Completing our Salvation

Central to the hope of the Apostolic Faith is the bodily resurrection of the dead. This will occur when Jesus appears at the end of the age.

The biblical faith is forward-looking. Foundational to the doctrine of salvation is the resurrection of the righteous dead. That event will also mark the arrival of the New Creation. The New Testament links the resurrection of the saints to two events. The past Resurrection of Jesus, and his arrival at the end of the age. Our salvation will remain incomplete until Christ raises us from the dead.

This foundational hope of the Church has been pushed into the background to make way for ideas alien to the Bible. This has occurred because of the importation of pagan beliefs into the Body of Christ. Popular ideas about the afterlife have more in common with Neoplatonism and Gnosticism than with the teachings of Jesus and his Apostles.

[Photo by Keenan Barber on Unsplash]

The Apostle Paul declared that if the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, the God who “raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will quicken even our death-doomed bodies.” This future “quickening” of our bodies is based on the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus - (Romans 8:9-11).

We possess “death-doomed bodies,” not because our bodies are physical, but because we are condemned to bondage, decay, and death because of sin. The transgression of Adam has subjected humanity to death and decay - to mortality.

If God is to redeem us and recover all that was lost millennia ago, our salvation must include the human body. Likewise, the creation itself was also condemned to bondage and corruption by the disobedience of Adam. It must also be redeemed.

The Spirit of God confirms that we are “coheirs” with His Son. We who belong to Jesus, therefore, will be “glorified together with him.” Just as Christ was resurrected, we will be raised from the dead and receive glorious immortal bodies. Even now, the creation is “ardently awaiting” this Day of Liberation since, like humanity, it has been subjected to “vanity” and death.

On that Last Day, the “creation itself will be freed from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.” The possession of the Spirit is the “first fruits” of the future resurrection life, therefore, we also “ardently await the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Paul is speaking about the bodily resurrection of believers and the arrival of the New Creation – (Romans 8:15-23).

RESURRECTION IS MANDATORY

In the City of Corinth, some believers denied the future resurrection. Paul responded by reminding the Corinthian believers of the Gospel he first delivered to them - “That Christ died for our sins, and was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day.”

If there is no resurrection in the future, then “even Christ has not been raised,” and if not, the Gospel is void, the Apostles of Christ lied, and we remain “dead in our sins,” without hope and “most to be pitied.” Paul explicitly links the future resurrection of believers with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ - (1 Corinthians 15:1-20).

The Resurrection of the Son of God was the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Just as death came through Adam, the “raising of the dead will come through one man, and in Christ, all will be made alive.” This will occur at the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus (παρουσια). On that day, he will consummate the Kingdom of God and subjugate all his enemies, especially, the “Last Enemy, Death.” With his glorious appearance, death itself will cease – (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

Resurrection does not mean the reanimation of our “death-doomed bodies,” nor does it mean we will live in a disembodied state. Our mortal body is “sown in corruption but will be raised in incorruption.” It will be a body fitted for life in the Spirit.

The Apostolic Tradition does not view bodily existence as incompatible with the Spirit. The difference is the kind of body one has, whether a “body of the soul” or a “body of the spirit.” Just as we now bear the “image of the Man of the Earth,” Adam, we will “bear the image of the Man of Heaven,” Jesus Christ.

When Christ “arrives,” we who remain alive will be transformed, and those who have died will be raised from the dead. All the saints, whether dead or alive, will receive “immortality…for whenever this mortal will clothe itself with immortality, then will be brought to pass the saying, Death has been swallowed up victoriously.” The Grave will not have the last word for those redeemed by Jesus – (1 Corinthians 15:50-57).

When the saints in the City of Thessalonica expressed grief over the deaths of fellow believers, Paul reminded them they were not without hope. If we “believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.”

He will descend from Heaven and the “dead in Christ will rise first.” After that, the living and the now resurrected saints together will “meet” him as he arrives from Heaven, and so, “we will be with the Lord evermore.”

As in Corinth, so in Thessalonica, Paul connected the coming resurrection to the past raising of Jesus from the dead, and his “arrival” at the end of the age. It will be a collective event. All believers will be raised and transformed when he returns.

The completion of our salvation lies in the future. When we repent, our sins are forgiven and we become “coheirs with Christ,” but the full realization of that promise will remain incomplete until the return of Jesus. On that Final Day, dead believers will be resurrected, and the saints who are still alive will be transformed. The followers of the Nazarene past and present will receive immortality, and together, we will be with Jesus forever.

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SEE ALSO:

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

• 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)

• The Day of our Lord Jesus - (Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord at which time the dead will be raised, the wicked judged, and death will cease forever)

• Notre Salut Achevé - (La résurrection corporelle des morts est au cœur de la doctrine du salut enseignée par la Foi Apostolique. La résurrection aura lieu lorsque Jésus reviendra)