John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 5:7

"(for we walk by faith, not by sight);" — 2 Corinthians 5:7 (ASV)

For we walk by faith (Εἰδος). I have here rendered aspectum, (sight,) because few understood the meaning of the word species, (appearance.) He states the reason why we are now absent from the Lord—because we do not yet see Him face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12). The manner of that absence is this—that God is not openly seen by us.

The reason why He is not seen by us is that we walk by faith. Now, it is on good grounds that faith is opposed to sight, because it perceives those things that are hidden from human view—because it reaches out to future things, which do not yet appear.

For this is the condition of believers: they resemble the dead rather than the living; they often seem as if they were forsaken by God; they always have the elements of death contained within them. Therefore, they must necessarily hope against hope. (Romans 4:18). Now the things that are hoped for are hidden, as we read in Romans 8:24, and faith is the manifestation of things which do not appear. (Hebrews 11:1).

It is no wonder, then, if the apostle says that we do not yet have the privilege of sight, as long as we walk by faith. For we see, indeed, but it is through a glass, darkly; (1 Corinthians 13:12)—that is, instead of the reality, we rest upon the Word.