The Bodily Resurrection of the Dead

The Bible teaches that at the last day, all who have died will be raised with the same bodies they possessed in life, which shall be reunited with their souls forever. While the bodies of the wicked will be raised to dishonor, the bodies of the saints will be transformed and made conformable to the glorious, resurrected body of Christ.

The Certainty of Bodily Resurrection

The Christian hope is not a disembodied existence, but the physical renewal of the whole person. As affirmed in the 1689 LBCF Ch.31 §2, those living at the return of Christ will be changed, and all the dead shall be raised with the 'selfsame bodies' they had in life, though restored with different, incorruptible qualities. This ensures that the body which labored and suffered in the fallen world will be the very body that partakes in the glory of the new creation, as described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.

Glory for the Just, Judgment for the Unjust

Scripture distinguishes between the destinies of the righteous and the unrighteous at the resurrection. The 1689 LBCF Ch.31 §3 notes that while all are raised by the power of Christ, the bodies of the just are raised by his Spirit to honor, being made 'conformable to his own glorious body.' This transformation is the ultimate fruit of the gospel, where Christ, having defeated the grave, restores his people entirely. As we read in Philippians 3:20-21, our citizenship is in heaven, and Christ shall fashion anew our vile body into the likeness of his own glorious body.

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