Deeper Reflection
PAUL PRAYS FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE THESSALONIANS twice in his letter (v.23; 1 Thess 3:12-13). Apparently, Paul “makes this a regular topic in his prayer”⁴⁸ for the Thessalonians. Is this so for us – for ourselves and for others?The God who sanctifies us is “the God of peace”. “Peace” here is “almost synonymous with Christian ‘salvation’”⁴⁹, as in “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). Paul’s prayer has two parallel parts: “sanctify” and “be kept blameless”, “completely” and “your whole spirit and soul and body”.The early church fathers mostly held a tripartite view of our humanness: “spirit and soul and body”⁵⁰. But the New Testament usually describes our humanness as having two parts: the one material – body, and the other immaterial – soul and spirit. “Soul” and “spirit” are often synonymous in Scripture, as in Mary’s prayer: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:46-47). But God has created us as whole persons and Paul has the whole person in mind in his prayer.When God sanctifies us as whole persons, our “inner being” (spirit and soul) is “renewed”, but our “outer being” (body) is “decaying” (2 Cor 4:16). So, while we become weaker on the outside, we become stronger on the inside. This divine sanctification is eschatological in nature: toward “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.23). And it is only on that day that Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body” (Phil 3:21).

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⁴⁸ Gary S. Shogren, 233 ⁴⁹ Gene L. Green, 267 ⁵⁰ John R. W. Stott, 133