Bible Truth #220 - 2 Corinthians 5:1-6

2 Corinthians 5:1-6

1  Now 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.

2  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

3  because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

4  For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5  Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

I sent all the verses in this passage for context but you may have already figured out the verse I want to focus on is verse 5.

The context of the verses should be clear, Paul is writing about salvation and our glorified bodies, the bodies into which we will all be changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52-53). In verse 5 he clearly writes God made us for this very purpose. What purpose? God created us for the very purpose of being granted faith, salvation, mercy, grace, belief, and repentance. He granted this to us NOT because of ANYTHING we have done, which includes believing in Him (Titus 3:5). All this was granted to us before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9).

The opposite is also true as the same apostle writes in Romans 9:21-23 that God also created (most) people for “common use,” prepared for destruction - and this because He wanted to make the riches of His glory known to us - WHOM HE PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR GLORY. THAT is a sovereign God.

It is also abundantly clear that Paul is writing to Christians, not the lost. He used plural personal pronouns over 12 times and in every place you read “we” you can immediately add “not they.” Every place in those verses where you read “us” you can add “not them.”

1  Now we [not they] know that if the earthly tent we [not they] live in is destroyed, we [not they] have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2  Meanwhile we [not they] groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

3  because when we [not they] are clothed, we [not they] will not be found naked.

4  For while we [not they] are in this tent, we [not they] groan and are burdened, because we [not they] do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5  Now it is God who has made us [not them] for this very purpose and has given us [not them] the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6  Therefore we [not they] are always confident and know that as long as we [not they] are at home in the body we [not they] are away from the Lord.

Bottom Line - Verse 5, God made US for the very purpose of receiving salvation, not them. God gave US the Spirit as a deposit, not them. God guaranteed what is to come for US, not them.

We become children of God not by HUMAN decision (John 1:13).