2 Corinthians 5:2,3

‘For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven, if so be that (or ‘inasmuch as') being clothed we shall not be found naked.

The contrast goes on. In our earthly tent we groan (or ‘in this situation we groan'), we are afflicted, we suffer hardship. We long to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. The ‘longing for' stresses that it is still future. That is not because we are sick of life but because amidst the toils of life we look forward to something far, far better. The Greeks who thought about it groaned because they wanted to get rid of their bodies. They wanted to be ‘free spirits'. They thought that getting rid of their bodies would solve their problems. But Paul groans because he wants the perfect heavenly body rather than his imperfect one. He wants to be transformed in himself. He does not want to be ‘naked'.

But then he enters a caveat lest any wrongly assume that such will automatically be theirs whatever the state of their hearts before God. ‘That is if we are one of those who will be so clothed, and not one of those who are found naked, that is without a resurrection body, because we are not in Christ.' We can compare 1 Corinthians 9:27 for such a sudden application of the thought that none should be presumptious.

The thought of ‘nakedness' appals Paul. It not only signifies being ‘without a body', but also signifies ‘laid bare to God' with no hope of mercy, and no means of atonement. They would be ‘found naked' at the judgment, deeply and despairingly aware of their nakedness, and their sinful state, as Adam and Eve were in the Garden after they had sinned (Genesis 3:10). Babylon's punishment was to have its nakedness exposed and its shame uncovered (Isaiah 47:3), and fallen Israel's judgment was that it would be left naked and bare, with its shame exposed to all (Ezekiel 23:29). Compare Isaiah 20:2; Ezekiel 16:7; Hosea 2:3. This is the fate of all who do not respond fully to Christ in faith and trust.