1 Thessalonians 5:23
“ And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Salvation is not the end, but the beginning. After salvation, the process of sanctification begins. The purpose of sanctification is so that Christians will be conformed into the image of Christ so that they will be “preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is coming a day when every Christian will meet Jesus face to face. Some will meet Jesus through the avenue of death while others will meet Him when He returns to take us to Heaven. Whatever avenue we travel to meet Jesus, we should endeavor to have lived the sanctified life to the point that we have been preserved blameless.
You find in the verse above that God wants us to be wholly sanctified. In other words, He wants our body, soul and spirit to be preserved blameless through sanctification. It is not good enough to just put on the outward sanctification, but God wants every part of our being to be blameless when we meet Jesus. What is the road to sanctification that will preserve us blameless for His coming?
First, verse 16 shows that rejoicing is the first step to being sanctified. To rejoice is to have joy or great delight. This is part of working on your spirit. In other words, God wants us to continually work on having a rejoicing spirit. He wants our spirit to be one that is filled with joy all the time. Your spirit will dictate your outlook. If a Christian is going to travel the road of sanctification, then they must start the road by having a joyful spirit.
Second, verse 17 shows that a prayer life helps to sanctify the Christian. If your prayer life is anemic, then you will find your life is not being sanctified as God would like. Prayer is the tool that gives the Christian power to be conformed into Christ’s image.
Third, verse 18 shows that being thankful for all things will help sanctify the Christian. Friend, it is not good enough to simply be thankful for the things you like, but you should be thankful for everything that God allows you to face. Having a thankful spirit will help to sanctify you.
Fourth, verse 19 shows that yielding to the Spirit of God will help sanctify the Christian. If you are not daily yielding yourself to the Holy Spirit of God, then you will never be conformed into Christ’s image. In every moment of every day you should yield yourself to the Holy Spirt. When you quench the Spirit, you quench the sanctification process in your life.
Fifth, verse 20 shows that preaching is important for the sanctification of the believer. This is why we must be faithful to church. One sermon a week is not going to help sanctify the believer. We need to be faithful to all services so that the preaching of God’s Word will help to sanctify us.
Sixth, verse 21 shows that part of sanctification is proving all things. In other words, don’t just follow what people say, but be sure that what they say is backed by the Scriptures. Blindly following respected personalities and institutions will hinder the sanctification process. God’s Word is the final authority by which all things must be proved before we follow.
Finally, verse 22 shows that a Christian must abstain from all appearances of evil to be sanctified. Don’t allow yourself to be found in places where evil occurs. Don’t watch or think of evil in private. Avoid the appearance of any evil in your life.
Christian, these seven things are important to being preserved blameless. If you will follow these seven steps, then you will find that God will continually sanctify you for that time when you meet Him face to face.