2 Corinthians 4:16–5:10
The New Testament speaks very plainly of an “inner” and an “outer” person. The outer person is our body; the inner person is our spirit. The outer person is visible, the inner person invisible. But the fact that it is invisible does not mean it does not exist. On the contrary, according to the apostle Paul, the visible things are temporary and subject to change. The invisible things are eternal. Our inner person is eternal as well (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)
As people who hold this understanding, we must care not only for the “outer” person but also for the “inner” person. The story of Martha and Mary reminds us of this. Martha was anxious about how she would welcome her honored guest. She hurried and fretted. But her concern was for the outer person. Mary set everything else aside, sat at Jesus’ feet, and listened to His word. Contrary to what people would expect, Jesus rebuked Martha and commended Mary. Why? Not because care for food and cleanliness is unimportant. But it must not take priority over care for the inner person. At one point Martha became angry with her sister for not helping her. She even complained to the Savior (Luke 10:40).
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40)
What did Jesus say (Luke 10:41–42)?
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41–42)
The good portion that will not be taken away is the word of God, which is food for the inner person. In this instance Jesus encouraged us to care for our inner person. Not to be lazy and cover our laziness with a hypocritical spirituality, but truly to have the right priorities.
In his prayer in the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul also prays for the growth and strengthening of their inner person (Ephesians 3:14–16).
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (Ephesians 3:14–16)
What are the needs of our inner person? What does it require in order to be strengthened? The very same things the outer person needs — food, water, fellowship, and movement — only that all of it should come through the Spirit of God, that it should be spiritual.
Spiritual Food
In 1 Peter 2:1–2 the apostle Peter speaks of “pure spiritual milk.”
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (1 Peter 2:1–2)
What is this “spiritual milk”? The word of God. Where can we find it? In the Bible, in the Church, in anointed spiritual books and recordings. After we feed our outer person several times a day, do we feed our inner person in the same way? Or do we leave it to die of spiritual hunger?
Spiritual Drink
In Ephesians 5:18 the apostle Paul likens the Holy Spirit to “spiritual wine.” Why? When a person gets drunk on wine, he falls under the influence of the alcohol. In the same way, when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he falls under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He becomes bold, courageous, and stops being ashamed of the Lord and of the gospel. Just as a person who gets drunk begins to sing drunken songs, so a person filled with the Holy Spirit begins to sing psalms and praises to the Lord. That is why the apostle Paul counsels:
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, (Ephesians 5:18–19)
Fellowship with Spiritual People
In order to grow and develop, our inner person needs fellowship. That is why in the letter to the Hebrews 10:23–25 we read:
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23–25)
Our inner person cannot live alone. It is a fascinating study of God’s word to see what we are to do for one another. The verses above say: “spur one another on”; “encourage one another.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 it says “encourage one another.” In Galatians 5:13, “serve one another.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “seek the good of one another.” In 1 Thessalonians 4:9, “love one another.” In Ephesians 5:21, “submit to one another.” In Ephesians 4:32, “forgive one another.” We cannot do without one another, “for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25). Sadly, some do not understand this; they cut themselves off from the church and condemn their inner person to isolation.
Exercise in Good Deeds
Besides spiritual food, spiritual drink, and spiritual fellowship, our inner person also needs movement — exercise in good deeds. Here is what the apostle Paul says on this matter in the letter to Titus 3:8:
8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (Titus 3:8)
New Outer Persons
What we learn further on in 2 Corinthians 5 is that God has prepared for us new, heavenly, glorious, outer persons (2 Corinthians 5:1–4).
1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:1–4)
When it speaks here of a “house,” a “tent,” a “building,” and a “dwelling,” it does not mean some sanctuaries, houses, or structures, but our body. It is the home of our inner person. Our inner person cannot be replaced. It is invisible and eternal. It is renewed every day by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Our outer person, however, can be replaced. Our present, fleshly outer person wastes away every day, grows old, decays, and dies. All of this is the consequence of sin. But God, in His mercy, has prepared for us eternal, heavenly, immortal bodies. We do not know exactly what our heavenly bodies will be like, but we know that they will be of the same nature as the risen body of Jesus (1 John 3:2). In Philippians 3:20–21 it says:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20–21)
The Pledge of the New Bodies
All of this is wonderful, but how are we to know that it will really happen? Of course God is faithful to His promises, but in His mercy He has also given us an additional pledge — the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:5).
