Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal earthly life in the temporary dwelling of the flesh, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet personally and visibly with him in his presence in glory. While in this condition believers remain confident and walk by faith rather than by sight, with their life secure with Christ. What is groaned for is not death, which is an unclothed, unconscious sleep with no conscious existence, but to be clothed upon with the house from heaven so that mortality is swallowed up by life. That being present with the Lord is the future immortal state at Christ's coming at the last trump, when through resurrection or translation the corruptible puts on incorruption and the mortal puts on immortality. The verse therefore does not teach that an intelligent soul leaves the body at death to live consciously with Christ, for the dead perceive no interval of time and Paul connects the end of this life directly with the better life when Christ comes again.
Present Mortal Dwelling
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal earthly life in the mortal body, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet personally and visibly with him in his presence. Leaving the body means leaving this mortal state, not entering an unconscious condition that is already immortality, and the hoped-for presence with the Lord comes when mortality is swallowed up by life through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming. Absence from the Lord does not describe a disembodied state but the fact that those clothed with mortal life are not yet personally with him, and the following contrast shows that being present with the Lord means being absent from mortal life. While in that condition believers remain confident as they walk by faith rather than by sight.
The body is the present temporary dwelling, pictured as an earthly house and tabernacle that may be dissolved, and its dissolution is death. Being at home in the body is the same as being in that earthly house, which is the mortal body or the present mortal condition, while the opposite heavenly house is the immortal body or the state of immortality awaiting the redeemed beyond the resurrection. Being unclothed is the dissolution of the earthly house in death, and being clothed upon is release from that death state when mortality is swallowed up of life and the redeemed are taken into the presence of the Lord. The heavenly body is not a separate spiritual body that frees a person from the present body without death, but the body that dies raised and changed and clothed with immortal life at the resurrection.
While in this mortal condition believers remain confident and walk by faith rather than by sight, with their life secure with Christ. That confidence rests on faith rather than sight and looks to the resurrection and being caught up to meet Christ as the way believers will be with the Lord, not to conscious existence apart from the body at death. The present mortal state is this probationary life lived by faith, contrasted with the future immortal state toward which faith looks and with the future hope of receiving immortal bodies and being with the Lord.
Being present with the Lord means more than having the presence of his Spirit in the heart in daily life here, which believers already have, for even with Christ's Spirit in the heart a person in this mortal state is not in his personal, visible presence. It means being personally present in Christ's personal presence with Christ in glory, a most blessed condition where there is fullness of joy. That condition is desired both by the child of God and by the Lord himself, and while away from the Lord they love believers live as in a present pilgrim state looking forward to being with him in glory.
On another reading, to be at home in the body and absent from the Lord means being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, because men walk by faith not by sight, so willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible and being occupied with heavenly things. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to a building of God, contrasting the animal and terrestrial life of the whole man with the spiritual and heavenly life and final renewal of the whole man when the saints are clothed upon in heaven, clothed and not naked, so that mortality is swallowed up of life. God has wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together, and to be absent from the body and present with the Lord is the consummation of happiness, where body means this frail life and absence means eternal departure to a heavenly world. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God proves both conditions belong to this life, since souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable in heaven, and reward comes only at the second coming of Christ when all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, so there is no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment.
Three States Contrasted
To be at home in the body is the first of three conditions, the present mortal life in the flesh in the earthly house of the tabernacle, the earthly Adamic body, burdened and groaning under mortality and subject to trouble and trial and sickness and sadness and death, walking by faith and not by sight while therefore absent from the Lord before the resurrection and the glorified body like Christ's. Death is the second condition, being unclothed and found naked, dissolved and without a dwelling-place and without life, between death and the resurrection. Being absent from the body and present with the Lord is the third, future condition, being clothed upon with the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, the building of God and house from heaven, which is immortality and eternal salvation given when mortality is swallowed up of life and this mortal puts on immortality and this corruptible puts on incorruption at the last trump at the second coming of Jesus Christ by resurrection and translation, the redemption of the body. While here Christians look forward to that glorious hope, laboring that whether present or absent, whether living or dead when He comes, they may be accepted of Him, for all must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, looked to as a time not of condemnation but of joyful triumph. The verse does not teach the immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, but that the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord.
The middle unclothed state is an unconscious sleep with no conscious existence, a burden-free loss of life that is utterly undesirable and not what is desired. Being without the body is not a conscious state to desire nor an unconscious condition that is already immortality. Paul did not desire that naked unclothed state of death, nor merely to keep living here burdened and groaning.
