Does "Absent from the Body" in 2 corinthians 5:8 mean you go immediately to Heaven at death?

Question

Or can it possibly mean that Paul was only expressing his hope for the future as it relates to eternity.

Answer 1

At 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul says: “We are of good courage and are well pleased rather to become absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord.” Some believe that these words refer to an intermediate state of waiting. Such ones refer also to Jesus’ promise to his faithful followers that he was going to prepare a place in which to ‘receive them home to himself.’ But when would such prospects be realized? Christ said that it would be when he ‘came again’ in his future presence. (John 14:1-3) Similarly, at 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Paul said that the hope common to anointed Christians was to inherit a heavenly dwelling. This would come about, not through some presumed immortality of the soul, but through a resurrection during Christ’s presence. Exegete Charles Masson concludes that 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 “can be well understood then without having to resort to the hypothesis of an ‘intermediate state.’”

At Philippians 1:21, 23, Paul says: “In my case to live is Christ, and to die, gain. I am under pressure from these two things; but what I do desire is the releasing and the being with Christ, for this, to be sure, is far better.” Does Paul here refer to an “intermediate state”? Some think so. However, Paul says that he was put under pressure by two possibilities, life or death. “But what I do desire,” he added, mentioning a third possibility, “is the releasing and the being with Christ.” A “releasing” to be with Christ immediately after death? Well, as already seen, Paul believed that faithful anointed Christians would be resurrected during the presence of Christ. Therefore, he must have had in mind the events of that period.

This can be seen from his words found at Philippians 3:20, 21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Such a “releasing” during the presence of Christ Jesus would enable Paul to receive the reward that God had prepared for him. That this was his hope is seen in his words to the young man Timothy: “From this time on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation.”

Answer 2

This is an excellent theological question because it opens another question. What does this mean?: "The dead in Christ shall rise" at the judgement.

I wrote a paper on this for my degree in Christian Theology and could not come to a firm conclusion because of these seemingly conflicting scriptures. However, I proposed a theory that might reconcile them.

We relate to God via time and space, that is, our human material thinking. We must have a time frame for things like this to understand what "absent" and "present" mean.

Note that Paul did NOT say - "absent from the body is to be IMMEDIATELY in the presence of the Lord". I have found that it is just as important to see what the Bible does NOT say as what it does say.

So, when one dies, what happens? We know the body goes into the ground or cremated after the soul leaves. Our question is - Where does the soul/spirit go and when does it go there?

I believe our souls are suspended in time because, for God, there is no time. "A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day" is a Hebrew idiom that literally means God does not measure time as we do and we cannot fathom Him based on human time.

At the judgement then, I believe we awaken and are "absent from the body" and "present with the Lord" for His judgement in an instant. However, as far as our conscious awareness, we believe we died 1-second ago although 500 years may have passed.

This may seem a bizarre explanation but it got me an A+.

Jim DeSantis
http://answersplus.info/a/4Christians

Answer 3

The question of what happens after death can be confusing. The Bible is not explicitly clear on when a person will reach their final eternal destiny. The Bible tells us that after the moment of death, a person is taken to Heaven or Hell based on whether he or she had received Christ as his or her Savior. For believers, after death is to be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). For unbelievers, after death means everlasting punishment in Hell (Luke 16:22-23).



This is where it can get confusing as to what happens after death. Revelation 20:11-15 describes all those in Hell being cast into the lake of fire. Revelation chapters 21-22 describe a New Heaven and New Earth. Therefore, it seems that until the final resurrection, after death a person resides in a “temporary” Heaven and Hell. A person's eternal destiny will not change, but the precise "location" of a person's eternal destiny will change. At some point after death, believers will be sent to the New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation 21:1). At some point after death, unbelievers will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people - based entirely on whether a person had trusted Jesus Christ alone for the salvation of their sins.

Recommended Resource: What the Bible Says about Heaven & Eternity by Ice & Demy.

Answer 4

Yes, it means that you go to heaven immediately. In fact there's a better scripture that shows this: It says "a man dies once and then the judgment."

The word "THEN" is a very specific word meaning RIGHT THEN, or IMMEDIATELY, without any lapse. (Hebrews 9:27) Besides, we know that this is true because when Jesus died He spent three days and nights in Sheol preaching to the captives and then when he rose again the saints went with Him. Remember when He died there was such a great earthquake that it unearthed tombs all over Jerusalem? Truly, the dead in Christ rose first at that time as a foreshadowing of what will be coming again! And remember that it says that He will be coming in the clouds with ten thousands of His saints, Jude 1:14 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying, Behold the lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints!" This is why the bible says, "O, death, where is your victory, O, grave, where is your sting?" It's because graves are now just housing places for the body of flesh. But Christ tore the temple veil in two! And now man can go into the holy of holies again, which is a type of heaven! At the moment He died, He won it for us! And heaven is ours RIGHT NOW because He triumphed openly over the grave!

Answer 5

Absent from the Body does not mean you go immediately to Heaven. You HAVE died though. You go to Judgement, first.
You stand before the Lord, and He Judges whether you are to enter Heaven, or Hell..

Answer 6

"Absent from the body" etc. in 2 Corinthians 5:8 means as soon as you have died your soul will be judged bye God and if you are not born again in His one and only Son then your soul will life in torment and torture for eternity. This place is Hell and in it there will be total separation from God. None of us have experienced this before but read Revaluations and find for yourself what awaits you. Being that the moment you have died you face your eternity there is NO 'ghost' or things of that nature. Though there are angles that have been banished form Gods wonderful heaven because of their choose to follow Lucifer (Satan). What is your eternity going to be if you died this moment, minute, hour, year or sentry? Will it be more pain then imaginable, or something so wonderful no pain will ever exist for you ever again?
I pray for all that read this, that God might work in your hearts and for you to chose not to be separated for eternity but be walking along the streets of Gold as your name is read form the book of bought born again Christians (The Book of Lambs).

Answer 7

Those of the "little flock" will go immediately to Heaven at death but the "other sheep" will sleep in death until the second resurrection.

Answer 8

"Absent from the body" refers to those Christians who die before Jesus returns. It means that while a Christian's physical body may be buried, their spirit/soul (what made them uniquely what they were/are) goes immediately to be with Jesus in Heaven.

It is not Paul's hope or ours for the future; it is fact. It is Jesus' promise. Read Jesus' own words recorded in John 14:1-3.

Answer 9

Yes. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Answer 10

To Be Absent From The Body, Is To Be PRESENT WITH THE LORD> Yes, It means the moment LIFE leaves your body, You are with Jesus. (And I Can't Wait) Anxious To See Mamma, My Husband, and Son! (smile) ( What a day that will be)!!