Paul makes it very clear again in today's passage that when our bodies die our spirits go to be with the Lord. Though in his letters he often substitutes the word "sleep" in place of "death", it is only the body that sleeps. The spirit is with the One who created it.
"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:6-7) Of course the spiritual presence of the Lord is with His saints on the earth, but we are not physically in the presence of our Savior while we live in the flesh. As Paul said yesterday, while we live in the flesh we are at home in our temporary abode: the Greek "skenoo" which means a hut or tent, a dwelling that can easily be carried away. This is why we are presently living by faith and not by sight. We aren't in the physical presence of our Lord. We aren't able to look Him in the eyes. What we have to do while we live in this world is live by His promises. They are trustworthy and true, and someday when we see Him face to face we will have all the proof we need that our faith was not in vain.
"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) It is clear that Paul taught no other doctrine for believers other than that their souls go straight into the presence of the Lord at death. I want to be very careful and very sensitive about what I'm about to say. I know those of us who study here together belong to a number of different Christian denominations. Some of you are of other faiths and some of you are still questioning whether or not you believe there is a God. So I'm speaking with the utmost love and respect when I point out that neither the apostles nor the Lord Jesus ever made mention of a transitory state such as purgatory. On the contrary, they all taught that the sacrifice of Christ was enough once and for all to purge the sins of those who put their trust in Him. If our souls must stop by a waystation on the journey to heaven in order to pay the penalty for sins committed in the body, then what Christ did for us on the cross wasn't enough. And if what Christ did for us on the cross wasn't enough to pay for every sin we ever have committed or ever will commit, then the teachings in the New Testament which claim otherwise are false. The truth is that we can't add anything to what the sinless Son of God did on our behalf; therefore when we who have trusted in Him leave these mortal bodies behind, we are immediately ushered into the presence of the One who died for us.
As Paul says, we are walking in the faith that someday we will go to be with the Lord. It matters how we live our lives, for we will someday have to look our Lord in the eye and give an account for the way we lived. "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
Paul uses the Greek word "bema", which is translated into "judgment seat" in English. In the ancient world the bema was a raised step upon which a person would stand when appearing before a king or judge. Many scholars believe the judgment Paul speaks of in today's passage regards only the judgment of believers for rewards, since he uses a different word than the Apostle John uses in Revelation 20:11 when John speaks of the judgment of unbelievers and the enemies of Christ. John sees a great white throne (the Greek "thronos") from which Christ passes a terrible and eternal judgment upon those who have despised Him. It is believed by many scholars that the judgment Paul speaks of in our chapter today is a judgment of rewards, and that this likely corresponds to 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. Paul may be saying something like, "When your spirit goes into the presence of the Lord you trusted in for salvation, you will give an accounting for how you lived your life following your conversion. Did you merely trust in Christ and then do no more? Or did you strive each day to honor Him? Did you work diligently to get the gospel out to the world? Did you minister to your brothers and sisters in Christ? How did you use the fresh start the Lord gave you? You will appear before Him and be rewarded (or not) based on what you did for Him, for His saints, and for His kingdom."
We can't earn salvation by works, but we can earn rewards by works that are performed from a sincere heart. If we truly love Christ we will truly love our fellow man. There is no greater way to honor Christ than to love and minister to those around us. He came to earth "not to be served but to serve others". (Mark 10:45, Matthew 20:28) It's impossible to love Christ the way we ought to love Him and not care about the souls of other human beings. If we don't care that others are perishing without Christ, we need to reevaluate our relationship with Him. Someday we will pass from this life into the next, and we will stand before His bema seat, and He will ask us what we have done with the opportunities we were given to make a difference in the lives of others.
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