2 Corinthians 5:8
“Absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” KJV.
It has been rightly said, “text without context is pretext”.
How dangerous it is to lift a phrase or clause out of God’s word without considering the context in which it has been written.
For instance take the phrase from Luke 16:9 spoken by our Lord to the Pharisees, “I say unto you make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness”.
Taken out of its context and looked at on its own it would seem the Lord Jesus is encouraging the Pharisees to be as dishonest as they like and it is not until it is put in its proper setting that it can be correctly understood.
The same applies to our text in 2 Corinthians 5:8 it must be understood by the context.
Personally I have no difficulty with the text because I have learned from scripture that man does not have an entity within him called “an immortal soul” which floats off at death to another realm, the truth is man himself is the living soul which immediately rules out any thought of dead believers going anywhere when they die.
So in context what is Paul speaking about? In 2 Corinthians 4:8-12 Paul writes of the hardships and sufferings he and other believers were enduring for the sake of Christ. These were severe and immense but then Paul compares the present suffering condition with what will be received in the future.
He sums his thoughts up in this tremendous verse “For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” v.17.
Paul knew that what lay ahead would be glorious and he expresses his confidence in how it will be brought about, “Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you” v.14 and because of this “we faint not” v.16.
Paul is comparing the present state with the future, the temporal with the eternal, he is contemplating the way he and all other believers will be in the presence of Christ.
He had already explained this to the Corinthians in chapter 15 when he wrote the first epistle. He had shown clearly that it would be with new bodies we would enter into that sublime glory and be eternally with Him. “For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”.
Here in chapter 5 he does the same. Notice throughout this passage the repetition of the pronoun we, Paul is not thinking solely about himself but of all believers for this will be a communal event when together each redeemed person will be clothed in their new body at the second coming of our Lord Jesus.
In the present tabernacle/tent, he writes “we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” v.2.
Paul never envisaged being with Christ any other way apart from this, it would come about when the Saviour returns in glory.
Notice how he views our bodies now, as a flimsy tabernacle/tent that can be dissolved and compares that with that “eternal house or building” all believers will receive at Christ’s return.
He does express his preference that he would like to be clothed upon, so that he would not be “naked” or “unclothed”, metaphors he uses for death. He would have loved “mortality to be swallowed up of life” v.4 for this will be the experience of those who will be alive at Christ’s return, as he shows in 1 Corinthians 15:53 “this mortal will put on immortality”.
It is quite obvious that if he did not desire to be naked or unclothed, metaphors as we have explained for death then the thought of death being the portal into glory had never entered his head. Had he believed that sudden death would be instant glory and would bring him into the presence of the Lord then he certainly would not have drawn back at such a prospect. Paul believed no such thing, he had been given along with all believers “the earnest of the Spirit” v. 5, the guarantee that the purchased possession would be completely redeemed when Christ returns Ephesians 1:14.
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee
“To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”.
The question which is asked is this, did the thief go to “paradise” that day to be with Christ? Almost without a moments hesitation many Christians would answer “yes” but is that indeed what happened? Let us look carefully at the facts. The thief’s request was “Lord remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom”. The thief was no doubt an Israelite and as such knew well the promises of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah and the kingdom He would reign over. He had read the superscription written over the Saviour’s head “This is Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews”. He had watched the Lord and listened to His words and realized He was indeed the King. The thief did not ask to be taken to heaven to be with the Lord when he died that day but for Christ to remember him when he came into His kingdom. Our Lord’s answer to him was regarding that day when His kingdom will be set up on earth otherwise it had no relevance. He promised the thief that he would be part of it when it would come. Later, after His resurrection the Lord told Mary “I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to My God, and your God”. Surely these plain words of scripture are clear, Jesus had not at that point ascended into heaven. The problem lies with the comma and where the translators have placed it in the verse. Greek scholars inform us that in the original greek there are no punctuation marks so it was at the discretion of the translators where they placed it. The words of Christ to the thief are easily understood when we recognize this important fact, He simply told him “I tell you today you will be with me in paradise”. The word “paradise” has the definite article and should read “The paradise”, not referring to heaven at all but the paradise of the kingdom set up on earth. Someone is sure to say that’s what the Jehovah Witnesses teach about this verse. We are not interested in what JW’S say and indeed recognize them as a false cult but we cannot change the true meaning of the verse just to get one over on them. The readers will see as we deal with other texts that it would have been scripturally impossible for the thief to go to heaven that day anyhow, but more on that later.
Luke 23.43 “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee
“To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”.
The question which is asked is this, did the thief go to “paradise” that day to be with Christ? Almost without a moments hesitation many Christians would answer “yes” but is that indeed what happened? Let us look carefully at the facts.
The thief’s request was “Lord remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom”. The thief was no doubt an Israelite and as such knew well the promises of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah and the kingdom He would reign over. He had read the superscription written over the Saviour’s head “This is Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews”. He had watched the Lord and listened to His words and realized He was indeed the King. The thief did not ask to be taken to heaven to be with the Lord when he died that day but for Christ to remember him when he came into His kingdom.
Our Lord’s answer to him was regarding that day when His kingdom will be set up on earth otherwise it had no relevance. He promised the thief that he would be part of it when it would come. Later, after His resurrection the Lord told Mary “I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to My God, and your God”. Surely these plain words of scripture are clear, Jesus had not at that point ascended into heaven.
The problem lies with the comma and where the translators have placed it in the verse. Greek scholars inform us that in the original greek there are no punctuation marks so it was at the discretion of the translators where they placed it. The words of Christ to the thief are easily understood when we recognize this important fact, He simply told him “I tell you today you will be with me in paradise”. The word “paradise” has the definite article and should read “The paradise“, not referring to heaven at all but the paradise of the kingdom set up on earth.
S omeone is sure to say that’s what the Jehovah Witnesses teach about this verse. We are not interested in what JW’S say and indeed recognize them as a false cult but we cannot change the true meaning of the verse just to get one over on them. The readers will see as we deal with other texts that it would have been scripturally impossible for the thief to go to heaven that day anyhow, but more on that later.