5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
The same is said in the letter to the Romans 8:9–11:
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:9–11)
Something Much Better
It is natural for a person to fear death. This fear is normal and healthy. But it must not become excessive and enslave us. Further on in 2 Corinthians 5 the apostle Paul speaks of the superiority of leaving our perishable bodies.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6–8)
As disciples of Christ we are not in the dark about what will happen to us after our death. According to the biblical understanding of death, it is not an end but a separation. When we die we do not cease to live; we are simply removed from our body and enter into God’s presence. For Christians death is not an end but a door to something better, a door to home, a corridor to a meeting with the Lord, a passage into a state that is preferable to life in our perishable body. In Philippians 1:21–24 the apostle Paul calls death “gain.” This does not mean we should strive toward it, but that we should not fear it:
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:21–24)
In these verses the apostle Paul speaks as though he had the possibility of living in two states. One of them is more pleasant, the other more useful. As a true altruist he chooses the more useful. But he knows that it will be only temporary, and once he has finished his work on this earth he will go to be with Christ.
The apostle Peter says the same in 2 Peter 1:13–15. Here he too, like the apostle Paul, speaks of life as a temporary stay in the tent of the body, and of death as leaving the tent of the body. The very word “tent” speaks of something temporary, not permanent:
13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (2 Peter 1:13–15)
You May Keep Your Fork
On the internet I read about a woman who fell ill with a fatal disease and had only a few months to live. Her doctor told her to begin to prepare for death, so she got in touch with her pastor and invited him to her home to discuss some details concerning her last wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, which Scriptures she would like read, and how she wished to be dressed. The woman also told the pastor that when she was buried she wanted her beloved Bible placed in the casket with her.
Everything was arranged, and the pastor had just risen to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something important to her. “There is one more thing,” she began excitedly. “And it is very important. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood and looked at the woman, puzzled, not knowing quite what to say. “This shocks you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked. “Well, if I am to be honest, I must admit that I am a little puzzled by this request,” the pastor replied. The woman explained: “Through all the years I attended the soup kitchens organized by the church, the most pleasant moment of the meal for me was always when the main course was cleared away and the person on the serving staff who did it would lean down to me a little and say, ‘You may keep your fork.’ That phrase was my favorite, because it hinted to me that there would be dessert, and that it would be something very tasty, the sweetest part of the whole meal. Since it was to be eaten with a fork and not a spoon, it meant it would not be some jelly or pudding — it would be cake, sponge, or pie — something solid. So I simply want people to see me there in the casket with a fork in my hand and to wonder, ‘What is the fork for?’ Then I want you, as the pastor, to tell them: ‘Something better is coming, so you keep your fork too!’”
At these words the pastor’s eyes filled with tears of joy, and for the last time he embraced this woman. He knew that this was perhaps the last time he would see her before her death. But he also knew that this woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did himself. She knew that what was coming was SOMETHING BETTER.
At the funeral people passed by the woman’s casket, saw the Bible in it and the fork placed in her right hand. Again and again the pastor heard the same question: “What is that fork for?” During his sermon the pastor told the people about the conversation he had had with the woman shortly before she died. He explained to them what the fork symbolized for the woman. He shared that since his last meeting with her he could not stop thinking about the fork, and he told them that perhaps they too would not be able to stop thinking about it. He was right.
The next time you are told to keep your fork for dessert, let it remind you too that after death something better is coming for us!
Knowing that when we leave this earth we will find ourselves in the presence of the Lord, we sometimes pray: “Lord, take me!” But this is not God’s will! Listen to how Jesus prays in John 17:15:
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15)
God has appointed a day for each of us. A day on which we will have to appear before His face and give account for our deeds. But until then, He has work for us on this earth. There are prayers we must speak, testimonies we must give, good deeds by which to bless the people around us.
Are We Ready?
Besides this, we must always ask ourselves the question: “Are we ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ?” See how the apostle Paul concludes this passage:
9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 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)
In the letter to the Hebrews 9:27 it says: “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” What will our verdict be? Eternal condemnation together with Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), or will we say together with the apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:7–8):
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7–8)
May God help us also to finish our earthly course successfully, and may we keep our faith to the end. For this, however, we must not forget our inner person. We must think of it and care for it. For it is not our outer person, but our inner person that will pass into eternity. Amen.