I have to wonder here. Concepts of.. what? Current corrupt state of .. what? Future state without decay of ... what?
The word "body" is used 5 times in this passage. 1Cor 15
Hi B-A-C,
The thought actually is a continuation from chapter 4.
10
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
14
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for
the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:10-18 KJV)
Paul contrasts that which is temporal with that which is eternal. Notice the context is the resurrection. This is the though going into chapter 5.
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.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 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.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Cor. 5:1-10 KJV)
You pointed out that the word body appears five times in this section. What's interesting though is that where we would expect the word "body" we don't find it. We would expect to find the word body in verses one and two. The earthly house of this tabernacle, many believe this to be the body, yet Paul doesn't used the word body. Also, the house made without hands, many consider this the body. It's interesting though that Paul doesn't use the word body for either of these. I believe that's because he's not talking about the body, but rather, our state of being. If we follow on with his argument we see he says we long earnestly to be clothed with the house from Heaven. We groan or long in our present state for that which is to come, the resurrection or resurrected state. Verse three is very important. He speaks of being clothed so as not to be found naked. This statement actually argues against the typical understanding of the passage. Many use this passage to say that people are alive after death. That was what the Greeks believed. Here Paul is arguing that he doesn't want to be found that way. Being clothed is a metaphor for the body. Paul is saying he doesn't want to be found without a body. He's refuting the Greek idea of a disembodied consciousness. Corinth was right next to Athens which was the center of Greek thought. The Greeks rejected the idea of Resurrection because they held to Plato's doctrine of the immortal soul. The goal for the Greek was to escape the body and ascend through the heavens to the fulness or ultimate god. They saw the body as a prison for the soul. So, for them, the idea of resurrection, being back in the body, was anathema. That's why when Paul started speaking to the Greeks in Athens about the Resurrection they mocked him.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. (Acts 17:32 KJV)
He continues in verse 4 talking about being burdened. He says not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. Again, clothed is a metaphor for the body. The Greek word that is translated clothed upon, literally means to put on over. It would be like putting on a coat over top of one's clothes. So, Paul is saying, unlike the Greeks, he doesn't want to be unclothed (without a body), he want's to be clothed upon. In other words he doesn't want to be without a body, he wants the future state to swallow up his present state. Look at the last part of the verse, "that mortality might be swallowed up of life". Notice those two concepts again, present state, mortality or that of decay vs. life or eternal life without decay.
Then in verse 6, after all that he said about these two states, he mentions the body. But again, Paul speaks in metaphors, what is the body a metaphor for? Throughout Paul's writings he speaks of the
body of Christ. In verse 6 he said,
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at
home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord:
Here Paul speaks of being at home in the body and absent from the Lord. This is a verse commonly used to claim that when people die they immediately go to be with the Lord. However, let's look at the Greek words here and see if the translators aren't nudging us is certain theological direction. I bolded the words home and absent. The Greek word translated home is "enemeo" . Here is the definition of that word.
endemeo {en-day-meh'-o}
Meaning: 1) to be among one's own people, dwell in one's own country, stay at home
The idea is to be among one's own people. The word translated absent, is "ekdemeo" "ek" means to come out of. So, it means to come out of one's own people.
ekdemeo {ek-day-meh'-o}
Meaning: 1) to go abroad 2) emigrate, depart 3) to be or live abroad.
So, the meaning of both words has to do with one's people. Who were Paul's people? The
body of Christ. So, verse 6 can be read, while we are dwelling among our own people in the body (of Christ) we are abroad from or not dwelling with Christ. Both words have to do with one's people thus this suggests that the body here isn't the flesh body but rather the body of Christ, the church. While Paul is here with his people he is not with Christ.
Then in verse 9 where Paul talks about laboring so that whether present of absent we are found acceptable, The word present is the same word that is translated home in verse 6. Then in verse 10 he talks about appearing before the judgment seat to receive the things done in the body. Here body could mean either though I believe he means one receives for what they've done in the church, the body of Christ.
This is a brief overview. There is more nuance in the passage but the post would get really long.
