May God Sanctify You Completely

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV)

Now when it says, “the God of peace,” that word “peace” means “wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together; God’s gift of wholeness” (Greek interlinear). And wholeness is unity, entire, complete, undivided, healthy, sound, fit, healed, and restored. For when Jesus Christ delivers us out of our slavery to sin he makes us whole in Christ. He heals our sin-sick souls and he gives us spiritual well-being in him. For we die with him to sin and we are raised with him to now walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

And to be sanctified is the process of being made holy. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Christ in character, mind, and heart. And we are to be holy in all our conduct. We are no longer to live like the ungodly in worldly living and in sinful practices and in the worship of the idols that this world has to offer us. But now we are to live for Christ in denial of self and in dying daily to sin, and in daily walks of obedience to his commands. Sin is no longer to be our practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord are our practice.

Our entire being (spirit, soul, body) is to be given over to the Lord Jesus to do his will. For our salvation from sin is not just a free ride into heaven. Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died to free us from our bondage to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in obedience to his commands. Sin is no longer to be what we practice. Might we still sin sometimes? It is probable that we might (1 John 2:1-2), but we are saved from our sins so that we cease from sin and so that we now walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord.

Therefore, if sin is what we practice, deliberately, habitually, and even premeditatedly, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then the Scriptures teach that we are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, that we do not know God, we are not born of God, and we do not have eternal life with God. So to be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we must be those who are walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and who are not walking in sin, in practice – all by the grace of God and in the power of God, not of the flesh.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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