We’re not home yet. We are in a body that is temporary – almost like a rental or a lease for a season. One day, we will be home. Home with the Lord and in a new body.
Until then, he gives us his Spirit. The Spirit dwells within our mortal bodies and acts as a deposit or a guarantee of what is to come.
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 5:1-10).
We are either here or there. If we are here, it means not with the Lord. If we are with the Lord, all is well. It’s preferable to be with the Lord. But there is much work to do here. Therefore what is the result?
1) We live by faith, not by sight (v. 7)
2) We live to please the Lord, no matter where we are at (v. 9)
3) We live in the righteous fear of the Lord
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:7-10).
The first two are warm and fuzzy – live by faith, please the Lord. But then there’s the sobering reality of v. 10, that we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
Some may see this as works-based righteousness, but we know from Paul’s other letters, especially Galatians, that this is not the case in the slightest. Paul strongly condemned salvation by works. What does this verse mean then? That we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and receive what is our due?
1) It means that how we live and what we do here matters. A lot. It has eternal consequences. So live well.
2) Our works are either gold and silver or wood, hay, and straw that burn up. This is about reward and what will last verses things that will burn up. The Greek word for “bad” here is empty, low-quality, worthless, etc. It’s not about condemnation and judgment. It’s about what has low value that will burn up, and what will remain forever.
The bottom line is that we are eternal people. What we say and do matters. Pleasing the Lord matters.
It’s not about fear and condemnation. It’s about anticipation. Just like a wedding day when both are excited and preparing to be with each other to the very end of time.