The Ten Virgins – A parable; A commentary.

I made this in response to the so called "teaching" that we get every week in our men's Bible study. We just spent two weeks destroying the parable of the ten virgins, assigning every possible maladjusted idea to each of its components, that our leader could come up with. 

I needed to set things straight, to the best of my knowledge.

Matthew 25:1-13 AMP

THEN THE kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. (2) Five of them were foolish (thoughtless, without forethought) and five were wise (sensible, intelligent, and prudent). (3) For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them; (4) But the wise took flasks of oil along with them [also] with their lamps. (5) While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep. (6) But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom! Go out to meet him! (7) Then all those virgins got up and put their own lamps in order. (8) And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. (9) But the wise replied, There will not be enough for us and for you; go instead to the dealers and buy for yourselves. (10) But while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were prepared went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. (11) Later the other virgins also came and said, Lord, Lord, open [the door] to us! (12) But He replied, I solemnly declare to you, I do not know you [I am not acquainted with you]. (13) Watch therefore [give strict attention and be cautious and active], for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.

Unless otherwise specified I will be using the NASB translation.

The astute should immediately pick up on the fact that this parable comes mid-thought. We call that thought process context. Jesus responses come out of this regard.

After riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on the unridden colt (the dignitary vehicle of the day,) Jesus did not do what everyone was now anticipating, that is to take control, overthrow the oppressor government, and reign as the Messiah. What he did do was overturn the tables of the vendors and money changers, and chase everyone out of the gentile court area. This action on Jesus part initiated a two-day barrage of questions and accusations from the elders and chief priests.

Finally, Jesus and the disciples get a chance to get out of there, out of harm's way, to somewhere peaceful; the Mount of Olives. You see this in Matthew 24.

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. (2) And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." (Matthew 24:1-2 NASB)

There are other things that were said as they were never alone, and, they were never alone. Asking embarrassing questions would only subject them to more ridicule.

While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age? (Matthew 24:3 AMP)

As an aspect of His response, we get Matthew 25 and the parable of the ten virgins.

The first premise for understanding any of the parables is what Jesus said to His own disciples – it is for you to know.

You want proof?

Matthew 13:10-12 NASB And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" (11) Jesus answered them, "To you, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been granted. (12) "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

If understanding has been granted and you are not then whose fault is that? We choose to apply so many things to the church that do not belong, will you disregard this passage. We were grafted in and are family. Adopted children are not second-class strangers and actually, have more rights.

The second premise for understanding is context and more specifically, words.

It is time for a breakdown.

25:1a) - CJB "The Kingdom of Heaven at that time will be like ..”

• Who has Jesus been talking to? The Disciples; Jews; Jews who are asking Him a specific question about, the destruction of Jerusalem, and, what will be the sign of His coming (as the Messiah), and the end of the age.
• So, when Jesus says, “The kingdom of Heaven at that time, ” He is talking about - the beginning of the Millennial reign when Jesus will sit on the throne as the Messiah.

  You see, the Jews had no concept of a rapture - the snatching away of the church, because there was no church, and any devout Jew is supposed to see Jesus as an unacceptable creation of the Gentiles.)

  Can this be related to the church? Only as a pointed lesson, as is the case with any passage. The verse for this covers the entire Bible:

   2 Timothy 3:16 NASB All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

Therefore, it is safe to say, this has nothing to do with the church.

25:1b) “the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins,..”

• The word kingdom is basileia and means royalty, that is, (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm.
  

  While it is true that Jesus is now seated on the throne, that it seems is more of a spiritual reality. The physical reality is yet to come and will be seen by many when He touches down on the Mount of Olives.In what way does any of this look like ten virgins? The only thing that makes any sense is the Jewish people themselves.The Dake's Bible comments suggest that this indicates faithfulness and it also conveys that these are friends of the Bride. Since we have nothing to pursue scripturally, this is little more than conjecture and a futile pursuit.

  Since we are talking about Jews and their ways the reality is that Jesus is talking about a male dominated society.

• To be a virgin in a Jewish community is more likely because all eyes are upon you.

  This does not have to be women and would have had implications for the men as well.What is a virgin? One who has kept themselves pure. In this case, the ideal condition has to do with their relationship to Jehovah/God.Note: All then maintained this status, and yet, as we shall see, there is a 50% difference. Is it possible to be legalistically committed and yet have no heart investment? Absolutely, and this is the case here. I will show you how in this paper.

