Those who have been born again have experienced the first resurrection, which is spiritual rather than physical. The spiritual "part" of us (so to speak), once dead in sin, has been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 2:6). So the spiritual is alive now in the physical. This is the first resurrection. And this is what John is saying in Revelation 20:4-6. Through the course of the millennium, people are being spiritually raised in Christ, and this is the first resurrection; John says, "blessed and holy are those who share in it," the necessary implication being that there are some who are not blessed and holy and do not share in it, so this first resurrection, spiritual in nature, being born again of the Spirit, is specific ~ only given to God's elect.The resurrection, as in our own, is not past, and is still in the future.
And the fact that there is a first resurrection necessarily implies that there is a second, which will be not specific only to God's elect as the first resurrection, but general to all. All will be resurrected physically (bodily) at the day of Christ, and then the judgment will ensue. We see pictures of this physical resurrection and allusions to it in Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 14:13-15, Luke 20:34-36, John 5:28-30, and John 11:23-25. And also in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54... Paul is talking specifically to believers (Christians in Corinth) about their experience in this second, general, physical (bodily) resurrection. We will be the ones who are raised, as John says in John 5:29, to eternal life, but others will be raised ~ at the same time, the Day of Christ ~ to judgment.
I'm not sure if you believe in this manner or not, Scott, you tell me, but the spiritual and the physical are not ~ not ~ mutually exclusive. And that is true both in this life (temporally) and the next (in eternity).
One final thing, Scott. In Revelation 21, God says, "Behold, I am making all things new." Some seem to turn that completely around and think He is making 'all new things." No, again, He is making all things new.
Sure. Of course. So faith is the prerequisite, right? If one does not have faith, he or she will never call on the Lord. So then, where do we get our faith, Ronald? Who gives it? Do we give it to ourselves? You even say, "as for saving people- it is to bring them to a faith confession." Well, I agree. Aren't you saying here that God Himself is the giver of faith? It is, Ronald. We do not manufacture faith ~ which is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen ~ in ourselves; we do not assure or convict ourselves. Faith is a gift of the Spirit, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, particularly verse 9:If one has never called on the Lord in faith- one is not saved!
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."
Grace and peace to you both!