Jesus was our body transformer

JESUS WAS OUR BODY TRANSFORMER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Philippians3:21 who, by the power that enables Him
to subject all things to Himself, will transformour
lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The RenewalOfThe Body
Philippians 3:21
V. Hutton
I. OUR BODYIS A MARK OF OUR HUMILIATION. It is "the body of our
humiliation," not "our vile body," as the Authorized Version has it. St. Paul
did not share the Stoic contempt for the body; much less did he anticipate the
Manichcanhatred of it which is the true parent of asceticism. Butneither did
he altogetheradmire the body in its present condition, as the disciples of our
modern schoolof carnalaestheticismgloryin doing. He regardedit as a great
evidence of our humiliation. His words give little warrant for Origen's strange
doctrine that pre-existing human souls, having sinned and fallen in a purely
spiritual sphere, were imprisoned in bodies for their punishment and
discipline, and that, if they profit by the purgatorial earthly life, they will be
liberated from these bodies and restoredto the spiritual world. Two simpler
facts come nearer to the teaching of St. Paul.

1. We have outgrown our body. The body which is glorious in the animal
becomes in many respects a hindrance and a source of shame to the man. The
fact that the body, so fearfully and wonderfully made, is a mark of
humiliation, proves that we have a higher nature and belong to nobler living.
2. We have degraded our body. By making that a master which should be a
servant we show our own humiliation. By lowering the body itself to sinful
ends we turn it into a visible proof of our degradation.
II. WE NEED A SUITABLE BODY. The body will not simply be castaside as
a worthless thing, like the old skin sloughed off by the serpent. It is a work of
God who made all things well. It has greatpurposes to serve, for it is our
medium of communication with the external world. A disembodied spirit is an
insulated spirit. By means of the body we receive information from without,
and we also execute our will on things outside us. The scholarmust have eyes
and ears as well as an attentive mind; and the workman must have muscular
arms and deft fingers as wellas goodplans and aims. Probably we shall
always need some sort of body, stone sort of medium through which to receive
knowledge and accomplishactions.
III. CHRIST WILL FASHION OUR BODY ANEW. The gospelcomes to man
as a whole, body and soul; and it offers salvation to both parts of his nature. It
begins the double process onearth. Christ healed the sick. Christianity cares
for the bodily condition of men. The hospital is a most Christian institution.
By ameliorating the sanitary condition of men we indirectly help even their
moral and spiritual life. Hereaftera bodily renewalis to be accomplished.
What it shall be we cannot tell. But the distinct teaching of the New Testament
is that the resurrectionwill not revive the body as we now have it. We are to
be "changed," to have a spiritual body; what is sownin corruption will be
raisedin incorruption. Christ's risen body is the type of this. We may be

assuredthat all that is humiliating and provocative of evil will vanish, while
greatersensitivenessand flexibility in ministering to the soul and responding
to its ideas and volitions will be enjoyed. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Who shall change our vile body
Philippians 3:21
The humiliation and glorificationof the body
J. Parsons.
I. OUR PRESENT STATE OF EXISTENCEIS ONE OF MUCH
HUMILIATION. We are in vile bodies —
1. If you remember their origin. They are formed from the earth. We are
indeed "curiouslywrought," and exhibit proofs of the goodness,wisdom, and
powerof God; but let the body be analyzed, and decomposed, andwherein

does it differ from the dust we despise? "Godknowethour frame and
remembereth that we are dust." What a fine lessonof humility is here.
2. Our bodies are tainted with sin and therefore vile. Always connectwith the
meanness of your origin the idea that you are infected with iniquity. We have
unclean bodies which are the prisons of our souls. You have but to reflect on
your proneness to impurity, to forgetfulness of God, and what but for Adam's
fall you might have been, to warrant your saying "behold I am vile."
3. Our bodies are exposedto sickness, anddestined to death. "Thoushalt eat
bread in sorrow till thou return to the ground." All this is true of all, and yet
how many try to hide it in the elaborate trickeryof dress and the disgraceful
vanities of the age. The body is only valuable as the casketof an inestimable
jewel.
II. THE ENNOBLING CHANGE WHICH SHALL PASS ON THAT WHICH
IS HOW SUBJECT TO HUMILIATION. It is not intended for our state of
vileness to last. To shut out as infidels do the prospects of futurity is an actof
unparalleled madness. In the gospellife and immortality are brought to light.
But the specific hope of the text is not for those who are "enemies ofthe
Cross," etc.,but for those who "count all things loss," etc.
1. The time when this greatand ennobling change is to occur. At the coming of
Christ at the generalresurrection;when the universe shall sink in years, the
elements melt with fervent heat, when the last moment of time shall pass, and
the whole of our race be assembled.
2. The precise nature of this change — like unto the Saviour's glorious
body.(1) In spirituality. The earthliness of our bodies will be removed, and

made light and buoyant, no more gross and material; "Fleshand blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God."(2)In holiness. On earth He was "holy, harmless,
undefiled" and is so now. None canenter heaven without holiness:therefore
our bodies will be purged of sin.(3) In immortality. "Christ being raised from
the dead dicta no more." "BecauseI live, ye shall live also." The immortal
Saviour shall reign over an immortal people.
3. The specific agencyby which this great change shallbe effected.(1)ByHim
whom we call Lord and God. If there be any who are ready to take Him down
from His Divine elevation let them mark this Divine prerogative. "As the
Father raisethup the dead," etc. (Romans 14:9).(2)By His mighty power.
What power must he have who raises the dead?(3)The particular principle is
that by which He is able to subdue all things.
III. THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THIS CHANCE OUGHT TO BE MADE
A MATTER OF JOYFUL EXPECTATION.The greatsin of men is not
looking forward. Fortime they are ready to give all; for eternity nothing. But
we Christians look for the coming of Christ —
1. As we hate sin, because we shallthen be perfectly holy.
2. As we desire communion with God, because we shallsee Him as He is, and
be made like Him.
3. As we wish to arrive at the true grandeur and perfection of our nature,
because we shallbe changedinto the image of moral beauty.

4. As we desire the perfect triumphs of the Redeemer's kingdom, because then
all things shall be put under His feet.
5. As we desire a meeting with all the greatand good, because thenwe shall
rejoice in an associationwith the family of God forever.
(J. Parsons.)
The vile body made glorious
S. Martin.
The word "vile," in ordinary usage, representsthat which is mean and
despicable. This is not the thought of the Apostle Paul. The substance ofthe
body is not in itself vile. There is nothing vile in the elements of the human
frame or in their combination. The constructionof the body is not vile. There
is so much of Divine design, wisdom, and skill displayed in every part of the
human body, that the attributes of the Creatorseemto be enthroned or
enshrined in it. The uses of the body are not vile, so far, at least, as the body is
rightly used, and the members are instruments of righteousness unto God. It
is not Paul's habit to speak in contempt of the human frame. The body is,
nevertheless, as the subjectof disease andinfirmity, as sustained by toil and
by the sweatofthe brow, as appointed to die, and as liable to the motions of
sin, in a state of debasement. It is in a state of humiliation.
I. THE CHANGE HERE PREDICTED.
1. The transformation in substance. This will consistin the change of the
present natural material, to what the apostle calls "spiritual." There is almost
a contradiction involved in speaking ofany substance as being spiritual, but
we see very many changes in the substance of nature which are very like a
change from that which is grosslymaterial, to that which is refined and

spiritual. Take, say, a lump of rough ice. Apply heat to it; and the change
effectedis to water. The material is nearer the spiritual as waterthan it was as
ice. Continue to apply heat to this melted ice, and you get from it a cloud of
vapour floating in the air. Here is something kindred to the change of that
which is material into that which is spiritual, and, perhaps, the change of
which the text speaks is of this kind or of this class. Ortake, say, a grain of
wheatand drop it into the ground; it germinates;and presently it comes up to
a beauteous blade. How much more like the spiritual is that green spiritual
blade, than the hard, cold, apparently lifeless thing called a seedwhich you
castinto the ground? "Fleshand blood," we are told, "cannotinherit the
kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Of these
qualities we may mention strength. How little, in certain aspects, the body can
bear I Compared with the spirits of some men how weak is the body. God
Himself is clothed with activity, is ceaselessly active. Those who are redeemed
to God by Jesus Christare savedfrom morbid inactivity. There is as strong a
desire to do, as there is to be and to enjoy. Now, to have a body that will
endure this doing, because constitutedof a material that will never wear, and
that will never waste!Oh, how glorious will this be!(1) The transformation, so
far as the substance is concerned, will be from a wasting material to a
permanent substance. We all know that our bodies are now constituted on the
principle of waste and repair. The future body will not be basedon this
arrangement.(2)The transformation will be from a corruptible substance to
an incorruptible — from a substance exposedto many ills, to a substance the
heir only to vigour and to pleasure.
2. The change in the form may be gathered from Revelation1:13. The
transformation will be from the mixture of comeliness anduncomeliness to
perfect purity — from heaviness to lightness and agility — from dwarfishness
or overgrowthto perfectstature — from the expressionwhich sin and sorrow
give to the human countenance unto the expressionof perfect righteousness
and of fulness of joy. Now all this is involved in the words, "fashionedlike
unto His glorious body." The body of the Lord Jesus Christis a body that HIS
Father thinks worthy of Him. It is a body suited to His dignity as King of
kings, to the glorious city over which He reigns, and which harmonizes with

all that is sublime and beauteous there. And when our bodies shall be
fashionedlike it what a change this will be; like that betweenthe colours on a
painter's palette, and the picture on the canvas, yetnot like because infinitely
surpassing it, or as the change which passes overthe earth, when the winter is
gone and the time of the singing of birds is come.
II. JESUS CHRIST WILL BE THE TRANSFORMER. The Redeemerhas
takenus men entirely in hand to do everything for us. We want a sacrifice, a
righteous standing with God, regeneration, teaching, comfortin tribulation,
victory in battle, and He provides them all. In the text Christ is doing our part
of His work for us. He has already transformed our spirits, and will in due
time change our bodies. The tendency of this working is to subdue everything
to His purpose, so that all things may have this one issue — the working out of
a complete salvation. The text exhibits —
I. The resources ofChrist. He literally cando everything for you. Inwardly
you are His workmanship, for you are newly createdin Him; but more still
will be done, even the transformation. Will you not, then, look more
constantly to Christ? You cannotlook to Him too much. He delights in your
cherishing large expectations.
2. The completeness ofredemption. Christ takes the body into His redeeming
hand, He changes that, and He makes that perfect. Why not trust Him to
perfect all that concernethyou?
3. The future glory of the saints. What is there involving dignity, or pleasure,
or joy, that is not provided for in that Father's house to which the Saviourhas
gone that He may prepare a place for us.

