I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body

Romans 8:11 speaks about a key doctrine of Christianity: the resurrection of the body. The ancient Apostles’ Creed ends like this: “I believe . . . in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” The more recent fourth-century Nicene Creed makes a similar declaration: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

Salvation comes in installments. Now we are saved in our spirits, and our eyes are opened. We love and serve God. We delight in his word and in praying to God. But we do not yet have salvation in its fullness. There will be a time when we receive fullness of salvation accomplished by Christ through his death on the cross. The resurrection of the dead is our future salvation.

In Romans 8:9-11, Paul argues that the indwelling Holy Spirit is the essential difference between a pagan and a believer in Jesus Christ. In verses 9 and 10 Paul looked at the Christian’s past sinful life and his present Spirit-controlled life. In verse 11, Paul speaks about our future life of the fullness of salvation.

All orthodox Christians confess: “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” This is our certain hope, a hope that will not make us ashamed. We therefore rejoice in hope of the glory of God, though we experience sufferings in this life. Our present sufferings, Paul says, are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

The Platonists, Pythagoreans, Gnostics, and Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body. To them, the physical body was a prison for the soul. They were only too glad to be set free from the body at death. But not so for Christians. To them, matter was created by God, so matter is good. Therefore, although sin still dwells in our bodies, God has a glorious plan to resurrect and glorify our physical bodies.

Christians alone are saved from God’s wrath. They alone are born of God and enjoy eternal life, which Jesus alone gives. So Christians alone can have hope as they live in this world. They enjoy freedom to think God’s thoughts and do God’s will. They alone can submit to God’s law and please him.

Adam was once the head and representative of all men, but no longer. Jesus Christ is now the head and representative of those who trust in him. In Adam, we sinned and therefore we died. But now in Christ we are justified and therefore we live. We live spiritually now, and in the future we will live eternally in our glorious, physical bodies. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us guarantees our future bodily resurrection.

Consider this: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are in us, and we are in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yet we are told that our bodies are dead and mortal (Rom. 8:10-11). Our bodies must die because of sin (i.e., the sin of Adam). But our spirits are alive because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us.

In Adam, we experienced total death of spirit and body. In Christ, we experience total life of spirit and body. Yet we do not now experience our salvation in Christ in all its fullness. Our bodies must die, and they will. Yet when Christ returns, they will be made alive by the power of the triune God. Then our spirits will unite with our glorious resurrection bodies and we will enjoy the fullness of salvation in God’s presence forever. Believers in Christ, who are alive in their spirits through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit, will experience the death of separation of their spirits from their bodies. Yet they do not die as unbelievers. They die in the hope of the glory of God. They “sleep in Christ” until they are awakened by the shout of Christ’s command, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God. The dead in Christ will rise first with a glorious resurrection body engineered by the Holy Spirit to dwell in God’s presence forever in a new heaven and a new earth.

Unbelievers fear death all their lives. But we are set free from this fear by Christ, who destroyed death by his death on the cross in our behalf. That is why we do not grieve as pagans do when our fellow believers die. We know they shall be raised together with us.

Death is not the last word for a Christian. Christ has defeated death; it has forever been swallowed up in victory. Life alone shall reign forever for a Christian.

The Guarantee of Resurrection

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you” (v. 11, author’s translation). Here is the guarantee by God the Father that he will raise our mortal bodies. Our resurrection is sure because we are united with Jesus Christ by faith. Paul earlier states, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Rom. 3:22).

We have been united with Christ, who is life and who gives eternal life. This union is inseparable and everlasting. He is the vine, and we are the branches; he is the head, and we are members of his body; he is the foundation, and we are the building. So his life is our life, his righteousness is our righteousness, his authority is our authority, his victory is our victory, and his riches are ours. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. And because of this vital union we have with Christ, his resurrection is also our resurrection. So we read phrases like: “We died with Christ”; “We are buried with Christ”; “We are raised with Christ”; “We are even now seated with Christ”; “Our life is hid with Christ in God” (see Rom. 6:4-5; Col. 3:1-3).

Romans 8:11 declares that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. The Father will also make alive our mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in us. Christ has been raised from the dead as our representative head, our second Adam; therefore, we will also be raised from the dead because we are in Christ and Christ is in us. The indwelling Spirit is our guarantee, whose work in our behalf is the application of the fullness of redemption to us. His presence in us is the proof that we belong to Christ and are his responsibility. He saves us from all the deleterious effects of sin.

