The importance of the BODY in the salvation of man
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Man was created with three members namely, a spirit, a soul and a body hat has a human nature.
The soul and spirit constitute the inner-man (a ghost).
Because the ghost dwells in the human body, the inner-man has human characteristics.
The body can be compared to a house in which the inner-man lives.
According to Scriptures there are two bodies: The body of the first man Adam (old man) and the body of the second man Christ (new man).
The body of the first man - Adam
All inner-men (ghosts) are born in the body of Adam.
Before the fall of man (see summary on page 7) the body had no law in it apart from its human nature.
The inner-man therefore lived in freedom, being only human.
But with the fall of man, sin entered the human body and the body became the property of Satan.
In this body the law of sin reigns over the inner-man.
Since then the inner-man is a captive of Satan and a slave of sin in his body (compare it to Israel in Egypt in the summary on page 30).
All who dwell in the body of Adam are called “Sinners”.
Example: All who dwell in America are called “Americans”.
From childhood the law of sin in the body exerts pressure on the inner-man to commit sin and as he grows up under the spirit of sin, he (the inner-man) becomes evil natured also, and he then uses his body as an instrument to do unrighteousness.
No evil can be ascribed to the body.
Example: The hand cannot slap somebody. It is the inner-man who uses the hand to slap. The body also cannot make a donation. It is the inner-man who makes the donation.
Because sin dwells in the body of flesh and blood, the ‘spirit of sin’ is also called “the flesh”.
Therefore, because all inner-men are born in “the flesh”, they will do the “works of the flesh”.
The body of the second man - Christ
Jesus, the second Son of God, was born in the body of Adam under Satan and the law of sin (compare Moses in the house of Pharaoh in summary on page 13).
Unlike the first son of God, Jesus did not yield to Satan and sin and therefore He was raised in a new immortal body — the body of Christ. (See page 13)
After his ascension ‘another spirit’ — the Holy Spirit, was made available to enter the body of man.
When the Holy Spirit enters the body, the inner-man comes under the law of the Spirit.
The inner-man who dwells in this body is called a “saint”.
We see that it is the body that determines whether an inner-man is a “sinner” or a “saint”.
Salvation: The born again experience
The body of Christ makes it possible to become born again.
To become born again, the inner-man has to be translated out of the body of Adam (old man) and into the body of Christ (new man).
When a sinner repents and puts his faith in Jesus Christ, God forgive him his sins of the past and gives him the Holy Spirit to replace the spirit of sin in his body.
The inner-man is then no longer in the body of Adam, but in the body of Christ.
In this manner God saved the inner-man and delivered him from Satan and sin.
He is no longer a “sinner’” but he is a “saint”.
Praise God for salvation.
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