The redemption of the body (remember that the Spirit of God dwells in our physical body—I Corinthians 6:13-19) has not been pointed to as the climax of the maintenance of victorious faith in Christ.

It appears the redemption of our body (when it is given any thought at all) is regarded by the churches as being an external event over which we have little or no control, such as the planet Earth slowing down and finally falling into the sun.

Such inevitability is not the case at all. Physical death is not a "natural" state of man although Satan would enjoy having us think so.

Physical death is a major part of the original curse on mankind and is the perpetual, direct, and certain consequence of sin and rebellion.

Death, physical and spiritual, is an enemy that is to be destroyed on the basis of Jesus' finished work on Calvary. Physical death shall be destroyed as soon as the faith and holiness of the Body of Christ reach the required level (in association with the return of Christ to the earth).

Neither spiritual nor physical death are "natural" states of being. Death is the product of the work of the enemies of God and man. Death (separation from the eternal Life of God) was destroyed legally on the cross of Calvary and is destroyed actually as the Spirit of Christ works through the joyous obedience and faith of the members of His Body.

Begin to get in your personality a spirit and attitude of war, of faith, of courage, of casting out the devil, that our mighty Christ maintains toward death—the archenemy of mankind.

May we add that we do not support those who allow themselves to be deceived to the point where they claim to have redeemed bodies now. Even to suggest such a thing is to be deluded and snared. Anyone who thinks he possesses a redeemed body now can prove it easily by passing through the wall of a house or by flying through the air.

It is equally a snare and a delusion to relegate the redemption of the body of the saint to an external event that will include all believers regardless of their state of spiritual maturity—an event unrelated to the maturing faith of the victorious saints.

An increase in available glory. The writer subscribes to the teaching of I Thessalonians 4:15-17 and to everything else the Apostle Paul wrote. We know the Lord Jesus will descend from Heaven with the shout of war. We know the dead in Christ will rise and the purified remnant left on the earth will be transformed into immortality and caught away in clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

We know this event will take place literally at the coming of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is warning us that many church members of today are not prepared spiritually for the coming of Christ. They are not living victoriously in Christ. They will not be entrusted with roles of responsibility and power in the Kingdom Age that is near at hand. They will not receive a glorified body.

To be continued.