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What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

FROM: 12/8/02 Radio Program

Question:

Did the saints that had fallen asleep (Matthew 27:52-53) have their new bodies, or did they return to their old bodies?

Answer:

Let us read this passage in its context. Remember that Matthew 27 is recording the death of Christ on the cross. Matthew records: "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (Matthew 27:50-53).

This passage does not come out and specifically tell us what kind of bodies these people had. However, we can know that the bodies were: physical in form, they could be seen by humans, and they could be recognized by others. Remember also, that those who arose from the grave, at some point, died again! Seeing as the glorified bodies are not promised to people until after the Lord returns, and that these bodies are described as incorruptible and immortal (I Corinthians 15:51-54), it is most likely that the people who arose from the graves returned to their old bodies rather than the glorified bodies.

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