4. One greatobjectof the Christian's hope. The existence of hope in our
nature is an illustration of the goodnessofGod. We double our sorrows by
our fears. But what shall we sayof the effectupon our joys of hope? We enjoy
some promised or coming blessing, over, and over, and over again, long before
it reaches our hands. Wearyin this pilgrimage of life, whither are the weary
steps which you are taking today carrying you? Every step carries you nearer
home. Every pain tells that the hour is near in which the Lord Jesus Christ
"shallchange the body of your humiliation." Wait a little, and your
redemption will be consummated, and it will be as though you had never
known a fallen world like this, and a humbled nature like this.
(S. Martin.)
The redemption of the body
JabezBunting, D. D.
I. THE SUBJECT OF THE PROCESS. In our presentfallen state the bodies,
even of the saints, exhibit marks of degradation, and furnish the causes by
which that degradationis manifested.
1. Our bodies, as they were created, so are they now supported, by nutriment
derived from the earth on which we tread.
2. They are liable to be painfully affectedby various elements and agenciesof
physical nature.
3. They are subject to manifold injuries, and sufferings, and diseases.
4. They are ultimately destined to return to the dust from whence they were
taken.

5. On these accounts, and with a tacit comparisonof what the body is with
what it was, with what it would have been, if sin had not marred it — and
with what it shall be — that the apostle terms it the body of our humiliation,
but too sadly in keeping with the fallen and degraded soul, till renewedby the
grace ofthe Almighty Spirit.
II. THE PROCESS.
1. Notan absolute change, but a transformation and modification. This
presupposes and implies the doctrine of the resurrection.
2. The model, according to which this change is accomplished, is nothing less
than the glorified humanity of Christ.
III. THE AGENCY. Surely He who made that which was not can make that
which has been to be again. And, therefore, the text refers us to the
Omnipotence of God. So wondrous a change is only explicable on the
hypothesis of miracle.
IV. THE LESSONS. The doctrine is —
1. Highly illustrative of the glory of the Divine attributes.(1) How glorious will
be that wisdom, which, through all the mutations of time shall keepits eye
upon those integral and ultimate parts of the human body, which are essential
to its identity, through all their various transitions, and which will collect
those scatteredparticles and recombine them into a beauteous frame.(2)How
glorious that powerwhich will accomplishthat purpose.(3) How glorious that

justice which will sooneror later render to every man in his body according to
what he hath done.(4) How glorious that mercy which first makes men saints
and constitutes them citizens of heaven, and finally admits them to the city of
which they are made free by grace.
2. Calls upon us to remember and recognize with devout gratitude our special
obligation to the Christian revelation, which brings this "life" and this
"immortality," not only of the spirit but of the body, "to light."
3. Furnishes a powerful motive to submission when we are called upon to
suffer bodily infirmity.
4. Affords an antidote againstthe tormenting fear of death for ourselves in
ordinary life, and in the common process ofhuman decayand mortality, as
well as a strong consolationonthe occasionofthe removal of our beloved
friends from time to eternity.
5. Shows us the fitness and propriety of that decentand reverential respect,
which in Christian lands is ordinarily paid to the interment even of the mortal
remains of departed and glorified friends?
6. Ought to convince us of the necessityofglorifying God with our bodies as
well as our spirits.
(Jabez Bunting, D. D.)
The resurrectionof the body

R. Watson.
I. OUR SINFUL CONDITION. Ourbody is a humble one.
1. Becauseofits sin, which brought all evil into the world.
2. Becauseofthe immense labour that is necessaryto supply its wants,
abridging the time for intellectualand religious pursuits, and that only to feed
that which will die.
3. As a hindrance to the richestfeelings of which the heart is capable.
4. As doomed to die, and to inflict the keenestpain on belovedsurvivors.
II. THE GLORIOUS SCENE WHICH IS PECULIAR TO CHRISTIANITY.
1. The fact of the resurrection. This identical body shall rise. We cannot sayin
what that identity consists. The body often changes its substance, but its
identity abides. If only a similar body there were no resurrection, only a new
creation. We depend, however, on scriptural proof.(1) The resurrectionof
Christ. "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of
them that slept."(2)The extent of redemption, which includes the body. "Ye
are not your own," etc. "We wait for the adoption, to wit the redemption of
the body." Christ cannot lose His own.(3) Both body and soulhave sinned or
wrought righteousness, hence both body and soulmust be rewardedor
punished.(4) The application of the term "sleep" to death — which cannot
refer to the soul; hence, death is the body collecting new vigour for the
morning of the resurrection.(5)The great designationof Christ. "He must
reign...the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

2. At the resurrectionthere shall be a transformation of the bodies of the
saints. What does it imply.(1) That there shall be no more death, Christ dieth
no more, nor His.(2) Conformity to the body of Christ means no more
deformity. Deformity in the countenance is sometimes the effectof sin,
sometimes of accident:but there will be no more of either.(3) Excessive care,
necessaryfor the support of the body, shall then exist no more.(4) The body
will no more be a hindrance, but an assistantto the operations of the spirit.
III. THE MEANS BY WHICH THIS IS TO BE EFFECTED.Doubtless the
apostle introduced this to answerall objections. The whole is a miracle, but
God makes miracles as greatevery day.
(R. Watson.)
The body as it is and as it is to be
D. Moore, M. A.
I. THE BODYAS IT IS.
1. In regard to its dignity.(1) For this we must go back to its creation.
(a)It is representedas a mass of unorganized matter.
(b)Then it became an organized body.
(c)After that breath is infused into it and it became an animated substance.
The latter element imparts to the human system surpassing worth.(2) Dignity
is imparted to the body in the process ofredemption.

(a)It has become a sanctified thing through the incarnation. Christ could
touch nothing that He did not ennoble.
(b)It has a dignity arising from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(c)There are direct intimations that the body stands in a certain relation to
mediatorial designs and purposes, and that Christ requires it for the
advancementof His kingdom.Glorify God in your body; "Presentyour bodies
a living sacrifice;The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." For
most of its operations the mind requires the assistance ofthe body, and
anatomists saythat the very structure of our frames is such as presupposes
their being used for the carrying out of mental objects and inventions. But the
body was intended of God to be the handmaid in higher departments, to be
the servantof the renewedwill, and the will of the true disciple moves only in
obedience to the will of his Master. So Christ speaks through His servant's
mouth, works through his hands, controls his eye and ear lestthey run after
vanity, lifts up the feet on their mission of mercy and love.(3) All this shows
why the apostle insists not only that we should have "our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience,"but also that we should have "our bodies washed
with pure water," for in baptism the, body is made a consecratedthing.
2. In regard to its humiliation. It is humbled —(1) On accountof our moral
degeneracyand the curse entailed thereby. Every pain, disease, mark of old
age, grave, remind us of this.(2) Becauseit is the seatof sin. Hence the
expression"body of this death," and the necessityofkeeping the body
under.(3) In consequence ofthe labour and pain required to provide for its
wants.(4)In that it is a hindrance to the soul's powers.

II. THE BODY AS IT IS TO BE. The apostle uses the word "transfigure,"
perhaps, with a designedreference to the glorious splendours of the Mount of
Transfiguration.
III. PRACTICAL RESULTS.
1. The essential, inalienable sanctity of the body as a member of Christ and a
temple of His spirit.
2. The folly and sin of undue carefulness in regardto bodily necessities.
3. The needlessnessofthe fearof death.
(D. Moore, M. A.)
The powerof Christ illustrated by the resurrection
C. H. Spurgeon.
The whole of our life is interwoven with the life of Christ. His first coming has
been to us salvation. We live still because He lives. The completion of our
salvationin the deliverance of our body from the bondage of corruption is
wrapped up in His personalresurrectionand quickening power.
I. THE MARVEL WHICH IS TO BE WROUGHT BY OUR LORD AT HIS
COMING.

1. He will change the body in which our humiliation is manifested and
enclosed, and will transform it until it is like the body in which He enjoys and
reveals His glory. Three times human eyes have seensomething of the body of
glory — in the face of Moses, afterhis forty days' communion; in the
transfiguration of Christ; in the angelface of Stephen.
2. Turning to 1 Corinthians 15 we learn —(1) That the body is corruptible,
subject to decay;but the new body shall be incorruptible. For the immortal
spirit it shall be the immortal companion.(2)It is sownin weakness, weakto
perform our will, weakerstill to perform God's, weak to do and to suffer; but
it is to be raisedin power and be made like unto the angels who excelin
strength.(3) It is a natural or soulish body — a body fit for the soul, for the
lowestfaculties of our mental nature; but it will be raiseda spiritual body,
adapted to the noblest portion of our nature, suitable for the highest
aspirations of perfectedhumanity.(4) It is sinful, its members have been
instruments of unrighteousness. It is true it is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
but there are traces about it of the time when it was a den of thieves. But it
awaits the time when it shall be perfectly sinless.(5)Being sinless it shall be
painless. Truly, we who are in this tabernacle do groan. Up yonder the rod
shall no longer chasten, the faultiness being removed.(6)The spiritual body
will not need to sleep, for it will serve God day and night in His temple
without weariness.(7)It will be perfect. If the saints have lost a sense or a limb
or are halt or maimed they will not be so in heaven, for as to body and soul
"they are without fault before the throne of God." "We shall be like Him,"
therefore beautiful.
3. The miracle will be amazing if you view it as occurring to those who shall be
alive when Christ comes. Reflect,however, that most will be in their graves,
and of many all trace will have disappeared.

4. By what possibility then canthe self same bodies be raised? I answer, it
needs a miracle to make any of these dry bones live, and a miracle being
granted impossibility vanishes. He who formed eachatom from nothing can
gather eachparticle from confusion.
II. THIS POWER WHICH IS TO RAISE THE DEAD IS RESIDENT IN
CHRIST AT THIS MOMENT. It is not some new powerwhich Christ will
take in the latter days.
1. This poweris ascribedto Christ as the Saviour, and it is precisely in that
capacitythat we need the exercise ofHis powerat this moment. How large,
then, may be our expectations forthe conversionof men. Nothing is too hard
for the Lord. If as Saviour He will wake the dead, He can now quicken the
spiritually dead. Your ownregenerationwas as remarkable an instance of
Divine poweras the resurrectionwill be.
2. Opposition may be expectedto this power, but that resistancewill be
overcome. There will be no resistance to the resurrection, but to the spiritual
there is prejudice, hatred of Christ, sinful preferences, etc. But"He is able to
subdue all things unto Himself."
3. The text includes all supposable cases. Nothere and there one, but all
things. No man is so fallen but Jesus cansave him.
4. Nothing is said concerning the unfitness of the means. The text obliterates
man altogether. Jesus canand will do it all.

