2 Cor 4:16-5:4:

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.


First, the context of this passage involves Paul's suffering for the gospel, which consisted of persecutions, beatings, and so on, but not persistent sickness. (Paul's body was afflicted by the physical abuse, but there is no record of Paul having a virus, cancer, or any such thing.) This is clear from the verses immediately preceding the passage above:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. [Far from implying that physical sickness is normal, Paul is testifying that every time his body was abused for the gospel's sake, the life of Jesus made itself manifest and healed him.]

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake [this must mean persecution again; having AIDS or cancer is not dying for Jesus' sake!], that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh. [Again, this is a testimony to God's healing power, not his supposed ability to make you sick.]
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
[Then follows the original passage shown above.]

Paul's talk about his outward man perishing is tied to his "light affliction," which did not consist of contracting viruses. Getting a cold does not "work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" -- it is just a nuisance. Paul is not talking about illness here.


We are not redeemed from aging. You could make an argument that the outward man perishing is speaks of the natural (under Adam's curse) aging process, although that would be difficult to prove in the context. Even then, the fact that you age does not mean that you have to get sick; this is covered in other discussions and objection replies. If God heals all your diseases, that includes diseases caused by breakdowns in body parts. God wants your body to work properly until you go home to heaven. You will age and you will not be ready to try out for your local football team at the age of 90, but you don't have to be sick.

The groaning here has nothing to do with groaning in pain because you have appendicitis or something. Paul did not have any regular diseases as far as we know, and he groaned. The groaning here is due to the desire for something better, for eternal bodies in our eternal home. The same idea is expressed in Romans 8, where we groan within ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body. (This is speaking of the full redemption in the sense of having a new body. This does not prove that our current body is not redeemed from illness, any more than Paul's later statement in Romans 13:11 that salvation is nearer now than when we first believed proves that salvation is not for this present life.)


The groaning of our spirits has more to do with the fact that we are stuck with unregenerate flesh for the rest of our earth walk. Our flesh is not born again, and will constantly lead us into trouble unless we make a point of walking in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This is a battle you will fight every day. Can you see why your spirit wants to be free from this?

You might make an argument that the passage in question has to do with aging, but you cannot prove that the passage has anything to do with getting sick. Sickness is never mentioned either in the passage or in its context. Therefore, you cannot use this passage to prove that you should have to groan with sickness as your outer man perishes!