• “ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”

  They all got the same invitation, and, they all went. There is nothing, as yet, that gives us any basis for judgment.Here is something to take note of. We, as a Christian community, constantly say, no man can know the day or the hour. And yet, these all, in unison it seems knew exactly the day. Now it is important to note that they had little clue about the hour, but the day was known to all. How and why did they know that information? As yet, they have only gone to meet the bridegroom.While it is a good thing to be expectant, what is not good is to put your demands and timings upon the bridegroom.One last thing before I move on. We have nothing to indicate that they have done anything out of the ordinary. This will change quickly.

25:2a) "Five of them were foolish, ..”

• Now we have a distinction. The word foolish is the Greek word moros. It carries the implications of being a MORON. Therefore, we can figure out that half of the number are foolish, thoughtless, and morons.

  What makes them a moron? The GK word also conveys a person who is dull, stupid, heedless, and absurd. All of these can be thought to have made the foolish assumption that the bridegroom will operate according to their standards.

25:2b) “..and five were prudent.”

• Prudent, on the other hand, is the Greek word phronimos; thoughtful, that is, sagacious or discreet (implying a cautious character; to think, have a mindset. Prudent, sensible, practically wise in relationships with others

  Sagacious, as defined by Webster's means: wise, foreseeing, to perceive readily, and prudent.

25:3) "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

• We already understand the dull nature of the five foolish virgins. Now we focus on the word took. The Greek word is lambánō and means to take in whatever manner. The implications are that they grabbed the lamps in whatever state they found them.

  The oil is irrelevant except that it makes the lamps work.

25:4) “but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”

• We already know the characteristics of the prudent: thoughtful, discreet, prudent, sensible, practically wise in relationships with others. Their character motivates them to take extra, not just what is unknown, in the lamp, like the foolish.

25:5) "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.”

• Delaying; the Greek word chronízō; To while away time, linger, delay, defer, tarry.

  I have heard so-called believers say, you are wasting your time waiting for the Lord's return. We have been waiting for over 2000 years. Evidence that this would happen is found in scripture.

  Matthew 24:48 NASB ''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,'

  2 Peter 3:3-4 NASB Know this first of all, that in the last days' mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, (4) and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."

  But isn't that what we have been called to do, wait expectantly?
  One might think that sleeping would be exclusive to the foolish, but it is common for any human. There is NO condemnation for sleeping.

25:6) "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'

• A shout? This is the Greek word kraugē and means an outcry (in notification, tumult or grief): - clamor, cry (-ing). This is loud and there is no holding back. It is meant to catch attention.
• Behold means to look.
• “Come out.” The word for come is exerchomai and means to issue (literally or figuratively): - come-(forth, out), depart (out of
• “to meet him.” Meet means to encounter.

25:7) "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.”

• Prudent and foolish, all arose and trimmed their lamps.

  It was then that the foolish discovered that they were out of oil and unable to see.

25:8) "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps, are going out.'

• “The foolish said.” Said is the Greek word legō; an aspect of the word is an extended or random harangue.

  Webster's dictionary states, this word seems to imply loudness or declamation. Declamation; a noisy, pompous or irregular address.This tells me that the foolish began to demand loudly that the others give them of the oil that they had.

25:9a) "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too;..”

• Wisdom knows how to say NO.

25:9b) “..go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'

• Dealers? It's the middle of the night. Dealers are the Greek word pōleō to be busy, to trade; to barter.

25:10) "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.”

• Ready – hetoimos, adjusted, that is, ready: - prepared, made ready.
• Door - thura; a portal or entrance.

25:11) "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.'

• The foolish ones.
• Came saying – again the Greek word legō, an extended or random harangue.

  They foolish, once again, are demanding.

• Lord, lord – The word is kurios; supreme in authority, that is, (as noun) controller; by implication Mr.

  The implications are that there was no personal relationship and that is what we saw at the beginning of this commentary.

25:12) "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'

• know - oida; to have seen or perceived, hence to know:

  Imagine God telling you, I have never seen or perceived you.

Jesus finishes this phase of His discourse with:

25:13) "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

• And yet they did, the foolish and the prudent.
  What aspect could they not know? The hour and minute. And why is that? Because the groom, working hard, taking care of last minute issues, seemed to be hesitating.

Keep in mind that Jesus was talking to Jews, therefore all of this was meant for their understanding, and, He expected the disciples to understand it.

