Thomas Aquinas, on 1Cor 15:50

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God: neither shall corruption possess incorruption.”

“999. – And this is what he says: I tell you this, brethren; as if to say: unless you live, namely, the life of grace, you cannot attain to the kingdom of God, i.e., to the life of glory, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What we must not think, as some heretics say, is that flesh and blood will not rise according to substance, but rather that the whole body will be changed into spirit or into air. This is heretical and false. For the Apostle says that our body will be conformed to his body of radiance. Therefore, since Christ after his resurrection, has body and blood, as it says in Luke (24:39): "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have," it is certain that we too will have flesh and blood in the resurrection. 1000. – We must not think that by flesh and blood, he means that the substance of the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but rather flesh and blood, i.e., those devoting themselves to flesh and blood, namely, men given to vices and lusts, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And thus is flesh understood, i.e., a man living by the flesh: "But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Rom. 8:9) Or: flesh and blood, i.e., the works of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, which is against the Jews and Muslims who imagine that after the resurrection they will possess for themselves wives and rivers of honey and milk. Or: flesh and blood, i.e., the corruption of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; that is, after the resurrection, the body will not be subject to the corruption of flesh and blood, as it is of the man who lives [now]. Therefore and accordingly, he adds, nor does the corruptible inherit incorruption, i.e., nor can the corruption of mortality, which is expressed here by the term "flesh," inherit incorruption, i.e., the incorruptible kingdom of God, because we will rise in glory: "Because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.