1 Corinthians 5

Living by Faith, Not by Sight

5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.

In the last chapter, Paul explained that our physical body is wasting away, but our inner self is growing closer to the image of Christ. The Greek word for "know" is οἶδα (oida), meaning to see a spiritual truth with physical eyes. The Greek word for "tent" is σκῆνος (scanos), meaning the tabernacle in the wilderness in which the Shekinah Glory dwelt. Paul is saying that We can see with our physical eye the spiritual truth that our frail earthly tabernacle that houses the Holy Spirit will soon be taken down and replaced with a new building from God. This new building will not be built by human hands, because it is an eternal house that will be located in the heavens.

5:2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling,

As we get older, our body does not work as well and we begin to groan. We begin to look forward to our new glorified body which we will receive in heaven.

5:3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked.

The pagans viewed matter as evil and spiritual as good. The lost will be transported to the Great White Throne Judgment in their naked bodies. They will stand naked before an angry God. The saved will be transported to the Judgment Seat of Christ. They will not be naked. They will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

We begin to groan as our body ages, because we are weighed down with the burdens of the Satanic world system that is slowly crushing the life out of us. When we do go to meet our Maker, we do not want to be naked. We want to be clothed. Our mortality will be swallowed up and exchanged for a new eternal body and a new eternal life.

5:5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

Christ has purchased us and redeemed us from the slave market of Satan, an evil task master who had blinded us to our past condition. The Holy Spirit was placed in us as a down payment of things to come. We were nothing but ordinary clay jars that were eroding, but God took us and gave us the power to become sons of God and co-reigners with Christ.

5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord –

We are presently wasting away in our human bodies, but the Holy Spirit indwells us and matures us and forms us in the image of Christ. Therefore, we are to have courage in these wasting bodies. As long as we live in these earthly bodies, we are away from the fullness of Christ. We are homesick and desire to be at home with our Lord.

5:7 for we live by faith, not by sight.

We hope for a heaven that we have not seen. Our hope is increased by studying God's Word. By knowing God's Word, we know that God is not like man. God keeps His promises.

5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

At death, the body is put to sleep, but the soul remains alive and awake. Since Heaven is a better place than earth, Paul would rather be in Heaven.

5:9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.

The Greek word for "ambition" is φιλοτιμέομαι (philotimemai), meaning to pursue that which is valuable and honorable. As long as we are alive, our goal in life should be to pursue what is valuable and honorable so that we can please Christ.

5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.

The Greek word for "judgment seat" is βῆμα (bema), meaning the olympic seat in a sports arena where athletes received their rewards. We will not be judged for our sins at the Bema seat, because Christ has already paid the price for our sins. We will be judged for our good works and our useless works. Our good works will earn crowns in Heaven. Some Christians say that they are not interested in earning crowns in Heaven. We receive crowns in Heaven for following God's will. It should be the desire of every Christian to earn as many crowns as possible, because this means that your life was used for the glory of God. Therefore, desire as many crowns as possible!

The Message of Reconciliation

5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

Liberalism teaches us not to fear God. They teach a God who is a nice, loving grandfather who will just wink at your sins and let everyone into His house. They teach the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man, which is heresy. They teach an ecumenical one world church that allows all of the man-made doctrines to be assimilated into one large church where there is no division based upon doctrinal truth. This is the Laodician church that John mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Jesus will vomit this kind of church out of His mouth. This type of religious toleration will be used by the Antichrist to usher in his one world religion and one world government. It is nothing but Satanism 101.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31) This type of teaching has been lost in the modern church. Agape love is telling people that not only is God a God of love, but He also judges sin. Therefore, we need to do what Paul says. We need to try to persuade people that God also judges sin. God knows every little thing about us. We all need to study the Word of God at the deepest level.

5:12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart.

It was the goal of Paul to prepare his congregation so that they would be able to answer the questions of the skeptics. The skeptics took pride in outward appearance, instead of what was really in their hearts. To be prepared to answer those questions of skeptics,  one must be trained in the entire counsel of the Word of God.