Strongholds: Those things that entrap us, constantly make us uneasy and keep popping up.

This may seem a little off base, but given the opportunity to teach soon, I asked a friend if he had any ideas. He thought for a second and said, what about Strongholds, those are the things that I need to hear about. I know I do, I battle with aspects of this everyday. These are the notes that I will use to lead the group, however, I have made a skeletonized version that I will pass out to the men, and will post them immediately after this. Do with them as you see fit.

By the way; I am very much aware that there is always more that defines this aspect of strongholds. Think of this as a primer that motivates you to dig deeper.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 MKJV For though walking about in the flesh, we do not war according to flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,

• Though we walk about in the flesh,

There is no escaping that condition, and yet the concept is that we can set aside the "flesh." There are only two situations in which that happens:

• • • Death – that state in which you are then separated from the body.
    • Or, the rapture (a moment in time in which we will be changed – an act in which God causes this permanently damaged body to be altered.)
• We do not war according to flesh.
  Harsh words, swords, and guns are not going to help. This war we are in is a spiritual battle and Satan is the enemy.

The battle you are facing is a spiritual one and it is primarily in the mind.

• Pulling down – Is the Greek word kathaíresis and means demolition or the destruction of a fortress.
  The enemy (Satan) promotes the building of fortresses in our mind. This process happens slowly through the deceptiveness of words.
  For example: In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he tells us we are:
  • • Blessed; holy; blameless; in Him; living in love; adopted; chosen; redeemed, and bought back.
  However, these are not the words we hear; mostly we hear the opposite, such as:
  • • You will never be holy; you are to blame for everything; unlovable; unwanted, and that you will have to struggle all your life to attain some state in which God would want you.
• Strongholds – The Greek word ochúrōma; to hold fast. A stronghold, fortification, fortress.
  The Greek allows for something much less invasive; a holdfast.
  Compare to 3M sticky hooks.

Why use the analogy of a temporary wall hanger?

These issues are often temporary annoyances. The simplest of solutions is to pray.

A verse we did not cover defines these strongholds and where they come from.

2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Again we will dissect this a few words at a time.

• Casting down
  Casting down is the Greek word kathaireō and means to lower (or with violence) demolish. The Word Study Dictionary adds, “to take for oneself. To take down or away.
• Imaginations
  The WSD says this Greek word logismós means a reckoning, calculation, consideration, reflection.
  To logismós a thing means that you are giving more than just a passing thought to a matter. The implications are that you are ruminating on the issue at hand. Since not all things are a worrisome bother, then the other application would apply to the voices that tell you that you will never live up to the things God says about you.
  Other translations use the words: reasoning; arguments; intellectual arrogance; theories, and speculations. All of these fit the concept.
• And every
  Every is the Greek word pas and includes all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole: - all (manner of, means).
  Declension according to Webster's dictionary means literally, a leaning back or down; hence, a falling or declining towards a worse state; a trend toward a lesser degree of excellence or perfection.
• High thing
  High thing is the word hupsōma, an elevated place or thing, that is, (abstractly) altitude, or (by implication) a barrier.
  Who is it that does the elevation? We do, as we put that thought on a pedestal.
• That exalts itself
  Is the word epairō meaning to raise up.
  Since the context has to do with casting down imaginations and every high thing, then the idea, worry, or promotion you have spinning in your head is trying desperately to exalt itself by raising up; but against what?In reality, the voices, whether they are in your head or fed to from some well meaning “friend,” are intended to exalt themselves above God's word, nature, and character.
• Against the knowledge of God
  So, just as I said, the voices are attempting to exalt themselves above God. There is truly, only one person that does that, Satan and his minions.
• And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
  As I said, you are the one who has to take care of this. It is, by-the-way, your psyche that is being toyed with. Doing nothing only adds to the fortification that is being built in your mind. While it is necessary that you bring these thoughts that are contrary to God into captivity, you must subject your thoughts to the obedience of Christ.
  Obedience is the Greek word hupakoḗ; to obey, listen to something, hearken.
  This is you with purpose resetting your mind to consider with an overriding confidence, the true nature of Christ Jesus.

I get it; there are understandably some people who are so far gone, whether from alcohol, drug abuse, or trauma, that they do not live in a functional state of mental health and may not be able to make these decisions for themselves. With those people in mind, I am reminded of what the Apostle Peter told us Jesus did; and, in so doing, demonstrated not only the character and nature of the Father but our mission as well.

