Objection 79: That the righteous dead go to heaven immediately at death, and that man therefore possesses an immortal spirit, is evident from Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 5:8. (See also 2 Peter 1:14)
The full context of 2 Corinthians five passage reads:
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
We note that the New International Version, which was not translated by or for Seventh-day Adventists, heads these ten verses with the heading, “Awaiting the New Body.” Exactly so.
When we are resurrected from the dead, we are given new bodies, glorified bodies. Paul says, “we shall not all sleep [the first death], but we shall all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:51-54.
At the resurrection, we will be given glorified, immortal, incorruptible bodies. The Scriptural example is Christ’s glorified body: it was flesh and bone and could be touched and felt, and we will eat in our glorified bodies as Christ did before his disciples. (Luke 24:36-43; Philippians 3:20-21)
Armed with the knowledge that we will be given glorified, immortal bodies, we can more easily make sense of this passage:
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in [our current corruptible, mortal body, which will die the first death] is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands [which is the incorruptible, immortal body we will be receive at the resurrection]. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling [we long for the glorified, immortal body], because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent [our corruptible, mortal body], we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling [our incorruptible body, given to us at the resurrection at the second coming], so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Regarding “groaning,” i.e., waiting with longing for the new, glorified body, Paul uses the same language in Romans 8:22-23, when he speaks of waiting “for the redemption of our bodies.”
Regarding being found “naked” or “unclothed,” Paul primarily means: not currently being in a “house,” meaning having died the first death. We do not want to be in this condition. But I would argue that Paul, by “naked” or “unclothed” also means lacking the robe of Christ’s righteousness and thus being lost eternally. We fear the first death, but I think Paul is here telling us that we ought to have much greater fear of being found not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, because that means we will never be given the glorified body, the “building from God.”
According to the immortal-soul doctrine, after death the disembodied consciousness simply continues, freed from the mortal body. But does Paul want this? No! Paul longs to be "clothed" with the heavenly house, “that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.” Paul clearly understood that the immortal, glorified body was a precondition to eternal life with God.
That Paul expected to be clothed with the “heavenly house,” a glorified immortal body, at the resurrection day is the certain conclusion from all his statements. Being "present with the Lord" is contingent upon being "clothed" with the heavenly house. Therefore being "present with the Lord" awaits the resurrection day. Otherwise, what are we to make of Paul’s statement in Thessalonians that at the resurrection we are caught up "to meet the Lord," and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17.
The fact that Paul coupled together being freed from the earthly house and the being clothed with the heavenly does not prove that he expected an immediate transfer from one to the other. He makes specific reference to an "unclothed," a "naked," state. On the question of immediate transfer, the reader is referred to the discussion of Philippians 1:21-23 under Objection 83.
In the light of the foregoing we need not spend much time on 2 Peter 1:14, which is also mentioned by the objector. The passage in its context reads as follows:
"I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things." 2 Peter 1:13-15.