In 1 Corinthians 1:30 Paul states that Christ is our righteousness (i.e., our justification), our holiness (i.e., our sanctification), and our redemption (i.e., our glorification). We are justified; we are being sanctified; and we shall be glorified. What God begins, he completes.

Divine Promises

Consider the following divine promises and bank on them:

1) “‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’-but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also” (1 Cor. 6:13-14). Our bodies are not meant for sexual immorality but for divine service to the Lord. Paul writes, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). Therefore, if we use our bodies for immorality, we will pay for it. Our bodies are not for us to do what we want to do with them. We are to honor the Lord with our bodies. “The Lord is for the body” means that the Lord will ensure the body’s salvation, immortality, and glorification. By his power God the Father raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. God will raise us up also because we are united with Christ.

2) “We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence” (2 Cor. 4:14). Note the linkage between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of his people. Since Christ rose from the dead, we can say, “I will also be raised from the dead.” We can have this confidence because we are in Christ.

3) “For if we believe and continue to believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thess. 4:14, author’s translation). We are linked forever with Christ by faith. It is a fact of history that Jesus died and rose again. Therefore God the Father will also raise from the dead those believers who died in Christ. This is the sure hope of our resurrection. The Scripture cannot be broken. The God of truth cannot lie. He never changes; therefore, we shall be raised up from the dead because Almighty God said so.

4) “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Christ has been raised from the dead as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” What does this mean? In the Old Testament, we read that people were to bring to the priest a sheaf of the first ripe grain from the field. They did so in thanksgiving to God, recognizing that the whole harvest belongs to him. Firstfruits are the harbinger of the coming great harvest. They also reveal that the whole harvest would be like them in nature and quality. Since Christ was the first to rise from the dead with a resurrection body, Paul says he is the firstfruit, pointing to the fact of the harvest of our resurrection. We too shall be raised from the dead with a body like his. “Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to Christ.” This is speaking not about everyone but only those who belong to Christ. We belong to Christ because we possess the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). His Spirit dwells in us, and so we shall be raised up from the dead when Christ comes. We are his and he belongs to us.

5) “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). We are marked with a seal, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. We are his property and responsibility. We are bought with the highest cost, the blood of Christ, and he takes good care of his property. We are secure forever. It is his responsibility to raise us up from the dead. The seal of the Spirit guarantees our full and final salvation.

Moreover, Paul also uses the Greek word arrabôn, which is translated “deposit.”¹We read that God anointed us and “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as [arrabôn] a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 1:22; see also 2 Cor. 5:5 and Eph. 1:14). This word speaks of a deposit that guarantees the transaction; in this case, a deposit consisting in the Holy Spirit. God gives us the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our final and full salvation, that is, our resurrection from the dead. God shall make alive our mortal bodies even as he raised Jesus from the dead.

The Intermediate State

What about the intermediate stage, the time between a believer’s death and resurrection? What happens when we die? Do our souls go to sleep? Our souls do not go to sleep. Instead, we exist in conscious existence in God’s presence. Do we then go to purgatory to suffer for our sins, thus making atonement so that our spirits will be purified and prepared to enter into God’s holy heaven? No, we do not go to purgatory. (PGM) Purgatory is not found in the canon of Scriptures. It comes from books like 2 Maccabees, which is not included in the canon (see chapter one, section two of the Westminster Confession of Faith).

The Bible clearly teaches that at death we go to God and live with him in our spirit, awaiting our glorification: “[You have come] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect” (Heb. 12:23). Our spirits are made perfect the moment we die and are brought into God’s presence in the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul triumphantly writes, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). The believer is fearless in the face of death. Death is not a loss; it is gain. Paul continues, “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Phil. 1:23). To be in the presence of Christ is better by far. Paul does not fear death; in fact, he prefers it. Elsewhere he comments, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Paul prefers death to life here because to die is to go home to the Lord. God is our home. We are only pilgrims here. This is not our home.

The psalmist says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15), and John states, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Rev. 14:13). Blessed are those who die in the Lord because blessing is found in God’s presence. Jesus taught, “God is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matt. 12:32). All God’s saints who have died now live in God’s presence in their perfected spirits in joy. Jesus said to the believing thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). We look forward to going home to paradise.