Acts 10:38 MKJV ...and He went about doing good, and healing all those who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him.

So, once again, you are not dealing with the flesh, but demonic forces, in all but rare cases.

Let's just assume that this is not you and you continue to function with relative normalcy while fighting against these small, annoying mental skirmishes, many of which we lose.

If these strongholds are merely a hold fast and not a fortress in my mind, why I am I continually bothered/tortured by this same problem?

1. You, with Christ living in you, are a target.
   I know you did not want to hear that, but it is information that you needed to know.
   Ephesians 2:10 MKJV For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ...
   There are plenty of people who will say that this does not define us as being in God's image, so allow me to give you another piece of proof.
   Genesis 1:26-27 MKJV And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion ... over all the earth, ... And God created man in His image;...
   Some might say, I don't believe in this God of yours.
   Their challenge does not matter; the mere fact that we were created in the image of God caused Satan to set his destructive sights upon them.
   A simple hold fast may restrain you for your entire life.
2. Satan, we are told, constantly accuses us of sins. We see this in Revelation of all places.
   Revelation 12:10 MKJV ... For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.
3. Our broken flesh is centered around selfishness; the motivation to satisfy the flesh.
   We quickly and easily call this a sin conscience.

We religious folk, love to fling the word sin around, especially once we've decided that you need more restraint in your life. The word “sin” is simply an old English term, taking from Archery, in which the competitor missed the bulls-eye in the center of the target.

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Where do we go when we die?

Several weeks ago the Monday morning men's Bible Study opened with:

Where do we go when we die?

The answers were varied and skewed. Some even claimed we go to paradise; yes, the same place that we find beggar Lazarus after he died and he was comforted in Abraham's bosom. The presumption is that we merely wait for Jesus to call us up into heaven at some later point.

Someone decided that they had to make a distinction and apply this bizarre conversation to primarily the righteous dead. Well, that should make some form of sense seeing as we assign varying levels of righteousness to ourselves. Those who have been “in the way” understandably should have a more righteous status. This, of course, is nonsense as there is none righteous. We find this in:

Romans 3:9-12 MKJV What then? Do we excel? No, in no way; for we have before charged both Jews and Greeks all with being under sin, (10) as it is written: "There is none righteous, no not one; (11) there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God." (12) "They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one."

The short explanation for this verse, we are all on the same playing field as far as God is concerned. Yes, I know, there are rich people all around us and they think they will have special privileges in the kingdom that is coming, but that is not the case. As a matter of fact, we are told that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. So they are apparently getting theirs while here on earth. Sadly, not even the best of plastic surgeons can stop you from aging, and in some cases, looking horrible. I guess money is not the answer to everything.

Why spend time focused on this, when the question is where do we go when we die?

Because, as I pointed out, someone had to imply that only those better off would be able to take advantage of this paradise concept. Plainly, as we see in scripture, and based upon Jesus parable, where Lazarus the beggar, was comforted and not the rich man. Take the time to look this up in scripture. You will find it in, Luke 16:19-31. You will not find the word paradise here, what you will find are words and phrases like:

• “carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom.”

  angels - aggelos; a prim. word; a messenger, angel:
• Mercy

  “to be compassionate (by word or deed,)
• now he is comforted

  “parakaléō; To aid, help, comfort, encourage.
• hades

  “properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls.”
• tormented in this flame

  “through the notion of going to the bottom); a touch stone, that is, (by analogy) torture: - torment.
• you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things.

  agathós; fem. agathḗ, neut. agathón, adj. Good and benevolent, profitable, useful.

Absolutely none of these convey the idea of paradise.

Since the idea of paradise keeps coming up in Men's Bible study, what we can find to validate or disqualify the idea.

The Greek word parádeisos (paradise) only shows up three times in the Bible, and Jesus applied one of those instances by telling the thief on the cross that he would be with Jesus, this day, in paradise. You can find this evidence in Luke 23:39-43.

“And one of the hanged criminals blasphemed Him, saying, If you are Christ, save Yourself and us. But answering, the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are in the same condemnation. And we indeed justly so, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this Man has done nothing amiss. And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

The Word Study Dictionary tells us that the word has these origins and understandings: “This is an oriental word which the Greeks borrowed from the Persians, among whom it meant a garden, park, or enclosure full of all the vegetable products of the earth.”

One of the other references is in Revelation.

