Monday, April 19, 2010

THE JEST OF 2CORRINTHIANS 5:1-8

No passage in 2 Corinthians has prompted more discussion than this one. Paul's message here relates directly to ch. 4, where he pointed out that even in the midst of affliction, perplexity, and persecution, there was, through divine consolation, the hope of glory (4:8-9, 13-14, 17); and that even in the presence of the ravages of mortality and death, there was, through divine intervention, the operation of life (4:10-12, 16). Paul continues this twofold theme by specifying the sources of divine comfort afforded the believer who faces the possibility of imminent death. Basically they are three: (1) the certainty of the future possession of a spiritual body (v.1), (2) the present possession of the Spirit as the pledge of ultimate transformation (vv.4b-5), and (3) the knowledge that death begins a walk in the realm of sight (v.7) and involves departure to Christ's immediate presence where personal fellowship with him is enjoyed (v.8).
1 Apparently for the first time in his apostolic career Paul reckons seriously with the possibility, even probability, of his death before the return of Christ. Previously, to judge by 1Th 4:15, 17 and 1Co 15:51, he had expected to be among those Christians living when Christ returned. But now, as a result of his recent devastating encounter with death in Asia (1:8-11), he realized that he could die before the Parousia.
As a Cilician leatherworker whose duties included tentmaking, Paul naturally likened his present body to an "earthly tent" (GK G2103 & G5011; cf. vv.2, 4) that might at any moment be dismantled or destroyed. This would simply mark the termination of the process of weakness and decay already at work in his body (4:16). But this possibility did not daunt him, for he was the assured recipient of a permanent heavenly house--a spiritual body provided by God.
2-4 These verses belong together, since v.4 expands v.2, while v.3 is parenthetical. One reason for Paul's assurance of his future acquisition of a resurrection body was the raising up of the temple of Christ's body (Mk 14:58; Jn 2:19-22), alluded to by the phrase "not built by human hands" in v.1. An additional reason was the experience of Spirit-inspired groaning (vv.2, 4; GK G5100; cf. Ro 8:23). Paul's sighing did not stem from a desire to become permanently disembodied but from an intense longing to take up residence in his "heavenly dwelling."
The passage does not define the precise nature of the "groaning," but the immediate context and Paul's thought elsewhere (Ro 8:19-23; Php 3:20-21) suggest it was his sense of frustration with the limitations and disabilities of mortal existence, knowing as he did that he was destined to possess a spiritual body perfectly adapted to the ecology of heaven. Paul sought liberation only from the imperfection of present embodiment (i.e., from "bondage to decay," Ro 8:21), not from any and every form of corporeality. After all, Paul taught that the Christian will have a "spiritual body" (1Co 15:35-49).
But not all at Corinth shared Paul's view of the Christian's destiny. Some were teaching that one's resurrection lay in the past (see 1Co 15:12), accomplished spiritually and corporately for all believers at the resurrection of Christ or else personally experienced at the moment of baptism (cf. 2Ti 2:17-18); to them there was no future, bodily resurrection but only a disembodied immortality. To such people Paul asserts, "We do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling." This background also affords a satisfying interpretation of v.3, where Paul seems to be repudiating the teaching that the Christian looks forward to a vague immortality: "when we are clothed, we will not be found naked [as some of you would like us to believe]."
Another possible interpretation of vv.2-4a sees Paul expressing his own eager desire to avoid the unpleasantness or pain of a disembodied intermediate state between his own death and his receipt of a new body at the coming of Christ. He shrinks from the denudation of death and longs to put on his heavenly dwelling over his preserved earthly tent through the return of Christ before his death, though he is uncertain whether this will happen.
Verse 4b states the purpose and actual result of the receipt of the heavenly dwelling--the swallowing up of the mortal body by the revivifying action of the indwelling Spirit of life (Ro 8:2, 11; 2Co 3:6, 18). This transformation forms the climax of the incessant process of inward renewal (4:16b). In other words, 5:4b is related to 4:16b as 5:1a is related to 4:16a. For Paul, resurrection consummates rather than inaugurates the process of spiritual re-creation.
5 The "very purpose" for which God had "made" (or "prepared"; GK G2981) the believer is defined by v.4b as the transformation of the mortal body. God has given believers the Spirit as the pledge of that coming transformation--"a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." The Greek word lying behind this paraphrase (GK G775) meant either (1) a pledge or guarantee, differing in kind from the final payment but rendering it obligatory, or (2) a down payment that required further payments but gave the payee a legal claim to the goods in question. Clearly not all these elements apply to Paul's use of the word, for redemption is not a process of reciprocal bargaining ratified by some contractually binding agreement but is the result of the grace of God, who bestows on believers his Spirit as an unsolicited gift. But how can the Spirit be God's pledge of the Christian's final inheritance (Eph 1:13-14; cf. 4:30)? No doubt through his present work of empowering the Christian's daily re-creation (2Co 3:18; 4:16; Eph 3:16), the Spirit guarantees his future completion of that work (cf. Php 1:6).
6-8 With the assured hope of receiving a glorified body (v.1) and with the pledge of his transformation in the presence and activity of the Spirit within him (v.5), Paul was always confident, even in the face of death. However, he continues, because we realize that we are absent from the Lord's presence as long as this body forms our residence, we really prefer to leave our home in this body and take up residence in the presence of the Lord.
Just as the repeated verb "we groan" shows vv.2 and 4 to be related, so "we are confident" relates vv.6 and 8, with v.7 being parenthetical (cf. v.3). But v.8 does not simply repeat v.6; it stands in antithetical parallelism to it. The corollary of "residence in the body = absence from the Lord" (v.6) is "absence from the body = residence with the Lord" (v.8). In other words, as soon as a person dies (v.8a), residence in the presence of the Lord begins (v.8b).
What is involved in being "at home with the Lord"? To be sure, it denotes a change of location. But the preposition translated "with" (GK G4639) also implies an active fellowship between two persons (cf. its use in Mk 6:3). Being "at home with the Lord" supersedes earthly experience where believers simply know the Lord (cf. Php 3:10); it is a higher form of the intimate fellowship with Christ than what we experience on earth (cf. Php 1:23; 1Th 4:17).
In v.7 Paul corrects a possible misinterpretation of v.6. If the clause "we are away from the Lord" (v.6) is interpreted in an absolute sense, present fellowship with Christ would appear illusory and being in the physical body would hinder spirituality. Since both deductions are totally false, Paul qualifies his statement by observing that "we do in fact still walk in the realm of faith, not of sight." To the believer the Lord is present, not to sight but to faith. Any spatial separation is temporary, not final.
9-10 Verse 9 follows vv.1-8 in much the same way as an ethical imperative frequently follows a doctrinal indicative in Paul's letters ("You are . . . ; therefore be!"; see comment on Ro 12:1). After stating profound doctrinal facts (vv.1-8), Paul shows their implications for present behavior (v.9). His constant ambition to please Christ (v.9) resulted directly from his awareness that death would terminate his relative exile from Christ and would inaugurate his walking in the realm of sight in the presence of the Lord (vv.6-8). Entertaining the hope of intimate communion with Christ after death (v.8) naturally prompts the desire to gain acceptance in his eyes especially before death (cf. Gal 1:10; Php 1:20; Col 1:10; 1Th 4:1), through "things done while in the body."

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