What is groaned for and longed for is not death nor merely continuing in mortal life, but to be clothed upon with the house from heaven made immortal at Christ's coming, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Being absent from the body means leaving this mortal state, and the hoped-for presence with the Lord comes through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming and return, receiving immortality and being bodily changed and joining Christ through translation rather than dying and remaining unconscious. This is a troubled, mortal condition, but the longing is for the life in which mortality is swallowed up and one is present with the Lord.
The contrast is between the animal and terrestrial life of the whole man and the spiritual and heavenly renewal of the whole man, not between a separable soul and the body. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to a building of God, the final renewal when the saints are clothed upon in heaven, clothed and not naked, so that mortality is swallowed up of life, and God has wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together. The description of the outward and inward person does not mean that a human being is made up of two independent entities. On the reading held by some, to be at home in the body and absent from the Lord means being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, because men walk by faith not by sight, so willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible and being occupied with heavenly things, while to be absent from the body and present with the Lord is otherwise the consummation of happiness, where body means this frail life and absence means eternal departure to a heavenly world.
Future Presence Promised
To be absent from the body and present with the Lord is the third and future immortal state, when mortality is swallowed up by life through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming, when the corruptible puts on incorruption, the mortal puts on immortality, and the body is redeemed. While at home in the body believers are in their present mortal earthly life and therefore absent from the Lord, walking by faith and not by sight, groaning under mortality and longing for another condition. That longed-for presence does not come by leaving this mortal state in death, for death itself is a second and utterly undesirable condition of being dissolved and found naked and unclothed, having no dwelling-place and no conscious existence, and it is not what is desired. The hope is to be clothed upon with the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, the building of God and house from heaven, given at the last trump at the second coming of Christ. It does not teach immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, but that the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord, when the saints are caught up to meet Christ and are at home with the Lord.
Confidence in that future change rests on God, who purposed to give immortality and gave the Spirit as pledge and assurance of the resurrection life. The earnest of the Spirit in the heart is God's pledge that those who remain in the mortal body, burdened with pains and sorrows and therefore absent from the Lord, will receive immortal life and share in the promised change. That confidence enables rejoicing in hope despite present trouble, and it must give a deeper relish for God's word, which tests whether the experience is genuine.
The intermediate state in death is not taken into account, just as sleep is not taken into account in describing a man's actions, because the dead have no sense of anything and perceive no interval of time between death and resurrection. Paul therefore connects the end of this life directly with the commencement of the better life, with being with Christ only when Christ comes again to take his disciples to himself at his second coming to judgment and the resurrection.
That change takes the whole man together, as with Enoch and Elijah, at the last trump, for God wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting both together. The heavenly body is not a separate spiritual body that frees a person from the present body without death; the mortal body laid down at death is the body that dies raised and changed and clothed upon with immortal life, the final renewal of the whole man when the saints are clothed and not naked. To be absent from the body and present with the Lord is therefore not death or leaving the body behind, but removal from the present mortal house to the eternal house, being absent from mortality and present in the glorified immortal body, which Paul desired instead of being unclothed by death. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of him means whether living or dead when he comes, for both conditions belong to this life and souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable, and reward comes only when all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, looked to as a time not of condemnation but of joyful triumph, with no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment.
No Conscious Separation
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal life, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet in the immortal life to come, not to have an intelligent soul leave the body at death to live consciously with Christ. Being without the body is not a conscious state to be desired, but an unconscious sleep in death described as being dissolved and found naked and unclothed and without a dwelling-place, utterly undesirable in itself. What is groaned for and longed for is not death nor merely continuing here, but to be clothed upon with the heavenly house, the building of God eternal in the heavens, when mortality is swallowed up by life. That change to be present with the Lord comes only at the second coming of Christ at the last trump at the resurrection, when this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality and the body is redeemed, whether living or dead when he comes, ending in all appearing before the judgment-seat of Christ for acceptance as a joyful triumph and not condemnation. The verse therefore does not establish the immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, and the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord.
Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God proves both conditions belong to this life, since souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable in heaven. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to the building of God as the final renewal of the whole man, clothed and not naked, for men were wrought not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together. To be at home in the body and absent from the Lord can also mean being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things while walking by faith not by sight, and willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord can mean renouncing worldly things as much as possible to be occupied with heavenly things. Reward comes only at the second coming of Christ when all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, so there is no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment. Expressions about human nature in this verse must be explained consistently with Paul's other teaching rather than in a way that makes him contradict himself.
By contrast, those who held otherwise taught that the body is a tabernacle in which believers live and groan while always confident, and that the dead in Christ enter a conscious state present with the Lord between death and the resurrection, being willing rather to be absent from the body in order to be present with the Lord. On that same contrary teaching, while a person lives in the body he is absent from the Lord whose dwelling place is heaven, and when a person dies his soul leaves the body and is received at once into the Lord's presence.