5. The ability is present with the Saviour. He is as strong now as He ever will
be, for He changes not.
6. The text suggests a parallelbetweenthe resurrectionand the subduing of
all things.(1) All men are dead in sin, but He can raise them; many corrupt
with vice, but He cantransform them; some lost to hope as though their
bodies were scatteredto the winds — but He who raises the dead of all sorts
can raise sinners of all sorts by the self same power.(2)As the dead are to be
made like unto Christ, so the wickedwhen convertedare made like Him.
Brilliant examples of virtue shall be found in those who were terrible
instances of vice.
III. THE WORK WHICH WE DESIRE TO SEE ACCOMPLISHED. The
Saviour subduing souls, not to our wayof thinking, to our Church, to the
honour of our powers of persuasion, but "unto Himself."
1. This subjectionis eminently desirable since it consists in transformation.
2. To be subjected to Christ is to be fitted for heaven.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The raiserof the dead
Canon Liddon.
St. Paul had been speaking ofsome whose interests were centred in earthly
things. Of them he says that their end is destruction, etc. And in contrastwith
this way of passing life he describes the life of Christ's true servants. Their

citizenship is in heaven. They are in the position of emigrants for whom the
friendly government of a colony should provide, before their arrival at their
destined country, a home and a rest. Heaven, then, as being already their
country, naturally occupies a first place in their thoughts; but they cannot set
foot in it until a greatchange has passedoverthem. It is upon this change, and
upon the personof Him who is to effectit, that their eyes are naturally and
constantly fixed while the presentscene lasts.
I. THE NATURE OF THE CHANGE referred to.
1. The human body in its present stage ofexistence. "Ourbody of
humiliation." The human frame appeared to the Greek artist the most
beautiful thing in nature. It was the form which seemedto the Greeks most
nearly to unveil the Divine beauty to the eye of sense. How impossible to
imagine the phrase of the apostle upon the lips of the men who decoratedthe
Parthenon! It implies that the man who uses it has seendeeperand higher
than the realm of sense. The Greek knew only this visible world, and he made
the most of it. The Hebrew had had a revelationof a higher beauty; and when
men have come into contactwith the Eternal, they sit lightly to the things of
time. The Greek was occupiedwith the matchless outline of the human form.
The Hebrew could not forgetthat his bodily eye rested after all on a
perishable mass of animated clay (Isaiah 40:6-7; Psalm90:5-6; Job14:1-2;
James 4:14).
2. Notthat the phrase implies any one-sideddepreciation of the body such as
we meet with in heathen ascetics.Christianity on this subject keeps strictly a
middle waybetween two opposite errors. On the one hand, the body has
seemedto some to be man's all in all. just as it has to some of our modern
materialists;and then it has been supposedthat life either ceasedaltogether
with death, or was, after death, so attenuated down into a purely shadowy
existence as to lose all the importance which belongs to reality. And, on the
other hand, the body has been treated as a mere incumbrance, having no true
inherent relation to the complete life of man — the soul's prison house — the

degrading fetter which binds noble spirits down to the soil of earth — the
mere instrument of a being who is complete without it, and who is never free,
never himself, till he is delivered from it. And the effect, the moral effect, of
the first of these opinions is certainly, upon the whole, to encourage
unbounded sensualindulgence, and, of the second, to encourage suicide, since,
if the alliance betweensouland body is so disadvantageousand so unnatural,
the soonerit is put an end to the better.
3. Betweenthese opposite exaggerations revelationholds on a middle course.
Deathis the disturbance of that union of soul and body which constitutes
man; and this irregular interruption of the true life of man ends at the
resurrection, when man re-enters upon the normal conditions of his complete
being.
4. And yet, masterful as the body is, it is not the governing element in human
nature. Man is something higher, nobler, than the animal form with which he
is so intimately identified. Man lives on the frontier of two vast mysterious
worlds — the world of pure spirit and the world of animal existence. Our
nature as a whole, has been ennobled as well as invigorated by the Son of God.
He has takenbody and soul alike, and joined it by an indissoluble union to His
own eternal person. His body exists at the right hand of God, and thereby it
confers a patent of nobility of which our race cannever be deprived. And yet,
while this life lasts, how greatis the interval betweenour condition and His!
How unlike to ours is the body of glory which rose from the tomb in its
indescribable beauty, in its freedom of movement, in its inaccessibilityto
decay, in its spirituality of texture!
5. "His glorious body!" Christ's greatestgift is yet to come. We shall die as do
the creatures around us; whether by violence or by slow decay. But He will
gather up what death has left, and will transfigure it with the splendours of a
new life (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

II. THE GROUND OF THE GREAT CHRISTIAN EXPECTATION OF A
GLORIFIED BODYIN A FUTURE LIFE. How shall we getit? "According
to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself."
1. Everything of course depends on that. St. Paul had no doubt that Jesus
Christ, crucified some thirty years before, was living and reigning and had
actualjurisdiction over all things in heaven and earth.
2. It seems very strange to many that the elements of the human frame
resolvedinto dust many centuries ago should be recollectedand endowedwith
a new and more glorious life. What has become of the particles;they have
passedthrough animals and vegetables, andby this time are scatteredin a
thousand directions. How are they to be rescuedfrom this oft repeated
appropriation. It is an astonishing exertion of superhuman powerwhich is
under consideration, but it is not more than any reasonable believerin God
would assentto upon sufficient evidence of His declaredwill. No man can
believe in God, without believing in an act of power, compared with which the
resurrectionof the dead is a trivial incident. To believe in God is to believe in
the originalcreationof all things out of nothing, and creationis, after all, the
greatmiracle. And the man who believes it will not question God's Word
merely because the results to which it is pledgedare what we callmiraculous.
By the very actof believing in God he believes in an initial miracle, compared
with which all that canpossibly follow is insignificant.
III. SUCH A FAITH AS THIS IN THE RESURRECTION MUST HAVE
GREAT CONSEQUENCES.
1. If we parted company with the body at death for goodand all, it would not
matter much what was done with this perishing husk. But if this body of

humiliation has before it a splendid destiny, then we shall treat it in life and in
death as princes are treated who live in expectationof a throne — with all the
care and honour that its prospects demand. And hence, after death, respect
for the human body is a natural result of Christian belief in the resurrection.
Just as the body of the Lord Jesus was carefullywrapped in fine linen and laid
in a tomb until the morn of Easter, so, ever since, the bodies of departed
Christian believers have been lookedupon with eyes conveying something of
the faith, something of the love, of Nicodemus and Joseph. We know that they,
too, will rise. We know that we are not handling a lump of decaying matter
which has lost its interest forever, and which will presently be resolvedinto its
chemicalconstituents to be recombined no more. It lies before us, there in
very truth, a body of humiliation. But one day — we are certain of it — it is to
be fashioned like the glorious body of the ascendedSonof God, and we treat it
accordingly.
2. Much more important is our duty to the body during life.(1) Guard it. You
who are well off do what you can for the bodies of the poor. They, too, will
rise. Let us all keepour bodies in temperance and chastity, from all that
would bar entrance to the presence ofChrist. Every man that hath the
resurrectionhope in him purifieth himself as Christ is pure. Do not forget
how this sinful body may even here be made clean by Christ's body, just as
the soulmay be washedwith His most precious blood.(2) Train it, not as a
mere beautiful human frame, but as a future partakerin those scenes of
transcendentjoy and worship which are describedin the Apocalypse.
"Presentyour bodies," says the apostle, "a living sacrifice" — in works
certainly, and in that best of all kinds of work — in worship. Worship,
including bodily reverence, as wellas spiritual communion, is a direct
preparation for heaven. The body, which never bends here before the Being of
beings, is not likely to be joined to a spirit that has really learnt to hold
communion with the Holy and the Infinite. In such matters as this Christian
instinct is far better than argument. When eternity is once treated by a man as
a practicalreality, he is likely very soonto make up his mind how to bear
himself among the things of time.

(Canon Liddon.)
The body of our humiliation
T. Lessey.
Clothe that body in purple and fine linen; array it in royal robes;deck it with
a kingly diadem; place it on a throne; give it the sceptre of dominion; let
nations bow at his feet — it is "a vile body:" and Herod, while all the crowd
were calling him a god, felt that he was one of the vilest of men. Animate that
body with genius; light up that countenance with a flow of lofty spirit; let an
intellectual nature beam out from those eyes;let deep thought work beneath
that brow, and a towering spirit move those muscles — still the body is "vile;"
and in the midst of the astonishing lucubrations of the indwelling spirit, it may
sink into the loathesomeness ofcorruption. Nay, what is better, adorn the
indwelling spirit with power; let the soul be redeemedand regeneratedand
sanctifiedand impressed with God's image; let a soul born for glory look out
through that face;let that body be the charge of angelic guardians;let that
body be the temple of the Holy Ghost; let that body be sacred;let that body be
associatedwith all that is estimable in the human character, with all that is
dear and tender in sociallife; let that body attractwherever it moves — it is
"a vile body," liable to fall in a moment. It may be seizedwith the pangs of
anguish, and in an instant be deprived of its indwelling spirit and left to
loathesomenessand corruption. "A vile body." We have all vile bodies —
bodies of humiliation. Pride was not made for man — that is clear:pride will
not do for man: "Manthat is born of woman is of few days, and fall of
trouble."
(T. Lessey.)
God made nothing vile
Canon Miller.

When Archbishop Whately was dying his chaplain read to him, among other
scriptures, the words before us, but with his wonted clearnessthe great man
interrupted the reader, saying, "No;the body of our humiliation, not our vile
body. God made nothing vile."
(Canon Miller.)
The present glory and humiliation of the body
Canon Miller.
If you take man's body in some of its aspects it is a noble thing. Surely there
are marks of design upon it which speak of its Divine origin. Considerthe
marvellous mechanism of respiration and the circulation of the blood. Trace
that network of arteries and veins. Note how the eye and the hand have been
singled out as leading to the conclusionof the existence ofa God. Mark every
joint and every limb. Take ourphysical nature as you see it in its fair beauty
in slumbering infancy. Look at the maiden in the first blush of her beauty or
the matron in that beauty's maturity, and then tell me if the body is not a
beautiful thing; whether the contemplation of its out ward aspector its
interior mechanism be not a study for our wonder and admiration. But we
turn to the other side and hearPaul speaking of it as a mere tent, which is to
be taken down, and we turn to the lastpassageofthe preacherof the Old
Testament, and there we have a wonderful description so exquisite with its
imagery and poetry of the day, "whenthe keepers ofthe house shall tremble,"
etc., which sets forth the sinking and failing powers of old age. But if we want
to see the humbling side of this body of ours we must listen to Abraham whose
wife's beauty had once been so great. She was so fair a woman that he was
induced to lie for her, and yet a few years later from the same Abraham
comes the piteous appeal, "Give me a burying place that I may bury my dead
out of my sight" — the same fair, beloved Sarah. And in order, further, that
we may see that this body is indeed a body of humiliation, listen to those
words which go home to our hearts as we readthem — "Lord, by this time he
stinketh, for he hath been dead four days."

