We have seen, therefore, that we are dealing with three elements: the inner man, the flesh and bone body, and the house from Heaven. The flesh and bone body lives in two phases: phase A in which the life is blood; and phase B in which the life is spiritual; although in the case of the wicked who are raised, the resurrected body will not be animated by the eternal spiritual life of God's Presence but by the Divinely ordained energy that activates the creation generally.

The "glorified body" of which Christians speak is a composite body. It consists of phase B of the flesh and bones of the person who then is clothed with the house from Heaven—the substance of eternal life.

When the resurrection is discussed by the Lord, or by Paul, they usually are referring to the resurrection to eternal life. When the Scripture speaks of being found worthy of the resurrection, it means Jesus has deemed the individual worthy of being raised by the Lord's Spirit and brought forward to eternal life on the new earth.

To attain the first resurrection indicates that the believer is eligible to participate in the resurrection and ascension that will occur when the Lord appears. The first resurrection, as we understand it, is limited to the victorious saints, the overcomers.

The first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood, will take place at the beginning of the thousand-year period. God's priests will rule with Jesus in their glorified bodies (Revelation 20:4-6).

All individuals who have lived on the earth will be raised and stand before the Lord. Some will receive eternal life; others will receive the consequences of wicked behavior. It is not enough to be revived from the dead. It is what happens after we are raised that is of supreme importance.

The Role of the Conversion of the Inner Man in Attaining the Resurrection to Life

We have considered the inner man of spirit and soul, the outward man in his two phases, and the weight of glory that will clothe the inner man and outward man in the Day of the Lord.

Let us consider now the conversion of the inner man, since the conversion of the inner man is absolutely necessary before the personality can be clothed with the house from Heaven.

The step by step conversion of the inner man. The conversion of the inner man is the work of the new covenant.

The old covenant was written on tables of stone. The new covenant is placed in the mind and written on the heart. This is the principal difference between the two covenants.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (Hebrews 8:10)

Under the old covenant the Law of God was written on two tables of stone. Under the new covenant the eternal moral Law of God is put into the mind and written on the heart.

To be continued.