What does it mean that we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52)?

We have in the epistles special revelations with regard to what will take place at the coming of the Lord Jesus we are not left in ignorance about it. God was so gracious, before the canon of Scripture was complete, that from time to time, as His saints had difficulties, He met them with special instruction, so that we reap the benefit of their exercises and mistakes. For instance; the Corinthians had great difficulty as to the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and there was a special revelation made to Paul and communicated to them. In the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians he writes, in the fifty-first verse, "Behold, I show you a mystery;" that is, he then revealed something which up to that time had been a mystery. "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." The mystery was this, that we (that is, we believers) shall all be changed our mortal bodies will be changed into immortal, fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. The bodies, too, of those who have died in Christ will be changed: "This corruptible shall put on incorruption." And all this will occur "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" the shortest conceivable space of time; so suddenly will this wonderful transformation take place.

Flesh and blood, not merely sin, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Corruption (for such we are) cannot inherit that which is incorruptible. This leads the apostle to a positive revelation of that which will take place with regard to the enjoyment of incorruptibility by all the saints. Death is conquered. It is not necessary that death should come upon all, still less that all should undergo actual corruption; but it is not possible for flesh and blood to inherit the kingdom of glory. But we shall not all sleep; there are some who will be changed without dying. The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (for redemption being accomplished and Christ ready to judge the quick and the dead, the apostle always looked at it as a thing immediately before his eyes, ready to take place any moment) shall be changed (a change equivalent to resurrection); for that which is corruptible, if not already in dust and corruption, shall put on incorruptibility; that which is mortal, immortality. We see that this relates to the body; it is in his body that man is mortal, even when he has eternal life, and shall live by Christ and with Christ. The power of God will form the saints whether living or dead for the inheritance of glory.

But immediately "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Wonderful intervention of pure divine power! Redemption by blood is ours now by virtue of the death of Christ: but then we shall have the redemption of our bodies, by power. Verse 53 insists that it is "this corruptible" that must "put on incorruption"! That is, that it is our present body that must be given an altered condition. This no doubt refers primarily to those who have died, while "this mortal" refers to those still living, though subject to death. Putting on immortality is being invested with that which death cannot touch.

Now, in treating of this subject, the truth of which was denied by some at Corinth, the apostle dwells on three important points: first there is a resurrection of the dead (vers. 12–23); secondly, the bodies of our humiliation will share in it (vers. 35–50); thirdly, that event, namely, the resurrection of the saints who form part of the church, will be accomplished in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. (Vers. 51-58.) With the first of these points all are concerned. Christ has been raised from the dead, so there is a resurrection of the dead. Its possibility is proved. Its certainty is established. But further, the body will be raised up; and here, writing to and of Christians, the apostle has dwelt at length on the resurrection of Christians. Their bodies, sown in corruption, will be raised in incorruption — sown in dishonour, they will be raised in glory — sown in weakness, they will be raised in power — sown natural bodies, they will be raised spiritual bodies. Great indeed is the change to which the body will be subject, the body placed in the tomb. Perfect, too, and abiding will be the condition in which it will be raised; for, sown in dishonour, it will be raised in glory, sown a natural body, it will be raised a spiritual body; and this will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. That which is sown will be raised, though a change will pass over it, so that the body will not emerge from the tomb in the same condition in which it entered it.

Thus, in common with the bodies of those saints who will never die, the frame laid in the grave will be subject to a change, though the change to which it will be subject must perforce be different from that of those who shall never die. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.'' (Ver. 53.)

Then we shall possess our possessions in bodies of glory; not simply as now in faith, but as glorified with Christ. The mortal body of the saint will have put on immortality, and this corruptible will have put on incorruptibility. No longer earthly it will be heavenly; no longer in dishonour, it will have been raised in glory; and no more in weakness it will have been raised in power; the Lord will then have quickened it, and each saint will possess for ever “a spiritual body.” Conformed fully to the image of God’s beloved Son we shall then surround Him as His brethren in His Father’s house and be to His eternal praise.

