2 Corinthians 5:1 - Meaning and Application

Paul continues the argument from the previous chapter about the grounds of Christian courage and patience in suffering. He first speaks about the believer’s hope, desire, and confidence about eternal life after death (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

A believer not only knows by faith that there is another, happier life after this one ends. He also has good hope, through grace, that he will share in that lasting joy of the unseen world. Paul says, “We know that we have a building from God,” meaning a firm and well-grounded hope of future blessedness. This is what heaven looks like to a believer. He sees it as a house, a dwelling place, a resting place, a hiding place, the Father’s house, where there are many rooms, our forever home.

This house is in the heavens, in that high and holy place that rises above all earthly palaces as much as the heavens rise above the earth. It is a building from God, so it fits the greatness of its builder. The happiness of the life to come is what God has prepared for those who love him. It is eternal in the heavens, unlike our earthly tents, these weak clay bodies, which are wearing out and falling apart.

The believer also expects this happiness to be enjoyed right after death, as soon as “our earthly tent” is taken down. The body is only a tent, and it will soon be dissolved. The pegs will be pulled up, the ropes loosened, and the body will return to dust. But when that happens, the house not made with hands will come. The spirit returns to God who gave it, and those who have walked with God here will live with him forever.

Believers also deeply desire this future blessedness. Paul describes this with the word “we groan,” which shows both sorrow and longing. They groan under the burden of life. “In this tent we groan” because they are weighed down by the body, by the troubles of life, and by the body of sin with its remaining corruption. This is why they cry out, “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24).

They also groan because they long for the happiness of the life to come. They desire to be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling,” to gain blessed immortality, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. They want to be found clothed, not naked. If it were God’s will, they would rather not die in the sense of being stripped of life, but be changed. Death by itself, viewed only as the soul’s separation from the body, is not pleasant. But when death is seen as the way into glory, the believer is willing rather to die than live. He is willing to be absent from the body so that he may be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1). He leaves this body to go to Christ, and he puts off these worn-out clothes of mortality to put on the robes of glory.

Death will strip us of our fleshly clothing and of every comfort of this life. It will also end all our troubles here. We came into the world naked, and we shall leave it naked. But gracious souls are not left naked in the next world. They are clothed with praise, with robes of righteousness and glory. They are delivered from every trouble, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

Paul also shows the believer’s confidence about this future blessedness in two ways. First, it comes from God’s grace in preparing the believer for heaven. “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God” (2 Corinthians 5:5). Everyone who is meant for heaven is being fitted for heaven now, while still on earth. The stones of that spiritual house and temple above are shaped here below. It must be God who does this, because only divine power can make a soul share in a divine life. No hand less than God’s can prepare us for this. Much must be done to ready our souls for heaven, and that preparation comes from the Lord.

Second, the Spirit’s guarantee gives this assurance. An earnest is a first payment that promises the full amount later. In the same way, the present graces and comforts of the Holy Spirit are the first part of the coming life of grace and comfort.

From this Paul draws comfort for believers in their present life (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Their present condition is that they are absent from the Lord. They are pilgrims and strangers in this world. They are only staying here for a time, in this earthly home, or in this tent. God is with them here by his Spirit and through his ordinances, but they are not yet with him in the full way they hope to be. While they live, they cannot see his face. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We do not yet have the direct sight and enjoyment of God that will be ours later, when we shall see as we are seen.

Faith belongs to this world, and sight belongs to the next. It is our duty, and it is for our good, to walk by faith until we live by sight. For that reason, believers should be calm and brave in every trouble of life and in the hour of death. “We are always confident” (2 Corinthians 5:6), and again, “We are confident, and would rather be away from the body” (2 Corinthians 5:8). If true Christians thought carefully about the hope faith gives them of the world to come, they would be comforted under life’s troubles and strengthened when death comes. They should take heart when facing the last enemy and be willing rather to die than live when it is God’s will that they leave this tent.

Those who are born from above long to be there. It is only to be absent from the body, and very soon they will be present with the Lord. To die is to be with Christ. It is only to close our eyes to this world, and then we open them in a world of glory. Faith will become sight.

Paul then moves on to another result of this truth, to stir himself and others up to duty (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).

A solid hope of heaven should never make us lazy or careless in sin. Instead, it should move us to greater care and diligence in religion. That is why, since we hope to be with the Lord, we labor and make every effort (2 Corinthians 5:9). The word means we are eager and driven, working as hard as the most ambitious people do to get what they want.

Notice, first, what the apostle Paul is so eager for: acceptance with God. He says that whether we live or die, whether we are present in the body or away from it, our aim is to be accepted by the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9). We want to please the one who chose us, so that our great Lord will say to us, “Well done.” Paul and the others saw this as the greatest favor and highest honor they could receive.

Notice also the stronger reasons that should stir up our diligence. The coming judgment should deeply sober even the best people and lead them to careful, earnest religion (2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:11). This judgment is certain, because we must appear there. It is universal, because we must all appear. And the Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come in flaming fire. The reward will be based on what each person has done in the body, and it will be perfectly fair, according to what we have done, whether good or bad.

Paul calls this fearful judgment “the terror of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Thinking about it moved him to persuade people to repent and live holy lives, so that when Christ appears in glory and judgment, they may stand before him with peace and joy. He also speaks confidently about his own honesty and effort: We are known to God, and, I trust, also known in your consciences.