Paul had earlier told his friends in Thessalonica that he prays for them continually. Here he mentions a couple of specific things about which he prays. And among them, he beseeches the Lord for their sanctification and preservation. As we shall see, these things are somewhat related. One is the Lord working in the spiritual life, while the other is in the realm of the physical.
Together, these remind us of other scriptures, such as… I Thessalonians 3:13 – “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” And Titus 2:14 – “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” If, as in our first scripture, these are directly related to the Lord’s coming, they must be important. The Lord left the glories of Heaven to become our sacrifice for sin. And soon He is coming again – and how does that relate to us?
In order to get to that, we have to consider the one to whom Paul prays.
He addresses the One who is the God of Peace. In last Sunday’s adult class we noted – “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly….” The subject of peace is a huge study with facets reaching into a dozen areas – world peace, personal relationships, peace with oneself, peace with God. There is a peace with God, and there is a “peace of God that passeth all understanding.” If we can’t understand it, why is it important? For same reason that the ability to think is important – even though we may not understand how the mind works. We just know that it’s a good idea to have a functioning mind. When it comes to peace it is sufficient to know that Jehovah is the source of every variety.
But this time, the peace to which Paul refers is that of preservation and sanctification. The Lord wants there to be peace between His holy nature and our weak and sinful nature. For this reason Christ died, and for this reason there is the necessity of increasing sanctification. For this reason Christ died, and for this reason He is coming again.
Some people can’t grasp the idea that the Lord really does want peace with us. Some say, “If God wants peace, then why does He make me feel guilty, when I do the things I love.” Some say, “Well if He wants peace, tell Him to mind His own business. If He’d quit harping on sin and picking on me, we’d get along a lot better than we do.” Sorry folk, but Jehovah is God, and we are not. We have no room for negotiation with Him. Our job is to surrender, not to argue. When we do His will willingly, we shall have genuine peace with God.
For what is Paul praying?
First, it is for entire sanctification. Some of you might remember a Canadian friend of mine, who was struck down with polio as a child. He has partial use of one leg, and almost no use of the second. But the man is a joy – a Christian – a warm and friendly person. Nevertheless, there are some things that just cannot do. He can throw a baseball, but he can’t run the bases. He can sing, but he can’t dance. Perhaps this is the way we should picture a person who isn’t growing in sanctification. The man may be a good preacher, or an able teacher of the Word of God. At the same time, his life is just a little maimed. But when the Lord redeemed us, He did so with the purpose of saving the whole person.
Paul uses the word “wholly.” That word needs to be defined in the light of the rest of the verse – body, soul and spirit. We can all understand what is meant by “body” and it needs no further explanation. The “soul” refers to our self-consciousness. It involves our senses, our emotions, our intellect, and our general interaction with the world. It is primarily about our souls when God says, “Be not conformed to the world.” The “spirit” is that part of us which is quickened by the Holy Spirit in salvation. After regeneration it becomes God-sensitive; it is our spirit which feels the grieving of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit beareth witness with our human spirit that we are the sons of God.” The soul is the place of our self-consciousness, while the spirit is the place of our God-consciousness. It is sanctification in every part of the human trinity for which Paul prays.
But many professed Christians want sanctification in less than in its entirety. They want the comfort of peace, and with it, the ability to pray as they choose. They might want the illumination of the scriptures and fellowship with God, while they continue to complain about their lot in life. They want peace in the spirit, but to maintain sin in their body or soul. They want freedom to pick and choose their messages from the Lord. In Judas, can’t we see some sanctification, without the spiritual full sanctification? The truth is – the body, by its fallen nature, hates sanctification. Remember that when something is sanctified, it becomes a sanctuary. Does the body really want to be occupied and fully used for the Lord? The body, and usually the soul, want their own autonomy – not God’s rule. It is Paul’s prayer that we be sanctified in body and soul, as well as spirit. Only as we are wholly sanctified will we be able to serve Lord at our best.
The second thing for which Paul prays is preservation.
And once again, it is of the body, soul and spirit. Praise the Lord there is absolute safety for the soul and spirit. Once we are saved by God’s grace, that soul is kept by the power of God unto salvation. Paul said, “I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” One of our cardinal doctrines is the eternal security of the soul. It emphasizes the fact that we are saved by God’s sovereign grace, not anything in ourselves. On the other hand, there are things about our souls, which can suffer greatly. Do you ever become discontent, sad, disgruntled, depressed? Have you ever felt that your heart had been torn out somehow? It is not wrong to pray that the Lord keep us from such things. Nor is it wrong to pray for the protection or preservation of our bodies. It is the Lord who spares us from evil and from the evil one. We have Biblical precedent in these things. We have permission to pray for the Lord’s protection within His omniscient will.
But what assurance do we have that the Lord really cares about such things? We are assured of these things based upon our high and Heavenly calling. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” This is one of those cases where “all things” doesn’t mean “every thing.” Our salvation from the penalty of our sins, doesn’t mean that now we can sin without chastisement. The “all things” must refer to all those things which please and glorify the Lord. So the call of God guarantees the care of God. And the care of God gives us the assurance of the faithfulness of God. That faithfulness is great enough to even sing about. “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” And “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” We are encouraged to link our preservation to the love and faithfulness of God. And as Paul prayed about this preservation for his friends, we may pray about it as well.
And our motivation for doing so, is the realization that Christ is returning soon.
The apostle was looking for the Saviour. When He returns every child of God shall be plucked off this earth with all its sin-caused problems. But sadly, many of us will be thoroughly red-faced when we face the holiness of God. When we, too, are supposed to be holy – growing in sanctified separation – we are not.
This is why Paul teaches us to pray for and to seek the sanctification of the Lord.