The Redemption of our Bodies

Redemption includes our resurrection and the new creation, and the Spirit is the guarantee of the future inheritance.

Paul presents Abraham as the model of faith. God justified him apart from the works of the Mosaic Law because of his faith in the promises of God. Likewise, we are acquitted by God “through the faith of Jesus Christ,” his faithful obedience unto death, and through him, we become heirs of the covenant promises– (Romans 3:21-24, 4:10-13, Galatians 2:15-21, 3:5-9).

Through his sacrificial death, Jesus reversed the sentence that condemned all men to death. We remain mortal and continue to die, but God will raise us from the dead on the Last Day. The gift of the Spirit is our assurance of this.

• “Since the children are partners in flesh and blood, he also himself, in like manner, partook of the same; that through death he might bring nullify him who had the tyranny of death, that is, the Devil, and might deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lifetime” – (Hebrews 2:14-15).

• “But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one man the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, superabound to the many” – (Romans 5:15).

[Photo by Preston Browning on Unsplash]

Fundamental to the biblical promise of salvation is redemption, the recovery of that which has been lost. The redemptive acts of God will culminate in our bodily resurrection and the arrival of the new heavens and new earth upon the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus – (See 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, 2 Peter 3:10-13):

• “Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and that he may send the Christ who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heavens must receive until the times of the RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS, of which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” – (Acts 3:19-21. Compare Isaiah 40:3-5, Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 17:11-12, Mark 9:11-13).

• “In whom (Christ) you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the acquisition, for his glorious praise” – (Ephesians 1:13-14).

In the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul declares that there is “now no condemnation” of any man or woman 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 death.” The death and resurrection of the Son of God liberated us from bondage to sin and death, and now graciously provides us with abundant life – (Romans 8:1-2).

The disobedience of Adam condemned humanity, indeed, the entire universe, to decay and death. Nevertheless, “much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus, superabound to the many” – (Romans 5:15).

Paul connects salvation to the resurrection of the dead that will occur when Christ next appears. This is a forward-looking faith. Everlasting life is part of our inheritance, and we will receive the complete fulfilment of the covenant promise when God raises the righteous dead, transforms our mortal bodies, and ushers in the New Creation:

• “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 ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” - (Romans 8:3-6).

• “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 BECAME A LIVING SOUL. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” - (1 Corinthians 15:42-45. Note the allusion to Genesis 2:7).

In Romans 8:3-6, “flesh” refers to man in his mortal and sin-dominated state, a life-orientation that prefers death. In contrast, the Spirit of God prefers life, indeed, life is the result of the work and presence of the Spirit in our lives. Where the Holy Spirit is, life naturally flows. Life is the essence of God’s Spirit (Genesis 2:7, Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 3:6 [“But the Spirit gives life”]). Intentionally or not, Paul’s statement echoes a saying of Jesus:

• “It is the spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life” – (John 6:63).

Mortality and the enslavement of humanity to sin and death are the results of Adam’s transgression and disobedience, as well as our own sins. Adam was an embodied creature before he disobeyed the commandment of God. It was not his physicality that placed him under the sentence of death, but his sin. The defect was not in what God created. The fault was in Adam’s decision to disobey the commandment of God:

• “So then, God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul” – (Genesis 2:7. Compare Genesis 1:31 [“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good”]).

Paul’s discussion about flesh and spirit contrasts our former Adamic life in sin with the new life in Christ that frees us from sin’s tyranny, a life that is dominated by the Holy Spirit. The contrast is between the old nature “in Adam” and the new life “in Christ.” In either case, we remain embodied beings.

Paul is not describing two “natures” that reside within us that are locked in mortal combat. He is referring to our past life “in the flesh,” that of the Adamic man, and the new life “in the Spirit” provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is the Spirit that empowers us to live righteous lives.

• “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 who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you, he that raised Christ Jesus from the dead will quicken even your death-doomed bodies through his indwelling Spirit” - (Romans 8:9-11).

We have our new lives in the Spirit if God’s Spirit is living and working in us. But if any man does not have his Spirit, that man does not belong to Christ or God. It is the Spirit that equips us to walk uprightly despite our mortality. It is the Spirit that changes us daily into the image of Christ. And it is the same Spirit that will raise us from the dead on the Last Day - (Galatians 5:13-18).

Though our present bodies continue to decay and die because of sin, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and now dwells in us will resurrect us on the Last Day, and this will mean the arrival of the new heavens and new earth.

REVEALING HIS SONS

Paul brings the resurrection into the conversation in chapter 8 of Romans. His concept of salvation includes the bodily resurrection of the saints. Our redemption will remain incomplete until we are raised from the dead. Salvation must include the redemption of the human body. When Christ returns, his followers will not discard their mortal bodies but exchange them for immortal bodies:

• “Beloved, now we are children of God. And what we will be is not yet manifested. We know that, if he is manifested, we will be like him, for we will see him even as he is” - (1 John 3:2).

• “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all 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” - (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

The entire man created by God was condemned to bondage and death, body, soul, and spirit. Therefore, if God is to recover all that was lost, His redemptive act must include the human body. Likewise, the creation must be redeemed; otherwise, redemption becomes an empty promise, and our faith is in vain.

• “And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the arrival [Greek, ‘Parousia’] of our Lord Jesus Christ” – (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

• “But, according to his promise, we look for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:13. Compare Isaiah 65:17).

• “And I saw a NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH, for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more” - (Revelation 21:1).

Though we have been declared righteous through the faith of Jesus, the receipt of our completed salvation is not a foregone conclusion. Until Christ returns, we must not live according to the flesh. If we do, apostasy and eternal loss become real possibilities - (Romans 3:21-22, 8:12-14).

If we live after the “flesh,” we will die. “But if by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the flesh, we will attain life.” We who are “led by God’s Spirit are His sons” - (Romans 8:15-20).

The Spirit of God “bears witness with our spirit that we are His children.” We are “heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.” However, to be his coheir entails suffering in this life for his sake so we also may be “glorified” with him. Moreover, the creation itself has been subjected “to vanity” - to death and decay - because of the disobedience of Adam. Accordingly, all creation now suffers until the present hour.

However, the universe is “ardently awaiting the revelation of the sons of God.” Then 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 mean nothing less than a new creation, the promised “New Heavens and Earth” - (Romans 8:21-23, 2 Peter 3:10-13).

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

We who are declared righteous in Jesus receive the Spirit of God, which is the “earnest of our inheritance.” If we continue to live accordingly, we will receive salvation and everlasting life when Jesus arrives and raises us from the dead.

• “For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself” – (Philippians 3:20-21).

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Coheirs with Jesus - (The covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, the heir of the Patriarch, including the possession of the Earth – Romans 8:1-30)

• The Earnest of the Inheritance - (Christians become heirs of Abraham through Christ, and the gift of the Spirit is our assurance of participating in the full salvation to come)

• The Spirit of Promise - (The gift of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham that God promised to bestow on His people through His Messiah)

• Cohéritiers de Jésus - (L'alliance avec Abraham est accomplie en Jésus, y compris la possession de la Terre, le don de l'Esprit et notre Résurrection - Romains 8: 1-30)