Disciples Global Network

The faith of uncircumcised Abraham provides an example for Jewish and Gentile believers who live from the faith of Jesus – Romans 4:11-17. God began to implement His plan to redeem humanity by establishing His Covenant with Abraham, starting with the summons for the Patriarch to leave his homeland for the “ land I will show you .” Yahweh would produce a “ great nation ” from the Patriarch, and the Covenant would bless all the “ Tribes of the Earth .” The promise of territory was central to the Covenant.

Paul expresses his goal of going on to completion, a process that will culminate in bodily resurrection when Jesus arrives in glory . Paul instructed the congregation of Philippi to go on to “ perfection ” in Jesus. Bodily resurrection must take place for the consummation of this process and the completion of our salvation. This will occur when Jesus appears “ on the clouds of Heaven .” God will continue to perform what He began with our conversion until “ the Day of Christ .” Salvation is a process throughout our lives.

Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord at which time the dead will be raised, the wicked judged, and death will cease forever . The coming of Jesus is an important major part of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. He touches on several aspects of the event, including its identification as the “Day of the Lord,” the consummation of God’s kingdom, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the judgment of the wicked, and the cessation of death.

The biblical faith is forward-looking . Foundational to it is the resurrection and gathering of the Elect when Jesus returns on the Last Day. Our future resurrection is based on his past resurrection, and our salvation remains incomplete until he raises us from the dead, transforms believers who are still alive when he arrives, and “ gathers ” us all to Himself (“ He will send his angels to assemble his elect from the ends of the Earth to the ends of the heavens ”).

Jesus declared, “ The Spirit makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life .” His statement echoed the principle that life and the Spirit of God are inextricably linked. There is no lasting or full life without the Holy Spirit. This principle was demonstrated at the creation, and the same Spirit is essential for the resurrection of believers and everlasting life in the future.

Paul outlined the events that will occur at the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus in his first letter to the Corinthians. The Greek noun ‘ parousia ’ is one of several Greek terms Paul applied to the future coming of the Lord. Regardless of which term he used, he always described one “ coming ,” “ appearance ,” “ revelation ,” or “ appearance ” of Jesus at the end of the age.

In Colossians , Paul stresses the exaltation of Jesus following his Resurrection. Some members of the congregation were confused about his authority over the spiritual powers that were hostile to God and His people; therefore, Paul reminded the Assembly of just how highly God exalted the One who became the “ Firstborn of the Dead .”

In the first half of Romans , Paul presents the “ Gospel .” It is the “ power of God for salvation to Jews and Greeks ” alike. He provides salvation through the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” to everyone who responds with repentance and faith. Death passed from Adam to all men, both to those “ within the Law ” and those “ apart from the Law ” because “ all sinned .” Now, however, “ apart from the Law ,” the “ righteousness of God ” is being revealed for “ all men who believe, for there is no distinction .”

There is “ now no condemnation ” of anyone “ in Christ Jesus .” This happy condition exists because the “ law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death .” In  Romans , the Apostle Paul links our salvation to the inheritance of Christ and the coming redemption of our bodies and creation itself.

In 2 Timothy , Paul discusses the future resurrection of believers as he responds to denials of this “ sound teaching ” by deceivers who were disrupting the Assembly, denials he treats as little more than idle chatter . In doing so, he demonstrates that his later theology remains well within the Apostolic Tradition and the teachings of his earliest letters. From the beginning, belief in the resurrection was central to the doctrine of salvation taught by Jesus, his Apostles, and the early Church.

The Apostle Paul presents Abraham as the great exemplar of faith. God counted his faith as “righteousness” when he was yet uncircumcised, and that meant He justified him apart from the “ works of the Law .” He thereby became the father of all men who are also “ from faith .” Circumcision was added after the promise as the “seal” of Abraham’s justifying faith.

Central to the biblical doctrine of salvation is the promise of redemption. God will not abandon what He first created. The term signifies the recovery of that which was lost. The universe has been enslaved by sin and condemned to decay and death. All living creatures die eventually. However, in the redemptive plans of the Creator, the end state of the things and creatures redeemed by Him will be vastly superior to their original state. This idea is epitomized especially in the bodily resurrection of the righteous.

The biblical faith is forward-looking and foundational to our salvation is the resurrection of the dead. That event will coincide with the arrival or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus. It is based on the past resurrection of Jesus, and our salvation will remain incomplete until he raises the dead, transforms those believers who remain alive, and “ gathers ”  ALL  his saints to himself (“ He will send his angels, and they will assemble his elect from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven ”).

Paul responded to false teachings about the resurrection of believers in his second letter to Timothy. Certain voices in the Church were denying this essential truth. “ God did not give us a spirit of fear but of a sound mind ,” including our anxieties about death. Jesus overcomes death and gives life “ through the Gospel .”

Certain members of the Corinthian congregation denied the future resurrection of the righteous. Paul responded by stressing how necessary our resurrection is and by appealing to the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection was and remains the precedent for our future resurrection. We will be raised bodily when he “ arrives ,” and his appearance will mean nothing less than the termination of Death itself.

Foundational to the believer’s future hope is the bodily resurrection of the righteous dead when Jesus arrives in glory . Paul’s description of the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians was written to comfort the Assembly concerning the fate of their compatriots who died before that event could take place. They needed not to sorrow “ like the others ” since the righteous dead would be resurrected when the Lord “ arrived ” from Heaven.

Central to the doctrine of salvation is the promise of redemption. God will not abandon what He first created, and both the term and the concept mean the recovery of what was lost. At present, the universe is enslaved by sin and condemned to decay and death. In God’s redemptive plans, the end state of redeemed things and persons is vastly superior to their original state, and this principle is epitomized in the promise of bodily resurrection.

The biblical faith is forward-looking and foundational to its doctrine of salvation is the future resurrection of the righteous dead. That event will also mark the arrival of the New Creation. The New Testament links this to two events. First, the past Resurrection of Jesus. Second, his future arrival at the end of the age. Our salvation remains incomplete without our resurrection.

Paul presents Abraham as the great exemplar of the faith, the model for believers to emulate as they live from the “ faith of Jesus .” God counted his faith as “ righteousness ” while he was uncircumcised and thus justified him apart from the “ works of the Torah .” He is the father of those who live “ from the faith of Jesus ” whether Jew or Gentile and the “ heir of the world .”

Paul responded to concerns about the dead in Christ by pointing to the resurrection that will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven .  In his first Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul reassured the congregation concerning the participation of saints who die before the ‘ Parousia ’ in the glories of that day. According to him,  BOTH  dead and living saints will assemble and “ meet ” the Lord as he descends from Heaven. Thereafter, they will be with Jesus “ forevermore .” He wrote these words in response to believers who were sorrowing over the deaths of fellow saints.