According to verses 2 through 5, Paul regards himself as two persons. In verse 2 he says, “I know a man in Christ.” Referring to this man in Christ, he says in verse 5, “On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on behalf of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.” The man in Christ in verse 2 is the apostle (v. 7), not as the old creation but as the new creation (5:17). In this section the apostle desires to boast of the new creation in Christ by boasting of his weaknesses in the flesh, the old creation (vv. 5, 9).
The man in Christ mentioned in verse 2 was not Saul; it was Paul. Saul was the natural man, and Paul is the new man in Christ. It would be good if we all had two names: a name to denote the person before we were saved, what we were in Adam, and a name of the person who is now in Christ. Formerly we were a Saul; now we are a Paul.
Some time ago I heard that one writer said that there were two William Laws. The first William Law was a man of doctrine, knowledge, theology, letter, and tradition. The second William Law was a person of the Spirit and in the Spirit. The first William Law did not know anything concerning the Spirit, although he had much knowledge of theology and tradition. But one day he had a new beginning, and he became a person of the Spirit. This was the one who improved upon the teachings of certain mystical writers and made those teachings practical. We may say that eventually William Law became a man in Christ. Later Andrew Murray was helped by the writings of William Law.
When Paul speaks of a man in Christ, he is referring to his second man, to his second person. He would boast of this man, but he would not boast of the old self. In verse 5 the word “myself” refers to Paul’s old self, not to his new self. It refers to Saul, not to Paul. Paul’s new self was altogether in Christ. This man in Christ was a new creation.
If we would pay attention to ourselves as believers, we shall see that we also are two persons. On the one hand, we are a person with an old self; on the other hand we are a person with a new self. This person is in Christ and is a new creation. We should no longer care for the first person. Instead, we should follow the second.
What happened to Paul, a man in Christ, as recorded in these verses, is mysterious. Not even Paul was able to tell whether he was in the body or outside the body. In verse 3 he says, “Whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know—God knows.” It is certain that Paul did not go into a trance. We should not think that what is described here is the experience of someone in a trance. What happened to Paul was beyond his ability to express, for not even he himself was altogether clear about it.
According to verses 2 and 4, two things happened to Paul. First, he was caught away to the third heaven; second, he was caught away into Paradise. In verse 2 Paul says, “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I do not know, or outside the body I do not know—God knows), such a one was caught away to the third heaven.” The Greek word rendered “caught away” here is the same word as in Acts 8:39 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Literally the Greek word translated “to” means till within, that is, as far as. The visible clouds may be considered the first heaven, and the sky, the second heaven. The third heaven must refer to the heaven of the heavens, the highest heaven (Deut. 10:14; Psa. 148:4), where the Lord Jesus and God are today (Eph. 4:10; Heb. 4:14; 1:3).
Notice that verse 2 does not speak of Paul being caught up; it says that he was caught away to the third heaven. There is an important difference between being caught up and being caught away. In Acts 8:39 Philip was caught away by the Spirit. He knew that he was in the body when he was thus caught away. However, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or outside the body when he was caught away to the third heaven.
The third heaven is a Hebrew expression denoting the highest heaven. As we have pointed out, the clouds may be regarded as the first heaven and the sky beyond the clouds as the second. The third heaven, therefore, must be the heaven above the sky, in biblical terms, the heaven above the heavens. Today the Father and the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, are in this highest heaven. Paul was caught away to this highest heaven.
In verses 3 and 4 Paul continues, “And I know such a man (whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know—God knows), that he was caught away into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not allowed a man to speak.” The conjunction “and” is an important word here. It indicates that what is mentioned in verses 3 and 4 is another matter in addition to what is mentioned in the preceding verse. Verse 2 tells us that the apostle was caught away to the third heaven. Now verses 3 and 4 tell us something further, that the apostle was also caught away to another place, into Paradise. This indicates strongly that Paradise is not synonymous with the third heaven in verse 2. It refers to a place other than the third heaven.
Many interpreters or expositors of the Bible regard the third heaven and Paradise as the same place. According to their understanding, when Paul was caught away to the third heaven, he was also caught away to Paradise. However, Paradise is not synonymous with the third heaven. The conjunction at the beginning of verse 3 indicates that here Paul is describing two different experiences. First, he was caught away to the third heaven. Then he was caught away to Paradise.
Paradise is the pleasant section in Hades, where the spirits of Abraham and all the just are, awaiting the resurrection (Luke 16:22-23, 25-26), and where the Lord Jesus went after His death and stayed until His resurrection (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:24, 27, 31; Eph. 4:9; Matt. 12:40). This Paradise differs from the Paradise in Revelation 2:7, which will be the New Jerusalem in the millennium. In this section the apostle tells of the transcendence of the revelations he has received. In the universe there are mainly three sections: the heavens, the earth, and Hades under the earth (Eph. 4:9). As a man living on earth, the apostle knows the things of the earth. But men do not know the things either in the heavens or in Hades. However, the apostle was brought away to both of these unknown places. Hence, he received visions and revelations of these hidden regions. For this reason he mentions these two uttermost parts of the universe. When the Lord Jesus died, He did not go immediately to the third heaven. Rather, He went to a place called Paradise. One of the thieves said to Him, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The Lord Jesus answered, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Furthermore, according to Acts chapter two, the Lord Jesus went to Hades after He died (v. 31). If we put together these two portions of the Word, we see that Paradise must be in Hades.
In Luke 16 we have a picture of the two sections of Hades, the section of comfort and the section of torment. When Lazarus died, he went to the section of comfort, where Abraham was. When the rich man died, he went to the section of torment. Paradise, therefore, is the comfortable, restful section of Hades.