Paul tells his beloved brothers to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the Lord's work, because their labor in him is not in vain.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.