Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

2 Corinthians 5:5
ESV He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
NIV 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.
NASB Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
CSB Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
NLT God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
KJV Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
NKJV Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

What does 2 Corinthians 5:5 mean?

Paul has expressed his own desire to leave behind the tent of his dying, sin-saturated body and to occupy an eternal body that will exist forever. He is confident that this will bring an end to the burden of life on this side of eternity and the "groaning," the longing to be with God, that comes with it. In truth, this is the desire rooted in every believer in Jesus Christ. Why? Because that eternal life is what we are destined for.

Paul says here that God has been preparing Christians for this transformation all along. It is the joyful fate of every believer. It is among the reasons many come to faith in Christ in the first place: to experience the painless, deathless, fearless glory of eternity as He meant for us to experience it since the very beginning.

How do we know it's really coming? Paul writes that God's Holy Spirit within us is His promise that we will reach that day. He has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Every person who trusts in Jesus for salvation receives an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit seals us for that day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). This is the second time that 2 Corinthians has described the Spirit's place in a Christian's life in this way (2 Corinthians 1:22). It is one of the reasons Christians can be confident that our eternal destiny with God is secure, no matter the circumstances of our lives on this side of heaven.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit