2 Corinthians 5:1-10

These verses serve a twofold purpose. First, they amplify the point Paul has been making in this chapter, and second, they transition into his next subsection in his larger discussion defending his apostolic ministry. The new subsection will deal with preaching the ministry of reconciliation, as we will shortly see.

To accomplish this expansion and transition, Paul will use two metaphors, the first of which is seen in 5:1…

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.

The “earthly tent we live in” represents our mortal bodies, this earthly existence. Paul uses a building “not made by human hands” to represent our eternal future in Christ. Thus, if and when our tent is destroyed, after all, a tent is a temporary shelter, we will have a really cool house to live in. Of course, who would want to live in a tent when there’s a cool house waiting for them?

After this, he mixes metaphors:

Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, 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. (5:2-4)

I suppose we could read these verses and identify the exact number of writing and communication rules Paul has broken here in the way he introduces and mixes his metaphors, but in the final analysis, I think he made it work. The tent and house of verse 1 have become articles of clothing, and now our contrast is between being clothed and being naked. While that would normally be confusing and would make his meaning unclear, it seems to be clear enough that when we die, when that tent is destroyed, we will not be left with nothing, i.e. naked. Instead, we will be “clothed” with that new house not built by human hands, by the fact that we have inherited eternal life in Christ.

I should also point out that in these verses, Paul has shifted the meaning of “we”, for in the last two chapters, “we” meant Paul, as opposed to “you” Corinthians. Now, “we” means Paul and his readers. This reminds me of the time I was at a luncheon and sitting next to an English Professor. I asked her where she thought the line was between questionable grammar and style. Her response was, “Honey, you’ve written for three presidents; when you do it it’s style, when my freshmen do it it’s bad grammar.” Having completely understood her meaning, I’m happy to point out Paul’s unique writing style.

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (5:5)

Whatever we might say about Paul’s writing style, this is a wonderful verse. God has created us to have an intimate relationship with Him for all eternity. Honestly, this all by itself, is wonderful, incredible, and heartening. Yet the next part is simply amazing, for by giving us His Spirit in this life, God has given us a foretaste of what is still to come and a guarantee that He is serious about our eternal future. Sit back and think about that… We have God present within us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yes of course, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the day-to-day, our problems or challenges; maybe we have health issues or pain or… whatever it may be. We may groan a bit, we may long for our eternal destiny, but even then, God is with us and we can turn right into His loving presence if only we would remember to do so.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (5:6-10)

Paul is concluding this part of his defense of his ministry in these verses. The first thing we notice here is that in this, his final conclusion, he has dropped all of the metaphors, moving his descriptions to a clearer dichotomy: Either at home in the body or at home with the Lord.

While we live on this earth at home in our bodies, we live by faith, for we are not seeing our Lord directly and instead we have His Spirit within us as a deposit, a guarantee, of what is coming. As we go through this life, we will desire to live in a manner that is pleasing in His sight, and thus we will want to ask His Spirit within us to guide us in all that we do; this is the natural and normal response of any reasonable follower of Christ.

We know that when our Lord returns, He will return to judge all humanity for what we have done, whether good or bad, so of course, we want to do only good. Clearly, Paul is winding up his subsection by implying that the very thing he has been attacked for doing in the church in Corinth, is what is good in God’s sight; preaching faithfully the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yet if we really think about it, these verses might beg a question: If we fall short, is Paul saying we are doomed?

To be quite honest with you, the answer to such a question depends entirely on how you approach the text. If you only read verse 10, you might get the idea that one little slip-up means you’re toast. The only problem is that verse 10 does not stand all alone, it is found in a larger context, and in that context, it is quite clear that Paul is telling us no such thing. We, along with Paul, would always want to do our best to be pleasing to God in the way we live, but remember that Jesus changed the paradigm on the cross. In fact, sharing that fantastic news is something that is always pleasing in God’s sight, and Paul’s whole point here is that in preaching Christ, while some people may not appreciate it very much, it is the one thing God always appreciates.

With that, Paul moves into the next subsection which is all about preaching the gospel of Christ.