Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (1 Corinthians 15:33 KJV)
Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals. (1 Corinthians 15:33 ASV)
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (1 Corinthians 15:33 DBY)
Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 WEB)
Be not led astray; evil communications corrupt good manners; (1 Corinthians 15:33 YLT)
Interlinear
Be <planao> not <me> deceived: <planao> evil <kakos> communications <homilia> corrupt <phtheiro> good <chrestos> manners. <ethos> (1 Corinthians 15:33 KJV)
COMMENTARY
In an epistle Paul sent to the people of Corinth, he thought it worthy to address a very important matter respecting the resurrection. The matter was that some of the Christians at Corinth doubted the resurrection of the dead and said there was no resurrection of the dead (1Co 15:12). Paul exhausted some time to refute their teachings and their unbelief in the resurrection of the dead. As he kept on writing, he added, Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33)
Lesson 1: Evil communication could refer to false teachings, false information, etc.
First of all, this saying of Paul ‘evil communications corrupt good manners’ written in 1 Corinthians 15:33 has become a popular saying in Christendom today. 1 Corinthians 15:33 is a piece of advice to all Christians. And today, we understand 1 Corinthians 15:33 as a piece of advice to be careful of our relationship with ungodly people. That is true indeed. However, taking the entire context of 1 Corinthians 15 into consideration, it appears that the saying evil communication corrupts good manners has a lot to add to what we have already understood.
From verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 15 downward, Paul started talking about the gospel, then he mentioned that some Christians are carrying and spreading the false information that there is no resurrection of the dead, and then he spent the rest of the chapter teaching to debunk that false information. And then as he went on teaching, he said, “Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners”
The term communications or communication is defined as information or exchange of information, or message, or conversation. Moreover, looking at the drift of the whole passage of 1 Corinthians 15, evil communication could refer to any false information, or false message, or false teaching, or ungodly conversation. Hence we could turn 1 Corinthians 15:33 as
False information or false teachings corrupt good manners (morals).
The evil communication or the false information which was the subject of discussion in 1 Corinthians 15:33 was that there is no resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of the dead is one of the pillars that hold our faith in Christ and it is the hope of every Christian.
This world has nothing better to offer Christians. Rather, through persecution, it has stained its hands with the blood of the Christian martyrs. And it has caused other Christians to suffer pain, incarceration, loss of loved ones, etc. Some Christian might not have suffered and died in persecution, but all their lives they have travailed to win lost souls for Christ, denying themselves the happiness of this life.
All these people had something in common; they willing went through suffering because they had hope that they shall resurrect someday when they die and enter an eternal life of bliss with Christ where all their works would be rewarded.
More so, the hope of the resurrection of the dead is one of the inspirations for good moral behavior among Christians. This is because Christians believe that when they do right, they shall resurrect to inherit eternal life and when they live in sin, they shall resurrect to face judgment. It is written:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29).
So the resurrection of the dead is biblical teaching and it is widely accepted in the Christendom and it is the hope of every Christian – the hope that inspires good moral behavior, suffering to death, travailing for lost souls, etc. If there is no resurrection of the dead, what incentive have we as Christians to pursue a life of holiness? Also, what incentive have we Christians to toil for the Lord? And what incentive have we as Christians to be faithful to Christ even in the midst of trials and lethal persecution? If this hope of the resurrection is ruined, we Christians would appear to be the most miserable people.
In fact that false teaching or information that there is no resurrection of the dead could have demoralized and caused the Christians of Corinth to drift away from the path of righteousness if Paul had not made a conscious effort to refute it.
So, on one side, evil communications corrupt good manners could mean that false information, false teachings, or false messages lead Christians astray.
In the days of Moses, there was a prophet called Balaam. He was hired by the Moabites to curse the Israelites so that they would perish from the face of the earth. But he could not curse them because Israel was blessed by God. But he knew that God is a jealous God and would not tolerate his people to worship idols. So he had a plan. He taught the Moabites to use sex to lure the Israelites into idolatry. And once they got the Israelites into idolatry, God Himself would bring destruction upon Israel. So the Moabites did it and it worked.
