- Do you know that your destiny is to die and face judgment (Heb 9:27; 2 Cor 5:10)? Like it or not, do you know that judgment is an appointment you will not miss?
- Though crucial and of utmost importance, why is God's judgment not a popular or welcomed topic for conversation or discussion?
Longing for home. I've lived in Chicago for 4 decades. I've been a U.S. citizen for 30 years. My 4 children and 6 grandchildren are born in the U.S. I should be right at home in the U.S. Yet I feel "at home" whenever I return to Malaysia, the land of my birth.
The heavenly dwelling (5:1-10) is often studied in isolation from 2 Cor because of its importance for views about life after death. But it is essential to see 5:1-10 in its context, to what immediately precedes, for 4:16 - 5:10 is one integrated section. In light of the outward 'wasting away' (2 Cor 4:16) and that the 'light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all' (2 Cor 4:17) that Paul explains what he looks forward to 'if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed' (2 Cor 5:1).
The interpretive crux for the whole passage (2 Cor 5:1). How one interprets it determines how one understands the verses that follow. In seeking to understand this verse, it is important to recognize that the word for (gar) indicates that what follows is closely related to what precedes (i.e. the light and momentary troubles which are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory).
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (2 Cor 5:1). This temple imagery recalls Jesus' trial: 'We heard him say, "I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands" ' (Mk 14:58). It's a heavenly temple--the church in heaven, or heaven itself--as the dwelling-place of God where Christians find their eternal habitation. Jesus' accusers misunderstood his statement, for 'the temple he had spoken of was his body' (Jn 2:21). The building made without human hands was the resurrected body of Jesus. The "building from God ... not built by human hands" may also be a reference to Jesus' resurrection body understood corporately, so that those who believe in him share in it now.
Parallelism. What is earthly and will be destroyed (2 Cor 5:la) will be replaced by something corresponding to it which is heavenly and eternal (2 Cor 5:lb). If the earthly tent is the physical body of the believer, then the building from God is another body--the resurrection body of the believer, which is permanent, cf. the impermanence of the present body Paul refers to as a tent. The suffering of believers in a parallel passage cf. the glory to be revealed (Rom 8:18-24). The believer looks forward to the redemption of the body (Rom 8:23)--the resurrection body of the believer. Romans ---written shortly after 2 Cor---treats a similar subject with 2 Cor 4:16-5:10, 2 Cor 5:lb Rom 8:23 show that the building from God ... not built by human hands refers to the resurrection body promised to the believer.
Is Paul emphasizing the permanency and the immediacy of having a resurrection body should we die? He is certainly stressing its permanency (an eternal house), but it is questionable whether he is implying it will be immediate (i.e. that at death we will immediately receive the resurrection body), for this would imply that the universal resurrection which has not yet arrived is somehow already being experienced by deceased believers. The matter of the intermediate state of those who die before the parousia is left open.
"Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling" 2 Cor 5:2; Rom 8:18-24). Believers are depicted as groaning as they wait for their adoption, interpreted as the redemption of their bodies (Rom 8:23-24).
"Because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked" (2 Cor 5:3), i.e. when Christians puts on the heavenly dwelling it isn't the nakedness of a disembodied spirit, which Paul, as a Jew, eschews. The future embodied state counters dualistic notions of salvation (the release of the soul from the prison of the body).
"For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened" (2 Cor 5:4a)--our present experience when still in this tent--the physical body--and still exposed to afflictions. [burdened (2 Cor 1:8) where Paul spoke of his experience of afflictions in Asia]. "Because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" (2 Cor 5:4b). Though Paul groans, being burdened by sufferings and persecutions afflicting him in his present body, he doesn't escape into a disembodied state. He longs for a new and better embodiment. What does he want? 2 metaphors.
- A clothing metaphor. He wants instead to be clothed with his heavenly body.
- An eating metaphor. He wants his mortal body to be swallowed up by life.
"The one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God" (2 Cor 5:5a). It's not a vain empty hope but that God himself prepares us for such a future. Part of the process of preparation for the glorious future is participation in present suffering (2 Cor 4:16-17; Rom 8:17). Also, God's election, calling and justification of sinners prepares God's children for glory (Rom 8:28-30). 'Since God the Creator foresaw the sin of Adam, he prepared a remedy for it. For he himself has given us the first fruits of the Spirit, so that by the miracles which the Spirit does in our midst we may be reassured that the promises of future glory are true' (Theodoret of Cyr).
The objective knowledge of God preparing believers for a glorious future cf. the subjective experience of the Spirit which we enjoy. The God who prepares is also the "God who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor 5:5b; 1:22). The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a pledge guaranteeing their share in what is to come--to share in Christ's glory (Rom 8:16-17).
Can the former [destruction of the physical body] take place before the provision of the latter [the resurrection body]? Paul grapples next (2 Cor 5:6-10) with an increasing awareness that he personally might die [destruction of the body] before the general resurrection.
Despite many difficulties, Paul remains confident in God (2 Cor 2:14-17), which he affirms again and again and that he doesn't lose heart (2 Cor 2:14; 3:4, 12; 4:1, 16). Again he picks up the theme: "Therefore we are always confident" (2 Cor 5:6a)--though the present situation is not something to be desired: we . . . "know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord" (2 Cor 5:6b). Then in parenthesis he says, "For we live by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7). To be "at home in the body" ('earthly tent') means that we can't access God by our sight (and "are away from the Lord"), but he is accessible to us by faith (Jn 20:29). 'God is still present, but because we cannot see him we are said to be absent from him as long as we are in the body' (Ambrosiaster).
