Where does the Christian go when he or she leaves this life?

quietbloke

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You answered your own question by linking in 2 Cor. 5:8. Where is the Lord right now?
He is with us while we are here in the body and He will be with us when we go home to be in His presence there after leaving the body
 
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quietbloke

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'We are confident,yes,well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the LORD' (2 Corinthians 5:8)
It is wonderful to realize that when we leave this life we will be in the presence of the LORD
 
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AlexDTX

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'We are confident,yes,well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the LORD' (2 Corinthians 5:8)
This verse is not about where we go but where we already are. Paul is telling us that walking by faith means reckoning ourselves already dead and alive with Christ, which is not seen in the temporal but in the Spirit. As long as we focus on the temporal and natural part of our existence we are absent from the Lord.
 
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quietbloke

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This verse is not about where we go but where we already are. Paul is telling us that walking by faith means reckoning ourselves already dead and alive with Christ, which is not seen in the temporal but in the Spirit. As long as we focus on the temporal and natural part of our existence we are absent from the Lord.
Seems clear to me that this verse is talking about when our spirit leaves our body where it is at home at present and goes to be at home with the LORD when we leave this life
 
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Tayla

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absent from the body and to be present with the LORD
Q: Where does the Christian go when he or she leaves this life?

A: They don't go anywhere; they stay where they already are; in the spiritual realm (heaven). The soul resides in the spiritual realm and only in the spiritual realm. The question is how entangled it gets with the spirit of God or the spirits of darkness.
 
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quietbloke

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Jesus said,'I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am you shall be also'. (John 14:1-6) There is a place that He is preparing for us. A real place,where He wants us to be. Christians are heading for home.
 
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AlexDTX

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Seems clear to me that this verse is talking about when our spirit leaves our body where it is at home at present and goes to be at home with the LORD when we leave this life
Yes, to the natural mind and one who simply accepts what others have said. But the understanding is found in the point, not the verse alone. The chapter divisions tend to artificially break up Paul's point. Consider the verse in its context.

In chapter 4 Paul explains to the Corinthians how he is able to endure persecution.

8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
10always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.​

Notice verse 10 speaks of their dying with Christ so the life of Christ may be manifested. They are not physically dead, but are dying to self as Jesus said

13And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,
14knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.​

What is the "same spirit of faith" that Paul refers to that we also believe and therefore speak? He alludes to it in verse 14 but clearly explained it to the Galatians in 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.​

Obviously Paul was not physically crucified with Christ. He refers to the death of his "old man" (Rom. 6:6, Eph. 4:22, Col. 3:9) which was his dead spirit that was raised to life in the new birth. Which is why he continues in 2 Corinthians 4:

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
18while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.​

What are the temporary things seen that he ignores while he keeps his eyes on the unseen things that are eternal? Certainly the persecution that he calls a "light affliction", if you call being stoned to near death "light", but even without persecution he ignores the appearance of his mortal life while he keeps his eyes on the unseen immortal life in his spirit. So yes, his outward man may be perishing, his inward man becomes stronger day by day. Which puts us in chapter 5.

1For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
3if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
4For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.​

It is clear in verse one that he talking about our mortal bodies which we will shed at some time when we physically die, but he also acknowledges he has a new body (house) that is immortal. So in verse 2 he admits that he longs to be in that immortal body now. But notice what he says in verse 4, while he wants to in the immortal body now, he does not want to be unclothed (to die) now, but for that immortal body to swallow up the mortal body now.

5Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.​

Because we have the Holy Spirit through the new birth, it is a guarantee that we will have a permanent immortal body in verse 5. However versus 6 through 8 discuss having access to that immortality now by faith. From the natural, by itself, verse 6 seems to be saying that as long as we are in our mortal bodies we are absent from the immortal, who, in truth, is the Lord. Consider the following two verses. In 7 he says we walk by faith, not by sight, which alludes back to what he said previously regarding looking not upon the temporary but the eternal. So then, in verse 8, he says he is well pleased to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. We know he is not talking about being dead and gone, but rather, he means he reckons himself dead (Rom. 6:11) and raise with Christ in glory already. Walking by faith applies to many contexts, but in this context he believes he is already dead so he can experience what he already has in the Lord. Verses 6 through 8 also remind us that while we put our attention on the things of this world, we are absent from the Lord. Not absent in the sense that God has left us, but rather we have left our attention from him so that we are no longer aware of him. But if we put our attention on the Lord we then are absent from the body in the sense that we are not focused on the things of this world and the of our flesh. He said to the Galatians 5,

24And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.​

And in Galatians 6

14But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, £by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.​

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord is most certainly true regarding the future event when we will be glorified with immortal bodies, but in Paul's exhortation we have access to it now by faith. But it is a two part condition: you must believe that you are already dead (reckon yourself dead), and are also already resurrected with Christ by faith so the sense of the presence of the Lord and his power functions now. This is how he endured persecution and walked in the miraculous.

Post Script
There are many Bible gun slingers who shoot verses out of context to proof text their point. This is a dangerous practice and those who do so do not know the heart and spirit of God. All chapters and verses are a flow of thought that has intended points that writer wants conveyed. This is the spirit of the text.

