23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
Along with grace, peace is a significant theme in the writings of the apostle Paul, both being included in the opening salutations of every one of his letters. He who once persecuted the church as the archenemy of the early Christian movement had come to experience the overwhelming grace and peace of God in his life, so he desired that for all his readers.
Now he prays in the familiar form of benediction that the God of peace would complete the work that He had begun in them (see Phil. 1:6). He desires them to be completely untainted by sin and worldliness, set apart completely for God. At salvation, we are positionally set apart (that is, initially sanctified) to God. But we must grow in maturity and holiness, which we call progressive sanctification, that is, we must continually be set apart. We might say that we are already sanctified, but there is a sense in which we are not yet wholly sanctified.
To those who insist that humans are composed of only two parts, the physical (or body) and the spiritual, Paul speaks of what is called a tripartite view of humans. We are composed of spirit, soul, and body. Many have suggested different understandings of the three parts, but we find some help in considering the following: The body is that aspect of our humanity that relates to the outer world around us, the physical side. The soul is that aspect that relates to ourselves, our self-consciousness, our inner thoughts. The spirit is that aspect of our humanity that relates to God, the innermost being. Yet we recognize that sometimes Scripture uses “soul” in contrast to “body” in a way that gives the sense of only two parts to humans (e.g. Matt. 10:28). Be that as it may, the point Paul makes here is that he prays that all believers would be preserved completely or kept blameless.
This all takes on a sense of urgency in light of the expected return of Christ. He is the one who has called us to be saints and has brought us into His service. He has set us apart for this purpose, and He will return. This all depends on the faithfulness of God. If He were not faithful, then all the promises and commands are off the table, for we would have nothing to rely on, nothing upon which to base our hope. They would all be empty words. But He is faithful. And we stake our lives and our future on this being true.
Lord, I do believe You are faithful, and that is why I trust Your promises.
I have not received (as of 4:13 PM) E-MED for today March 28th – is it on the way?