2 Corinthians 5

¹For we know that if the house of our earthly tent is torn down, we have a permanent building from God—a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. ²Indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our dwelling from heaven, ³since, having put it on, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens; it is not that we want to be stripped of our clothing, but rather to be clothed over, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵The one who has prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

⁶Therefore, we are always confident. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord— ⁷for we walk by trust, not by what we see. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the home of the body and to be at home with the Lord. ⁹For this reason, we make it our ambition to be pleasing to him, whether we are at home or away. ¹⁰For all of us must appear before the tribunal of the Christ, so that each may receive what is due for the things done through the body, whether good or worthless.

¹¹Therefore, because we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. ¹²We are not recommending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you may have an answer for those who take pride in outward appearances and not in what is in the heart. ¹³For if we were "out of our minds," it was for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ compels us, because we have concluded this: one died for all, therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶So then, from now on, we recognize no one according to the standards of the flesh. Even if we once recognized Christ according to the flesh, we no longer recognize him that way. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ—new creation! The old things have passed away; look, new things have come into being. ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and he has placed within us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore acting as ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were making his appeal through us. We plead on behalf of Christ: "Be reconciled to God!" ²¹He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the justice of God.