ABSENT FROM THE BODY.
Another passage, supposed to teach the separate conscious existence of
the soul, is found in 2 Cor. 5:8: “We are confident, I say, and willing
rather, to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” On
the acknowledged principle that it is illogical to endeavor to build any
great doctrine upon an isolated passage, without taking into
consideration the general tenor of the context, if not also other
writings from the same author, let us look at some of the statements
which Paul has made in this connection.
In verse 1 of this chapter, Paul introduces an earthly house and a
heavenly house, and says, “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.” He states our condition while in
the earthly house. Verse 2: “In this we groan,” verse 4, “being
burdened.” He tells what we desire in this state. Verse 2. “Earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven [verse
3]: if so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.” In verse
4, Paul repeats all these facts in order to state the result of the work
which he desired: “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being
burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon.” Now he
states the result of being clothed upon with the house from Heaven which
he so earnestly desired: “But clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life.” Then he states that the condition he had in view
is that for which God in the beginning designed the human race: “Now he
that has wrought us for the self-same thing is God.” That is, God
designed that we should ultimately reach that condition which he here
designates as being clothed upon with our house from Heaven. Then he
states what assurance we have in this life that we shall eventually
attain to this condition: “who also hath given unto us the earnest
[assurance, pledge, token] of the Spirit.” That is, the Spirit dwelling
in our hearts, is the assurance or pledge we have that we shall finally
receive the desire of our hearts, and be clothed upon with our house
from Heaven. In verse 6, he states this to be the ground of his
confidence, although while “we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord.” And then after incidentally stating the secret of the
Christian’s course in this life, “we walk by faith, not by sight,” he
penned the text quoted at the commencement of this chapter, stating that
he was willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with
the Lord.
We now have before us quite fully, the subject upon which Paul is here
treating. A thought now as to the meaning of the terms he employs. What
does he mean by the earthly house and the heavenly house? by being
clothed and unclothed? by mortality being swallowed up of life? and by
being absent from the body and present with the Lord?
What he calls in verse 1, “our earthly house,” he designates in verse 6,
as being “at home in the body.” The chief characteristic of this house
is that it may be dissolved, or is mortal. This earthly house is
therefore our mortal body, or what is essentially the same thing, this
present mortal condition. The house from Heaven is eternal or immortal.
This, therefore, by parity of reasoning, is the immortal body or the
state of immortality which awaits the redeemed beyond the resurrection.
Paul, in Rom. 8:22, 23, speaks very plainly of these two conditions:
“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have
the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body.” None can fail to see the parallel between this passage in Romans,
and that portion of 2 Cor. 5, now under consideration. To the
Corinthians, Paul says, that in our earthly house we groan, being
burdened; to the Romans, that we groan within ourselves, or in this
mortal body; to the Corinthians, that while in this state we have the
earnest of the Spirit; to the Romans, that we have the first-fruits of
the Spirit, which is the same thing, the pledge, assurance, or earnest;
to the Corinthians, that we desire to be clothed upon with our house
from Heaven; to the Romans, that we wait for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body. The ultimate object in view in both cases, as a
matter of hope and desire, is the redeemed or eternal state; but in the
one case it is being “clothed upon with our house from Heaven,” and in
the other, it is “the redemption of our body.” These two expressions,
therefore, denote one and the same thing.
Returning to a consideration of the meaning of the terms which Paul
uses, we inquire what is meant by being unclothed. And the evident
answer is, The dissolution of our earthly house, or the falling of our
mortal body in death. The state of death, then, is that condition in
which we are unclothed. And the being clothed upon, is being released
from this state, when mortality is swallowed up of life, and we are
taken into the presence of the Lord. Then Paul states a conclusion very
apparent from his premises, that while we are at home in the body we are
absent from the Lord, and adds that he is willing rather to be absent
from the body and present with the Lord.
The only verse in which consciousness in death can even be supposed to
be intimated, is the 8th verse, which speaks of our being absent from
the body and present with the Lord. But even here it will be seen that
the whole question turns on the time when we enter the presence of the
Lord. Is it immediately on the dissolution of our earthly house? This
the text does not inform us; but on this the preceding verses are very
explicit, as we shall presently see.
Let us now look at a few considerations which show that it is impossible
to harmonize the popular view of consciousness in death, with the
statements which the apostle here makes. It is claimed that the house
which we have eternal in the Heavens is the immortal soul with which we
immediately enter into Heaven when the earthly house is dissolved.
Granting that this is so, let us go forward a little and mark the
difficulty in which this view is involved. The time comes when the
mortal body is raised from the dead and made immortal. In these redeemed
bodies we are to live in the kingdom of God to all eternity. This is
finally our eternal house. But when we take possession of this, what
becomes of our house that we occupied between death and the
resurrection? If we pass from our mortal bodies at death immediately
into a spiritual body prepared for us, which is the house we have in
Heaven, and in which we live till the resurrection, when our natural
bodies are redeemed, and we take possession of them, it necessarily
follows that we vacate that second house which we had occupied in
Heaven. Then what becomes of that house? Moreover this view introduces
something before us of which Paul has made no mention; for here we have
three houses, but Paul’s language allows of only two; and one of these
three houses, on the view before us, has to be abandoned, to go to ruin,
when we take possession of our redeemed bodies. All this is unscriptural
and absurd. Such a view is an impossibility.
