Paul is holding out immortality, eternal life in the body, as the goal of righteous conduct.

Our resurrection will be patterned after that of the Lord Jesus, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was a physical event. The Lord's physical body, now possessing extraordinary capabilities, came forth from the cave of Joseph of Arimathea.

The Lord showed Thomas the wounds in His hands and side.

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. (John 20:27)

There were no wounds in the heavenly body of the Lord Jesus nor in His inner man. Therefore we know Thomas was being confronted with the actual flesh and bone body of the Lord. It was His wounded body that was raised from the dead and appeared to the disciples.

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39)

To remove all doubt, the Lord ate the fish and the honeycomb.

The text of the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians emphasizes that the central hope of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the reviving of the flesh and bone body. This "resurrection chapter" is not referring to the heavenly body nor to the inner man. It is speaking of bringing back to life the mortal body.

Speaking of the raising of the flesh and bone body of the Lord Jesus:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (I Corinthians 15:14)

The following passage reveals that Paul is referring to the raising of the physical Body of Christ and of the saints:

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (I Corinthians 15:23)

The saints will be made alive "at his coming" (above).

Let us consider this fact.

It is not the inner man of the saint that is made alive at the coming of the Lord. Our inner man is made alive when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. At that time God forgives our sins and permits us to approach Him in prayer. We no longer are spiritually dead (cut off from God) but are spiritually alive.

It is not the house from Heaven that is made alive at the coming of the Lord. Our house from Heaven is fashioned from the substance of eternal life.

It is our flesh and bone body that will be made alive "at his coming."

Again, speaking of our flesh and bone body:

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (I Corinthians 15:26)

Let us remind the reader that when the Scriptures speak of the dead rising it is not speaking of the inner spiritual personality. The inner spiritual personality does not "rise" from the dead. It is the body, the outward man, that rises from the dead. We keep repeating this rather obvious fact because of the centuries of traditional teaching—teaching that has implied it is our inner man who rises from the dead, leaving our physical body to pass into its original elements.

To be continued.