I would venture to say that one of the most commonly misquoted verses in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 5:8. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people say, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” That’s not what Paul wrote, but it’s what many people say to defend their belief that we go immediately to heaven when we die.
With that in mind, look at what the verse in question actually says.
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”– 2 Corinthians 5:8
Do you see the difference? Paul is not claiming that absence from the body equals presence with the Lord. He is simply expressing his desire and preference to be absent from the body because of his greater desire to be present with the Lord. He understands the limitations of his mortal earthly body, and he is expressing his desire to be in the presence of the Lord, which requires the shedding of this mortal body.
We also need to look at the context of this verse to better understand what he is trying to express. Paul begins this chapter by speaking about the new body we will receive in the resurrection.
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”– 2 Corinthians 5:1-4
He compares our earthly body do a tent, and says when this tent is destroyed we have a better body waiting for us. Notice that he makes it clear that we do not want to be “unclothed” or “found naked”, indicating that he is not talking about being disembodied spirits, but “further clothed” with our immortal body from heaven, speaking about the new body we will receive at the resurrection.
Remember, this is his second letter to the Corinthians, and in his first letter, Paul spent a significant amount of time explaining the resurrection and the new bodies we will receive when Messiah returns. This provides context for understanding what is being said in 2 Corinthians 5:8. Paul is not teaching something contrary to what he taught in his first epistle, he is expanding upon it and drawing from it.
“But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?’ Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain – perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.”– 1 Corinthians 15:35-38
Notice he says in the resurrection we receive a new body, but our old body must first die. This does not imply that we instantly receive our new body at death. He simply says the old must first die. He continues to explain that the new body is received at the resurrection.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”– 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
This was the foundation he laid in his first letter to Corinth, so when they read his words about wanting to be absent from the body and having his earthly tent destroyed, they would have understood that he was speaking about death, and when he said he wanted to receive the heavenly clothing and to be in the presence of the Lord, they would have understood this to be a reference to the resurrection.
Paul also explains that we need a new body because our current body is in the image of Adam, but our new heavenly body will be in the likeness of Yeshua.
“The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.”– 1 Corinthians 15:47-50
Receiving our new spiritual body is vital because our current fleshly body cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, which is why Paul expressed a desire to shed his body so that he could be in the presence of the Lord.
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”– 2 Corinthians 5:8
We are confident and well pleased in knowing that we will someday shed our mortal flesh and enter the presence of the Lord eternally. But as Paul explains, we don’t want to be unclothed but further clothed, because we must receive our heavenly body to enter the kingdom of God. This happens at the resurrection when Messiah returns.
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”– 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
Notice it’s at the last trumpet when the dead are raised that we all receive our immortal bodies together. This is a communal event in which the entire body of Christ receives immortality together. We don’t enter the kingdom as individuals, we enter as the united body of believers.
That is why “WE are confident and well pleased” that WE will be in the presence of the Lord, knowing that we must first shed this mortal body before we can receive our new immortal body at the resurrection.