Confidence for Daily Living
Always to be confident while at home in the body and absent from the Lord is to keep good courage amid pressure, perplexity, persecution, trouble, trial, sickness, sadness, death, and being struck down. Such courage does not depend on favorable circumstances but looks beyond visible troubles to the unseen, trusting the hope of eternal life with God when mortality shall be swallowed up by life. Mortal life in the body is the earthly condition in which all groan and long for another condition, while looking forward in faith and not by sight to the glorious hope of the building of God, the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, to be received at the last trump at the second coming of Christ. Knowing the one believed gives constancy and courage, with confidence that God lives, reigns, and cares for his work even when conditions are unfavorable.
This courage comes from God and must be received from him afresh each day through personally knowing Jesus. Knowing that sins are forgiven and all is right between the heart and God gives courage even amid imprisonment, danger, abandonment, or other distress, with conviction that God's word is sure and his work will go forward despite opposition. Courage is God's gift, and discouragement is something to seek forgiveness for. Confidence while still in the body rests on God having given the Spirit as assurance, yet experience by itself is not to be trusted unless it gives a deeper relish for God's word, which tests whether the experience is genuine.
While present in the body and absent from the Lord, there is to be a continual drawing near to God in view of being always present with him when absent from the body. The connected teaching calls for living faith in Christ and the great change it produces in character. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God belongs to this life, since there is no striving to become acceptable during an interval after death and no recompense of good or bad before all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body. Willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible to be occupied with heavenly things rather than remaining entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, walking by faith and not by sight toward the consummation of happiness when the whole man is perfected body and soul together and mortality is swallowed up of life.
The wider setting in 2 Corinthians 4 to 7 teaches the value of affliction. The same confidence sets forth the old and true way of missions as love and not force, expressing the unchanging Spirit of Christ rather than demanding punishment or depending on military power. Those who walk with Jesus in life can be confident of his companionship at the dying bed and of being with the Lord forever in glory.
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal earthly life in the temporary dwelling of the flesh, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet personally and visibly with him in his presence in glory. While in this condition believers remain confident and walk by faith rather than by sight, with their life secure with Christ. What is groaned for is not death, which is an unclothed, unconscious sleep with no conscious existence, but to be clothed upon with the house from heaven so that mortality is swallowed up by life. That being present with the Lord is the future immortal state at Christ's coming at the last trump, when through resurrection or translation the corruptible puts on incorruption and the mortal puts on immortality. The verse therefore does not teach that an intelligent soul leaves the body at death to live consciously with Christ, for the dead perceive no interval of time and Paul connects the end of this life directly with the better life when Christ comes again.
Present Mortal Dwelling
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal earthly life in the mortal body, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet personally and visibly with him in his presence. Leaving the body means leaving this mortal state, not entering an unconscious condition that is already immortality, and the hoped-for presence with the Lord comes when mortality is swallowed up by life through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming. Absence from the Lord does not describe a disembodied state but the fact that those clothed with mortal life are not yet personally with him, and the following contrast shows that being present with the Lord means being absent from mortal life. While in that condition believers remain confident as they walk by faith rather than by sight.
The body is the present temporary dwelling, pictured as an earthly house and tabernacle that may be dissolved, and its dissolution is death. Being at home in the body is the same as being in that earthly house, which is the mortal body or the present mortal condition, while the opposite heavenly house is the immortal body or the state of immortality awaiting the redeemed beyond the resurrection. Being unclothed is the dissolution of the earthly house in death, and being clothed upon is release from that death state when mortality is swallowed up of life and the redeemed are taken into the presence of the Lord. The heavenly body is not a separate spiritual body that frees a person from the present body without death, but the body that dies raised and changed and clothed with immortal life at the resurrection.
While in this mortal condition believers remain confident and walk by faith rather than by sight, with their life secure with Christ. That confidence rests on faith rather than sight and looks to the resurrection and being caught up to meet Christ as the way believers will be with the Lord, not to conscious existence apart from the body at death. The present mortal state is this probationary life lived by faith, contrasted with the future immortal state toward which faith looks and with the future hope of receiving immortal bodies and being with the Lord.
Being present with the Lord means more than having the presence of his Spirit in the heart in daily life here, which believers already have, for even with Christ's Spirit in the heart a person in this mortal state is not in his personal, visible presence. It means being personally present in Christ's personal presence with Christ in glory, a most blessed condition where there is fullness of joy. That condition is desired both by the child of God and by the Lord himself, and while away from the Lord they love believers live as in a present pilgrim state looking forward to being with him in glory.
