The Word Made Fresh
1We know quite well that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a home from God; a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens. 2In this place we are sorrowful and long to be in our heavenly home, 3but when we are there we won’t ever be homeless, 4though while we are still living here we suffer under our burdens, wishing not to be unclothed but rather to be fully clothed, so that our mortal lives can be consumed by true life. 5God is the one who has prepared us for this, and has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6That is why we are always assured, even though we know that while we are at home in our bodies we are apart from the Lord. 7But we walk by faith, not sight. 8And we are confident even though we’d rather be at home with the Lord and away from the body. 9So whether we are at home or away, our aim is to please him. 10All of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each of us might be rewarded according to what we have done, good or bad, while in the body.
11So, since we have the fear of the Lord, we try to convince others. We ourselves, of course, are well known to God. I hope we are also well known to all of you. 12Not that we are promoting ourselves, but simply giving you an opportunity to brag on us so that you will have an answer to those who find pride in being good-looking instead of good-hearted. 13So, we are crazy before God, but before you we try to stay in our right minds. 14The love of Christ is what pushes us on, convinced that the one has died for all, which means all have died. 15He died for us so that we who live no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised from the dead for us.
16So, we judge no one by what we see. Even though we once knew Christ because we could see him, we don’t know him in that way any longer. 17Whoever is in Christ has become a new creation. The old self has passed away and the new self has come. 18This is, of course, from God who reconciled himself to us through Christ and has given us the work of reconciliation. 19In other words, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself without counting their sins against them. And the news of God’s reconciliation has been entrusted to us.20God’s appeal to you is being made through us because we are ambassadors for Christ, and on his behalf we beg you to be reconciled to God. 21It was for the sake of us all that God made Christ, who was sinless, to be sin so that we also might reflect the righteousness of God.
Commentary
1-5: Verse 1 is often part of funeral litanies. The “earthly tent” is the physical body of the believer. The soul, the spiritual body, is the eternal “house not made with hands.” And yet, Paul sees this transformation not as a replacement for our current existence but rather an addition to it. We are “not to be unclothed, but rather to be fully clothed.”
6-10: While we are in this earthly existence we are “apart from the Lord,” because what is yet to come cannot be seen except through faith. The goal of the Christian is to please God in this life and in the life to come. That is the basis on which we will be judged.
11-15: It is the heart that counts, not the outward appearance. The Corinthians can boast to Paul and Timothy that their hearts are in the right place. Verse 13 is perhaps a reference to ecstatic utterances during which one might appear to be “crazy before God.” Verse 15, “he died for us,” is a foundational verse for John Wesley’s insistence that all can be saved — in other words, God does not predestine anyone to be lost.
16-21: The new life in Christ is not something we have to wait for, but rather something that faith in Christ immediately conveys. In Christ the world is reconciled to God, and the message of that reconciliation is entrusted to Paul and Timothy — and all who belong to Christ.
Takeaway
The Christian life is a constant effort to be like Jesus in all we say and do.