What is the hope of the believer regarding this mortal body?
The believer’s hope is not to be unclothed but clothed upon, receiving a new, far better body when this mortal one ceases. This body prone to death will never die; it will be replaced by an immortal one free from pain, sickness, and cold. That is the believer’s hope.
Les explains that while we are still in this tabernacle—still in the flesh and burdened—we are not so much looking forward to losing this old body and having soul and spirit separated from it. The whole prospect is that as soon as this body has quit functioning and is no longer necessary, we have a new one, one far better. It will never again have pain, sickness, or even a cold. The body that is prone to die is never going to die, and that is the hope of the believer. Les also ties this to the earnest, or down payment, of the Spirit, which is a holding pattern until the later consummation.