On another reading, to be at home in the body and absent from the Lord means being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, because men walk by faith not by sight, so willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible and being occupied with heavenly things. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to a building of God, contrasting the animal and terrestrial life of the whole man with the spiritual and heavenly life and final renewal of the whole man when the saints are clothed upon in heaven, clothed and not naked, so that mortality is swallowed up of life. God has wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together, and to be absent from the body and present with the Lord is the consummation of happiness, where body means this frail life and absence means eternal departure to a heavenly world. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God proves both conditions belong to this life, since souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable in heaven, and reward comes only at the second coming of Christ when all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, so there is no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment.
Three States Contrasted
To be at home in the body is the first of three conditions, the present mortal life in the flesh in the earthly house of the tabernacle, the earthly Adamic body, burdened and groaning under mortality and subject to trouble and trial and sickness and sadness and death, walking by faith and not by sight while therefore absent from the Lord before the resurrection and the glorified body like Christ's. Death is the second condition, being unclothed and found naked, dissolved and without a dwelling-place and without life, between death and the resurrection. Being absent from the body and present with the Lord is the third, future condition, being clothed upon with the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, the building of God and house from heaven, which is immortality and eternal salvation given when mortality is swallowed up of life and this mortal puts on immortality and this corruptible puts on incorruption at the last trump at the second coming of Jesus Christ by resurrection and translation, the redemption of the body. While here Christians look forward to that glorious hope, laboring that whether present or absent, whether living or dead when He comes, they may be accepted of Him, for all must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, looked to as a time not of condemnation but of joyful triumph. The verse does not teach the immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, but that the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord.
The middle unclothed state is an unconscious sleep with no conscious existence, a burden-free loss of life that is utterly undesirable and not what is desired. Being without the body is not a conscious state to desire nor an unconscious condition that is already immortality. Paul did not desire that naked unclothed state of death, nor merely to keep living here burdened and groaning.
What is groaned for and longed for is not death nor merely continuing in mortal life, but to be clothed upon with the house from heaven made immortal at Christ's coming, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Being absent from the body means leaving this mortal state, and the hoped-for presence with the Lord comes through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming and return, receiving immortality and being bodily changed and joining Christ through translation rather than dying and remaining unconscious. This is a troubled, mortal condition, but the longing is for the life in which mortality is swallowed up and one is present with the Lord.
The contrast is between the animal and terrestrial life of the whole man and the spiritual and heavenly renewal of the whole man, not between a separable soul and the body. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to a building of God, the final renewal when the saints are clothed upon in heaven, clothed and not naked, so that mortality is swallowed up of life, and God has wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together. The description of the outward and inward person does not mean that a human being is made up of two independent entities. On the reading held by some, to be at home in the body and absent from the Lord means being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, because men walk by faith not by sight, so willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible and being occupied with heavenly things, while to be absent from the body and present with the Lord is otherwise the consummation of happiness, where body means this frail life and absence means eternal departure to a heavenly world.
Future Presence Promised
To be absent from the body and present with the Lord is the third and future immortal state, when mortality is swallowed up by life through resurrection or translation at Christ's coming, when the corruptible puts on incorruption, the mortal puts on immortality, and the body is redeemed. While at home in the body believers are in their present mortal earthly life and therefore absent from the Lord, walking by faith and not by sight, groaning under mortality and longing for another condition. That longed-for presence does not come by leaving this mortal state in death, for death itself is a second and utterly undesirable condition of being dissolved and found naked and unclothed, having no dwelling-place and no conscious existence, and it is not what is desired. The hope is to be clothed upon with the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, the building of God and house from heaven, given at the last trump at the second coming of Christ. It does not teach immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, but that the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord, when the saints are caught up to meet Christ and are at home with the Lord.
Confidence in that future change rests on God, who purposed to give immortality and gave the Spirit as pledge and assurance of the resurrection life. The earnest of the Spirit in the heart is God's pledge that those who remain in the mortal body, burdened with pains and sorrows and therefore absent from the Lord, will receive immortal life and share in the promised change. That confidence enables rejoicing in hope despite present trouble, and it must give a deeper relish for God's word, which tests whether the experience is genuine.
The intermediate state in death is not taken into account, just as sleep is not taken into account in describing a man's actions, because the dead have no sense of anything and perceive no interval of time between death and resurrection. Paul therefore connects the end of this life directly with the commencement of the better life, with being with Christ only when Christ comes again to take his disciples to himself at his second coming to judgment and the resurrection.
