Objection:
That the righteous dead go to heaven immediately at death, and that humans, therefore, possess an immortal spirit, is evident from Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 5:8. (See also 2 Peter 1:14).
Answer:
The passage in its context reads as follows: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-9).
Paul here deals with three possible states:
- “Our earthly house.” “At home in the body.” “Absent from the Lord.” This house can be “dissolved.” “In this we groan.”
- “Unclothed.” “Naked.
- “A building of God.” “House not made with hands, eternal in the heavens… Our house which is from heaven.” “Clothed upon.” “Present with the Lord.” “Absent from the body.”
If the “earthly house” means our present, mortal body, as all agree, then unless there is clear proof to the contrary, it would logically follow that our heavenly house is the immortal body. And thus, by process of elimination, the “unclothed,” “naked,” state can mean none other than that state of dissolution known as death.
We are assured of the desired third state because we have “the earnest [pledge] of the Spirit.” Verse 5. But how will God’s Spirit finally ensure our reaching this desired state? Paul answers, “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11).
The learned Dr. H. C. G. Moule well says:
That same Spirit, who, by uniting us to Christ, made actual our redemption, shall surely, in ways to us unknown, carry the process to its glorious crown, and be somehow the Efficient Cause of ‘the redemption of our body.
The Expositor’s Bible, comment on Romans 8:11
Now, if the fulfilling to us of that pledge of the Spirit is the change that takes place in our “mortal bodies” at the resurrection, then we must conclude that the transformation to the third state–that of being “clothed upon” with the heavenly house, comes at the resurrection, and is the change in our bodies from mortal to immortal.
Paul declares, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:22-23). That he is here dealing with the same problem as in 2 Corinthians 5 is evident:
| Romans 8:22, 23 | 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 |
| “Groan within ourselves.” | “We groan.” |
| “First fruits of the Spirit.” | “Earnest of the Spirit.” |
| “Waiting for.” | “Earnestly desiring.” |
| “Redemption of our body.” | “Clothed upon” with our heavenly house. |
Thus, we conclude again that the change from the “earthly house” to the “house which is from heaven” is an event that involves the “redemption of our body,” which “redemption,” all agree, occurs at resurrection day. (See also Philippians 3:20, 21).
The apostle states that he longs to be “clothed upon” with the heavenly house, “that mortality might be swallowed up of life,” or, as the American Revised Version states it, “that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.” 2 Corinthians 5:4. In other words, “what is mortal” loses its mortality by this change.
According to the immortal-soul doctrine, “what is mortal” is the body only, which at death dissolves in the grave; but the soul continues in its immortal state, freed from the mortal body. But Paul longs to be “clothed” with the heavenly house, “that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.” Thus by their own tenets, the immortal-soul advocates must agree that Paul, in this passage, is not dealing with an experience that takes place at death. We might therefore close the discussion at this point.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul declared, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” When? “At the last trump.” And what will take place? “The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” And what will result from this? “When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). This last phrase parallels the language in 2 Corinthians 5: “What is mortal [or subject to death] may be swallowed up of life.” The swallowing up of death, or mortality, is still a future event.
That Paul expected to be “clothed upon” with the heavenly house at the resurrection day is the unavoidable conclusion from all his statements. Being “present with the Lord” is contingent upon being “clothed” with the heavenly house. Therefore the being “present with the Lord” awaits the resurrection day. That beautifully agrees with the apostle’s statement to the Thessalonians that at the resurrection, we are caught up “to meet the Lord,” and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
We suppose it seems strange to some that Paul should speak of putting off one “house” and putting on another when he simply meant the change in his body from mortal to immortal. We would remind them that he uses a similar figure of speech when describing the transformation in the heart at conversion. He declares that we should “put off… the old man,” and “put on the new man.” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
The fact that Paul coupled being freed from the earthly house and then clothed with the heavenly does not prove that he expected an immediate transfer from one to the other. He refers to an “unclothed,” a “naked,” state. We will cover immediate transfer in a discussion on Philippians 1:21-23 under another objection.
With propriety, might Paul “groan” for the day when he could put off this mortal body, with all the evils suggested by it, and could put on, be “clothed upon” with the promised immortal body. In which body he would be ready “to meet” and to “ever be with the Lord.”
In light of the preceding points, we need not spend much time on 2 Peter 1:14, which the objector also mentions. The passage in its context reads as follows: “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” (2 Peter 1:13-15).
The reasoning of the immortal-soul advocate here runs about as follows: Peter said that he dwelt in a tabernacle and that “I must put off this my tabernacle.” Therefore, this proves that Peter had an immortal soul, indicated by the “I” and “my,” and that he, looking at his body, his tabernacle, thought of it as something apart from himself.
We all agree that Peter refers to his death when he speaks of putting “off this tabernacle.” Christ told him about his death: “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he [Peter] should glorify God.” (John 21:18, 19).
Notice that Christ does not distinguish between Peter and his “tabernacle,” as though they were two and separate. And John, in recording this forecast of Peter’s martyrdom, speaks of the “death he should die.” Not Peter’s “tabernacle” dying, but “he” dying. That agrees with Peter’s own words: “After my decease.” We agree with the objector that the “I” and the “my” of verse 14 refer to Peter. But is it not equally evident that the “my” of verse 15 also refers to Peter? Yes. But in this verse, Peter says, “My decease.” When Peter is allowed to speak for himself, the apparent case for the immortal-soul doctrine disappears as immortal entities do not suffer decease.
