Saved from Bodily Corruption to Bodily Incorruption

Two bodies are involved in the resurrection from the dead. The first body is the one we have now. It will be made alive by the Holy Spirit who is dwelling in us.

The second body is a house formed from the substance of eternal life. The "weight" of the house of glory depends on the degree to which we have borne in our body the sufferings of Christ (II Corinthians 4:17).

The spirits of those who attain the first resurrection, the resurrection that will take place when Christ appears in the clouds of glory, will enter their "sleeping" bodies and raise them from the grave. If they are physically alive at the time of the Lord's coming they will be changed into immortality. Then they will ascend to meet Jesus in the air.

At some point, whether before or after their mortal body is made alive (probably before), they will be clothed with their house from Heaven.

Those who are raised at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, in the second resurrection, will stand before Christ and be judged according to their works. Those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be brought forward to eternal life in the new earth. Those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

It is obvious, if one considers the first six aspects of salvation, that the kind of body we receive and when we receive it depend on the progress we have made in the Divine redemption.

We are not resurrected by grace, or by "faith," except as faith is defined as following God in stern obedience. The faith that redeems us has little to do with our agreement with doctrine. True faith is our obedience to what God has revealed to us.

The nature of our resurrection depends directly on what has taken place previously in our personality. The body we are given will reflect what we have become in Christ. This is so unlike today where our physical body is a poor indication of what we are. The ugliest, most corrupt person may be housed in a magnificent body.

It will not be so in the Kingdom. The body we are given will reflect what we are. We are "revealed" before the Judgment Seat of Christ and then we are rewarded according to our works. How just and righteous God is!

Now that we have considered the seven aspects of salvation, let us speak of how, where, when, to whom, and to what degree each of the seven is issued.

Salvation from guilt to forgiveness is given us on the basis of the shed blood of our sin-offering—Christ. When we accept the atonement made by Him our sins are laid on Him and we bear the guilt of them no longer. This takes place wherever and whenever the Gospel is preached to us.

Salvation from spiritual death to eternal life comes to us as we receive Christ. Christ is eternal Life and the only eternal Life. As we enter to a greater extent into Him, and He enters to a greater extent into us, we grow in eternal life.

To be continued.