5:13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

Jesus taught perfect Bible Doctrine, yet His enemies declared Him insane. Paul had better Bible Doctrine than any man who ever lived, yet his opponents accused him of being an insane fanatic. How many sane people would march into a mob that wanted to kill him? (Acts 19:30; 21:35–40) Who would be crazy enough to walk back into a city in which he had just been stoned and dragged out? (Acts 14:19–20) Only a person who was utterly devoted to God would make these types of divine viewpoint decisions. Paul was too insane, as the world claimed. He was a man who had mastered Bible Doctrine and applied it.

Paul was dogmatically devoted to the truth. The more that one studies and masters and applies Bible Doctrine, the more the world will think that he is an insane fanatic.

5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died.

Why did Paul live this way? Because Christ lived this way. Christ walked on this earth, preaching the gospel, knowing that it would cause His death. Paul walked in the same footsteps as Christ.

5:15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.

Jesus Christ left the Heavenlies, became a man, and walked in the Satanic world system. Satan's system would not have a living Jesus in their world, so they set up a kangaroo court, judged Him not fit to live, and executed Him in the most painful and degrading way that was possible. The entire angelic world witnessed these events. Christ came to earth, so everyone could see the evil of Satan and the love of God.

5:16 So then, from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer.

Before Paul's conversion, he judged Jesus as merely a man, and a heretic at that. Paul had even opposed Christ and His followers. At this time, Paul was operating under human viewpoint. After the Holy Spirit gave Paul spiritual sight, Paul could see with his divine viewpoint that Jesus was not only human, but He was divine as well. Because of this conversion, Paul now looks upon man from a divine viewpoint, instead of a human viewpoint.

5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!

Paul was a new creation. At one time, he was against Christ, Now, he was for Christ. His old nature had passed away. He was no longer an enemy of Christ, but he was a bond-servant of Christ. His new birth gave him a new life and a new purpose. Instead of hunting down and persecuting Christians, he was hunting down and delivering slaves of Satan into freed men of Christ.

5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

The Greek word for "reconciled" is καταλλάσσω (katalasso), meaning to change from an enemy to a friend. Before our conversion, we were enemies of Christ. Then, the Holy Spirit opened our eyes so that we could see that Christ was really our friend. No, Christ has given us the ministry of turning the enemies of Christ into friends of Christ.

5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation.

God did not need to be changed. "He is the same today, yesterday and forever". God is a God of love, but He must judge sin. He told Adam, "the day that you eat, you will die". God does not lie so He must keep that promise.

Man in his fallen state hates God and wants nothing to do with God. He sees the message of the cross as foolishness. If Jesus returned, if man was able, he would set up another false trial, accuse Him, degrade Him, and execute Him. This is the mind of all depraved men who do not know Christ. Therefore, it was man's attitude about Christ that needed to be changed.

Christ died on the cross to show His love for all men. Once Christ died, then God was satisfied that the price of sin had been paid. This atonement satisfied God. If man would accept this atonement, then man would no longer be the enemy of God, but he would be the friend of God. Man would then be commissioned to take this message of reconciliation to others. 

5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”

We are ambassadors in the Satanic world system. This is not our home. We are citizens of the New Jerusalem. Kings keep ambassadors in friendly nations. God is still friendly with the world. When God decides to bring war upon the world, He will call His ambassadors home.

The Greek word for "plea" is δέομαι (deomai), meaning to urgently beg. God is begging urgently to all of humanity. He is using us as ambassadors to make this urgent, begging plea. The urgent, begging plea of Christ through His ambassadors to the falling world is this, "Make peace with God by believing in Jesus.

5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.

This is the Doctrine of Imputation, the great exchange. Christ never sinned, but He imputed our sin upon Him. All men have sinned and are not righteous, but Christ imputed His righteousness to all men. This was the great exchange. Our sin was transferred to Christ, but Christ's righteousness was transferred to men. God's part is to open our eyes so that we can see the exchange. Our responsibility is to believe in the one who promised this transfer.