Revelation 2:7 NASB 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

The Paradise of God, based upon the OT concept, is the garden of God, an integral aspect of Heaven itself.

You will not find the concept of paradise in the Old Testament, unless, you use a comparison search based on "the garden of the Lord."

Lacking a “paradise” in which we can rest in peace until Christ calls for his church, where do we go?

One of the go-to verses is:

2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

And yet, Paul's words are not decisive about the persuasion that, once this body dies we are present with the Lord. As you can see the NASB uses the word “prefer.” In comparing translations you get words like: pleased, as the Amplified states. The choices are split between pleased and prefer.

If we apply the mathematical concept of inverse to the statement, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (2 Corinthians 5:6 KJV), we should be able to expect that the opposite scenario is logically definitive; and, implies that when, those who are in Christ die (are absent from the body,) then we should be present with the Lord. Paul made it clear that this premise operates by faith and confidence.

Perhaps this entire idea is better defined by the verses I did not include, 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 KJV.

(1) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

If I lived off of verse one alone I could be content and happy, this is why.

• For we know
  How do you say something like this without something close to concrete evidence? Faith is supposed to be just that. One of our examples of great faith is Abraham; whom we find in the annals of faith history (the book of Hebrews chapter 11) among others who were strong in faith. And yet, Abraham is also one of our greatest examples of a man that struggled. Regardless of his struggles, did God come through? Yes, and he always has.
  Paul would have known of Job's struggles, boils and all. We find this in:

  Job 19:25-26 NASB "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. (26) "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

  But I have to ask the same questions of Job. How did he know and have this confidence? It does not speak of transitions or times frames; and, both of these men lived in a sense of the present.
• that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
  This earthly house is, for all practical purposes, our bodies. Terminated by whatever means, whether through death and deterioration, or worse.
• we have a building of God
  Building, is a compound word that effectively means architecture, that is, (concretely) a structure.
  I can take this one of two ways: 1.) We are talking about our bodies; or, 2.) We are looking forward to a home in heaven. Do they both work? Certainly, but the words, we have a building of God, are present tense and not some future hope. This body became the temple, the building of God the day you asked Him to come into it.

There is no transition involved in what Paul is describing.

Let's keep tearing it apart for a few minutes.

2 Corinthians 5:2-3 NASB (2) For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, (3) inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

• (2) For indeed in this house, we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
  Again, I am challenged as I ask, am I clothed with Christ, and therefore a temple of the Holy Ghost, or not? If I am then there must be more, isn't there?

  1 Corinthians 3:16 NASB (16) Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

  Luke 24:49 NASB "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

  “Clothed with power from on high.” The entire purpose for them waiting in the upper room was to be endued with power. Power was an aspect of the Holy Ghost. The correlation is well demonstrated with the infilling of the Holy Ghost.

If there is more, such as a dwelling from heaven, then what is that? Since we understand that we are to be clothed, then it must be something, perhaps symbolic, or spiritual. Regardless, there is more.

2 Corinthians 5:3 NASB inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

Once again, what did we, as followers of Christ and those that long for all that there is in Him, put on? The Holy Spirit, the power of God. This gives us one other promise. One that we debate consistently, our consistent, unchanging life, in Christ. Verse 3 says, having put it on, (we), will not be found naked. This is an unalterable promise. One of the other ways this is described is eternal security. Sadly, to most, this is unbelievable and just wrong.

2 Corinthians 5:4 NASB For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

• “while we are in this tent,”

  Alive, and existing in these bodies.
• “we groan, being burdened,”

  This is also found in Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Where Paul tells us that all of creation groans along with us.

Romans 8:22-23 NASB For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. (23) And not only this but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

• “because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed,”

  Unclothed? To go or come out of, what? Our skin, the thing we groan about; or, to be separated from the Holy Ghost? The only logical assumption then, would be relieved from the Holy Spirit. However, that is, according to what we see in 2Corinthians 5, impossible.
• “ so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

  So, currently stuck in this broken body, we await for the entire thing to be swallowed up by life. What does that mean? When we transition into the heavenlies we will not take this broken body and its desires, with us. We are told that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53 NASB (50) Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (53) For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

(The damage done to us through Adam's fall, seems to be genetic. Consider this; if, every human, born from Adam, carries a damaged DNA marker, then every man throughout eternity carries that same damaged DNA string. Anyone looking at DNA would then say that this damaged example, is the basis for what we deem normal.)

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