(1) EscJiatological background. — There is an eschatological background to the whole of St. Paul's thinking on the subject of salvation. This is not to say that the etiiical nature of the sal- vation is excluded ; on the contrary, the ethical is inseparable from the eschatological, the con- nexion between life and righteousness being of the very essence of St. Paul's thought. But from the outset and right through, the eschatological out- look is apparent. In Ro 2^, one of the most general statements on the subject, St. Paul says that in the revelation of God's righteous judgment He will render eternal life to all those who are seek- ing glory and honour and immortality (acpdapala) ; in 5-, there is the justified boast in the hope of the glory of God ; in 5", those who receive the gift
of righteousness shall reign in life ; in 8", the mortal bodies of those indwelt by the Spirit are to be quickened.
This eschatological colouring is more apparent in the earlier Epistles, e.g. 1 and 2 Thessalonians, than in the later. But even in the later Epistles, e.g. in Philippians, it appears : 3-"- '^^, ' for our citizenship is in heaven ; from whence also we M'ait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ : who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.'
Thus the eschatological element in the belief is not secondary or non essential ; it shows in the first place that St. Paul's sense of the necessity of a future glorified life is part of a larger scheme of things — the future Kingdom of God and its mani- festation on earth.
(2) Christ a3 an earnest of the future life. — The present condition of Christ's existence is both the pattern and the guarantee of the believer's future state of existence. This is perhaps the most char- acteristic and original part of St. Paul's thinking on this subject, and requires the most careful study. It is true that various elements existed in Apocalyptic and Rabbinical systems of thought in St. Paul's time which may have suggested in details the form of his thought. For exam]ile, the idea of a spiritual body was not new ; it occurs in Midr. Bab. and in the Gnostic Hymn of the Soul (see Rendel Harris's edition of the Odes and Psalms of Solomon, 1909, Introduction, p. 67 f.) and the conception of the transformation of the righteous into the likeness of Messiah occurs first in Enoch xc. 38.
But the Death and Resurrection of Christ as historical facts are the decisive elements which St. Paul lays hold of and works out in their relation to the Kingdom of God, making new combinations of old ideas, throwing fresh light on the purpose of God, and filling the old categories of thought with a new vital force. No apocalj'ptic scheme ottered any such conception as the Death and Resurrection of Messiah, and the acceptance by St. Paul of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus as historical facts, together Avith his identification of Jesus with the INIessiah, set a train of thought working in his mind which yielded entirely new forms, not to be explained by any patch-work of older elements to be found in them. There are certain essential points of St. Paul's scheme of things which were never grasped by the Apologists and the early interpreters of Apostolic Christianity. This was partly because the eschatological element was not understood, and perhaps still more because St. Paul's attitude towards the human side of the Incarnation was not understood. The side upon which Irena-us lays stress, the answer to the question Cur Dens Homo? was fully grasped and developed, viz. the ' deification ' of man through the Incarnation of the Son of God. But owing to the rise of christological controversies the emphasis laid by St. Paul and the primitive Church on the ethical value of the Resurrection of Christ and its implications dropped out of sight.
(n) First of all, then, for St. Paul the Resurrec- tion of Christ has an ethical value which is of great importance in his view of the future life of believers. The Resurrection of Christ was not a foregone conclusion resulting from His Divinity, but it was intimately connected with Christ's faith and holiness as man. His Resurrection was ac- cording to the Spirit of holiness ; He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. In His Resurrection the full working of the law of the Spirit of life was displayed. 'He lives to God.' The word 'glory' which St. Paul uses to describe
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the present state of the risen Christ as well as His future manifestation has both an ethical and a quasi-material significance. The full moral like- ness to God -which Christ displayed has its counter- part in His present state of existence, ' the glory of God in the face (iv Trpo(rd>irq}, possibly better rendered ' in the person ' [cf. 2 Co 2i»]) of Jesus Christ.'
(6) This resurrection state of Christ is spiritual. The historic Christ retaining His moral character- istics has passed into a spiritual condition, by the operation of a law made manifest for the first time in His case. Christ is identified with the Spirit. He is no longer limited in manifestation by time and space, but can dwell in those who re- ceive Him by faith. It is the real Christ that St. Paul conceives of as dwelling in believers and thereby bringing into operation in them the same law that resulted in His own Resurrection and victory over ' the law of sin and death.'