If Ye then be Risen with Christ - Glorify God in Your Body

• Buried with him in Baptism, wherein also Ye are Risen with Him - The thoughts of one’s heart reveal a person’s true nature, as the Lord Jesus proclaimed in Mark 7:21 – “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders”. Notice how God is emphasizing the heart of man, as the source of all sin. All sin emanates from a dead soul and subsequently affects our thoughts, words, and actions. Yes, the heart of unsaved, natural man is “desperately wicked” as stated in Jer 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”. Gal 5:19-21 itemizes the works of the flesh. Even if a person were to refrain from committing these particular sins outwardly, they would still remain guilty for having committed these in their minds. However, the true believer, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, can overrule his evil nature and focus his thoughts on the things of God, as we read in Php 4:8-9. A Christian can have victory over evil and wickedness. The second-person plural pronoun “ye” here can only stand for all true believers whose hearts God has circumcised through the “circumcision of Christ” – that is, His atoning work at the cross. Everyone whose heart God circumcises is a spiritual Jew – “he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart” (Rom 2:29) – a spiritual seed of Abraham and an heir according to the promise – “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). That is the meaning of the “circumcision made without hands” mentioned in Col 2:10-11. Rom 6:5 concludes, God’s power as He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, even as He raises His elect from the dead spiritually: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

Gal 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Col 2:10-12 “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

Rom 6:3-5 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

Php 4:8-9 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

• Now Ye are the Body of Christ - There is an intimate relationship between God and His people – He is in them and they are in Him. They are considered the “body” of Christ – “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor 12:27), which is a living “temple of God”. The Bible pays tribute to the priceless value of the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Head of the eternal church (or body of Christ), as Col1:18 affirms: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence”. Rom 7:4 explains that each true Christian has been freed (or delivered) from his previous “husband” – the Bible as the Law of God – in order to be married to Christ – “ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead”. As the divine institution that God established, marriage mirrors the spiritual union of Christ and His eternal church. When one has become saved by God’s grace, God likens this “new birth” to a bride who is being presented to her new Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ – “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body”. Furthermore, the true believer has been given eternal life, and the Holy Spirit now resides within his soul - “now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit”.

Eph 5:25-32 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Rom 7:4-6 “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”

• Your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost - A “born-again” believer has been given eternal life, and the Holy Spirit now resides within his soul. Php 1:20 sums up that which is of paramount importance to those who have become “born from above” – “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death”. Such a statement exudes a confidence in God that can only be attributed to the astounding work of God in saving a soul from sin and eternal damnation. However, once God has redeemed a person, his body is to be utilized as a tool in God’s service and for God’s glory. 1 Cor 6:19-20 underscores this great privilege that God has afforded to His own – “ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body”. Mankind in general has been intensely interested in his temporal body while neglecting his immortal soul. Because he thinks that his body is “all there is”, he attempts to focus his time, energy, and finances in satisfying and maintaining the needs and desires of his body, or flesh. However, the motivation for the believer is different, as reflected in Rom 12:11 - “ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”. One who has experienced the “new birth” wants every aspect of his life to be wholeheartedly devoted to the service of His Master. We must remember that the essence of our service is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in the most faithful manner possible. 

Php 1:20 “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”

Cor 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

2 Cor 5:15 “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

Rom 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

• Glorify God in Your Body, and in Your Spirit, which are God’s - We cannot serve God in a manner pleasing to Him without being saved first. In Gal 6:8, we are introduced to the principle of sowing and reaping and the outcome is also spelled out. This principle is inherently active in the life of any person. They will either be sowing and reaping “to the flesh”, or they will be doing the same “to the spirit” – “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”. Even after a person is redeemed he struggles with sin because his body still remains unsaved, even though in his soul he has received eternal life. This is clearly seen in a number of verses like Rom 7:20, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me”. With God’s enabling, the true believer increasingly yields to the dictates of Scripture instead of his flesh, as 1 Cor 6:20 exhorts, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”. The price Christ had to pay was equivalent to eternal damnation in Hell for each of His elect children. In the face of such incomprehensible sacrificial love, the true believer exclaims along with the Psalmist in Psa 116:16, “O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds”. Even after we have become saved, we are admonished to live out our lives in the fear of the Lord as Php 2:12-13 points out: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. Heb 12:28 alludes to how this new life in Christ is to be expressed: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear”. Notice how these verses emphasize that the indwelling work of God the Holy Spirit (by the gift of God’s grace), is a dominant factor both as God draws us to Himself and after we have become saved. 2 Cor 7:1 also addresses this vital principle, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”. We are commanded to glorify God with our lives and all that we have – our time, our talents, our money, our speech, and our actions. Yet when all is said and done we can only humbly say in the words of Luke 17:10, “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do”.

2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Col 3:1-5 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5Mortify [that is, put to death] therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

Rom 6:11-13 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

1 Cor 6:18-20 “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”