It is the body and blood of Christ abiding in us that will raise us up to Christ at the last day. His body and blood are resurrection Life in us. They have made alive our inner nature now. When Christ appears His body and blood that are in us will make alive our physical body.

How do we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ? By doing His will. Each day we are presented with choices. We can yield to the desires of our flesh and mind, fulfilling our passions and lusts. Or we can bring the decision to the Lord, lay down our own will and life, and obey God. Every time we lay down our own life we are given the flesh and blood of Christ (in the spirit realm) to strengthen us. By losing our life we save it.

In this manner we learn to live by the body and blood of Christ just as Christ lives by the Father.

This is how we attain the resurrection to life that the Apostle Paul was pursuing.

But if after we receive the Lord Jesus Christ we continue to live in the appetites of the flesh and the desires of the carnal mind, no resurrection life is formed in us. We are not living by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There will be no Life of Christ in us that will raise us to the Lamb when He appears.

We marry the Lamb by eating the Lamb and the resurrection thus is formed in us.

Here is the meaning of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Some have the Life of God along with their lamp, which is the Scriptures. Some let the Life of God slip from them. They still have their lamp, but when the Lord appears the door is shut in their face.

They have drawn back to destruction. They put their hand to the plow and then looked back. They returned as a dog to its vomit. Having left Egypt, so to speak, they died in the wilderness of unbelief. They did not endure to the end. They did not hold their confidence in Christ steadfastly to the conclusion of their discipleship.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23—NIV)

The Christian who chooses to be the slave of sin will be paid off in spiritual death, according to Romans 6:23. How often we Evangelicals have preached Romans 6:23 to the unsaved. "The wages of sin is death," we have proclaimed to the world. But Romans 6:23 was not written to the world but to Christians who are making the choice whether to be the slave of sin or the slave of righteousness. Check the context!

The gift of eternal life is not like a gift of money, it is like the gift of a piano. You have to bring yourself under numerous long hours of discipline to draw the potential good from it. Once you accept Christ you have to "practice" many long hours to produce the "music" of immortality.

To be continued.