Hope and HolinessSample

Do You Not Know?— Resurrection: The Hope of the Gospel

Key Question: How does knowing your body is destined for resurrection enable and empower sexual purity?

“Resurrection confirms that the believer’s body belongs to the Lord and not to sexual immorality. For Paul, the resurrection is of paramount importance. In 1 Corinthians 15, he gives the most extensive discussion of the resurrection in all Scripture. The apostle argues that Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and resurrection are of first importance for the Christian’s faith and life (1 Cor. 15:3). . .

Because the resurrection is paramount, it has important implications for the believer’s daily life of sexual purity. The gospel teaches us that our bodies have a glorious destiny! Many Corinthian Christians thought that salvation did not involve the body. Still, Paul emphatically states that salvation involves man’s material and immaterial part—the whole person, not just the soul. Christ lived, died, was buried, and rose again to save our souls and bodies. Our salvation involves physical creation (1 Cor. 15; Rom. 8:18–23).

The bodily resurrection of the believer proves that the body is not meant for sexual immorality. Instead, the body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. This is confirmed in that He will raise our bodies on the last day. The final resurrection validates the moral importance of what one does in their body now. . .

The resurrection of the body is an integral element of the Christian story. Those who live within that story should understand that what they do with their bodies in the present time is a matter of urgent concern.”

Do you know that your body is destined for resurrection?

Prayer: O God, our heavenly Father, who for our redemption gave your only begotten Son to die upon the Cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the devil and the power of death: Grant us grace to die daily to sin, that we may live with him in the joy of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.