Commendation from God and not from men

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?” (2Cor. 3:1).

“For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.” (2Cor. 5:12).

My friend’s mother could not be convinced that the dead know not anything and that they wait in the grave until Jesus returns. Her defense was a paraphrase of a partial verse, which she repeated over and over, “absent from the body, and present with the Lord”, “absent from the body, and present with the Lord.” That verse was 2 Corinthians 5:8.

But, that verse had nothing to do with going to heaven immediately upon death. Let me explain.

Several times in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul said that he planned to wait for Christ’s return and resurrection. “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” (2Cor. 1:9). “As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (2Cor. 1:14). “Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” (2Cor. 4:14). Paul was waiting for the resurrection.

There is also what Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6). “That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.” (Phil. 1:10). “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Phil. 3:10,11).

There is also what Paul said in his final epistle, his farewell to the church. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (2Tim. 4:8).

Now, back to 2 Corinthians 5 and its actual meaning, that true interpretation being Paul’s demonstration of what it is to be spiritual.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 

If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2Cor. 5:1-4).

This house, or tabernacle, that Paul speaks of is not a mansion on high with golden steps and walkway. The house made in heaven is the new body, as Paul described in his first letter to the Corinthians.

“Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:…

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1Cor. 15:12,13,20-22).

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. 

Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. ” (1Cor. 15:23-25).

This is the “building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”, the tabernacle for which we “do groan, being burdened …  that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” Paul wrote the same thing to the Roman congregation.

“Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 8:23). “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19).

The eagerness of Paul and others back then was to have their fallen nature delivered from the pull of self-preservation, self-indulgent, self-exaltation, etc. Only Christ was sinless, but the apostles were holy men of God who were moved by the Spirit of God. Being holy meant striving against the flesh, and yearning for the redeemed body that would retain not a single desire for sin, being “swallowed up of life.”

“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” (1Cor. 15:44).

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” (1Cor. 15:42,43).            

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:13).

Thankfully, Paul reiterates and confirms the truth of a later, final reward, rather than an immediate one. Adventism has the truth on the state of the dead. The judgment is all in the context of a later resurrection at the Second Advent. But, for the righteous who live when Christ returns, their judgment happens before He comes. “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12). But, there will be a resurrection of them that sleep in their graves.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. 

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1Thess. 4:14-17).

Now, after all this talk about a future resurrection into a new “building”, a “tabernacle”, and the present yearning for that day, Paul wrote, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” (2Cor. 5:6). And he also right afterward wrote, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (vs. 8). Huh? Upon death do we go straight to our reward, or do we with patience wait for it at the resurrection?

Notwithstanding all of his talk of the resurrection, Paul’s 2 Corinthians 5:6 and 8 statements can be intimidating to Seventh-day Adventists. But, they need not be. By the rest of this chapter, we will see what Paul is really saying. He is exposing his heart. He is disrobing the privacy of his spirit by the love that he has for Jesus and toward the Corinthian believers, as well as his ministry of reconciliation from the Father for a world of sinners. Paul lets them peer into his mind and see how a true Christian thinks. Exemplifying true spirituality is Paul’s message to the Corinthian church.

“(For we walk by faith, not by sight)” (2Cor. 5:7). Paul is saying, “Our worldview is not this world, but heaven’s order of business and heaven’s rule of character. God’s eternal kingdom is the standard to reach and to expect for the church.” “Our faith forces us to define truth and morality by a holy, spiritual, heavenly law that governs our hearts. Yet, the old nature of our body of corruption and death fights to interfere with this.”

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” (2Cor. 5:8-11).

Paul’s statement of desiring to be absent from his corruptible body of sin wasn’t an expectation, but a strong wish, a yearning. His experience with an infinitely holy Father and Son, and his surrender to Their infinite justice, only solidified his desire for the return of Jesus in power and retribution upon sin and a world of sin.

Paul and his ministers were driven by the acceptance of Christ and a witness given by the Father, and also by the honest fear of His rejection. God is no respecter of persons, and Paul’s team was good with that. Their every thought was under the control of heaven. Their decisions were submitted to heaven and confirmed by heaven before they put them into action. Their every move was subject to Jesus, as Jesus had been to His Father.

Because “God… hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit”, Paul’s team could patiently await the redemption of their bodies, even though they constantly groaned for it. The earnest of the Spirit empowered them to overcome their bodies’ corruption that constantly lurked for expression. Unlike the worldly minded Corinthians, Paul and his fellow ministers experienced “the powers of the world to come” and “tasted of the heavenly gift”, being “made partakers of the Holy Ghost” (Heb. 6:5,4). But, they longed for more—to be done with the great controversy and to be safe in the arms of Jesus. “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2Cor. 5:8).