(Canon Miller.)
The resurrectionbody changed
Gotthold.
And so paper — that article so useful in human life, that repository of all the
arts and sciences,that minister of all governments, that brokerin all trade
and commerce, that secondmemory of the human mind, that stable pillar of
an immortal name — takes its origin from vile rags!The rag dealertrudges
on foot or drives his cart through the towns and villages, and his arrival is the
signalfor searching every cornerand gathering every old and useless shred.
These he takes to the mill, and there they are picked, washed, mashed, shaped,
and sized — in short, formed into a fabric beautiful enoughto venture
unabashed even into the presence of monarchs and princes. This reminds me
of the resurrectionof my mortal body. When desertedby the soul, I know not
what better the body is than a worn and rejectedrag. Accordingly, it is buried
in the earth, and there gnawedby worms and reduced to dust and ashes. If,
however, man's art and device can produce so pure and white a fabric as
paper from filthy rags, whatshould hinder Godby His mighty power to raise
this vile body of mine from the grave, and refine and fashion it like unto the
glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ?
(Gotthold.).
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(21) Who shall change . . .—This passageneeds more accurate translation. It
should be, who shall change the fashion of the body of our humiliation, to be
conformed to the body of His glory. (1) On the difference between“fashion”

and “form,” see Philippians 2:7-8. The contrasthere signifies that humiliation
is but the outward fashion or vesture of the body; the likeness to Christ is, and
will be seento be, its essentialandcharacteristic nature. This “humiliation”
marks our condition in this life, as fallen from our true humanity under the
bondage of sin and death. The body is not really “vile,” though it is fallen and
degraded. (2) “His glory” is His glorified human nature, as it was after the
Resurrection, as it is now in His ascendedmajesty, as it shall be seenat His
secondcoming. What it is and will be we gatherfrom the sublime descriptions
of Revelation1:13-16;Revelation19:12-16;Revelation20:11. What is here
briefly describedas change to conformity with that glory is workedout in
1Corinthians 15:42-44;1Corinthians 15:53-54, into the contrast between
corruption and incorruption, dishonour and glory, weakness andpower, the
natural (animal) body and the spiritual body. In 2Corinthians 3:18;
2Corinthians 4:16, we read of the beginning of glorificationin the spirit here;
in 2Corinthians 4:17-18;2Corinthians 5:1-4, of the completion of “the
exceeding weightof glory” in the hereafter, as glorifying also “our house
which is in heaven. St. John describes that glorification with brief emphatic
solemnity, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,” and draws
out explicitly the moral which St. Paul here implies, “Everyman that hath this
hope purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”
According to the working . . .—Properly, in virtue of the effectualworking of
His powerto subject all things to Himself. Comp. Ephesians 1:19; Ephesians
3:7, and Notes there. Here, as there, St. Paul speaks ofHis power as not
dormant or existing in mere capacity, but as energetic in working, unhasting
and unresting. Here briefly, as more fully in the celebratedpassageofthe
First Epistle to the Corinthians (1Corinthians 15:24-28)he describes it as
“subduing all things unto Himself,” till the consummationof this universal
conquestin the Last Judgment and the delivery of “the kingdom to God, even
the Father. . . that God may be all in all.” Of that power the primary
exhibition, in which He is pleasedto delight, is in salvation, gradually
preparing His own for heaven; the secondaryexhibition, undertaken under a
moral necessity, is in retributive judgment. It is of the former only that St.
Paul speaks here, as it shall be made perfect in the resurrectionunto eternal
life.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
3:12-21 This simple dependence and earnestnessofsoul, were not mentioned
as if the apostle had gained the prize, or were alreadymade perfectin the
Saviour's likeness. He forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be
content with past labours or present measures ofgrace. He reachedforth,
stretchedhimself forward towards his point; expressions showing great
concernto become more and more like unto Christ. He who runs a race, must
never stop short of the end, but press forward as fastas he can; so those who
have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it, in holy desires and
hopes, and constantendeavours. Eternallife is the gift of God, but it is in
Christ Jesus;through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by
him. There is no getting to heaven as our home, but by Christ as our Way.
True believers, in seeking this assurance,as wellas to glorify him, will seek
more nearly to resemble his sufferings and death, by dying to sin, and by
crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts. In these things there is a great
difference among real Christians, but all know something of them. Believers
make Christ all in all, and set their hearts upon another world. If they differ
from one another, and are not of the same judgment in lessermatters, yet they
must not judge one another; while they all meet now in Christ, and hope to
meet shortly in heaven. Let them join in all the greatthings in which they are
agreed, and wait for further light as to lesserthings wherein they differ. The
enemies of the cross ofChrist mind nothing but their sensualappetites. Sin is
the sinner's shame, especiallywhengloried in. The way of those who mind
earthly things, may seempleasant, but death and hell are at the end of it. If we
choose their way, we shall share their end. The life of a Christian is in heaven,
where his Head and his home are, and where he hopes to be shortly; he sets
his affections upon things above;and where his heart is, there will his
conversationbe. There is glory kept for the bodies of the saints, in which they
will appearat the resurrection. Then the body will be made glorious;not only
raisedagain to life, but raisedto great advantage. Observe the powerby
which this change will be wrought. May we be always prepared for the

coming of our Judge;looking to have our vile bodies changedby his Almighty
power, and applying to him daily to new-create our souls unto holiness;to
deliver us from our enemies, and to employ our bodies and souls as
instruments of righteousness in his service.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Who shall change our vile body - compare the notes at 1 Corinthians 15:The
original words, which are rendered here as "vile body," properly mean "the
body of humiliation;" that is, our humble body. It refers to the body as it is in
its present state, as subject to infirmities, disease, and death. It is different far
from what it was when man was created, and from what it will be in the
future world. Paul says that it is one of the objects of the Christian hope and
expectation, that this body, so subject to infirmities and sicknesses,will be
changed.
That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body - Greek, "The body Of
his glory;" that is, the body which he has in his glorified state. What change
the body of the Redeemerunderwent when he ascendedto heaven, we are not
informed - nor do we know what is the nature, size, appearance, orform of
the body which he now has. It is certain that it is adapted to the glorious world
where he dwells;that it has none of the infirmities to which it was liable when
here; that it is not subject; as here, to pain or death; that it is not sustained in
the same manner. The body of Christ in heaven is of the same nature as the
bodies of the saints will be in the resurrection, and which the apostle calls
"spiritual bodies," (notes, 1 Corinthians 15:44); and it is doubtless
accompaniedwith all the circumstances ofsplendor and glory which are
appropriate to the Son of God. The idea here is, that it is the object of the
desire and anticipation of the Christian, to be made just like Christ in all
things. He desires to resemble him in moral characterhere, and to be like him
in heaven. Nothing else will satisfy him but such conformity to the Sonof God;
and when he shall resemble him in all things, the wishes of his soul will all be
met and fulfilled.

According to the working ... - That is, such a change demands the exertion of
vast power. No creature cando it. But there is One who has powerentrusted
to him over all things, and he caneffectthis greattransformation in the bodies
of people; compare 1 Corinthians 15:26-27. He canmould the mind and the
heart to conformity to his own image, and thus also he cantransform the body
so that it shall resemble his. Everything he can make subject to his will.
(Matthew 28:18, note; John 17:2, note.) And he that has this power can
change our humbled and debasedbodies, so that they shall put on the glorious
appearance and form of that of the Sonof God himself. What a contrast
betweenour bodies here - frail, feeble, subjectto sickness, decay, and
corruption - and the body as it will be in heaven! And what a glorious
prospectawaits the weak and dying believer, in the future world!
Remarks On Philippians 3
1. It is a privilege of the Christian to rejoice;Philippians 3:1. He has more
sources ofreal joy than any other persons;see 1 Thessalonians 5:16. He has a
Saviour in whom he may always find peace;a God whose characterhe can
always contemplate with pleasure a heaven to look forward to where there is
nothing but happiness;a Bible that is full of precious promises, and at all
times the opportunity of prayer, in which he may roll all Iris sorrows onthe
arms of an unchanging friend. If there is anyone on earth who ought to be
happy, it is the Christian.
2. The Christian should so live as to leave on others the impression that
religion produces happiness. In our contactwith our friends, we should show
them that religion does not cause sadness orgloom, sourness ormisanthropy,
but that it produces cheerfulness, contentment, and peace. This may be shown
by the countenance, and by the whole demeanour - by a calm brow, and a
benignant eye, and by a cheerful aspect. The internal peace ofthe soul should
be evinced by every proper external expression. A Christian may thus be

always doing good- for he is always doing goodwho leaves the impression on
others that religion makes its possessors happy.
3. The nature of religion is almost always mistakenby the world. They
suppose that it makes its possessors melancholyand sad. The reasonis, not
that they are told so by those who are religious, and not that even they can see
anything in religion to produce misery, but because theyhave fixed their
affections on certainthings which they suppose to be essentialto happiness,
and which they suppose religion would require them to give up without
substituting anything in their place. But never was there a greatermistake.
Let them go and ask Christians, and they will obtain but one answerfrom
them. It is, that they never knew what true happiness was until they found it
in the Saviour. This question may be proposedto a Christian of any
denomination, or in any land, and the answerwill be uniformly the same.
Why is it, then, that the mass of persons regard religion as adapted only to
make them unhappy? Why will they not take the testimony of their friends in
the case,and believe those whom they would believe on any other subject,
when they declare that it is only true religion that ever gives them solid peace?
4. We cannot depend on any external advantages ofbirth or blood for
salvation;Philippians 3:4-6. Few or no persons have as much in this respectto
rely on as Paul had. Indeed, if salvation were to be obtained at all by such
external advantages, it is impossible to conceive that more could have been
united in one case than there was in his. He had not only the advantage of
having been born a Hebrew; of having been early trained in the Jewish
religion; of being instructed in the ablestmanner, but also the advantage of
entire blamelessnessin his moral deportment. He had showedin every way
possible that he was heartily attachedto the religion of his fathers, and he
beganlife with a zeal in the cause whichseemedto justify the warmest
expectations ofhis friends. But all this was renounced, when he came to see
the true method of salvation, and saw the better way by which eternallife is to
be obtained.