"We are confident, I say" (2 Cor 5:8a). Despite asserting that he's of good courage, he confesses his desire for a better situation: "and [we] would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:8b). To be away from the body = to be at home with the Lord, in that the Lord will be accessible to sight, and no longer accessible only to faith. 'we shall see him as he is' (1 Jn 3:2). "True faith begets not merely contempt for death but desire for it and thus it is a sign of unbelief in us when the fear of death is stronger than the joy and comfort of hope'' [Calvin]. Though Paul doesn't wish to experience a disembodied state, he may have to if he dies before the parousia. But his conviction is that even if this should be his lot for a time, it'd be preferable than remaining 'in the body' and so 'away from the Lord' (2 Cor 5:6). Paul says, 'I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far' (Phil 1:23).
"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Cor 5:9). Paul doesn't know how long he continues to live in the body or whether he'll soon die and be away from the body. But he knows how he will live: to please the Lord.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor 5:10) is why Paul is determined to please God. Judgment seat [bema]. Among the ruins of Corinth is an impressive stone structure known as the bema. Paul was brought before the bema ('tribunal') by angry Corinthian Jews who accused him before the proconsul, Gallio (Ac 18:12-17). But Gallio refused to judge Jewish matters and drove Paul's accusers from the bema. Everyone knows what being brought before the judgment seat meant. So we must live in the light of the fact that each of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ (Rom 14:10).
"So that each of us may receive what is due to us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad" (2 Cor 5:10b). One's salvation--acceptance before God--depends on what one has done in the body. Yet no person is justified in God's sight on the basis of what they have done, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'' (Rom 3:23). Thus, God made a new way for people to be justified in his sight apart from works (Rom. 3:21-26). So what then does Paul mean when he speaks of receiving one's due according to what one has done in the body?
God will evaluate the lives and ministries of his people and reward those who have acted faithfully, while those who have not will suffer the loss of reward. Paul applies this to those who built up churches: 'The Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved' (1 Cor 3:13-15).
What's done in the body will be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. In context, it's living 'at home in the body' and 'away from the body' (2 Cor 5:6-9). It's what one does in this life. What believers do in this life has serious implications. I'm accountable to God for my actions, and will be rewarded or suffer loss accordingly. Next, Paul speaks of knowing the fear of the Lord (2 Cor 5:11).
Theology. Paul juxtaposes present sufferings in carrying out his ministry that contribute to his outward wasting away with the inward renewal that enables him to persevere (4:7-18). He's like a cheap and fragile clay jar (2 Cor 4:7), but one that bears an invaluable treasure: the light of the gospel of the glory of God displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). The immense privilege of being a minister of this gospel is why he doesn't lose heart amidst his afflictions (2 Cor 2:14; 3:4, 12; 4:1, 16). God compensates the effects of his outward afflictions with inner renewal through the work of the Spirit (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5). Why does Paul endure suffering?
- for the benefit of those to whom he ministers (2 Cor 4:15a) so that they will experience God's blessings as a result of his labours ['death is at work in us, but life is at work in you' (2 Cor 4:12)], and
- because in the light of those blessings there will be an ever-increasing volume of thanksgiving to God (2 Cor 4:15b). Paul regarded the afflictions accompanying his ministry as 'light and momentary' in comparison with the 'eternal glory' they were achieving for him (2 Cor 4:17). Keeping his eyes fixed on what is eternal prevented him from losing heart.
Paul's ultimate hope (5:1-10). Paul is confident that if his afflictions were to intensify and culminate in death, so that the 'earthly tent' he lives in were to be destroyed (2 Cor 5:1a), he'd have a 'building from God, an eternal house in heaven' (2 Cor 5:1b). So, if he should die and his earthly body destroyed, God would provide him with a heavenly body, a resurrection body--his ultimate hope. His first wish was not to be 'unclothed' (disembodied), but to be 'clothed' with the heavenly dwelling, his resurrection body (2 Cor 5:4). But recognizing that he might die before the parousia and the general resurrection, he says he'd rather be 'away from the body' and be 'at home with the Lord' (2 Cor 5:8), implying a conscious existence in the presence of God even in a disembodied state, something that would be better by far than being present in the body but away from the Lord (2 Cor 5:6; Phil 1:21-24). Paul concludes, saying that in whatever state he finds himself, whether 'at home in the body or away from it', his aim is to please God (2 Cor 5:9), for all believers must appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what is due to them according to what they have done while 'in the body' (2 Cor 5:10). This is best understood not in regard to salvation, but as reward for service (1 Cor 3:10-15).
Reference:
- Charles Hodge. 1 & 2 Corinthians. A Geneva Series Commentary. The Banner of Truth Trust. 1857, 1859.
- Colin Kruse. 2 Corinthians. Tyndale NT Commentaries. 1987, 2005.
- Geoffrey Grogan. 2 Corinthians. The Glories & Responsibilities of Christian Service. 2007.
- David Garland. 2 Corinthians. The New American Commentary. 1999.
- Paul Barnett. The Message of 2 Corinthians. 1988.
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