The Transformation of Our Body

The Transformation of Our Body

“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Rom. 8:10-11.

We have a hope not only for our spirit but also for our body. However, everything goes according to the laws God has put in place, so there is no respect of persons. All of us will be rewarded according to our relationship to the laws God has put in place. Rom. 8:23. Our body needs everything that belongs to this world and most people live just to satisfy the needs of their body. Such people do not have a hope in the resurrection. They keep their life, and as a consequence they will lose it. But he who loses his life shall find it again. If we are to have a hope in the resurrection, we must put to death the demands of the body so it can be the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:19; Col. 3:5. We are exhorted to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God—this is our spiritual service. Then we are not conformed to this world. Rom. 12:1-2.

Therefore it is of no little consequence where our bodies are. We can see that those who live according to their lusts gather for the enjoyment of their bodies. We see them on football fields, on ski slopes, at the movies, the theater, and in front of store windows. Their bodies are not dead but very much interested in what is happening, and their minds are far away from God. We can also see how a demanding spirit unites people in groups. Their bodies are very much alive to sin, but their spirits are dead to God. We are not to be conformed to this world. We must make sure that our bodies are not drawn into groups that are governed by their lusts. Our spirit is made alive toward God when we consider ourselves dead to sin.

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” Read Philippians 3:18-21.

Those people to whom Paul is referring were not people in the world. Rather they were people who called themselves Christians; they even preached Christ. Phil. 1:15-17. Yet they were enemies of the cross of Christ, the cross of which Jesus said we have to take up daily in order to follow Him. They showed by their lives that they hated the cross of Christ. They desired earthly things. Their bodies were not dead; they had their belly as their god. Paul says that the end of such people is destruction.

We also have a goodly number of those people in our days. They have become rich, or they are trying to become rich, through the gospel. Their lives shows that they desire earthly things, and they are proud of what they can obtain of the glory of this world. Such people constitute the harlot that sits on the beast and is arrayed in purple and scarlet and is adorned with gold and precious stones. She has corrupted the whole earth with the wine of her fornication. Rev. 17. She has even corrupted people’s minds to the extent that they think that the more they possess of this world’s charm and corruptible things, the godlier they are. Their glory is truly in their shame. No wonder they hate the word of the cross and call it bondage. Paul saw this, and he often reminded the Philippians of it. He even said it with tears. This needs to be said even more in these days with the greatest seriousness, so that as many as possible can wake up from the drunkenness they end up in by drinking of the wine of the harlot.

However, our kingdom is in heaven from where we are awaiting our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, the One who shall transform our lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body.

You must never believe that Jesus can transform your body to be conformed to His glorious body if sin rules over it now, because this way goes according to laws. Many people put their hope in grace and invoke it as if it could annul the laws that God has given for our salvation. But it is a false hope, for grace does not annul the laws, but rather gives us light and strength to live according to them.

Now is the time of grace, and we are to receive power by the grace that is given us in Christ Jesus to take up our cross daily so we can put to death our members that are on the earth. Then our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and only those bodies can hope to be transformed into the likeness of His glorious body.

You must never believe that people who desire earthly things have a body that is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Not at all! Their kingdom is of this world, but our kingdom is in the heavenly places. We seek the things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and we expect Him to come from there as our Savior. Then the end of the time of grace will have come, and there will be no respect of persons. Then the laws that God has given for our salvation will be in effect. Those who have presented their bodies in the ministry of righteousness will be transformed, but the rest will stay behind. Therefore make use of the grace that is given you in Jesus Christ, and realize what God’s will is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect.