Philippians 3:11- " in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead"

[Lehigh3]

What did Paul mean by this? What is the resurrection from the dead?


THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF RESURRECTION:
It is interesting to note that the Bible never uses the terms "resurrected body," "resurrection of the body," or "physical resurrection." Does that surprise you? The church uses those term quite often, but the Bible never does. The phrases that the Bible does use are "the resurrection of the dead" and "the resurrection from the dead."
So, in order to understand "resurrection" we must understand death. Resurrection is "resurrection from the dead." To understand death we need to go back to the book of beginnings, Genesis. In the book of Genesis we see God creating man:


Berean Bible Church: The Resurrection from the Dead

 

[heymikey80]

It's because the word "resurrection" in Greek is simply "getting up". It already carries the connotation of doing something physical. On this basis I taught in the habit of, "Christianity is the belief that 2000 years ago in a backwater of the Middle East a Man was put to death, and then got up afterward.'

Gnostics quickly introduced a "figurative resurrection", which Apostolic Christians rejected. To emphasize this rejection they turned to the redundant phrase, "physically got up" to assert their position. From that we get the terms "physical resurrection", expanding to "raised-up body" to keep it from slipping into a zombie-apocalypse type of viewpoint, where the body wasn't given the power of "new creation" (cf 2 Cor 5:17).

 

[smaller]

There was this 'seating' for Jesus:

Ephesians 1:20
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

There is a 'form' of seating presently, by faith sight when we consider our position 'in faith' currently as part of His Body, imperfectly as it remains presently in 'the flesh:'

Ephesians 2:6
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

But this form of 'present life' is in fact hidden to a certain extent by our present conditions:

Colossians 3:3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Paul sought every moment of his life for this part to reach it's finality, NOT KNOWING when that might transpire. Paul only saw by his own admissions, in part and as in present darkness.

He did however point to this reality as being ever in his sights and always on the slate, to come:

1 Cor. 15:
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made -

Everyone who believes remains currently in THE RED so to speak.

And we all who believe by faith in Christ, anticipate this change to come:

Philippians 3:21
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

And Paul speaks of a finalization or summation of this event.

1 Cor. 15:
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

This is both the Promise and our HOPE in Christ, even while presently immersed in RED.

s

 

[Lehigh3]

It's because the word "resurrection" in Greek is simply "getting up". It already carries the connotation of doing something physical. On this basis I taught in the habit of, "Christianity is the belief that 2000 years ago in a backwater of the Middle East a Man was put to death, and then got up afterward.'

Gnostics quickly introduced a "figurative resurrection", which Apostolic Christians rejected. To emphasize this rejection they turned to the redundant phrase, "physically got up" to assert their position. From that we get the terms "physical resurrection", expanding to "raised-up body" to keep it from slipping into a zombie-apocalypse type of viewpoint, where the body wasn't given the power of "new creation" (cf 2 Cor 5:17).

I have no idea what a "figurative resurrection" is. :dunno

A "spiritual resurrection" on the other hand , is what happens to us when we die.

The resurrection from the dead in Hades is what Paul was referring to- "resurrection from the dead"
Now, there was a resurrection of both the just & the unjust. It was LITERAL but it was spiritual, not physical. The natural body returns to dust.

 

[Lehigh3]

We get the same kind of body Christ has, but we do not get it the same way He got His, nor do we get our same physical body back like Christ did. We get a new spiritual body which arises out of the inner man. God gives us a spiritual body!

1 Corinthians 15:44-46 (NKJV) It is sown a natural body, it is RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.​

This affirms two different kinds of bodies. Our natural body dies, and we receive a spiritual body. Paul says, "IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY."
Those of us who have trusted Christ in the New Covenant age, have life and do not need to be resurrected.

John 11:25-26 (NKJV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"​

Jesus is saying, "He who believes in me shall live (spiritually), even if he dies (physically), and everyone who lives (physically), and believes in Me, shall never die (spiritually)."
Two categories of believers are discussed: those who would die before the resurrection and those who would not. For those who died under the Old Covenant, He was the Resurrection, but for those who lived into the days of the New Covenant, He is the Life.
Under the New Covenant, there is no death, spiritually speaking:

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NKJV) So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.​

Revelation 21:4 (NKJV) "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; THERE SHALL BE NO MORE DEATH, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."​

Where there is no death, there is no need of a resurrection. We have eternal life and can never die spiritually. Therefore, we don't need a resurrection. At death, we go immediately to heaven in our spiritual body.
The resurrection was a one time event in which the Old Testament saints were brought out of Hades and finally overcame death to be with the Lord. We have put on immortality and will put on our immortal body when we die physically. As believers, we live in the presence of God, and in physical death, we simply drop the flesh and dwell only in the spiritual realm.


What I'm sure P, Curtis means here is that we have "eternal life" in the "age to come" that came. But those who were awaiting a resurrection from the dead in Hades, well, right, we don't have to worry about any "Hades" because death was destroyed (spiritually speaking) & we have eternal life.

 

[Asyncritus]

We get the same kind of body Christ has, but we do not get it the same way He got His, nor do we get our same physical body back like Christ did. We get a new spiritual body which arises out of the inner man. God gives us a spiritual body!

1 Corinthians 15:44-46 (NKJV) It is sown a natural body, it is RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.​

This affirms two different kinds of bodies. Our natural body dies, and we receive a spiritual body. Paul says, "IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY."
Those of us who have trusted Christ in the New Covenant age, have life and do not need to be resurrected.

John 11:25-26 (NKJV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"​

Jesus is saying, "He who believes in me shall live (spiritually), even if he dies (physically), and everyone who lives (physically), and believes in Me, shall never die (spiritually)."
Two categories of believers are discussed: those who would die before the resurrection and those who would not. For those who died under the Old Covenant, He was the Resurrection, but for those who lived into the days of the New Covenant, He is the Life.
Under the New Covenant, there is no death, spiritually speaking:

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NKJV) So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.​

Revelation 21:4 (NKJV) "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; THERE SHALL BE NO MORE DEATH, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."​

Where there is no death, there is no need of a resurrection. We have eternal life and can never die spiritually. Therefore, we don't need a resurrection. At death, we go immediately to heaven in our spiritual body.
The resurrection was a one time event in which the Old Testament saints were brought out of Hades and finally overcame death to be with the Lord. We have put on immortality and will put on our immortal body when we die physically. As believers, we live in the presence of God, and in physical death, we simply drop the flesh and dwell only in the spiritual realm.


What I'm sure P, Curtis means here is that we have "eternal life" in the "age to come" that came. But those who were awaiting a resurrection from the dead in Hades, well, right, we don't have to worry about any "Hades" because death was destroyed (spiritually speaking) & we have eternal life.

I don't see the point of discussing this. What God is going to do, He is going to do and whatever we may or may not think is basically an irrelevancy.

However, I do have a question about this:

Where there is no death, there is no need of a resurrection. We have eternal life and can never die spiritually. Therefore, we don't need a resurrection. At death, we go immediately to heaven in our spiritual body.

Where do you get that from?

 

[BornAgain]

What did Paul mean by this? What is the resurrection from the dead?


THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF RESURRECTION:
It is interesting to note that the Bible never uses the terms "resurrected body," "resurrection of the body," or "physical resurrection." Does that surprise you? The church uses those term quite often, but the Bible never does. The phrases that the Bible does use are "the resurrection of the dead" and "the resurrection from the dead."
So, in order to understand "resurrection" we must understand death. Resurrection is "resurrection from the dead." To understand death we need to go back to the book of beginnings, Genesis. In the book of Genesis we see God creating man:


Berean Bible Church: The Resurrection from the Dead

Philippians 3:11 (KJV)
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not that he might be simply raised from the dead, but that he might enjoy the promises of the resurrection connected with conformity to his life, sufferings, and death.

The distrust is not distrust, but the distrust inspired by the humility which comes from the consciousness of his own weakness as he faces the great work to be accomplished. The certain form of the phrase "the resurrection from the dead" shows that he has in view here the resurrection of the righteous only.

 

[Lehigh3]

Philippians 3:11 (KJV)
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not that he might be simply raised from the dead, but that he might enjoy the promises of the resurrection connected with conformity to his life, sufferings, and death.

The distrust is not distrust, but the distrust inspired by the humility which comes from the consciousness of his own weakness as he faces the great work to be accomplished. The certain form of the phrase "the resurrection from the dead" shows that he has in view here the resurrection of the righteous only.

So are you saying that Paul thought the resurrection from the dead only to be symbolic?

What about the literal resurrection of the dead?
Paul clearly taught that the resurrection was the hope of Israel.

Acts 23:6 (NKJV) But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"​

Acts 24:15 (NKJV) "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.​

Acts 28:20 (NKJV) "For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."​

Acts 26:6-8 (NKJV) "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 "To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8 "Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?​

 

[BornAgain]

So are you saying that Paul thought the resurrection from the dead only to be symbolic?

What about the literal resurrection of the dead?
Paul clearly taught that the resurrection was the hope of Israel.

Acts 23:6 (NKJV) But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"​

Acts 24:15 (NKJV) "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.​

Acts 28:20 (NKJV) "For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."​

Acts 26:6-8 (NKJV) "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 "To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8 "Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?​

I was addressing the thread of Philippians 3:11...Not that I disagree with Acts.