And if Paul could not depend on this, we cannot safelydo it. It will not save us
that we have been born in the church; that we have had pious parents; that we
were early baptized and consecratedto God; that we were trained in the
Sunday school. Norwill it save us that we attend regularly on the place of
worship, or that we are amiable, correct, honest, and upright in our lives. We
can no more depend on these things than Saul of Tarsus could, and if all his
eminent advantages failedto give him a solid ground of hope, our advantages
will be equally vain in regard to our salvation. It almostseems as if God
designedin the case ofSaul of Tarsus, that there should be one instance where
every possible external advantage for salvation should be found, and there
should be everything that people ever could rely on in moral character, in
order to show that no such things could be sufficient to save the soul. All these
may exist, and yet there may not be a particle of love to God, and the heart
may be full of selfishness, pride, and ambition, as it was in his case.
5. Religiondemands humility; Philippians 3:7-8. It requires us to renounce all
dependence on our own merits, and to rely simply on the merits of another -
the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are ever saved, we must be brought to esteemall
the advantages whichbirth and blood and our ownrighteousness canbestow
as worthless, and even vile, in the matter of justification. We shall not despise
these things in themselves, nor shall we consider that vice is as desirable as
virtue, nor that a bad temper is to be soughtrather than an amiable
disposition, nor that dishonesty is as commendable as honesty; but we shall
feel that in comparisonwith the merits of the Redeemerallthese are
worthless. But the mind is not brought to this condition without great
humiliation. Nothing but the powerof God canbring a proud and haughty
and self-righteous sinner to this state, where he is willing to renounce all
dependence on his own merits, and to be saved in the same wayas the vilest of
the species.

6. Let us seek to obtain an interestin the righteousness ofthe Redeemer;
Philippians 3:9. Our own righteousness cannotsave us. But in him there is
enough. There is all that we want, and if we have that righteousnesswhich is
by faith, we have all that is needful to render us acceptedwith God, and to
prepare us for heaven. When there is such a way of salvation - so easy, so free,
so glorious, so ample for all, how unwise is anyone to rest on his ownworks,
and to expectto be savedby what he has done! The highest honor of man is to
be saved by the merits of the Son of God, and he has reachedthe most
elevatedrank in the human condition who has the most certain hope of
salvationthrough him.
7. There is enough to be gainedto excite us to the utmost diligence and effort
in the Christian life; Philippians 3:10-14. If people can be excited to effort by
the prospectof an earthly crownin a race or a game, how much more should
we be urged forward by the prospectof the eternal prize! To seek to know the
Redeemer;to be raised up from the degradationof sin to have part in the
resurrectionof the just: to obtain the prize of the high calling in heaven - to be
made everlastingly happy and glorious there - what objectwas ever placed
before the mind like this? What ardor should it excite that we may gain it!
Surely, the hope of obtaining such a prize as is before the Christian, should
call forth all our powers. The struggle will not be long. The race will soonbe
won. The victory will be glorious;the defeatwould be overwhelming and
awful. No one need fear that he can put forth too much effort to obtain the
prize. It is worth every exertion, and we should never relax our efforts, or give
over in despair.
8. Let us, like Paul, ever cherishan humble sense ofour attainments in
religion; Philippians 3:12-13. If Paul had not reachedthe point of perfection,
it is not to be presumed that we have; if he could not saythat he had
"attained," it is presumption in us to suppose that we have, if he had occasion
for humiliation, we have more; if he felt that he was far short of the object
which he sought, and was presseddown with the consciousnessof

imperfection, such a feeling becomes us also. Yet let us not sink down in
despondencyand inaction. Like him, let us strain every nerve that we may
overcome our imperfections and win the prize. That prize is before us. It is
glorious. We may be sensible that we, as yet, have not reachedit, but if we will
strive to obtain it, it will soonbe certainly ours. We may feel that we are far
distant from it now in the degree ofour attainments, but we are not far from
it in fact. It will be but a short period before the Christian will lay hold on that
immortal crown, and before his brow will be encircled with the diadem of
glory. For the race of life, whether we win or lose, is soonrun; and when a
Christian begins a day, he knows not but he may end it in heaven; when he
lies down on his bed at night, he knows not but he may awake withthe
"prize" in his hand, and with the diadem of glory sparkling on his brow.
9. Our thoughts should be much in heaven; Philippians 3:20. Our home is
there, our citizenship is there. Here we are strangers and pilgrims. We are
awayfrom home, in a cold and unfriendly world. Our greatinterests are in
the skies;our eternaldwelling is to be there; our best friends are already
there. There is our glorious Saviour with a body adapted to those pure abodes,
and there are many whom we have loved on earth already with him. They are
happy now, and we should not love them less because they are in heaven.
Since, therefore, our greatinterests are there, and our bestfriends there; and
since we ourselves are citizens of that heavenly world, our best affections
should be there.
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
21. Greek, "Who shall transfigure the body of our humiliation (namely, in
which our humiliation has place, 2Co 4:10; Eph 2:19; 2Ti2:12), that it may be
conformed unto the body of His glory (namely, in which His glory is

manifested), according to the effectualworking whereby," &c. Notonly shall
He come as our "Saviour," but also as our Glorifier.
even—not only to make the body like His own, but "to subdue all things,"
even death itself, as well as Satan and sin. He gave a sample of the coming
transfiguration on the mount (Mt 17:1, &c.). Not a change of identity, but of
fashion or form (Ps 17:15;1Co 15:51). Our spiritual resurrectionnow is the
pledge of our bodily resurrectionto glory hereafter(Php 3:20; Ro 8:11). As
Christ's glorified body was essentiallyidentical with His body of humiliation;
so our resurrectionbodies as believers, since they shall be like His, shall be
identical essentiallywith our present bodies, and yet "spiritual bodies" (1Co
15:42-44). Our "hope" is, that Christ, by His rising from the dead, hath
obtained the power, and is become the pattern, of our resurrection(Mic 2:13).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Who shall change our vile body; who shall transform the body of our
humility, or our lowliness, i.e. our lowbrought body, the singular for the
plural, our humble and mean bodies, which depend upon and are beholden to
our eating and drinking, and the actions which follow thereupon, that do
humble and lowerthem, Luke 1:48; now, it may be, languishing with pains,
sickness, andmany infirmities, perhaps coopedup in a noisome prison, and, it
may be, an unclean dungeon, sownin dishonour and weakness in the grave, 1
Corinthians 15:43.
That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body; that they may be
conformed to Christ’s incorruptible, impassible, and immortal body, and so
glorious, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, in their proportion agreeing with the blessed
body of our Lord when he shall appear, 1Jo 3:1-3, and they shall see him with
the eyes of their bodies, made like unto his, Job 19:26,27 Col3:4, not in
equality, but only in respectof the same qualities that his body hath, 1
Corinthians 15:51,52 1 Thessalonians 4:17. A conformity agreeable to that of
head and members, that like as the sun is the fountain of all that glory which

the stars have, so shall our Lord and Saviour Christ’s glory be of all our glory,
Daniel 12:3 Matthew 16:27 1 Corinthians 15:40,41 2 Corinthians 4:14
Revelation21:11,23.But we must not imagine that our bodies shall be raised
to the same height and degree of glory that his is: and therefore in regard of
that powerand majesty which is included in the body of Christ from the
hypostaticalunion, our bodies will not be conformable, or made like to his;
but in glory which he obtained from his resurrection. Forthe body of Christ
may be consideredeither:
1. In its nature, and so there will be an agreementbetwixt the bodies of saints
and Christ’s body; or:
2. In regard of its subsistence in the person of the Word, and so there will be
none.
For it is impossible that the saints should be raised up to the same union with
the Godheadwhich Christ hath. But howevertheir bodies may be tormented
here, by unreasonable persecutors, thenthey shall be like to his glorious body.
According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself: how incredible soeverthis may appearto be unto carnalreason, Acts
17:32 26:8, yet he who thought it no robbery to be equal with God the Father,
and therefore can do what he pleaseth, Luke 18:27, can, by the same Divine
powerwhereby he himself was raisedfrom the grave, John 5:21,26,29 Eph
1:19,20, subjectall things to himself, destroy death and the grave, 1
Corinthians 15:24-27 Hebrews 2:8,14, raise them up to the throne of his glory,
Matthew 19:28, and make them like the angels in glory.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Who shall change our vile body,.... Which is defiled with sin, attended with
frailty, and is mortal; and being dead, is sownand laid in the grave in
corruption, weakness, anddishonour: in the Greek text it is, "the body of our
humility"; sin has subjectedthe body to weakness, mortality, and death; and
death brings it into a very low estate indeed, which is very humbling and
mortifying to the pride and vanity man: now this vile body, in the resurrection
morn, shall be stripped of all its vileness, baseness, andmeanness;and be
changed, not as to its substance, nor as to its form and figure, which shall
always remain same, as did the substance and form of our Lord's body after
his resurrection;but as to its qualities, it shall be changedfrom corruption to
incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:42, from mortality to immortality, from
weakness to power, from dishonour to glory, and be free from all sin: so the
Jews say(b), that "the evil imagination, or corruption of nature, goes along
with man in the hour of death, but does not return with him when the dead
arise:
and this change will be made by the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he
shall descendfrom heaven; who as he is the pledge, the first fruits, the
exemplar, and meritorious cause, so he will be the efficient cause ofthe
resurrectionof the saints; who will be raised and changedby him, by his
power, and by virtue of union to him:
that it might be fashionedlike unto his glorious body; or "the body of his
glory", as it is now in heaven, and of which his transfiguration on the mount
was an emblem and pledge; for glory, power, incorruption, and immortality,
the bodies of the saints in the resurrectionshall be like to Christ's, though not
equal to it, and shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The
Jews (c)have a notion, that "the holy blessedGod will beautify the bodies of
the righteous in future time, like the beauty of the first Adam:
but their beauty and glory will be greaterthan that, it will be like the glory of
the secondAdam, the Lord from heaven, whose image they shall then bear:

and whereas this requires almighty power, of which Christ is possessed, itwill
be done
according to the working, the energyof his powerand might; or as the Syriac
version renders it, "according to his greatpower";which was put forth in
raising himself from the dead, and whereby he was declaredto be the Son of
God: and
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself; not only sin, Satan,
and the world, but death and the grave;and so consequently able to raise the
dead bodies of his saints, and to change the qualities of them, and make them
like unto his own: and now who would but follow such persons, who are
citizens of heaven, have their conversationthere, look for Christ the Saviour
from thence, Philippians 3:20, who when he comes will raise the dead in
Christ first, put such a glory on their bodies as is on his own, 1 Thessalonians
4:16, and take them to himself, that where he is they may be also? see ,
Hebrews 6:12.
(b) Midrash Tillim apud Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. ver. l. 12. c. 2.((c) Midrash
Hanneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 69. 1.
Geneva Study Bible
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.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary

Php 3:21. As a specialfeature of the Lord’s saving activity at His Parousia,
Paul mentions the bodily transfiguration of the ἡμεῖς, in significantrelation to
what was said in Php 3:19 of the enemies of the cross. The latter now lead an
Epicurean life, whilst the ἡμεῖς are in a condition of bodily humiliation
through affliction and persecution. But at the Parousia—whata change in the
state of things! what a glorificationof these bodies now so borne down!
μετασχηματ.]shalltransform.[173]What is meant is the ἀλλάσσειν of the
body (1 Corinthians 15:51 f.) at the Parousia, which in this passage,just as in
1 Corinthians 15:52, Paul assumes that the ἩΜΕῖς will live to see. To
understand it at the same time of the resurrectionof the dead (so most
expositors, including de Wette, Wiesinger, Weiss), is inappropriate both to
ἀπεκδεχόμεθαand to the definition of the quality of the body to be
remodelled: Τῆς ΤΑΠΕΙΝ. ἩΜῶΝ, both these expressions being used under
the convictionof being still alive in the present state when the change occurs.
Moreover, the resurrectionis something more than a ΜΕΤΑΣΧΗΜΆΤΙΣΙς; it
is also an investiture with a new body out of the germ of the old (1 Corinthians
15:36-38;1 Corinthians 15:42-44.
Τῆς ΤΑΠΕΙΝΏΣ. ἩΜῶΝ]Genitive of the subject. Instead of saying ἡμῶν
merely (our body), he expresses itwith more specific definition: the body of
our humiliation, that is, the body which is the vehicle of the state of our
humiliation, namely, through the privations, persecutions, and afflictions
which affect the body and are exhibited in it, thereby reducing us into our
present oppressedand lowly position; πολλὰ πάσχει νῦν τὸ σῶμα, δεσμεῖται,
μαστίζεται, μυρία πάσχει δεινά, Chrysostom. This definite reference ofΤ.
ΤΑΠ. ἩΜ. is required by the context through the contrastof the ἩΜΕῖς to
the ἘΧΘΡΟῪς ΤΟῦ ΣΤΑΥΡΟῦ Τ. Χ., so that the sufferings which are meant
by the cross ofChrist constitute the ταπείνωσις of the ἩΜΕῖς (comp. Acts
8:33); in which case there is no ground for our taking ΤΑΠΕΊΝΩΣΙς,
contrary to Greek usage (Plat. Legg. vii. p. 815 A; Polyb. ix. 33. 10; Jam 1:10),
as equivalent to ταπεινότης, lowliness, as in Luke 1:48 (Hofmann). On this

account, and also because ἡμῶνapplies to subjects distinctly defined in
conformity with the context, it was incorrectto explain ταπειν. generallyof
the constitution of our life (Hofmann), of weakness andfrailty (Luther,
Calvin, Grotius, Estius, and many others; including Rheinwald, Matthies,
Hoelemann, Schrader, Rilliet, Wiesinger, Weiss);comparisonbeing made
with such passagesas Colossians1:22;Romans 7:24; 1 Corinthians 15:44. The
contrastlies in the states, namely, of humiliation on the one hand and of δόξα
on the other; hence ἩΜῶΝ and ΑὐΤΟῦ are neither to be joined with ΣῶΜΑ
(in opposition to Hoelemann), nor with Τ. ΣῶΜΑ Τ. ΤΑΠ. and Τ. Σ. Τῆς
ΔΌΞΗς as ideas forming an unity (Hofmann), which Paul would necessarily
have marked by separating the genitives in position (Winer, p. 180 [E. T.
239]).
ΣΎΜΜΟΡΦΟΝ]Resultof the ΜΕΤΑΣΧΗΜ., so that the reading ΕἸς ΤῸ
ΓΕΝΈΣΘΑΙΑὐΤΌ is a correctgloss. SeeonMatthew 12:13 and 1
Corinthians 1:8; Fritzsche, Diss. II. in 2 Cor. p. 159;Lübcker, grammat. Stud.
p. 33 f. The thing itself forms a part of the συνδοξάζεσθαι, Romans 8:17.
Comp. also 1 Corinthians 15:48 f.; Romans 8:29. We may add Theodoret’s
appropriate remark: Οὐ ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῊΝ ΠΟΣΌΤΗΤΑΤῆς ΔΌΞΗς, ἈΛΛᾺ
ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῊΝ ΠΟΙΌΤΗΤΑ.
Τῆς ΔΌΞ. ΑὐΤΟῦ]to be explained like Τῆς ΤΑΠ. ἩΜ.: in which His heavenly
glory is shown forth. Comp. ἘΓΕΊΡΕΤΑΙἘΝ ΔΌΞῌ, 1 Corinthians 15:44.
ΚΑΤᾺ Τ. ἘΝΈΡΓ. Κ.Τ.Λ.]removes every doubt as to the possibility;
according to the working of His being able (comp. Ephesians 1:19)also to
subdue all things unto Himself; that is, in consequenceofthe energetic
efficacywhich belongs to His powerof also subduing all things to Himself.
Comp. κατὰ τ. ἐνέργ. τῆς δυνάμ. αὐτοῦ, Ephesians 3:7, also Ephesians 1:19;as
to the subject-matter, comp. 1 Corinthians 15:25 f.; as to the expressionwith
the genitive of the infinitive, Onosand. I. p. 12: ἡ τοῦ δύνασθαι ποιεῖν ἐξουσία.

καί]adds the generalelement ὑποτάξαι αὐτῷ τὰ π. to the ΜΕΤΑΣΧΗΜΑΤ.
Κ.Τ.Λ.[174]Bengelaptly says:“non modo conforme facere corpus nostrum
suo.”
τὰ πάντα] all things collectively, is not to be limited; nothing can withstand
His power;a statement which to the Christian consciousnessrefers, as a
matter of course, to createdthings and powers, not to God also, from whom
Christ has receivedthat power(Matthew 28:18;1 Corinthians 15:27), and to
whom He will ultimately deliver up again the dominion (1 Corinthians 15:24;
1 Corinthians 15:28). Chrysostomand Theophylact have alreadywith reason
noticed the argumentum a majori ad minus.
[173]As to the nature of this transformation, see 1 Corinthians 15:53. The
older dogmatic exegetes maintainedin it the identity of substance. Calovius:
“Ille μετασχηματισμός non substantialemmutationem, sed accidentalem, non
ratione quidditatis corporis nostri, sedratione qualitatum salva quidditate
importat.” This is correctonly so far as the future body, although an
organismwithout σάρξ and αἷμα, 1 Corinthians 15:50, will not only be again
specificallyhuman, but will also belong to the identity of the persons. See 1
Corinthians 15:35 ff. Comp. Ernesti, Urspr. d. Sünde, I. p. 127 f. More precise
definitions, such as those in Delitzsch’s Psychol. p. 459 ff., lose themselves in
the misty regionof hypothesis. The inappropriateness of the expression
employed in the Confession:Resurrectionof the flesh, has been rightly
pointed out by Luther in the Larger Catechism, p. 501.
[174]Hoelemann takes καί as and, so that the sense would be, “that Christ can
do all things, and subdues all things to Himself.” The very aorist ὑποτάξαι
should have withheld him from making this heterogeneouscombination, as it
betrays itself to be dependent on δύνασθαι.

Expositor's Greek Testament
Php 3:21. μετασχ. It is doubtful whether, in this passage, any specialforce can
be given to μετασχ. as distinguished from μεταμορφοῦν, carrying out the
difference betweenσχῆμα and μορφή. The doubt is borne out by its close
connexion here with σύμμορφον. Perhaps, however, the compound of σχῆμα
has in view the fact that only the fashion or figure in which the personality is
clothed will be transformed. We have here (as Gw[9]. notes)the reverse of the
process in chap. Php 2:6-11. The locus classicusonthe word is 2 Corinthians
11:13-15. It is found in Plato and Aristotle in its strict sense. Cf. also 4Ma
9:22. It is Christ who effects the transformation in the case ofHis followers,
because He is πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν(1 Corinthians 15:45). Cf. Apocal. of Bar., li.
3: “As for the glory of those who have now been justified in my law … their
splendour will be glorified in changes, andthe form of their face will be
turned into the light of their beauty, that they may be able to acquire and
receive the world which does not die”.—τὸ σῶμα τ. ταπειν. The expression
must apply esp[10]. to the unfitness of the presentbodily nature to fulfil the
claims of the spiritual life. It is pervaded by fleshly lusts; it is doomed to
decay. ταπειν. is plainly suggestedby δόξα which follows. σῶμα is “pure form
which may have the most diverse content. Here, on earth, σῶμα = σάρξ” (see
an illuminating discussionby F. Köstlin, Jahrb. f. deutsche Th., 1877, p. 279
ff.). Holst. (Paulin. Th., p. 10)notes that for this conceptionof σῶμα as
“organisedmatter,” the older Judaism had no word besides ‫ב‬ ָּ‫ש‬ ָּ‫.ד‬ Later
Hellenistic Judaism used the word σῶμα in its Pauline sense (see Wis 9:15).—
εἰς τὸ γ. α. is to be omitted with the best authorities. See crit. note supr.—
σύμμορφονis used proleptically as its position shows. Cf. 1 Thessalonians
3:13, στηρίξαι τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶνἀμέμπτους. Perhaps the compound of μορφή
is used to remind them of the completeness oftheir future assimilationto
Christ. Cf. Romans 8:29. The end of the enumeration in that passageis
ἐδόξασεν. δόξα is the climax here.—τ. σώμ. τ. δόξης α. With Paul δόξα is
always the outward expressionof the spiritual life (πνεῦμα). It is, if one may so
speak, the semblance ofthe Divine life in heaven. The Divine πνεῦμα will
ultimately revealitself in all who have receivedit as δόξα. That is what the
N.T. writers mean by the completed, perfected“likeness to Christ”. This
passage, combinedwith 1 Corinthians 15:35-50 and 2 Corinthians 4:16 to 2