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col. 1:12,13).

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:5,6).

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” (Phil. 3:20,21).

“For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.” (2Cor. 5:12).

Here is the focus of Paul’s thrust. This is the same message Paul gave the believers of Galatia. Evidently the same enemies of the gospel found their way to Corinth. “They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.” (Gal. 4:13, 17). “But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.” (Gal. 2:6). “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?’

Glorying in Paul’s burden for them and his genuineness is the crux of Paul’s message to the Corinthians. All of his apparent talk of out-of-body-experiences was his letter of commendation to the brethren of Corinth. And how did he commend himself to these world-loving Corinthians? By opening them to new concepts—to Bible spirituality, true spirituality. By humbly laying before them the secrets of his heart, the deep yearning testimony of his holy soul to God and them. Self-exaltation, boasting of one’s worldly accomplishments and earthly worth, even if done ever so subtly, played no part in Paul’s service to them. “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Phil. 3:3).

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 

For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ” (Jer. 17:5-9).

The wise apostle sought something much better to teach them. In his dealings with their backslidings Paul’s merciful treatment of the Corinthian church had resulted from his worshiping the holy, perfect Creator and merciful Judge of all the earth. From those communings with Christ and His hallowed Father Paul was endowed with Their self-sacrificing love.

“For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead:

And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. 

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more [we know Him no more in His earthly body of sin that God had prepared for Him, but rather in His immortal, glorified body that we look forward to].” (2Cor. 5:13-16).

Paul’s rejoicing was not for a show of faith, but verily was it expressed to God who heard it. What was the cause of Paul’s joy? What was the truth that thrilled his soul? It was the reconciliation that the Father had accomplished through the death of His precious, only begotten Son. Because of that gospel Paul could no longer see people as creeping things, crawling around looking only to get creature comforts, “what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; … what ye shall put on”? (Matt. 6:25). They were as precious and of infinite value as the divine Son of God. But, would they accept their value in God’s estimation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Cor. 5:17).

After all is said and done, everyone who is in Christ, in His family and kingdom, must have what Christ has—a new heart and a new spirit, a gifted purified heart and spirit. The old, original condition from the first birth must be hidden by the humbled, red skin of the Lamb—“the body of Christ” (Rom. 7:4), by “the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Heb. 10:20). Their new heart and spirit’s earnest of the inheritance Jesus already fully has, as the first fruit of the resurrection.

All this can happen only because the Father reconciled Himself to our world of sinners.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Cor. 5:18-21).

So, in conclusion, Paul was giving them and us an inside view of his own heart, the things that were always utmost in his mind, not a new doctrine of immediate eternal reward after death. In brief, Paul’s message filtered from the situation there in Corinth, was his obvious burden for the salvation of the Corinthian church and their new conceptions of his demonstrative, fatherly love for them. Its purpose was to give them a deeper understanding and hope:

If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house eternal in the heavens (he didn’t even hint of a time frame).

Desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

So we are always groaning, being burdened that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

The Spirit makes us always confident knowing that until we can be resurrected and be standing before the great white throne, we must continue to patiently bear the burden of this body of death, weakened by 4,000 years of sin.

We walk by faith, not by sight.

Our labour and risking of life keep us needing Him, and accepted by Him.

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

We know therefore the terror of the Lord.

We are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

We give you occasion to glory in the beauty of our fatherly love, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

If we be beside ourselves, it is to God.

The love of Christ constraineth us.

We thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them.

Henceforth we know no man after the flesh, as do the enemies of the gospel.

God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

We don’t look at people for their appearance, but at the inner needs of their soul.

Second Corinthians chapter 5 for your personal study:

2Co 5:1  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

2Co 5:2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 

2Co 5:3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

2Co 5:4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

2Co 5:5  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 

2Co 5:6  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord

2Co 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 

2Co 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

2Co 5:9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him [our labour and risking of life keep us needing Him, and accepted by Him]. 

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

2Co 5:11  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 

2Co 5:12  For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

2Co 5:13  For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 

2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 

2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

A last word: Paul did say to the brethren at Philippi that he had the option of dying and being with Christ. But, nowhere in that passage does he give the time span between departing this life and being with Jesus in heaven.

Phil 1:20  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 

Phil 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Phil 1:22  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 

Phil 1:23  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 

Phil 1:24  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 

Phil 1:25  And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 

Paul had a choice between two situations. Either hope to live, with continued labor, "life" (Phil. 1:20) and "abide in the flesh" ( Vs. 24) or be executed and wait in state until the resurrection, "death" (Vs. 20) awaiting "the day of Christ." (Vs. 10).

Let us not forget Paul’s closing statement of faith and encouagement to Timothy (and the church) just before he did depart:

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (2Tim. 4:8).