5We know that the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God. It is a house in heaven that lasts forever. Human hands did not build it.

²During our time on earth we groan. We long to put on our house in heaven as if it were clothing. ³Then we will not be naked.

⁴While we live in this tent of ours, we groan under our heavy load. We don’t want to be naked. We want to be dressed with our house in heaven. What must die will be swallowed up by life.

⁵God has made us for that very purpose. He has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment. The Spirit makes us sure of what is still to come.

⁶So here is what we can always be certain about. As long as we are at home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by believing, not by seeing. ⁸We are certain about that. We would rather be away from our bodies and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we try our best to please him. We want to please him whether we are at home in our bodies or away from them.

¹⁰We must all stand in front of Christ to be judged. Each one of us will be judged for the good things and the bad things we do while we are in our bodies. Then each of us will receive what we are supposed to get.

Christ Brings Us Back to God

¹¹We know what it means to have respect for the Lord. So we try to help other people to understand it.

What we are is plain to God. I hope it is also plain to your way of thinking. ¹²We are not trying to make an appeal to you again. But we are giving you a chance to take pride in us. Then you can answer those who take pride in how people look rather than in what is really in their hearts.

¹³Are we out of our minds? That is because we want to serve God. Does what we say make sense? That is because we want to serve you.

¹⁴Christ’s love controls us. We are sure that one person died for everyone. And so everyone died.

¹⁵Christ died for everyone. He died so that those who live should not live for themselves anymore. They should live for Christ. He died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶So from now on we don’t look at anyone the way the world does. At one time we looked at Christ in that way. But we don’t anymore.

¹⁷Anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone! The new has come! ¹⁸It is all from God. He brought us back to himself through Christ’s death on the cross. And he has given us the task of bringing others back to him through Christ.

¹⁹God was bringing the world back to himself through Christ. He did not hold people’s sins against them. God has trusted us with the message that people may be brought back to him. ²⁰So we are Christ’s official messengers. It is as if God were making his appeal through us. Here is what Christ wants us to beg you to do. Come back to God!

²¹Christ didn’t have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.

6We work together with God. So we are asking you not to receive God’s grace and then do nothing with it. ²He says,

“When I showed you my favor, I heard you.

On the day I saved you, I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time God shows his favor. Now is the day he saves.

Paul’s Sufferings

³We don’t put anything in anyone’s way. So no one can find fault with our work for God. ⁴Instead, we make it clear that we serve God in every way. We serve him by holding steady. We stand firm in all kinds of trouble, hard times and suffering.

⁵We don’t give up when we are beaten or put in prison. When people stir up trouble in the streets, we continue to serve God. We work hard for him. We go without sleep and food. ⁶We remain pure. We understand completely what it means to serve God. We are patient and kind. We serve him in the power of the Holy Spirit. We serve him with true love. ⁷We speak the truth. We serve in the power of God. We hold the weapons of godliness in the right hand and in the left. ⁸We serve God in times of glory and shame. We serve him whether the news about us is bad or good. We are true to our calling.

But people treat us as if we were pretenders. ⁹We are known, but people treat us as if we were unknown. We are dying, but we continue to live. We are beaten, but we are not killed. ¹⁰We are sad, but we are always full of joy. We are poor, but we make many people rich. We have nothing, but we own everything.

¹¹Believers at Corinth, we have spoken freely to you. We have opened our hearts wide to you. ¹²We are not holding back our love from you. But you are holding back your love from us. ¹³I speak to you as if you were my children. It is only fair that you open your hearts wide to us also.

Do Not Be Joined to Unbelievers

¹⁴Do not be joined to unbelievers. What do right and wrong have in common? Can light and darkness be friends? ¹⁵How can Christ and Satan agree? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶How can the temple of the true God and the statues of other gods agree?

We are the temple of the living God. God has said, “I will live with them. I will walk among them. I will be their God. And they will be my people.”

¹⁷“So come out from among them

and be separate,

says the Lord.

Do not touch anything that is not pure and clean.

Then I will receive you.”

¹⁸“I will be your Father.

You will be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord who rules over all.”

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