Corinthians 5:5, gives us the deepestinsight we have into Paul’s idea of the
transition from the present life to the future. He only speaks in detail of that
which awaits believers. Whether they die before the Parousia or survive till
then, a change will take place in them. But this is not arbitrary. It is
illustrated by the sowing ofseed. The Divine πνεῦμα which they have received
will work out for them a σῶμα πνευματικόν. Theirrenewednature will be
clothed with a corresponding body through the power of Christ who is
Himself the source of their spiritual life. The σῶμα σαρκικόνmust perish:
that is the fate of σάρξ. If there be no πνεῦμα, and thus no σῶμα πνευματικόν,
the end is destruction. But the σῶμα πνευματικόνis precisely that in which
Christ rose from the dead and in which He now lives. Its outward semblance
is δόξα, a glory which shone forth upon Paul from the risen Christ on the
Damascus road, which he could never forget. Hence all in whom Christ has
operatedas πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦνwill be “changedinto the same likeness from
glory (δόξα) to glory”. Paul does not here reflecton the time when the
transformation takes place. Thatis of little moment to him. The fact is his
supreme consolation. Onthe whole discussionsee esp[11]. Hltzm[12]., N.T.
Th., ii., pp. 80–81 andHeinrici on 1 Corinthians 15:35 ff.; for the future δόξα
Cf. Apocal. of Bar., xv. 8 (Ed. Charles).—κατὰ τ. ἐνέργ. ἐνέργεια is only used
of superhuman powerin N.T. Quia nihil magis incredibile, nec magis a sensu
carnis dissentaneum quam resurrectio:hac de causa Paulus infinitam Dei
potentiam nobis ponit ob oculos quae omnem dubitationem absorbeat. Nam
inde nascitur diffidentia quod rem ipsam metimur ingenii nostri angustiis
(Calvin).—τοῦ δύν. “His efficiencywhich consists in His being able,” etc. The
beginnings of this use of the genitive of the infinitive without a preposition
appear in classicalGreek.But in N.T. it was extended like that of ἵνα. Cf., e.g.,
Acts 14:9, 2 Corinthians 8:11. See Blass, Gram., p. 229;Viteau, Le Verbe, p.
170.—ὑποτάξαι. Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24-28.—ἑαυτῷ.αυτω must be read with
the bestauthorities. How is it to be accented?Is it to be αὑτῷ or αὐτῷ? W.H.
read the former, regarding this as one of the exceptionalcaseswhere “a
refusal to admit the rough breathing introduces language completelyat
variance with all Greek usage without the constraint of any direct evidence,
and solelyon the strength of partial analogies”(N.T., ii., Append., p. 144). On
the other hand, Blass (Gram., p. 35, note 2) refuses to admit αὑτῷ. Winer,
although preferring αὐτῷ, leaves the matter to the judgment of edd.

Buttmann gives goodreasons forusually reading αὐτ. (Gram., p. 111).
Certainly αὐτοῦ is quite common as a reflexive in Inscriptions of the Imperial
age (see Meisterhans, Gram. d. Att. Inschrr., § 59, 5). To sum up, it cannot be
said that the aspirated form is impossible, but ordinarily it is saferto omit the
aspirate. Cf. Simcox, Lang. of N.T., pp. 63–64.
[9] . Gwynn.
[10] especially.
[11] especially.
[12] tzm. Holtzmann.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
21. change]The Greek verb is cognate to the word schêma, on which see
secondnote on Php 2:8. It occurs also 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, and, with a
different reference of thought, 1 Corinthians 4:6. Its use here implies that, in a
sense, the change would be superficial. Already, in the “new creation” (2
Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) of the saint the essentials ofthe glorified
being are present. Even for the body the pledge and reasonofits glory is
present where the Holy indwelling Spirit is, (Romans 8:11). And thus the final
transfiguration will be, so to speak, a change of “accidents,”not of “essence.”
“Now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1
John 3:2).
our vile body] Lit., and far better, the body of our humiliation. Wyclif has
“whiche schalrefourme the bodi of oure mekenesse”;the Rhemish version,
“the body of our humilitie”; Beza’s Latin version, corpus nostrum humile;

Luther, unsern nichtigen Leib. All paraphrases here involve loss or mistake.
The body transfigured by the returning Lord is the body “ofour humiliation”
as being, in its present conditions, inseparably connectedwith the burthens
and limitations of earth; demanding, for its sustenance andcomfort, a large
share of the energies ofthe spirit, and otherwise hindering the spirit’s action
in many directions. Notbecause it is material, for the glorified body, though
“spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:44), will not be spirit; but because ofthe
mysterious effectof man’s having fallen as an embodied spirit. The body is
thus seenhere, in its present condition, to be rather the “humbling” body than
“vile” (Lat., vilis, “cheap”), “humble.”
Observe meanwhile that peculiar mystery and glory of the Gospel, a promise
of eternal being and blessednessforthe body of the saint. To the ancient
philosopher, the body was merely the prison of the spirit; to the Apostle, it is
its counterpart, destined to share with it, in profound harmony, the coming
heaven. Not its essentialnature, but its distorted condition in the Fall, makes
it now the clog of the renewedspirit; it shall hereafterbe its wings. This is to
take place, as the N.T. consistentlyreveals, not at death, but at the Return of
Christ.
The bearing of this passageonthe error of the libertine, who “sinned against
his ownbody” (1 Corinthians 6:18), is manifest.
that it may be fashioned like] One word, an adjective, in the Greek;we may
render, nearly with R.V., (to be) conformed. The word is akin to morphê, Php
2:6, where see note. It is implied that the coming conformity to our Blessed
Lord’s Body shall be in appearance because in reality; not a mere superficial
reflection, but a likeness ofconstitution, of nature.

unto his glorious body] Lit. and better, the body of His glory; His sacred
human body, as He resumed it in Resurrection, and carriedit up in
Ascension[25], andis manifested in it to the Blessed.—“OfHis glory”; because
perfectly answering in its conditions to His personalExaltation, and, so far as
He pleases, the vehicle of its display. A foresightof what it now is was given at
the Transfiguration(Matthew 17:2, and parallels);and St Paul had had a
moment’s glimpse of it as it is, at his Conversion(Acts 9:3; Acts 9:17; Acts
22:14;1 Corinthians 9:1; 1 Corinthians 15:8).
[25] The Ascensionmay well have been, as many theologians have held, a
further glorification, the crown of mysterious processescarriedon through
the Forty Days. We see hints of the presentmajesty of the Lord’s celestial
Body in the mystical language of Revelation1:14-16.
Our future likeness in body to His body is alone foretold here, without
allusion to its basis in the spiritual union and resemblance wroughtin us now
by the Holy Spirit (e.g. 2 Corinthians 3:18), and to be consummated then (1
John 3:2). But this latter is of course deeply implied here. The sensualheresies
which the Apostle is dealing with lead him to this exclusive view of the
glorious future of the saint’s body.
It is plain from this passage, as from others (see esp. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44;1
Corinthians 15:53), that the saint’s body of glory is continuous with that of his
humiliation; not altogethera “new departure” in subsistence. Butwhen we
have said this, our certainties in the question cease, lostin the mysterious
problems of the nature of matter. The Blessed will be “the same,” body as well
as spirit; truly continuous, in their whole being, in full identity, with the
pilgrims of time. But no one cansay that to this identity will be necessarythe
presence in the glorified body of any given particle, or particles, of the body of
humiliation, any more than in the mortal body it is necessaryto its identity (as
far as we know) that any particle, or particles, present in youth should be also

present in old age. However, in the light of the next words this question may
be left in peace. Be the process and conditions what they may, in God’s will,
somehow
“Before the judgment seat,
Though changedand glorified eachface,
Not unremembered [we shall] meet,
For endless ages to embrace.”
(Christian Year, St Andrew’s Day.)
according to the working whereby &c.]More lit., according to the working of
His being able. The word “mighty” in the A.V. (not given in the other English
versions)is intended to representthe specialforce of the Greek word energeia
(see note on the kindred verb, Php 2:12); but it is too strong. “Active,” or even
“actual,” wouldbe more exact;but these are not really needed. The
“working” is the positive putting forth of the always present“ability.”
even to subdue all things unto himself] “Even” precedes and intensifies the
whole following thought.
Elsewhere the Father appears as “subduing all enemies,” “allthings,” to the
Son. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:25 (and Psalm110:1), 27 (and Psalm8:6). But the

Father “hath given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26-29), and
therefore power. The will of the Fathertakes effectthrough the will of the
Son, One with Him.
“All things”:—and therefore all conditions or obstacles, impersonalor
personal, that oppose the prospectof the glorificationof His saints. Cp.
Romans 8:38-39;1 Corinthians 3:21-23.
“Unto Himself”:—so that they shall not only not obstruct His action, but
subserve it. His very enemies shallbe—“His footstool,”and He shall “be
glorified in His saints” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). And through this greatvictory
of the Son, the Fatherwill be supremely glorified. See 1 Corinthians 15:28;a
prediction beyond our full understanding, but which on the one hand does not
mean that in the eternal Future the Throne will cease to be “the throne of God
and of the Lamb” (Revelation22:1; Revelation22:3), and on the other points
to an infinitely developedmanifestation in eternity of the glory of the Father
in the Son. Meanwhile, the immediate thought of this passageis the
almightiness, the coming triumph, and the present manhood, of the
Christian’s Saviour.
Bengel's Gnomen
Php 3:21. Ὃς μετασχηματίσει, who will transform) not only will give
salvation, but also glory; 2 Timothy 2:10.—τῆς ταπεινώσεως, of humiliation)
which is produced by the Cross, Php 3:18, ch. Php 4:12, Php 2:17; 2
Corinthians 4:10. ‫אכב‬ is in the LXX., ταπείνωσις, Psalm90:3.—κατὰ,ording
to) construe with will transform. The work of the Lord’s omnipotence.—τὴν
ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι, working efficacyofHis power[Engl. Vers. to the
working, whereby He is able]) The Infinitive instead of the noun. [His] power
will be brought forth into action.—καὶ);not merely to make our body
conformed to His.—τὰ πάντα, things) even death.

—————
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 21. - Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashionedlike unto
his glorious body; rather, as R.V., who shall fashion anew the body of our
humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory. Compare the
description of our Lord's person and work in Philippians 2:6-8. There St. Paul
tells us that he who was originally in the form of Godtook upon him the form
of a servant, and was found in fashion as a man. Here he uses the derivatives
of the same words "form" and "fashion" (μορδή and σχῆμα), to describe the
change of the bodies of the savedat the resurrection. He had already told us
(ver. 10) that the Christian soul is being gradually conformedduring life unto
the death of Christ. He now tells us that this conformity of the Christian unto
Christ is ultimately to extend to the body. The Lord shall change the outward
fashion of our body; but this change will be more than a change of outward
fashion: it will result in a real conformity of the resurrection-body of the
believer unto the glorious body of the Lord. The body of our humiliation; not
"vile body." St. Paul does not despise the body, like the Stoics and Gnostics;
the Christian's body is a sacredthing - it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and
the seedof the resurrection-body (comp. 1 Corinthians 6:20). According to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. According
to the working, the energy, of his power not only to change and glorify the
bodies of the redeemed, but also to subdue all things, the whole universe, unto
himself. "The apostle shows,"says Chrysostom, "greaterworksofthe
Savior's power, that thou mightest believe in these."
Vincent's Word Studies
Shall change (μετασχηματίσει)

See on Matthew 17:2; see on 1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 11:13. Also see
on form, Philippians 2:6; and see on fashion, Philippians 2:8. The word thus
indicates a change in what is outward and shifting - the body. Rev., correctly,
shall fashion anew. Refashion(?).
Our vile body (τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν)
Wrong. Render, as Rev., the body of our humiliation. See, forthe vicious use
of hendiadys in A.V., on Ephesians 1:19. Lightfoot observes that the A.V.
seems to countenance the stoic contempt of the body. Compare Colossians
1:22. The biographer of Archbishop Whately relates that, during his last
illness, one of his chaplains, watching, during the night at his bedside, in
making some remark expressive of sympathy for his sufferings, quoted these
words: "Who shall change our vile body." The Archbishop interrupted him
with the request"Readthe words." The chaplain read them from the English
Bible; but he reiterated, "Readhis ownwords." The chaplain gave the literal
translation, "this body of our humiliation." "That's right, interrupted the
Archbishop, "not vile - nothing that He made is vile."
That it may be fashioned like (εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸ σύμμορφον).
The words that it may be, or become, are omitted from the correctGreek text,
so that the strict rendering is the body of our humiliation conformed, etc. The
words are, however, properly inserted in A.V. and Rev. for the sake of
perspicuity. Rev., correctly, conformedfor fashionedlike. Fashionbelongs to
the preceding verb. See on shall change. The adjective conformed is
compounded with μορφή form (see on Philippians 2:6, and see on made
conformable, Philippians 3:10). As the body of Christ's glory is a spiritual
body, this word is appropriate to describe a conformation to what is more
essential, permanent, and characteristic. See1 Corinthians 15:35-53.