The Timing of Our Resurrection

The dead in Christ shall be raised up on the last day (John 6:40, 44, 54). The living shall also be given a glorious transformed body. When is that going to be? When Christ returns. Paul says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore [comfort] each other with these words” (1 Thess. 4:16-18). If we do not know the gospel, we may speak to grieving people about psychology or sociology, saying, “It’s okay. Everything is all right.” Such worldly reassurances do not give true comfort. We can comfort people only by the gospel.

When Christ returns, we will be glorified. He will return personally, publicly, visibly, and gloriously. Throughout history, foolish people have predicted dates for Christ’s return, and some still do. But Jesus himself speaks differently: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24:36). This is the word of God; anyone who contradicts it by pretending to know when Christ will return is a false prophet and a fool.

Paul declares, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21). Do you eagerly await your heavenly Savior? In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Paul speaks about the resurrection of Christ and then our resurrection. He begins, “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” That means the body as it is now, marked by weakness and sin, cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Therefore, it must be raised up and transformed. Paul continues, “nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must [by divine necessity] clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

Our mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom. Therefore God gives us bodies fit to dwell in God’s presence. Our perishable bodies by divine decree must put on the imperishable, the immortal, the glorious, the powerful, and the spiritual. This transformation will happen in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call, when Christ comes to make us all new creations, not only in the spirit but also in the body. Our bodies will be exactly like that of Christ, dazzling and perfect. So Paul says, “[J]ust as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49). John says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Some think that Romans 8:11, which says that God will make alive our mortal bodies, is speaking about physical healing because they say healing is in the atonement. But if healing is in the atonement, then why were the Thessalonians dying? If healing is in the atonement, then we must not die. Yes, salvation for the whole man is in the atonement: “By his stripes we are healed” refers to our full salvation. But salvation is applied to us in installments. We must die, and the triune God will raise us up from the dead and transform us. Only then shall we experience the fullness of salvation. Yet even now God heals us according to his sovereign will in response to our prayers.

Moreover, we do experience suffering now. In 2 Corinthians 5 he speaks twice about groaning (vv. 2, 4). In Romans 8 he says we are groaning (v. 23), creation is groaning (v. 8:22), and even the Holy Spirit is groaning (v. 26). We are burdened and our bodies are wasting away (2 Cor. 5:8; 4:16). The first breath we take is also one of our last breaths. God has already determined how many breaths we will have. Our body is dead and mortal (Rom. 8:10-11). Go to the hospitals and old peoples’ homes. You can hear groaning.

Yet we wait in sure hope for the coming of Christ. Our resurrection must occur because it is God’s decree. Jesus declared, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again” (Luke 24:7). It was the divine decree. Again, listen to the words of Jesus: “Did not Christ have tosuffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:26). Paul writes, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). Because we are united with Christ, in one sense Jesus is not complete without us. We are his body and his bride.

So we must be raised from the dead. He who raised Jesus from the dead will raise us also because we are Christ’s. Christ will have a glorious bride; he himself makes us glorious. Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27). We are destined to shine in glory. Jesus said, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 15:43).

We believe in the resurrection of the body, for the Bible tells us so. We must comfort our grieving fellow believers with this truth. As for ourselves, we must stand firm and be unshakable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

If you are outside of Christ, you are without hope. I urge you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be united with him. Only then will you have hope of the glory of God. You must do it now, while God is speaking to you. Repent of your sins and embrace Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. Even now cross from death to life. Do not be like the rich young ruler who refused to believe in Christ and went away sorrowful. Any moment death may descend upon you and you shall die, not in Christ, but in your sins and descend into hell itself. There is no second chance after death; you must trust in Christ today.

If you profess to be in Christ, let me ask you some questions. Do you live to please God? Is God real to you? Is the Bible meaningful and nourishing to your soul? Do you pray in the Spirit? Do you bear witness to Christ without shame? Are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord? Are you hoping in the imminent second coming of Jesus? One who merely professes Christ but does not walk in his ways has no life of God in his soul. Being baptized and taking holy communion cannot save us. Church membership and singing in the choir cannot save us. Only Jesus Christ saves us. It is appointed for man once to die and then comes the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Let us examine ourselves today and make our calling and election sure, that we may live with God now and forever.

¹Arrabôn is a transliteration of the Hebrew word which appears in Genesis 38:17, 18, 20.