2 Corinthians 5:1-10 - Absent From The Body And At Home With The Lord

¹ For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our [immortal, eternal] celestial dwelling, ³ so that by putting it on we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection]. ⁵ Now He who has made us and prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the [Holy] Spirit as a pledge [a guarantee, a down payment on the fulfillment of His promise].

⁶ So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— ⁸ we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth] or away from home [and with Him], it is our [constant] ambition to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].