2 Corinthians 5:1

2 COR. 5

In the first paragraph of this chapter, Paul spoke of the spiritual body which is to replace the present earthly body of Christians at the time of the Second Advent and judgment of the last day (2 Corinthians 1:10), and then delivered some of the profoundest teachings in Holy Scripture regarding the ministry of reconciliation, of which Paul, along with the other apostles, was an ambassador (2 Corinthians 1:11-21).

For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

This is Paul's declaration of his certainty (not mere belief) of the existence of the soul after death, when clothed with a glorious new body, it shall live in eternal felicity with God. Of course, this should be understood as the distinctive hope of Christians.

We know ... "This accent of certainty is found only in the Christian writers."[1] Such confidence did not derive from any human conclusions; but, as Hillyer said, "This was not by human reasoning, but by divine revelation."[2]

Earthly house ... tabernacle ... The word here is actually "tent," which is as good a symbol of that which is transient and temporary as could be imagined. Paul was a tentmaker, and this is exactly the type of metaphor that should have been expected from him; and, added to that was the fact of Israel's having dwelt in tents during the forty years of the wilderness wanderings. No tent could last permanently when exposed to the elements; and the same is true of people's mortal bodies when exposed to the inevitable erosion of time.

A building from God ... This does not deny that people's mortal bodies are also, in a sense, "from God"; but it has special reference to that God-created spiritual body which shall replace the decaying bodies of mortal flesh.

A house not made with hands ... Paul made tents with his hands; but the glorious resurrection body is far above and beyond anything that human hands might contrive.

Eternal in the heavens ... When the soul of a Christian is clothed with that wonderful and glorious spiritual body, decay and death shall be no more; and the soul of the redeemed shall enjoy eternal life.

Regarding the hope of eternal life, it is a fact that the deepest instincts of people's hearts perpetually turn to it. "Man is, by terms of his existence, a being of eternity; and he cannot unmake himself."[3] "There is a deep and wide testimony in man's nature to the existence of God, and of a future life. It may be pronounced either true or false, but it must be admitted to exist."[4] The great affirmation of Christianity is that all of the subliminal longings for immortality in human hearts shall be gloriously realized in Christ Jesus.

[1] F. W. Farrar, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), Vol. 19,2Cor., p. 119.

[2] Norman Hillyer, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1079.

[3] Liddon, as quoted by John Wesley, One Volume New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), in loco.

[4] Ibid.