Walking by Faith

Paul expresses confidence in the validity of his future hope because God Himself gave the Holy Spirit as a down payment, assuring the fulfillment of His promises (2 Cor 5:5). Paul concludes the section with a further affirmation that walking by faith in the present life will give way to walking by sight in the next. When believers are “absent from the body,” they are “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:6–9). He then states his own resolve and challenges the Corinthians to please the Lord, whether “at home or away” (2 Cor 5:9). The incentive for pleasing the Lord is the inevitability of appearing before the judgment seat of God to receive what is due based on what was done in the body (2 Cor 5:10).

Brown, D. R., Twist, E. T., & Widder, W. (2013). 2 Corinthians (D. Mangum & J. D. Barry, Eds.; 2 Co 4:16–5:10). Lexham Press.

2 Corinthians 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

How often are we caught up in what we see instead of what God has told and promised us

John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

John Thomas and Jesus (20:24–29)

Jesus does not disparage the faith of Thomas (“So now you believe because you see me?”) but simply cites a fact (“Because you have seen me, you have believed”). Thomas’s faith is anchored to sight. Then Jesus goes on to utter a blessing not on those who see and believe—which is certainly a virtue paraded throughout the chapters of the Gospel. Rather, he offers a blessing on those who believe but have not seen. Here Jesus points forward beyond Thomas, beyond the apostolic circle, to the world of the church, to believers who come to faith through the testimony of the apostles. Juxtaposed in these verses are faith based on sight and faith based on the word of those who testify. Thomas’s faith is not necessarily blemished because of his need for sight; it is simply privileged, for few would ever have the gift of what these disciples have experienced.

Luke 1:45 “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

This was a time when the mother of Jesus and John met and Mary was was looking for a place to stay and not be Talked about

How to apply this to our lives:

Pray

Study your bible

Follow the leading of the holy ghost

remember what has been said to you in prayer and the word

obey all that you have heard

don’t worry about what it looks like