1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 We pray that God himself, the God of peace, will make you pure—belonging only to him. We pray that your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—will be kept safe and be blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. 24 The one who chose you will do that for you. You can trust him. (ERV)
23-24 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it! (MSG)
This past Sunday Mike, in his sermon, mentioned two sides of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
“For good” in our understanding sometimes means peace and prosperity, God’s idea of “for good” is His desire to get us ready for eternal life. Our Heavenly Father who is holy and whole and who is able to put us together from whatever shape we are in, understands our human nature and the fact that we need to learn lessons.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Paul wants to teach us one of the needed lessons. If we want to inherit eternal life of peace, we need to be ready to set ourselves apart from the world, “sanctify” ourselves, declare our TOTAL belonging to the pure, holy, and whole GOD. We can find excuses why we cannot do what we know we should do… And yes, there is grace that covers us when we fall short of the goal. It does not however take away the responsibility of keeping ourselves (spirit, soul and body) safe and blameless when Christ comes. Pray for it and guess what… we are not alone… “The one who chose you will do that for you. You can trust him.”
MoSt Church 