In both of these scriptures the word rendered "immortality" is really "incorruptibility"; and this, as often pointed out, involves resurrection. (See 1 Cor. 15:52.) The difference is thus very great; for immortality signifies unending existence, whereas incorruptibility speaks rather of the nature of that which is deathless, that it is in its very character incorruptible. Both terms are applied in 1 Cor, 15 to the resurrection body (v. 54); and both are used in contrast with the character of our present bodies - the bodies of our humiliation. These are corrupt, as death soon manifests, and they are mortal, liable inherently to death; but our resurrection bodies, being like the glorified body of our blessed Lord, are both incorruptible and immortal. Incorruptibility, therefore, is what will mark our bodies in man's new estate and condition, when, according to God's eternal counsels, he is conformed to the image of His beloved Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; for it is in view of this that the apostle says, We shall also bear the image of the heavenly." It is, in fact, the heavenly condition of the new order of which Christ, as the Second Man out of heaven, is the Leader and Head. So understanding the word, much light is thrown upon the two scriptures at the head of this note. It shows that when the apostle speaks in the Romans of those "who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility," that he is speaking of Christians, as indeed the gift of God to such of eternal life plainly teaches; and that in 2 Timothy the annulling of death, and bringing incorruptibility to light through the gospel, refer, in the first place, to what has been effected through the death of Christ, and displayed in His resurrection. This will be the more clearly apprehended if it be remembered that what prevails, what is seen in Christ risen and glorified, will ultimately prevail, and be manifested, in all His people.

Now it is plainly revealed. We shall not all "sleep" (i.e. die) but we shall all be changed, whether alive or dead at the moment when the Lord comes for His saints. The change will involve the swallowing up of all that is mortal or corruptible about us, in life and in victory. We shall "all be changed," you notice, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" — not in many, or at least several, different moments, as would be the case if by a partial rapture, or series of partial raptures, the church is destined to enter into its glory.

(Vv. 51-55). This being so, the question arises, how, and when, shall we obtain these spiritual and incorruptible bodies, as some believers are living on earth, and some have fallen asleep? The Apostle meets these questions by declaring a mystery, one of God's truths that could not be known until revealed to His people. We thus learn that not all believers will pass through death; “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”. The Old Testament saints, like Job, knew indeed of the resurrection of the dead, but they knew nothing of this great secret that the natural bodies of the living saints will be changed into spiritual bodies without the saints going through death. What a proof of the mighty efficacy of the death of Christ, which has so entirely met the penalty of death for the believer, that it is possible for him to be changed into the image of the heavenly without going through death!

This is a passage of the utmost importance to our subject, for firstly it states with great exactness the procedure in connection with the first resurrection; and secondly it explicitly refers to that procedure in relation to the living saints, supplying a detail of which no mention is made in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, viz., that we, the living shall be changed into bodies of glory before being caught up to be with the Lord. This change from a "flesh and blood" condition into a condition of incorruption and immortality is the main theme of the passage.

First, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. In this chapter the great subject is resurrection. The coming of the Lord is not actually mentioned, though we know, from 1 Thessalonians 4, that the events of which these verses speak, will take place at His coming. The Apostle says, "Behold I show you a mystery," and then he tells the secret that "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." That we are coming with the Lord was no secret, for, as we have seen, Enoch and the prophets had spoken about this great event. But no prophet had ever hinted that a number of saints would never pass through death. This, indeed, was a secret reserved for the New Testament times. But if all will not pass through death, all will be changed. The sleeping saints will be "raised incorruptible," and the mortal bodies of the living will "put on immortality." The passage, however, does not go further. If we only had this Scripture we should not know into what likeness we are changed, nor what would happen to us when we are changed. This then is the first step in the great event that leads to our being with Christ. "We shall all be changed."