Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
- KJV Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
- NKJV So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
- NASB Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
- NLT So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers can be confident because, though present life keeps us away from the Lord's immediate presence, the future is secure. Courage rests on the certainty of being with Christ.
Overview
Paul affirms continual confidence, recognizing that life in the mortal body means a measure of distance from the Lord's full presence. This is not despair but realism paired with hope. It prepares for his statement that he would prefer to depart and be with the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Cor 5:1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
- Phil 3:20–21But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
- Ps 39:12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Heb 13:14For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
- 1 Chr 29:15For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- 2 Cor 5:8We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
- Heb 10:35So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- Ps 27:3–4Though an army encamps around me, my heart will not fear; though a war breaks out against me, I will keep my trust.
- Prov 14:26He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
- Ps 119:19I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.
- Isa 30:15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
- Rev 1:9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
- Isa 36:4The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
- 1 Pet 5:1As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 5:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.