There are also many pulpiteers who create sermons based upon one verse out of context to support the point that they want to make, not what the Bible writer is making. It is an old adage: a verse out of context is a pretext. All verses fit under the umbrella of God's eternal message, and specifically fit in the context of the writer God is using for that particular message.
 
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quietbloke

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Yes, to the natural mind and one who simply accepts what others have said. But the understanding is found in the point, not the verse alone. The chapter divisions tend to artificially break up Paul's point. Consider the verse in its context.

In chapter 4 Paul explains to the Corinthians how he is able to endure persecution.

8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
10always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.​

Notice verse 10 speaks of their dying with Christ so the life of Christ may be manifested. They are not physically dead, but are dying to self as Jesus said

13And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,
14knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.​

What is the "same spirit of faith" that Paul refers to that we also believe and therefore speak? He alludes to it in verse 14 but clearly explained it to the Galatians in 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.​

Obviously Paul was not physically crucified with Christ. He refers to the death of his "old man" (Rom. 6:6, Eph. 4:22, Col. 3:9) which was his dead spirit that was raised to life in the new birth. Which is why he continues in 2 Corinthians 4:

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
18while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.​

What are the temporary things seen that he ignores while he keeps his eyes on the unseen things that are eternal? Certainly the persecution that he calls a "light affliction", if you call being stoned to near death "light", but even without persecution he ignores the appearance of his mortal life while he keeps his eyes on the unseen immortal life in his spirit. So yes, his outward man may be perishing, his inward man becomes stronger day by day. Which puts us in chapter 5.

1For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
3if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
4For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.​

It is clear in verse one that he talking about our mortal bodies which we will shed at some time when we physically die, but he also acknowledges he has a new body (house) that is immortal. So in verse 2 he admits that he longs to be in that immortal body now. But notice what he says in verse 4, while he wants to in the immortal body now, he does not want to be unclothed (to die) now, but for that immortal body to swallow up the mortal body now.

5Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.​

Because we have the Holy Spirit through the new birth, it is a guarantee that we will have a permanent immortal body in verse 5. However versus 6 through 8 discuss having access to that immortality now by faith. From the natural, by itself, verse 6 seems to be saying that as long as we are in our mortal bodies we are absent from the immortal, who, in truth, is the Lord. Consider the following two verses. In 7 he says we walk by faith, not by sight, which alludes back to what he said previously regarding looking not upon the temporary but the eternal. So then, in verse 8, he says he is well pleased to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. We know he is not talking about being dead and gone, but rather, he means he reckons himself dead (Rom. 6:11) and raise with Christ in glory already. Walking by faith applies to many contexts, but in this context he believes he is already dead so he can experience what he already has in the Lord. Verses 6 through 8 also remind us that while we put our attention on the things of this world, we are absent from the Lord. Not absent in the sense that God has left us, but rather we have left our attention from him so that we are no longer aware of him. But if we put our attention on the Lord we then are absent from the body in the sense that we are not focused on the things of this world and the of our flesh. He said to the Galatians 5,

24And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.​

And in Galatians 6

14But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, £by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.​

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord is most certainly true regarding the future event when we will be glorified with immortal bodies, but in Paul's exhortation we have access to it now by faith. But it is a two part condition: you must believe that you are already dead (reckon yourself dead), and are also already resurrected with Christ by faith so the sense of the presence of the Lord and his power functions now. This is how he endured persecution and walked in the miraculous.

Post Script
There are many Bible gun slingers who shoot verses out of context to proof text their point. This is a dangerous practice and those who do so do not know the heart and spirit of God. All chapters and verses are a flow of thought that has intended points that writer wants conveyed. This is the spirit of the text.

There are also many pulpiteers who create sermons based upon one verse out of context to support the point that they want to make, not what the Bible writer is making. It is an old adage: a verse out of context is a pretext. All verses fit under the umbrella of God's eternal message, and specifically fit in the context of the writer God is using for that particular message.
We shall not be in agreement in everything but let us have respect for what others believe and let us not think that because someone else has a different interpretation to ours they are operating from a natural mind and not a spiritual mind or that they are just accepting what others have said. You have mentioned the context in 2 Corinthians 4 and the preceding verses to 2 Corinthians 5:8. It does not alter what the Apostle Paul said,'We are confident,yes well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the LORD'. Believers who die are absent from their physical bodies and present with the LORD in conscious bliss waiting for the great Resurrection Day. See what Paul says in (Philippians 1:21-24) also.
 
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AlexDTX

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We shall not be in agreement in everything but let us have respect for what others believe and let us not think that because someone else has a different interpretation to ours they are operating from a natural mind and not a spiritual mind or that they are just accepting what others have said. You have mentioned the context in 2 Corinthians 4 and the preceding verses to 2 Corinthians 5:8. It does not alter what the Apostle Paul said,'We are confident,yes well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the LORD'. Believers who die are absent from their physical bodies and present with the LORD in conscious bliss waiting for the great Resurrection Day. See what Paul says in (Philippians 1:21-24) also.
Then you do not know how to walk in the power of God. You have my sympathy.
 
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