2 Corinthians 5:6

6 Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 5:6

Therefore we are always confident
Because God has formed us for immortality and glory, and given us his Spirit as the earnest of it, we take heart, are of good courage, do not sink under our burdens, or despair of happiness, but are fully assured of enjoying what we are desirous of:

knowing that whilst we are at home in the body;
or whilst we are inmates or sojourners in the body; for the body is not properly the saints' home; whilst they are in it, they are but pilgrims and strangers; the time of their abode in it is the time of their sojourning: during which time they

are absent from the Lord;
not with respect to his general presence, which is everywhere, and attends all creatures, an absence from which is impossible; nor with respect to his spiritual presence, which though not always sensibly enjoyed, yet frequently; nor are the children of God ever deprived of it totally and finally; but with respect to his glorious presence, and the full enjoyment of that. Now the knowledge and consideration of this, that the present state and situation of the saints, whilst in the body, is a state of pilgrimage, and so of absence from the Lord Christ, and from their Father's house, serves to increase their confidence and assurance, that they shall not long continue so, but in a little time shall be at home, and for ever with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6 In-Context

4 For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

5 And it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.

6 Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

8 We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.