Death At Salvation Is Literal

There is a teaching that the Lord recently led me to revisit. It is just like our God to deepen the things He has previously revealed.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The concept that our bodies belong to God has indeed been relentlessly reiterated in this ministry. The indwelling Holy Spirit has taken possession of our vessels, and declared them

as His. However, let us take a deeper look into the reason the Lord has done so.

Colossians 2:10-12

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

PUT OFF - Remove, lay aside.

The scripture above informs us that we have put off or removed the body of sin. In the beginning God made man a living soul. The body was created to house that soul. However,

at the fall of man, sin entered and defiled the flesh, transforming it to what is now known as the body of sin. At salvation, however, we have put off this body of sin. If the soul then has put off the flesh, then the two must have been separated.

James 2:26

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

If the soul has indeed put off the body of sin at salvation, this is a clear indication that a

graveyard death (though momentary) not only occurred but was necessary for the saving of

our souls.

Yes, we indeed experienced death at salvation, however, we did not really pause and consider what this meant.

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

At death there is a judgement that every soul must face. If you die in sin the judgement upon the soul is hell, however, if you die righteously, heaven. At the point of salvation we were

sinners. Therefore, there had to be a righteousness that we could present to God that would cause us to be forgiven of our sins, and judged worthy of heaven.

Romans 4:5

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

The answer is belief. Belief is the righteousness of those who are not born again. Our belief in the gospel at salvation is the righteousness we presented to God.

Romans 4:3, 6-8

3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

The fact that we believed the gospel caused us to die in faith at salvation, and our faith qualified us to go into the Kingdom of Heaven. However, we are still talking about salvation? Did the

soul literally go into heaven?

Ephesians 2:4-6

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

After the soul was removed from the body it entered into the heavenly place - Jesus Christ. Now heaven is our dwelling

place as Paul has stated;

Philippians 3:20

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now that the soul is saved and dwelling in heaven, what now of the body? The soul has transcended into heavenly places and has left it behind. It is vacant and lifeless and without identity. Let me pause for a moment and remind us that the soul is the life of the flesh. The body belonged to the soul, and was given expression by the presence of the soul in it. Therefore, when the soul is removed from the flesh at salvation and placed in the Spirit, the body therefore lost its previous owner.

It is the vacant, ownerless body that God in turn chose to be His temple, by entering it Himself. We left the body behind however, God took it as His own. Therefore, now that we are saved, the body in no sense belongs to us, because in order to become saved we had to deny the flesh altogether (Matthew 16:24).

John 17:24

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus always knew that He would come and live in the bodies of those who believe. However, His desire was that we would be with Him in the bodies that are now His. He carried our souls

with Him into the flesh that once belonged to us. He once placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden to care for it and live in it. However, in the middle of the garden He placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil which they were not even to touch. His commandment to them was;

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Now at salvation Christ has brought us into a body that was once ours but is now His, and His commandment to us is;

Romans 8:13

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

We are with Christ in His flesh, however, we are not to live after the flesh. Our bodies belong to God and are for His glory. Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are His.