Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Iesous from the dead dwell in you he
that raised up Christos from the dead shall also restore to life your mortal bodies
by his Spirit [who] dwells in you[1]
Romans 8:17
And if children then heirs, heirs of Theo and joint-heirs with Christos
if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together[1]
Romans 8:22
For we know that the whole creation groans and travails 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 bodies[1]
[1] In Romans 8:23, the redemption of the body, is a reference to the resurrection
of our physical bodies. Our souls are
redeemed when we are Born Again, but our bodies will not be redeemed until the
resurrection of the dead and the catching up of living 1 Corinthians
15:51-53, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Jesus’ resurrection was a physical one, and so
will the resurrection of believers be a physical one. When He appears, we shall
see Him as He is, for we shall be like Him 1 John 3:2.
[1] Romans 8:17 was written during a time
when Christians were violently persecuted, often with cruel and painful deaths.
It was a fearful time in Christian history. And without sugar-coating the
reality of the period, Paul encouraged followers of Christ to persevere in faith
and not lose hope in God. The apostle was not teaching a “salvation by
suffering” doctrine. Suffering may indeed accompany salvation, but it does not
produce it, and is not required in order to attain eternal life. Many have
lived and died, and are now in Heaven, without any real suffering taking place
in their lives. Verses like this one, are often used by those who teach that Christians
must go through what is known as The Great Tribulation, which will a time of unprecedented wrath and persecution Matthew
24:15-22 poured out on the enemies of God Psalm 2. Paul later
wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica that believers are not appointed to
wrath but to deliverance. Jesus said to pray that you might be found worthy to
escape that terrible time. John said the faithful will be kept from that hour
of trial which will come upon the whole earth. Those are just a few passages
that speak to the Christian concerning a time that the prophet Joel said to be
very afraid of. The time we now live in (as of the time of this writing), is
called in scripture as, the Age of Grace, the Accepted Time. But a time of
Indignation and Wrath is coming. Isaiah 26:19-20 speaks of three things, a
resurrection of the dead, a “hiding” of the living [this writer believes this
to be a reference to the rapture], and a time of great indignation and wrath.
This is a companion verse of those in 1st and 2nd
Thessalonians where Paul writes about what is commonly referred to as the rapture
and also about the havoc that will be wrought by the Man of Sin after those who
are indwelled by the Holy Spirit are “taken out of the way.” For a detailed
study of Bible Prophecy, read, Redemption:
Bible Prophecy Simplified, by this author.
[1] The Resurrection of the Just will be a physical resurrection. Jesus’ body did
not see corruption. The Seed of David was raised physically from the dead. Just
as Jesus—as the physical descendant
of David--was raised from the dead, so will believer’s bodies be physically
raised from the dead. A preview of this, can be seen when Jesus died; there was
an earthquake and graves opened. At that time, many that had been dead were
raised and went into the city and were seen and talked to by many. This was a partial
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Together with my dead body they shall rise….”
Did you find this article helpful? Link to this post
or share with your connections on social media
Questions and comments are welcome
