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.
Truth to Learn
God promises all Christians that they will be raised from the dead and given an immortal body.
Behind the Words
The word “raised” is from egeirō, which means “to rouse from sleep” or “to awaken.” In its usage here it refers to awakening from the dead.
“Give life” is from the Greek word dzōopoieō, which is made up of dzōon, meaning “a living thing” and poieō, meaning “to make.” Hence, dzōopoieō means “to make a living thing” or “to make alive.
The word “mortal” is from thnētos, which is from thnēskō, meaning “to die.” Thnētos refers to something that is dead or subject to death.
Meaning Explained
This verse contains one of the great promises in the Bible. Paul starts off with, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you.” The first question we have to ask is, “Who raised Jesus from the dead?” Did He raise Himself, or did someone else do it, and if so, who was it? To answer this question let’s look at a few verses.
Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him first to you, blessing you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities. (Acts 3:26)
Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), (Galatians 1:1)
and to wait for His Son from the heavens (whom He raised from the dead), Jesus, who is delivering us from the wrath to come. (1Thessalonians 1:10)
It is obvious from these verses that it is God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore, in the current verse Paul is talking about the Spirit of God the Father, who is none other than the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. And Paul says that if the Holy Spirit dwells in you (remember that He has been given by God as a pledge, as a seal of the promise of redemption to all who are saved), then God the Father will also make your mortal body alive by this same Spirit who dwells in you. In other words, for all of us who are saved by His grace, God the Father has promised that just as He raised up Jesus, He will also make our dead bodies alive by his Holy Spirit.
For those of us who are alive when Jesus returns at the rapture, this means that our dead body will be changed “in a moment, in a twinkling of the eye” into an immortal body. If we have already passed from this earthly life, it means that our dead body will be awakened and made alive as an immortal body.
Application
If you believe you are a sinner and that Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sin, God promises that He will give you the same kind of immortal body that Jesus has right now! That’s an eternal promise that can’t be undone. Since the Spirit is our seal and our promise, we can’t lose it no matter what we do. We have the Spirit of God and His promise of eternal life.
That’s eternal security!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved