“Out-Resurrection From Among the Dead”

On the GoedBericht website (UltimateGoodNews.com), frequent emphasis is placed on the distinct ministry of the apostle Paul and the truths God entrusted through him to “the saints.” One of those truths concerns “the snatching away” (better known as “the rapture”) of which Paul speaks in 1 Thessalonians 4. In other passages of Scripture as well (including 1 Corinthians 15), Paul refers to this event, which will take place before the public appearance of Christ (together with His own) to Israel and the nations. Exactly when this event will take place, and under what circumstances, is not the subject here. The point is simply that in an “instant of time” the believers who have fallen asleep will be roused, while the believers who are still alive will be changed (transformed), and will then together meet the Lord in the air. This is the mighty expectation we have as believers in Christ Jesus, and Paul has made known the details of this vivification in various letters. This vivification is called a “resurrection OUT from among the dead,” for it is a resurrection from among the rest of the dead. In other words: it is a resurrection that leaves the rest of the dead behind (who therefore simply remain in the graves).

Later as well, writing from prison, Paul mentions this event. In Philippians 3:11 he calls it “the out-resurrection from among the dead.” Some, on the basis of this unique formulation, believe they must conclude that this refers to a different resurrection than the one Paul had previously announced in his letters. They speculate that Paul is referring here to an individual resurrection that would take place immediately at, or shortly after, the believer’s death. For a number of reasons, that cannot be the idea.

1. The exceptional formulation “out-resurrection from among the dead” is linguistically comparable to “exterminate out of the people” (= exterminate, namely out of the people; Acts 3:23) and to “exodus out of Egypt” (= exodus, namely out of Egypt; Hebrews 3:16). The out-resurrection from among the dead = out-resurrection, namely from among the dead. What is distinctive about the expression is that it places additional emphasis on the fact that this is a resurrection OUT from among the dead.
2. The resurrection from among the dead of which Paul speaks in this chapter expressly does not take place at the death of a believer (or shortly thereafter), but on the occasion of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. For that is what Paul brings forward a few verses later.

“For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation, to conform it to the body of His glory…”
Philippians 3:20,21

In other words, when Christ comes out of the heavens, THEN our body of humiliation will be transformed and conformed to His body of glory. This transformation of the body does not take place each time a believer dies, but is a collective, simultaneous event.

3. If the resurrection in Philippians 3:11 were to mean that the believer receives a new body immediately at, or shortly after, death, then there IS no body of humiliation at all that is transformed (3:21) or rises. If a new glorified body comes into existence alongside a body that is still in humiliation, then that cannot be called a transformation, nor can it be called a resurrection.

In the Philippians letter as well, the expectation is still entirely focused on the moment when our Lord Jesus Christ will come out of the heavens to deliver our body of humiliation. So there is no new expectation, but an expectation Paul had already proclaimed many years earlier. Paul writes to the believers in Thessalonica that they had turned away from the idols to…

“…to be waiting for His Son out of the heavens, Whom He rouses from among the dead, Jesus, our Rescuer out of the coming indignation.”
1 Thessalonians 1:9,10

Here we find almost identical wording to that in Philippians 3. The resurrection of those “who are Christ’s” is an entirely future event (1 Corinthians 15:23). Until that time there is only One who has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16). Entirely in keeping with this, Paul expressly warns in his final letter (!) against a teaching in which the resurrection is said to have already taken place (2 Timothy 2:18). For this teaching is an attack on the expectation that Paul, on the basis of revelation, was privileged to make known in his letters.

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