Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if ^(A)our earthly ^[a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house ^(B)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this ^(C)we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our ^[b]habitation which is from heaven, ³ if indeed, ^(D)having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴ For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, ^(E)but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also ^(F)has given us the Spirit as ^[c]a guarantee.

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For ^(G)we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, ^(H)well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

⁹ Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ^10 (I)For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(J)that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. ¹¹ Knowing, therefore, ^(K)the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

¹⁴ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He ^(A)Himself likewise shared in the same, ^(B)that through death He might destroy him who had the power of ^(C)death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who ^(D)through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection^(A)

³¹ And ^(B)He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be ^(C)rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be ^(D)killed, and after three days rise again.

¹⁷ “Therefore My Father ^(A)loves Me, ^(B)because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I ^(C)have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. ^(D)This command I have received from My Father.”

²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall ^(A)be made alive. ²³ But ^(B)each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

³⁰ And ^(A)why do we stand in ^[a]jeopardy every hour? ³¹ I affirm, by ^(B)the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(C)I die daily. ³² If, in the manner of men, ^(D)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ^(E)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

To Live Is Christ

¹⁹ For I know that ^(A)this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but ^(B)with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life ^(C)or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I ^[a]cannot tell. ^23 [b]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a ^(D)desire to depart and be with Christ, which is ^(E)far better. ²⁴ Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.