In Chapter 5, Paul, a tentmaker by trade, starts referring to his body as a tent, a fragile structure, where his soul resides until it can go to its eternal dwelling in the heavens. He says that we groan, longing to shed the suffering in our current situation for a more complete, perfect one that we will put on. God is the one preparing our new dwelling with the Spirit as our guarantee. 

As a parent of two kids, clocking in at fifty, I can appreciate his metaphor. My tent has a faded rainfly, the zipper is busted and I have lost half of my stakes. Where do go for a trade in?

Not so fast, because we aren’t finish with this assignment yet. Paul acknowledges that here on Earth we are living by faith and not sight. Even if we are eager to move on, we have to be faithful with everything that has been assigned to us at this stage. We will all be judged by Christ and receive what is due for what we did in these bodies, whether good or evil. So there will be accountability required.

The fear of the Lord, and his conscience is motivating Paul to reach out to his followers.  He wants them to focus inward rather than outward. They need to examine their own motives. He says if he and his fellow leaders are seeming foolish, it’s passion for God. On the other hand, if they’re seeming sensible, it’s for the believers they serve and love. Paul and his colleagues don’t see themselves as independent, but part of the group. Since Christ has died for us all, so we all die to ourselves to serve each other in order to honor his sacrifice. 

Moving forward, Paul is not regarding anyone in the flesh, meaning he is looking at others deeper, at the soul level. He says that if we are in Christ, we are already a new creation and the old is gone and the new is here. We can experience reconciliation with God through Christ now and can extend that grace to others now. God held Christ accountable, who never sinned, so that we who have sinned may be freed from punishment. We can experience this new life and pass on the good news to others.