An example of the general resurrection is given in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Matthew where the sheep nations are ushered into eternal life, not because they had kept looking to Jesus and believing in Him but because they had done good by aiding the brothers of Jesus in their distress.

The concept I am presenting also fits the Apostle Paul's determined effort to attain the resurrection from the dead, which seems to indicate more than just doing good and rising to eternal life. If Paul had not attained the resurrection to life at the general resurrection, by the time he wrote Philippians, then there are going to be very few people raised to life!

We think rather that the resurrection being discussed in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John has to do with the resurrection of the priesthood, and this advance resurrection must be attained by looking constantly to Jesus and believing constantly in Him.

As the plan of salvation is presented today one gets the impression that the seeker is required only to make a profession of belief in Christ and now possesses a ticket to Heaven. This is not what Jesus is referring to. He means to keep looking constantly to Him for every decision, in every situation, throughout our lifetime. This is how the righteous are to live—by looking to Jesus and believing Him in all matters, great and small. We must eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood constantly, and learn to live by His flesh and blood just as He lives by the Life and Virtue of God His Father.

How widely we have missed the mark with our pat, simplistic "four steps of salvation"!

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51—NIV)

Jesus Christ is the Resurrection. He Himself is eternal Life. The Resurrection is a Person! Eternal Life is a Person!

We think of the resurrection as a glorious event that will include all professing Christians, whether or not they are serving the Lord. This is far from the truth. The kind of resurrection we experience depends directly on our behavior today. We are forming our resurrection at this time.

Christ is the Resurrection. As we eat His flesh and drink His blood we are partaking of the resurrection. Our inward spiritual nature is experiencing resurrection today if we are living in Jesus. It is a small matter for resurrection life to spread outward to our body, at His coming, if our inward nature already is full of resurrection life.

But if we are not living by His body and blood today, are not being resurrected in our inward nature, then our body will not experience life at the coming of the Lord. Rather we will be held over to the White Throne Judgment, there to be raised to life on the new earth, if we have done good, or raised to condemnation, if we have practiced evil.

To be continued.