This teaching is part of a project that I am slowly working on. It does relate to my last article that I posted pertaining to the mystery the apostle Paul shared with the Corinthian church. Here Paul is telling us that once the church is raptured it will be clothed with an eternal garment. Meanwhile we are clothed in an earthly garment. Until we are clothed with our eternal garment the church should be experiencing discontentment because we long to be clothed with our eternal garment. God the Father has given the church his Holy Spirit as a pledge, or security, in the promise of a future marriage that will take place after the church is raptured out of this world.
“For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For most assuredly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we will not be found naked. For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened; not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, HNV).
When we got saved the spirit portion of our being was transformed and made so that we can communicate and have fellowship with God the Father (Eph. 2:4-5; Rom. 6:11). The soul portion of our being is commanded by God to be transformed as we submit to the Scriptures and the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:2[1]). The flesh or body part of our being is supposed to be offered as a living sacrifice to not only God but also to the body of Christ (Rom. 12:1; 6:13; Phil. 2:17; Heb. 13:15-16).
Our physical body is our earthly house, our earthly tent (5:1a), and one day it will be “destroyed” as so many English translations interpret (the translation above uses the word, dissolved). The Greek word used is καταλύω, its transliteration is katalyō, and it is pronounced as kat-al-oo'-o. Kat-al-oo'-o is translated on many Greek translator sites in English as, catalyze. Catalyze in this instance means “to alter significantly by or as if by catalysis.”[2] When you look at the context of the above Scripture passage, Paul is not referring to the body when a Christian passes away, but rather he is indicating what happens to the Christian’s earthly house once a certain transformation occurs. A couple of words we could use to express what Paul likely meant by the Greek verb kat-al-oo'-o, the English word catalyze, are the synonyms, translated or transformed. They have the idea of metamorphosing from a physical body into a spiritual body by divine power which will happen when the church-age is over, when the salvation process is completed. This happens at the rapture of the church of God (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Paul likely had on his mind what he wrote will happen at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52). When the last trumpet sounds, to end the church-age, the apostle is informing the Corinthians that the believer’s earthly tent will be transformed, the body will go through a metamorphosis, it will be transfigured. The believer’s earthly house will be transfigured into an eternal house (a glorified body) made for heaven, the eternal realm (5:1c). It is not made by earthly hands, our earthly parents, but rather our eternal body will be made by God and his divine ability (5:1b).
The follower of Christ should not be content in his earthly tent. His spirit should be growing weary as each day passes longing to be transformed, transfigured into his eternal house—his glorified body (5:2). The eternal tent will be a house for the spirit portion of our being, just like our earthly tent is a house for our spirit here in this world (5:3). All the believer’s that have passed away already, like the apostle Paul, are in heaven of course. There spirits/souls are in a place there that is between physical death and the future resurrection, it is sometimes referred to the interim state, an interlude of consciousness between physical death and the resurrection. I said in the commentary to First Corinthians 15:50-53, that Bible scholar Don Stewart calls this place the, intermediate state. As Paul wrote in the passage above, verse three, the certainty of being clothed in our eternal tent is that our spirits will not be naked, or goom-nos' (Greek for naked, nude, or bare). So, this tells me that the believer in the interim state, may possibly feel naked while waiting to be clothed with their eternal tent. I think there may be more anticipation among believers of Christ in heaven for the day of the rapture than there is among believers down here on earth. The expectation they have that one day they will be clothed in a glorified body would be more real to them because right now they are without a body, neither an earthly nor eternal.
Every follower of Christ that is on the earth should lament with the burden of being still in their earthly tent (5:4a). It is not that we wish to not have an earthly body, but our longing should be to be clothed with our eternal garment (5:4b). Once the rapture of the church occurs the believer’s earthly body will be transformed into an immortal body which will last forever (5:4c). Paul likely had in mind; “But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54, HNV).
The new creation (5:17) was birthed to one day become heavenly people, it is God’s will (5:5a). As I have written previously; many Christians today resist any teaching about the rapture of the church, especially anything to do with endtimes prophecy. Many pastors and teachers refuse to get knowledge on endtimes prophecy, and their reluctance is so they do not have to teach the church this information. They are rejecting the will of God (Matt. 24:45-53; Lk. 12:41-46); some do not realize it, and some just do not care.
When I talk to some Christians about us being clothed in a glorified body once the rapture occurs, they get frightened; they get agitated. Then they avoid me like the plague. Some do not understand that God the Father sent his Holy Spirit for this reason (5:5b). He has given his Holy Spirit to the church as a troth (ar-hrab-ohn' in Greek). Ar-hrab-ohn' has its origin in the Hebrew word עֵרָבוֹן, its transliteration is ʿērāḇôn, and is pronounced ar-aw-bone'. You will notice that in both Greek and Hebrew ar-hrab-ohn' and ar-aw-bone' sound very similar. The Hebrew term ar-aw-bone' can translate into English as a pledge, or guarantee, a deposit. The Greek term ar-hrab-ohn' can translate into English as a troth, which is a pledge given in faithfulness. Troth can be defined as betrothal: “a mutual promise or contract for a future marriage.”[3] God the Father has given his Holy Spirit to the church as a pledge, or security, in the promise of a future marriage. This future marriage is with his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, right after the rapture of the church takes place (Jn. 14:2-3; 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 3:21).
Picture: Dreamstime.com
[1] Romans 13:14; Ephesians. 4:17-25; Colossians. 1:21-22;
1 Peter. 1:14
[2] Catalyze definition: Merriam-Webster online
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catalyze
(Accessed 11/10/2022)