Many years later, during the later days of Apostle John, something bad was going on in the church in Ephesus that was much similar to what was happening in the church in Corinth. Some of the Christians were perpetuating some false teachings which Jesus nicknamed the doctrine of Balaam. This is because this teaching, much like that of Balaam, was intended to be a stumbling block to lead the church astray. And that is exactly what happened. The doctrine of Balaam misled some of the Christians in Ephesus to practice idolatry and fornication.
False teachings such as the doctrine of Balaam and others are evil information and therefore, they are evil communication, if they crop up in the church and they are not refuted fast, they would lead the church astray before you know. And Christians ought not to entertain false teachings or false messages or false information but should seek the truth – the teachings of the Bible are the truth.
Lesson 2: Evil communication could refer to associating with false men of God
The term communications or communication as used in 1 Corinthians 15:33 also refers to socializing or interacting with other people. Other synonyms of communication are contact, relations, association, communion, socializing, social relations, etc. In fact, the Greek word that was translated as communications is homilia. Homilia means companionship or intercourse or communications. Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 15:33, we can replace the term communications with the term association or social relations. Hence, rendering the sentence to be like this:
Evil association or evil social relations corrupt good manners
Paul was addressing a problem in 1 Corinthians 15; that is, a false teaching or a false message had cropped up in the church in Corinth that there is no resurrection of the dead. This false information, of course, was perpetrated by some of the Christians in the church. Well, we might call these perpetrators false teachers or false preachers. It stands to reason that associating yourself with these false teachers will bring a negative repercussion on your faith as a Christian.
If we take communications to mean association or socializing, it is true to deduce that the term evil communication refers to associating with pastors, preachers, or any so-called man of God who speaks messages contrary to the Bible. Therefore 1 Corinthians 15:33 – evil communications corrupt good manners – seems to exhort we Christians that associating or socializing with false men of God will lead us astray from the path of righteousness.
A long time ago, there was a certain woman who called herself a prophetess and was in the church that was in Thyatira. Her real name was not known but Jesus Christ nicknamed her Jezebel; hence, we might call her Jezebel of Thyatira. This evil woman called herself a prophetess, but she was nothing more than a heretic and apostate. And, being a member of the church, automatically, she was accepted and could relate well with every Christian in the church. But she took advantage of their acceptance and the relationship to manipulated and mislead some of the Christians with false teachings and she also lured some of the men and fornicated with them. Eventually, she was ruining the church.
The story of this woman and her deeds confirm that following, listening, and having something to do with the so-called men of God who teach contrary to the Bible could have a detrimental effect on your Christian life. For their lives is just as depraved and crooked as their teachings and their motives towards true Christians are evil to lead them away from the part of righteousness and to exploit them for their gains.
In these end times, a lot of the so-called men of God who have proliferated the churches are either just like or worse than this Jezebel of Thyatira. Christians who seek to go to heaven should be careful of them and stay away from them, their churches, their ministries, their practices, and their teachings. This is because by associating with them, you are in evil communication.
Lesson 3: Evil communication could refer to being in a relationship with anyone or anything that can demoralize you.
By and large, evil communication refers to being in associating with any bad person, group, organization, etc. that can demoralize you, or lead you astray, or have a negative influence on your Christian life. Evil communication has no boundary; your father, mother, siblings, cousins, friends, neighbors, etc. can prove to evil communication.
During the days of Jesus, there lived a king called Herod Antipas. He managed to snatch his brother’s wife, Herodias, from him and married her whiles his brother was still alive. A prophet called John the Baptist dared to condemn their marriage. John was arrested and imprisoned for that. Herodias hated John the Baptist to the extent that putting him in jail was not enough; she wanted him dead. One day Herod threw a party on his birthday. At the party, the daughter of Herodias came to dance and it pleased Herod Antipas so much that he promised in the hearing of all his guests that he would give her whatever she would request as a reward. The girl turned to her mother for ideas on what she should request. And her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. And she did. Herod Antipas had John beheaded and his head was brought on a platter to the girl who also took it to her mother Herodias. Now the three of them, Herod, Herodias, and Herodias’ daughter are guilty of the death of John the Baptist.
But I want you to take note that this girl, Herodias’ daughter, was misled into this woeful sin of killing by her mother. In other words, Herodias influenced her daughter to stain her hands with the blood of John the Baptist. If you are in a relationship with anyone who influences you to sin, you are in evil communication.