Again, Paul affirms in verse 5 that God hath wrought us for this
self-same thing, that is, created man for such a state of being as we
shall enjoy, when clothed upon with our house from Heaven. Is this
condition the separate existence of an immortal soul? No; for if man had
never sinned, he would have reached that state without seeing death, and
the idea of an immortal soul would never have had an existence. The
whole doctrine is the offspring of sin, for it is the result of the
fall. It is the second falsehood which the devil found necessary to
sustain his first one, “Ye shall not surely die.” For when all that is
outward, tangible, and visible of man does fall in death, his untruth
would be very apparent unless he could make them believe that there is
an invisible medium through which they still continue to live. Paul,
therefore, in the scripture under notice, does not have any reference to
an intermediate state.
He further says that we have through the Spirit an earnest, or pledge,
that this condition, which is set forth as the chief object of desire,
will finally be reached, and we shall be clothed with our house from
Heaven. But what is the Holy Spirit in our hearts an earnest or pledge
of? What does it signify that we have a measure of the Holy Spirit here?
Is it a proof or assurance that we have immortal souls that will live
when the body is dead? No, but that we shall be redeemed and made
immortal. See Eph. 1:13, 14: “In whom also, after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto
the praise of his glory.” And in Rom. 8:11, Paul again says: “But if the
Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
These are the glorious promises of which the Holy Spirit in our hearts
is a pledge and assurance: that these mortal bodies shall be quickened
from the dead, even as Christ was raised up, and that we shall share in
the inheritance, when the purchased possession shall be redeemed. It
looks not to any intermediate state, but to the ultimate reward.
And finally, Paul forever bars his teaching against the entrance of the
conscious state dogma, by saying that when we are clothed upon with our
house from Heaven, mortality is swallowed up of life. How can mortality
be swallowed up of life? It can be only by having a principle of life
come upon it which shall overpower and absorb it. Mortality can be
swallowed up only by immortality or eternal life. Is this the passing of
the soul from the mortal body at the hour of death? Let us look at it.
What is there about man, according to the common view, which is mortal?
The body. And what is immortal? The soul. At death, the body, that part
which is mortal, does not become immortal, but loses all its life, and
goes into the grave to crumble back to dust. And the soul, which was
immortal before, is no more than immortal afterward. Is there any
swallowing up of mortality by life here? Just the reverse. Mortality, or
the mortal part, is swallowed up by death. There is not so much life
afterward as before; for after death, the soul only lives, while the
body, which was alive before, is now dead.
But Paul, before penning this language in 2 Cor. 5, had already told the
Corinthians when mortality would be swallowed up of life, and how it
would be accomplished; so he knew when he penned this portion of his
second epistle that they would understand it perfectly. See the 15th
chapter of his first epistle, verses 51-55: “Behold I show 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 trump; for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
In verse 50, he says: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption.” Corruption does not inherit, or possess, incorruption.
Mortality does not possess immortality. The mortal body does not inclose
an immortal principle, which it has power to hold within its grasp, till
that grasp is rendered nerveless by the stroke of death, and the soul
flies away in glad release. But this mortal, all that there is about man
that is mortal, must put on, must be itself invested with, immortality,
and this corruptible, all about us that is perishable, must itself
become incorruptible; then it will not be this corruptible flesh and
blood, and then it can inherit the kingdom of God, and start off bold
and vigorous on its race of endless life; and outside of this change,
and independent of this grand investiture of our mortal nature with
immortality, there is no eternal life for any of the race. And when this
is accomplished, then death is swallowed up in victory; then we are
clothed upon with our house from Heaven; then mortality is swallowed up
of life. But this is not at death, but at the last trump, when the Lord
appears in glory, and the dead are raised, and the righteous living are
changed in the twinkling of an eye. How can the religious world stumble
in a path so plain!
But if the heavenly house is our future immortal body, it may be asked
how Paul can say, as he does in 2 Cor. 5:1, “We have [present tense] a
building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
We have this in the same sense that we have, at the present time,
eternal life. And John tells us how this is: It is by faith, or by
promise, not by actual possession. 1 John 5:11: “And this is the record,
that God hath given to us eternal life.” God hath given it to us; and on
the strength of this promise we have it. But where is it now? “And this
life is”--in us? No, but--“in his Son.” And when he, the Son, who is our
life, shall appear, we shall be clothed upon with our heavenly house,
and appear with him in glory. Col. 3:4.
Again, it may be asked how Paul can speak of two houses, as though we
moved from one into the other, if it is only a change of condition from
mortal to immortality. He illustrates this in the figure he takes to
represent conversion. Eph. 4:22-24: “That ye put off concerning the
former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye
put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.” Here the simple change of heart, the change of the
disposition, from sin to holiness, is spoken of as putting off one man
and putting on another. With even greater propriety, may the change from
mortal to immortality be spoken of as removing from an earthly,
perishable house, to an immortal, heavenly one.
The terms Paul uses to describe the two states, are clearly defined. On
the one side it is an earthly house, groaning with burdens, mortality,
absent from the Lord. On the other, it is clothed upon with our house
from Heaven, mortality swallowed up of life, present with the Lord. He
did not desire to be unclothed, which, as already noticed, signifies the
condition of death; but he did desire to be present with the Lord;
therefore in death he would have us understand that the Christian is not
present with the Lord.
From all this, we can only conclude that when he says he is willing to
be absent from the body and present with the Lord, he means to be
understood that he is willing that this burdened, groaning, mortal state
should end, and the promised glorious and eternal day begin. And being
confident, through the presence of the Spirit of God in his heart, that
when this change should be wrought, he would have a glorious part
therein, he was more than willing it should come. It was but the
breathing again of that prayer which has arisen like a continual sigh
from the heart of the church through all her weary pilgrimage, “Thy
kingdom come; yea, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly;” not, “Let our
immortal souls,” which they did not suppose they possessed, “enter a
conscious state in death” in which they did not believe.