That change takes the whole man together, as with Enoch and Elijah, at the last trump, for God wrought men not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting both together. The heavenly body is not a separate spiritual body that frees a person from the present body without death; the mortal body laid down at death is the body that dies raised and changed and clothed upon with immortal life, the final renewal of the whole man when the saints are clothed and not naked. To be absent from the body and present with the Lord is therefore not death or leaving the body behind, but removal from the present mortal house to the eternal house, being absent from mortality and present in the glorified immortal body, which Paul desired instead of being unclothed by death. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of him means whether living or dead when he comes, for both conditions belong to this life and souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable, and reward comes only when all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, looked to as a time not of condemnation but of joyful triumph, with no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment.
No Conscious Separation
To be at home in the body is to live the present mortal life, and to be absent from the Lord is to be not yet in the immortal life to come, not to have an intelligent soul leave the body at death to live consciously with Christ. Being without the body is not a conscious state to be desired, but an unconscious sleep in death described as being dissolved and found naked and unclothed and without a dwelling-place, utterly undesirable in itself. What is groaned for and longed for is not death nor merely continuing here, but to be clothed upon with the heavenly house, the building of God eternal in the heavens, when mortality is swallowed up by life. That change to be present with the Lord comes only at the second coming of Christ at the last trump at the resurrection, when this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality and the body is redeemed, whether living or dead when he comes, ending in all appearing before the judgment-seat of Christ for acceptance as a joyful triumph and not condemnation. The verse therefore does not establish the immortality of the soul or conscious existence apart from the body, and the only hope of the Christian is the second coming of the Lord.
Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God proves both conditions belong to this life, since souls do not spend the time from death to resurrection striving to make themselves acceptable in heaven. The house of the tabernacle stands opposed not to the soul but to the building of God as the final renewal of the whole man, clothed and not naked, for men were wrought not for dividing soul from body but for perfecting body and soul together. To be at home in the body and absent from the Lord can also mean being entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things while walking by faith not by sight, and willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord can mean renouncing worldly things as much as possible to be occupied with heavenly things. Reward comes only at the second coming of Christ when all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body, so there is no recompense of good or bad after death before the day of judgment. Expressions about human nature in this verse must be explained consistently with Paul's other teaching rather than in a way that makes him contradict himself.
By contrast, those who held otherwise taught that the body is a tabernacle in which believers live and groan while always confident, and that the dead in Christ enter a conscious state present with the Lord between death and the resurrection, being willing rather to be absent from the body in order to be present with the Lord. On that same contrary teaching, while a person lives in the body he is absent from the Lord whose dwelling place is heaven, and when a person dies his soul leaves the body and is received at once into the Lord's presence.
Confidence for Daily Living
Always to be confident while at home in the body and absent from the Lord is to keep good courage amid pressure, perplexity, persecution, trouble, trial, sickness, sadness, death, and being struck down. Such courage does not depend on favorable circumstances but looks beyond visible troubles to the unseen, trusting the hope of eternal life with God when mortality shall be swallowed up by life. Mortal life in the body is the earthly condition in which all groan and long for another condition, while looking forward in faith and not by sight to the glorious hope of the building of God, the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, to be received at the last trump at the second coming of Christ. Knowing the one believed gives constancy and courage, with confidence that God lives, reigns, and cares for his work even when conditions are unfavorable.
This courage comes from God and must be received from him afresh each day through personally knowing Jesus. Knowing that sins are forgiven and all is right between the heart and God gives courage even amid imprisonment, danger, abandonment, or other distress, with conviction that God's word is sure and his work will go forward despite opposition. Courage is God's gift, and discouragement is something to seek forgiveness for. Confidence while still in the body rests on God having given the Spirit as assurance, yet experience by itself is not to be trusted unless it gives a deeper relish for God's word, which tests whether the experience is genuine.
While present in the body and absent from the Lord, there is to be a continual drawing near to God in view of being always present with him when absent from the body. The connected teaching calls for living faith in Christ and the great change it produces in character. Laboring whether present or absent to be accepted of God belongs to this life, since there is no striving to become acceptable during an interval after death and no recompense of good or bad before all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to receive for things done in the body. Willingness to be absent from the body and present with the Lord means renouncing worldly things as much as possible to be occupied with heavenly things rather than remaining entangled in worldly affairs with little leisure for heavenly things, walking by faith and not by sight toward the consummation of happiness when the whole man is perfected body and soul together and mortality is swallowed up of life.
The wider setting in 2 Corinthians 4 to 7 teaches the value of affliction. The same confidence sets forth the old and true way of missions as love and not force, expressing the unchanging Spirit of Christ rather than demanding punishment or depending on military power. Those who walk with Jesus in life can be confident of his companionship at the dying bed and of being with the Lord forever in glory.