p. 4 | Our Vile Body by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 29, 1902

“Our Vile Body”

By Uriah Smith

“For our conversation,” says the apostle, “is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 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 to himself.” Phil. 3:20, 21.

Why, and in what respect, is this body vile?—Because man is a fallen creature. By his fall he becomes perverted in his whole nature, and in all his environment. Paul expresses the condition of those in this world who have become transgressors against the law of God,—a state which he could not contemplate without sadness and tears: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction.” Verse 18. This change in their relation to God had wrought an entire perversion in their whole nature. The apostle foresaw their end; and that end was “destruction.” They had taken a new god, and that god was their belly; they had taken a new standard of glory, and that standard was their shame; and they had turned from heavenly things to mind earthly things. This picture shows how fully man is perverted in his whole being by his departure from God. His love and hate by that change reversed their respective places entirely; so that in man’s nature love took the place of hate, and hate took the place of love.

And the inroads that would be made upon the health and physical nature by the course a man would take under the influence of the fall may be realized by comparing the results of following “the lusts of the flesh” as contrasted with “the fruit of the Spirit” in Gal. 5:19–23. The effect of the Spirit is to elevate, ennoble, and refine the nature of those who are led by that power. How soon those who follow the flesh see the results of the course they are pursuing! Nature soon begins to give out, and their powers to fail. Such persons soon sink under infirmity and disease through the transgression of the laws of nature, and soon have occasion to cry out against the condition of the “vile body” by which they are encumbered.

But the translation of the words “our vile body,” as given in the common version, hardly conveys the force of the original. The Interlinear Translation reads: “Who will transform the body of our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” This expresses the idea more clearly. This body is now the body of our humiliation. It is not half the time in its normal condition of activity. It is filled with aches and pains, and is a source of constant anxiety and distress. This is not the condition to which it was originally ordained.

But this condition is all to be changed. He “will transform the body of our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” In what will this change consist? This is illustrated by the vision on the mount of transfiguration, as described in 2 Peter 1:17, 18, and Matt. 17:1–5. We are there told that the Saviour’s “face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him,” in the presence and hearing of the disciples. This shows our power to hold intelligent converse with our associates in the kingdom. Then a bright cloud overshadowed them; and the voice of Jehovah was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Christ, on this occasion, had his glorious body, to the likeness of which he has promised that this “body of our humiliation” shall be changed. The change is further described by the declaration that “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:53, 54. And the symbolic representation of Christ on Patmos (Rev. 1:13–16) shows what his figure and his raiment are to be. And in 1 John 3:2 we learn that when Christ shall appear, “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Then these bodies will be spiritual bodies transformed by the power by which Christ is able to subdue all things to himself.

With such promises and prospects before us, how should we regard these bodies, though they are now bodies of our humiliation? Should we not, seeing they have such capabilities and are destined to such a glorious future, treat them with reverence and respect, and cherish them as directed in 1 Cor. 3:16, 17? Should we not strive to render them fit temples for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost? We should not defile this temple, thus making it “vile;” for those who do this—“him,” says the text last referred to—“shall God destroy.”

“For our conversation,” says the apostle, “is in heaven;” that is, that is where it should be, and where it must be if we would be prepared for the “change” that is promised. “Conversation” here means more than simply the exercise of the organs of speech; it embraces more than is understood in the general acceptance of the word. It means the “whole course of life” or conduct, as manifested in our attitude to the cause of God, and toward our fellow men, by which we show our love and regard for them. In this way we show where our “citizenship,” our heart, love, and affection are. And thus we shall be ready for the great and glorious change that is approaching. “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Eph. 2:12, 13.

U. S.