THE SALVATION OF THE BODY PART II

The Lord Jesus came into the earth, not in sinful flesh, but in righteous flesh. He walked holy and righteous all the days of his life. By these things He was qualified both to die for the sins of the world and to be resurrected afterwards.

Hebrews 2:14

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil;

Jesus, through death, purchased the right to the flesh of mankind. When the devil had attained this right, he entered in through man’s unbelief and rejection of the Word of God. He forcefully took over the body, soul, and spirit of mankind.

However, our Lord is not like the devil. Though He had power and authority to enter anyone He so desired, it was the will of God that He would only enter those who would believe in Him. If a soul would believe in Him to the saving of the soul, hating this present world, He would pour His eternal life into that vessel claiming it as His own.

John 17:2

As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to

as many as thou hast given him.

We have often limited the salvation plan to the sanctification of the soul. We thought the soul to be the only recipient of the grace of God. Indeed, the soul now dwells in the Spirit of God through salvation. Let us consider what the scripture is actually saying.

Jesus has been given power over all flesh, allowing Him to place eternal life (His Holy Spirit) inside of any flesh He so desires. However, He would only enter those whom God had selected for Him from eternity (as many as thou hast given Him). These are they who would hear the gospel and believe.

Psalm 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

God from eternity had already selected the members who belonged to Christ. These members refer not only to the souls but also the bodies these souls were in. Nevertheless, God chose those individuals (body and soul) to be one with His Christ.

Now this prophecy has been fulfilled.

1 Corinthians 6:15

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

In the revelation of grace, we understand that the body of the new creature was to be preserved blameless just as the soul and spirit. We have often presumptuously said, the body is going back to the dust, and we sort of left it in the dust, while the soul is destined to spend eternity with God. There is no scripture to corroborate that. But that was an error on our part. Instead, we have the following truths:

The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:35-41

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

The Body enters Eternal Life

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

The human body is corruptible in the grave, but is raised out of the grave Incorruptible.

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

It goes into the grave in dishonour, but it is raised out of the grave in glory.

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a

natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

When Jesus came to the earth, He took on the seed of Abraham. What was the seed of Abraham? It was His human body. This was the only thing that established His kinsmanship to mankind. That body was the only infirmity He had. Nevertheless, it could not die until the Spirit of God departed.

The sons of God have taken on the body of Christ, which along with the Holy Ghost, establishes our kinsmanship to Him. His body is the new man in which we now live with Christ in God. It is righteous and holy. It is the Temple of God, the seed of Christ in the earth. Matthew 19:28 notes that on the day of judgment, the sons of God will have experienced a transfiguration into their celestial Bodies.

Matthew 19:28

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the

regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon

twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The body of the believer is a natural body, it is of the earth, thus earthy. However, if an individual (with the Holy Ghost) preserves his body blameless (does not usurp authority over the Spirit of Grace to bring the body into sin), his body will be raised a spiritual body, equal to the immortality of his soul.

Romans 8:22-23

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we

ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The point the Spirit seeks to make here is that the body is an important element in our salvation. Your individual body is the body of Christ. The Father and the Son live in it, in the personage of the Holy Ghost. All the bodies of those who received Christ, belong to Christ. It is your earthen body that will be changed into a new immortal and incorruptible body. Dead or alive, the body will be changed to that of celestial flesh.

The death of our flesh is not the same as the death of an unbeliever. First of all, from the day you received Christ, your body is unable to die as long as the Spirit of Life (the Holy Ghost) lives in it.

Furthermore, the sons of God will never die, their souls go to be with the Lord, while their bodies sleep in the earth; waiting for the resurrection of the righteous (the dead in Christ).