2 Corinthians 5:7

By faith we hope in God, for his form is not visible to us. But we believe that we shall dwell with him and that we shall see him as far as it is possible for a human being to see him. For Moses saw …

That we are absent from the Lord is proved, when he says, for we walk by faith, i.e., we pass through this life in faith, and not by sight: because faith deals with things not seen. For the word of faith is as a lamp …

Then, lest someone say: so then what? does the body alienate us from God? — he deflected this objection by saying: "for we walk by faith, not by sight," that is, although even here we know Him, yet only in part, for this is what …

For we cannot clearly see him in this life, wherein we walk by faith only: an evidence, indeed, that necessarily implies a kind of "seeing him who is invisible;" yet as far beneath what we shall have in eternity, as it is above that of bare, unassisted reason.

We have not the vision and fruition of God, as of an object that is present with us, and as we hope for hereafter, when we shall see as we are seen. Note, Faith is for this world, and sight is reserved for the other world: and it is our duty, and will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we come to live by sight.

For we walk by faith, and not by sight.

For we walk - To walk, in the Scriptures often denotes to live, to act, to conduct in a certain way; see the notes on Rom 4:12; Rom 6:4. It has reference to the fact that life is a journey, or a pilgrimage, and that the Christian is traveling to another country. The sense here is, that we conduct ourselves in our course of life with reference to the things which are unseen, and not with reference to the things which are seen. By faith - In the belief of those things which we do not see.

I THINK the Apostle is explaining here how it was he could say that while he was at home in the body, he was absent from the Lord—and through what means he felt that this was not the state in which he wished to be forever. Having been possessed, and actuated, and moved by the principle of faith, he was not content to tabernacle in a body which could only be dwelt in satisfactorily through the influence of the faculty of sight. The Apostle, however, mentions here a great general principle—"We walk by faith, not by sight."

IT is quite clear that the Apostle did not consider his body to be himself. He speaks of it as being the frail tent or tabernacle in which he dwelt and, again, as the garment with which, for a while, he was clothed. That tent or tabernacle he expected to see dissolved. And that garment he expected to put off. He distinguished between the outward man which would perish and the inward man, which was his true self, which he speaks of as, "renewed day by day."

we walk--in our Christian course here on earth. not by sight--Greek, "not by appearance." Our life is governed by faith in our immortal hope; not by the outward specious appearance of present things [TITTMANN, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament].

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I THINK the Apostle is explaining here how it was he could say that while he was at home in the body, he was absent from the Lord—and through what means he felt that this was not the state in which he wished to be forever. Having been possessed, and actuated, and moved by the principle of faith, he was not content to tabernacle in a body which could only be dwelt in satisfactorily through the influence of the faculty of sight. The Apostle, however, mentions here a great general principle—"We walk by faith, not by sight." In talking upon this text this evening, we shall—without pretending to go into it fully—speak, first of all, upon the posture mentioned. Then upon the two principles contrasted, and finally upon a certain caution which is here implied. I. First, a word or two about THE POSTURE MENTIONED. Paul, speaking of Believers, says: "We walk by faith, not by sight." Walking is, of course, a posture which implies the possession of life. You can make a dead man sit in a certain position, or even stand in a chosen attitude—but to walk necessitates the possession of inward life. It becomes with us, therefore, a question, in the first place, whether we have the life of God within us. In the sense in which the term "walk" is here used, the ungodly man does not walk at all. He hastens after his own lusts and he treads in the way of the flesh. But in a spiritual sense he is, and always must be a stranger to "walking" until God has quickened him. When we see corpses walking along our roads and pass them at eventide in our streets, then shall we expect to see Christian feelings, Christian emotions, and Christian character exhibited by unconverted men—but not till then! There must first be an inward life before there can be the outwardsign of it. Walking is a position which also signifies activity.

IT is quite clear that the Apostle did not consider his body to be himself. He speaks of it as being the frail tent or tabernacle in which he dwelt and, again, as the garment with which, for a while, he was clothed. That tent or tabernacle he expected to see dissolved. And that garment he expected to put off. He distinguished between the outward man which would perish and the inward man, which was his true self, which he speaks of as, "renewed day by day." The Apostle reckoned upon rising here in the body, according to the Divine will, till he had finished the work which was given him to do. And then he expected to put off his mortal flesh and to be an unclothed and disembodied spirit. Such is the condition, at the present time, of all the saints who have departed. They are well described as "the spirits of just men made perfect." With the exception of Enoch and Elijah, who carried their bodies with them into the celestial world, all departed Believers are now spirits unclothed of their bodies and wearing only such array as befits spiritual existences. Is it difficult to conceive of them in that condition? I do not think it should be. Spirits without bodies are not such marvelous things as spirits in bodies! You meet, everyday, as you walk the streets, spirits in bodies, spirits that quicken flesh and bone and muscle and move a mass of material from place to place. If we had never seen such a thing as a body kept in life and filled with power by an immaterial, invisible and spiritual substance, it would be a very hard thing to realize. No man among us knows how it is that this inner spirit of ours is connected with the body.

For we walk by faith - While we are in the present state faith supplies the place of direct vision. In the future world we shall have sight - the utmost evidence of spiritual and eternal things; as we shall be present with them, and live in them. Here we have the testimony of God, and believe in their reality, because we cannot doubt his word. And to make this more convincing he gives us the earnest of his Spirit, which is a foretaste of glory.