Resurrection in Romans 5-8

I suspect this will seem like a strange post, but I'm working on something. My main question of the text of Romans 5-8 is whether Paul seems to have the same view of resurrection here that he has in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.

5:2 We boast in hope of the glory of God.
I would connect this statement to Romans 3:23 and Psalm 8. "All have sinned and are lacking the glory of God" that he intended for humanity to have in the creation in Psalm 8. We hope to receive this glory.

The question for my purposes here is whether Paul is thinking about 1) the future resurrection of the dead in Christ; 2) is he thinking about what will happen to believers when Christ returns; or 3) is he thinking about something that happens to us at death? Of course it is possible to combine 1 and 2 or 2 and 3.

5:5 And hope does not ashame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
The connection between the Holy Spirit and hope, it seems to me, connects directly to Paul's sense, which I think appears for the first time in 2 Corinthians 5:5, that the Spirit is the αρραβων of our heavenly dwelling, our resurrection body.

However, the 2 Corinthians 5 passage is exactly the one that F. F. Bruce suggested might mark a shift in Paul's conceptualization of death, to where we receive our heavenly dwelling at death instead of at some point when we are resurrected in the future. This verse could fit with either way.

5:9 Therefore, how much more, having been justified now by his blood will we be saved through him from wrath
I mention this verse only to point out the future sense of salvation for Paul here. We will escape God's coming punishment because of the atonement of Christ's blood. Salvation from wrath clearly applies to those who are alive at the time of wrath. Does it apply equally for those who have died (in the future tense) or is this comment largely irrelevant in relation to the dead? Does the verse have the living audience of Romans in view in the light of a judgment to come perhaps within their lifetime?

5:17 For if by the transgression of the one [man] death ruled through the one [man], how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness rule with life through the one [man] Jesus Christ!

5:21 ... so that just as sin ruled in death, so also might grace run through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
To rule in life or to have eternal life speaks to the destiny of the justified by faith. Paul does not speak here of the form of that life, whether it begins immediately at death or whether the dead must wait until the resurrection to commence it.

I might just note here the connection Paul makes in the possibly traditional formula of 4:25--"... who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification." More below on the parallel between Jesus' resurrection and the story of the believer.

6:4 Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism leading to death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
What is interesting about this statement is that it seems the first place that comes to my mind where Paul links Christ's resurrection not to our future resurrection but to our present newness of life, to "being raised" in our earthly behavior. I'll go back through Paul's other writings to double check such things. I'm just getting my thoughts in order here.

6:5 For if we have become united with the likeness of his death, but also we will be [united with the likeness] of the resurrection.
The question is what resurrection might mean for Paul and his readers here. He has just spoken of newness of life in the previous verse. Does resurrection here merely mean the new life believers now have? Does he mean a life that begins now and continues forever? Is he thinking about some resurrection after death in the future or at death? Not enough info here to know for sure, although the parallel to 6:4 might push us a little toward a resurrection of new life here and now, especially since the next verse says that "our old self has been crucified so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we are no longer enslaved to sin." 6:6 speaks to a new life we have here and now.

6:8, 11, 13 And if we have died with Christ, we have faith that we will also live with him... so also we reckon ourselves to be dead to sin but living to God in Christ Jesus... present yourselves to God as living from the dead...
None of these comments precludes a reference to future resurrection from the dead, but the focus is clearly on resurrection to new life in this world as we live free from the power of Sin over us. This world is the primary referrent of resurrection in this passage.

So the question is whether Paul anticipated that he and the Romans would die prior to Christ's arrival. If not, then he would not primarily be thinking of their rising from the dead. Life for them would be something that started now and continued into eternity. If he had undergone a shift in his thinking, the dead in Christ would already have their resurrection body and would simply join the living in Christ, who of course would still need to be transformed.

6:22 But now having been freed from Sin and having been enslaved to God you have your fruit in holiness, and the end [of it is] eternal life.
It is interesting that this phrase, "eternal life," does not appear in either 1 Thessalonians or 1 Corinthians. It does appear in Galatians 6:8 but I don't date Galatians until after 1 Corinthians. The category of the eternal suddenly picks up in Paul's writings in 2 Corinthians and then appears fairly frequently in Romans.

One passage where it appears is in Romans 2:5-7--"... according to your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath on the Day of Wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay to each according to his works, to those who by enduring good work seek glory and honor and immortality, [he will repay] eternal life."

Paul does not mention a resurrection here and perhaps pictures the Romans, still living at the time of Christ's return, being judged and granted to continue to live forever because of their "good works," which of course presumes all the soteriology and pneumatology of the rest of the book. In any case, nothing about the passage hints that resurrection is on Paul's mind.

7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died in relation to what we used to hold fast to, so that we might serve in the newness of Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
I mention this verse only because of its parallelism to walking in newness of life above. Having died to the Law in Christ, we rise to newness of life in the Spirit.

8:10-11 Now if Christ is in you [all], the body is dead because of sin and the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you [all], [then] the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you [all].
What is striking to me is that Paul doesn't seem to be thinking directly about future resurrection when he speaks of God giving life to their mortal bodies here. The entire train of thought is about being able to live according to the Spirit in this life. The context is about how that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (8:14).

The giving of life to our mortal bodies thus seems to be located once again in this world, the possibility of walking according to the Spirit fulfilling the righteous requirement of the Law (8:4) in this life. Resurrection language is thus applied to now rather than later in 8:11.

8:13 For if you are living according to flesh, you are about to die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.
You will live as in continue to live at the point when you would otherwise have died or remained dead. This statement fits best two scenarios: 1) continuance to live after the judgment, 2) resurrection from the dead at Christ's return. It fits less well with 3) continuance to live at death.

8:19, 21 For the eager expectation of the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God... Because the creation itself will be freed from slavery to corruption for the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
These verses seems to allude to the transformation of the earthly bodies of the living on the Day of Salvation. It looks to the transformation of this world, rather than that of the dead because it is speaking of this creation.

8:23 ... we ourselves also, having the firstfruit of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan in ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our bodies...
Again, Paul is speaking to the living and of the transformation that will take place on the Day. The Spirit inside has begun the transformation--"we are being transformed from glory to glory as from the "Lord," the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18).

8:29 ... because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
The reference here would seem to be to the transformation we normally associate with resurrection, although Paul doesn't use the word resurrection. We think, however, of Philippians 3:20-21--"For our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which also we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory..."

There is no mention here of dying first. This transformation will take place for those who are living no matter when it happens to the dead.

I conclude that Romans 6-8 say nothing firm on the question of whether the dead in Christ are transformed immediately at death or must await their transformation at the time of Christ's return. However, Philippians must be looked at very carefully, especially 3:11.

Perhaps tomorrow...

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