The Redemption of our Bodies

Paul links the bodily resurrection of believers to the New Creation. Both events are part of the redemption achieved by Jesus – Romans 8:1-23.

There is “now no condemnation” for anyone who is “in Christ Jesus.” This happy condition exists because the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death,” and the Apostle Paul goes on to link our salvation to the inheritance we have together with Jesus, the liberation of the creation, and the “redemption of our body” - (Romans 8:23).

The transgression of the first man, Adam, condemned humanity and the creation to bondage and death. Nevertheless, “much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus, abound to the many.” God provided a gracious solution to the plight of mankind through the Death and Resurrection of His Son.

[Wild Flowers - Photo by Townsend Walton on Unsplash]

The Apostle connects salvation to our future resurrection. Everlasting life and immortality are the inheritance we will receive fully when God raises His redeemed children from the dead and transforms living saints when Jesus next appears. Until that moment, the Holy Spirit empowers us to conduct our lives according to the will of God:

• “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” - (Romans 8:1-4, Compare 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

The term “flesh” refers to man in his mortal state. “Flesh” describes a life-orientation that “prefers death, but the Spirit prefers life and peace.” This “fleshly man” that we all have is the product of Adam’s disobedience. If we do not have the Spirit of God and walk accordingly, we live “after the flesh.” Nor can we do otherwise without God’s empowering Spirit. To be “in the flesh” is equivalent to being “in Adam.” The flesh remains hostile to God since:

• “To the law of God, it does not submit itself, neither can it. They who in flesh have their being cannot please God.” To be “in the flesh” is equivalent to being “in Adam” - (Romans 5:18-19).

The discussion about “flesh” and “spirit” contrasts our former life under sin with the new life free from its dominion because of the redemption provided by the sacrificial death of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit. The contrast is not between the physical and the nonphysical aspects of this life, but between our former nature “in Adam” and our new life “in Christ.”

In Romans Chapter 8, Paul describes our past life “in the flesh” of the Adamic man under the dominion of sin and our life of liberty empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Gift of the Spirit Jesus has bestowed on us:

• “But you have not your being in flesh but in spirit, if, at least, God’s Spirit is dwelling in you. And if anyone has not Christ’s Spirit, the same is not his. But if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. If, moreover, the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from among the dead is dwelling in you, he that raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will make alive even your death-doomed bodies through the means of his indwelling Spirit within you” - (Romans 8:9-11).

We have our lives “in the Spirit” if God’s Spirit dwells in us, or at least, if we live according to the Spirit and no longer after the flesh. However, if anyone does not have His Spirit, “that man is not His.” It is the Spirit that equips us to keep the righteous requirements of the Law.

Our present body is “dead because of sin,” but the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in us, and therefore, the Spirit will resurrect us on the Last Day - (Galatians 5:13-18, Romans 8:4).

BODILY RESURRECTION

Paul then introduces the resurrection directly into the conversation. Critical to his concept of salvation is the bodily resurrection of the saints. Our final redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead, which, by necessity and logic, includes the redemption of our body. We will not simply discard our mortal bodies, but Jesus will replace them with immortal bodies when he returns and raises us from the dead.

The entire man that God created was condemned to bondage - body, soul, and spirit - and not just Adam’s soul or inner self. Therefore, if God is to recover all that was lost and enslaved by sin, as well as attain complete victory over all His enemies, redemption must include our bodies.

• “For Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death <…> We all will not sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality.  But when this corruptible has put on incorruptibility, and this mortal has put on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” – (1 Corinthians 15:25-26, 51-53).

Likewise, the creation that was condemned to corruption and death by Adam’s disobedience must be rescued from bondage, otherwise, “redemption” will not take place, or at least, it will remain incomplete. Therefore, the present creation order will be replaced by the “New Heavens and New Earth where righteousness dwells,” and this will occur at the ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” of Jesus on the “Day of the Lord” – (2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1).

Though we have been declared righteous “through the faith of Jesus” and acquitted from the deserved penalties of our sins, our receipt of final salvation is not a foregone conclusion. In the interim until Christ’s return, we must not live “after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Apostasy remains a distinct possibility - (Romans 3:21-22, 8:12-14, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, 1 Timothy 4:1).

If we live after the flesh, we will die and never rise again. “But if by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the flesh, we will attain life.” The Spirit of God in us “bears witness with our spirit that we are His children,” and this means we are “heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.” But to be his joint-heir means suffering in this life for his sake so that we also may be “glorified” with him - (Romans 8:15-20).

The creation itself has been subjected “to vanity” - to death and decay - because of the disobedience of Adam. However, the creation is “eagerly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God <.> the redemption of our bodies.” When Christ appears, we will be changed into his likeness:

• “For I account that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed to us, for the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God” – (Romans 8:18).

• “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we will be. We know that, if he will be manifested, we will be like him, for we will see him even as he is” – (1 John 3:3).

• “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” – (1 Corinthians 15:42-45).

When we are raised from the dead and “revealed” for all to see, the “creation itself will be freed from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.” That day will result in the New Creation - (Romans 8:21-23).

The redemption of the creation is dependent on the resurrection of the “sons of God.” The promises of bodily resurrection and the New Creation are inextricably linked according to the Apostle Paul.

We who are declared righteous in Jesus receive the Spirit of God, and if we continue to live accordingly, we will receive our final salvation and everlasting life when Jesus arrives, raises us from the dead, and ushers in the “New Heavens and the New Earth.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Our Resurrection and Salvation - (Salvation includes the resurrection of believers and the New Creation, both of which will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven)

• Completion and Resurrection - (Paul expresses his goal of going on to completion, a process that will culminate in bodily resurrection when Jesus arrives in glory)

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Jesus Reversed Death - (Paul reminded Timothy of the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death since false teachers were denying the future resurrection of believers)