His glorious body (τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ)
Wrong. Rev., correctly, the body of His glory. The body in which He appears
in His present glorified state. See onColossians 2:9.
The working whereby He is able (τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ δύνασθαι)
Lit., the energy of His being able. Δύνασθαι expressesability, faculty, natural
ability, not necessarilymanifest. Ἑνέργεια is power in exercise, usedonly of
superhuman power. See on John 1:12; see on 2 Peter2:11. Hence, as Calvin
remarks, "Paulnotes not only the power of God as it resides in Him, but the
poweras it puts itself into act." See Ephesians 1:19, where four of the six
words for powerare used.
Subdue (ὑποτάξαι)
Rev., subject. See on James 4:7. It is more than merely subdue. It is to bring
all things within His divine economy; to marshal them all under Himself in the
new heaven and the new earth in which shall dwell righteousness.Hence the
perfectedheavenly state as depicted by John is thrown into the figure of a city,
an organized commonwealth. The verb is thus in harmony with Philippians
3:20. The work of God in Christ is therefore not only to transform, but to
subject, and that not only the body, but all things. See 1 Corinthians 15:25-27;
Romans 8:19, Romans 8:20; Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 1:22;
Ephesians 4:10.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Philippians 3:21 who will transform (3SFAI) the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power(PPN)
that He has even to subject (AAN) all things to Himself (NASB: Lockman)
Greek:os metaschematisei(3SFAI)to soma tes tapeinoseoshemon
summorphon to somatites doxes autou kata ten energeiantou dunasthai
(PPN)auton kaihupotaxai (AAN) auto ta panta.
Amplified: Who will gtransformand fashion anew the body of our
humiliation to conform to and be like the body of His glory and majesty, by
exerting that powerwhich enables Him even to subjecteverything to Himself
(Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Lightfoot: who shall change the fleeting fashionof these bodies—the bodies of
our earthly humiliation—so that they shall take the abiding form of his own
body—the body of his risen glory: for such is the working of the mighty power
whereby he is able to subdue all things alike unto himself.
Phillips: He will re-make these wretched bodies of ours to resemble his own
glorious body, by that powerof his which makes him the master of everything
that is. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: who shall transform this body of ours which has been humiliated [by
the presence ofindwelling sin and by death and decay], so that it will be
conformed to His body of His glory, this in accordance withthe operationof
Him who is able to bring into subjection to himself all things.

Young's Literal: who shall transform the body of our humiliation to its
becoming conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working of his
power, even to subject to himself the all things.
WHO WILL TRANSFORMTHE BODY OF OUR HUMBLE STATE:os
metaschematisei(3SFAI)to soma tes tapeinoseoshemon:
1Co 15:42, 43, 44, 48-54
Philippians 3 Resources
Philippians 3:15-21 The Subtlety of Error - Jack Arnold
Philippians 3:17-4:1 The Right & Wrong Way to Live - Steven Cole
Philippians 3:17-4:1 Two Ways to LIve - J Ligon Duncan
Philippians 3:12-16 Reaching for the Prize - John MacArthur
Philippians 3:17-21 Following Godly Examples - John MacArthur
Philippians 3:18-19 Fleeing from Enemies - John MacArthur
Philippians 3:20-21 Focusing onExpectations - John MacArthur
Christ is not only the Saviorof our soul but also the Savior of our body, as
Paul explains in this passage. Believershave assurance ofthe forgiveness of
our sins because of His death and assurance ofour future resurrectionand
glorificationof our bodies because ofHis resurrection. Hallelujah!
Paul appears to be speaking especiallyofthe Rapture (rather than the Second
Coming) and the transformation that will take place in the twinkling of an
eye, although a few commentators do refer this event to the SecondComing.
(See related topic Table comparing Rapture vs Second Coming)

Dwight Pentecostreminds us that "BecauseGodhas an eternalpurpose for
this physical body, it is important how we treat it and how we use it now. That
is the argument of the apostle as he deals with an important doctrinal problem
concerning the Philippians. The Philippians are giving earto false teachers
who are leading them to licentiousness.Becausethey despise the law of God
and the holiness of Godas revealedin the Mosaic Law, they have concluded
that they canlive as they please... Paul’s defense againstthe perversions that
are being practicedby these lawless ones in Philippi is to remind them of the
destiny of this human body. (Pentecost, J. D. The Joyof Living: A study of
Philippians. KregelPublications)
Transform (3345)(metaschematizo from metá = exchange or change of place
or condition + schematízo = to form <> from schema = shape, outward form
or fashion, the form that is seen)means to change the outward form or
appearance ofsomething. To alter the outward appearance in such a way as
to deceive or to feign to be what one is not (see uses in 2 Cor11:13, 14, 15)
UBS Handbook notes that "This compound verb focuses onthe unstable
outward shape and appearance, as againstthe inner stable nature (The United
Bible Societies'New TestamentHandbook Series)
TDNT adds that "The only LXX instance is in (apocryphal book) 4 Macc.
9:22 for the transforming of martyrs at death. Philo uses the verb for “to
change into a new form.” Josephus has it for changing clothing or disguising
as well as transforming.
When Christ the Savior of the body returns, He will transform our physical
body so that, while it will be the same body, it will no longerbe subjectto sin,
lust, suffering, weakness, misuse, andneglect. Hallelujah!

Vincent writes that metaschematizo "indicates a change in what is outward
and shifting."
The meaning of metaschematizo is illustrated by what it would mean to
change a Dutch garden into an Italian garden -- this would be metaschematizo
but to transform it into something wholly different, like a city is metamorphoo
. (English "metamorphosis").
Wuest explains that metaschematizo means "to change one’s outward
expressionby assuming from the outside an expressionthat does not proceed
from nor is it representative of one’s true inner nature.” The word
“masquerade” is an exact Englishtranslation. Satanwas originally the holy
angelLucifer. As such he gave outward expressionofhis inner nature as an
angelof light, which expressionproceededfrom and was truly representative
of that nature. That was morphoomai. Then he sinned and became an angelof
darkness, giving outward expressionofthat darkness. Thatwas morphoomai.
Then he changedhis outward expressionfrom that of darkness to one of light
by assuming from the outside, an expressionof light, which outward
expressiondid not come from nor was it representative of his inner nature as
an angel of darkness. Thatis metaschematizo. (Philippians Commentary
Online- Recommended)
Wuest in his comments on Jude 1:4 ("certainpersons have crept in
unnoticed") draws a parallelfrom the verb metaschematizo explaining that
this verb "refers to the act of an individual changing his outward expression
by assuming an expressionput on from the outside, an expressionthat does
not come from nor is it representative of what he is in his inner character.
Lucifer did that after he struck at God’s throne and became the fallen angel,
Satan. As a fallen angelhe gave expressionto his sin-darkenedheart. But he
knew that he could not attract the human race that way. He must impersonate
God if he expectedto be worshipped as God. He therefore assumedan

outward expressionof light, put on from the outside and not representative of
his inner sinful being. He disguised himself as an angelof light. His ministers,
(servants), Modernistic preachers, have done the same (Jude 1:15). Using
evangelicalterms such as “salvation, faith, regeneration, atonement,
resurrection,” they put their own private meanings upon them (which negate
the orthodox view), and pose as orthodox exponents of Christianity. Reader,
do not trust a Modernist any farther than you would a rattlesnake. A
rattlesnake will give you warning before it strikes, but not a Modernist. The
eternal welfare of your soul depends upon what you believe regarding the
person and work of our Lord on the Cross. (Ibid)
It is possible for Satanto metaschematizo, transform himself into an angelof
light (see 2Co 11:14 below)by changing his outward appearance. Butit would
be impossible to apply metamorphoo to any such change for this would imply
an internal change, a change not of appearance but of essence, whichlies
beyond his power.
Here are the 6 uses of metaschematizo in the NT...
1 Corinthians 4:6 Now these things (speaking of factions, etc), brethren, I have
figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, thatin us you might
learn not to exceedwhat is written, in order that no one of you might become
arrogantin behalf of one againstthe other.
Thayer explains: To shape one's discourse so as to transfer to oneselfwhat
holds true of the whole class to which one belongs, ie, so as to illustrate by
what one says of himself what holds true of all.

TDNT:The use is literary. Paul does not mean that he is putting things in a
figure of speechbut that he is expressing the matter in another form, i.e.,
showing what the attitude of believers should be from the example of Apollos
and himself.
Ed: The idea is to show a connectionor bearing of one thing on another as
when one illustrates this connectionwith a figure of speech.
2 Corinthians 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitfulworkers,
disguising (present tense - this is their continual practice to "stayunder
cover"!) themselves as apostles ofChrist. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angelof light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness;whose end shall
be according to their deeds.
Vincent comments: The changes describedare changes in outward semblance
(assuming another's appearance). Falseapostlesappearedin the outward
fashion of apostles ofChrist; Satantakes on the outward appearance ofan
angel. All these changes are in the accidents ofthe life, and do not touch its
inner, essentialquality. On the other hand, a change in the inner life is
describedas a change of morphe, never of schema.
NIDNTT comments:the thought is not that pseudo-apostles hadtransformed
themselves into apostles, but that they had appeared as apostles and were
regardedby some as such. At this time people did not sharply define what
constituted an apostle. Paul’s opponents calledthemselves apostles and
earnestlypresented themselves as such. In the eyes of many, these opponents
really were apostles. It was Paul who first calledthem false apostles.

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