2 Corinthians 5 - We Don't Do Good Works To Be Saved But Because We Are Saved!

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Awaiting the New Body

5 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 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 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 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.

Paul continues with the theme of our earthly body being replaced by a heavenly one. He uses the analogy of a "tent". This is the same word for "tabernacle", which the Israelites lived in the desert. The tabernacle was where they met God. In John Jesus says, "The Father and I will make our home with you", which is the same word for "tabernacle". 

Paul acknowledges due to the limited capacity and nature our earthly bodies, we groan looking forward to heaven. In heaven we will receive a glorified body, which is not beset by a sinful nature. The term for "clothe" reminds us of in Genesis, when Adam and Eve realized they were naked and ashamed. God clothed them with the skins of animals, as a way of showing them mercy. 

Finally, Paul teaches us on one of the greatest gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a "down payment" guaranteeing our future inheritance. Note we don't have to fret whether we will go to heaven or not. The term down payment is a financial term used in banking. It is like a down payment we make on our mortgage as a pledge will pay our loan off. But God's down payment is a lot more reliable. It was sealed in Jesus' precious blood. As sons and daughters of God, we will inherit everything that is the Father's. 

"Our future bodies are not made with hands. God specially makes them to suit the environment of eternity and heaven; they are eternal in the heavens." - Guzik

To God, the body itself is not a negative. The problem isn’t in the body itself but in these sin-corrupted, fallen bodies that we live in. Jesus approved the essential goodness of the body by becoming a man. If there was something inherently evil in the body, Jesus could never have added humanity to His deity. - Guzik

“So the Holy Spirit is a part of heaven itself. The work of the Holy Spirit in the soul is the bud of heaven. Grace is not a thing which will be taken away from us when we enter glory, but will develop into glory. Grace will not be withdrawn as though it had answered its purpose, but will be matured into glory.” (Spurgeon)

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 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.

Though we have the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our future inheritance, God is present in our lives right now. We can't see necessarily what our future condition will be. But Paul says, 

"No eye has seen, no mind conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

We live by faith not by sight but this doesn't mean faith is passive. As we wait to be taken to heaven in the future, we spend our time on earth with the goal of pleasing God. Then, Paul says something we need to be careful to interpret carefully. 

"We all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ!"

What does he mean by this? Hasn't Jesus paid for our sins in full so that we will not be judged. 

Since in the context of the passage Paul has just spoken about our desire to please the Lord, the judgment he is talking about is what have we done with what we have been given. We have all been given spiritual gifts to use for building up the body of Christ. As we use our gifts not only does God bless us with more responsibility on earth, but scripture seems to point that our faithfulness with what we have been given will be reflected in what we do in heaven. 

"Paul presents essentially the same idea in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, where he speaks of a coming assessment of each one’s work before the Lord. In that passage, he makes it clear that what we do and our motive for doing it will be tested by fire, and the purifying fire of God will burn up everything that was not of Him. We won’t be punished for what was not done rightly unto the Lord; those things will simply be burned up, and it will be as if we never did them. We will simply be rewarded for what remains. Sadly, some will get to heaven thinking they have done great things for God and will find out at the judgment seat of Christ that they really did nothing."

The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Paul then talks about the other purpose for why we are on earth, which is to persuade others to be reconciled to God. Paul continues to address those who think he is "out of his mind". He has no misgivings about where he stands with God or the Corinthians. His conscience is clean. He summarizes the gospel with these words, 

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

These are good verses to memorize. It is Jesus' love that compels Paul. When Paul realized what Jesus did by dying for him on a cross, it compelled him to share the gospel. There was no greater purpose for him, which made him the greatest missionary the world has ever know.

Note that Jesus died for all not just for a few people. Though he died for all, unfortunately not everyone will accept what Jesus did for them. But for those of us who have, Paul challenges us no longer live for only ourselves but for Jesus. Jesus not only died, but he rose from the dead, proving he was the one and only son of God. Our purpose for living wholeheartedly for the Lord is not selfish, but a self-giving to the One who gave everything to us. The more you meditate on Jesus' love for you and what he did for you on the cross, you are compelled to serve him. 

In our American culture we have often reduced faith to a mental assent to certain facts so as to obtain eternal life. But that is not the gospel Jesus or the apostles preached. Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. Faith is always expressed through action. As the apostle James says, "Faith without works is dead". We don't do good works to be saved but BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED!

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When these truths permeate your heart, you will look at life and others with a different lens. Your desire is to see your friends and family "reconciled to God". This word reconciliation means to be in a right relationship with. Sort of like when you are in a relationship where there is a conflict, and it it resolved usually through apology and forgiveness.

We are a new creation in Christ, The old is gone the new has come. This is not just some spiritual high, but a change in the makeup of who we are as people. In John Jesus calls this, "being born-again". We old is gone the new has come. We were born once of the flesh and a second time through the Spirit. Therefore, though we still live in a body, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, where God dwells through his Spirit! 

Finally, Paul calls us "Christ's ambassadors". Ambassadors introduce two parties to each other. They are good at connecting people who don't know each other. God doesn't need us per se, but He uses us as if he were making his appeal through us. This is both a great responsibility and a great joy. After all what greater joy can there be than leading people to know Christ and have their eternal destiny changed.