2 Corinthians 5:4

This verse expands 2 Corinthians 5:2. The Christian does not groan in his or her present body because he or she wants to get rid of it. At least that was not what Paul meant here. We groan because we long to receive the immortal bodies that God will give us. God’s promises of something better make us dissatisfied with what we have now. We long for the time when immortal life will in a sense consume what is mortal and dies. This is another paradox. Paul was confident that if death would destroy his present body he would certainly receive a glorious future body that God would provide. Paul’s concern in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 seems to have been to contrast our mortal state and our immortal state, not to introduce the idea of an intermediate body. [Note: See Lowery, pp. 565-66, for a helpful summary of the views.]