1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

I Thes. 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. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

“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.” God is the God of peace. It is He who brought peace between his elect and Him through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ. Moreover, it is through the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that God has given that we have the gospel of peace that brings peace in our hearts. Additionally we can have peace with one another by following the teachings of God’s words.

It is also God who sanctified or set us apart in election, in the spiritual birth, in the atoning blood of Christ for his elect and we are to set ourselves apart through obedience to the word of God.

The elect born-again person is a three-fold creature. He consists of body, soul, and spirit. For this Paul prayed that God’s elect among the members of the church at Thessalonica be preserved blameless. After the new or spiritual birth we know that the soul and spirit of the elect cannot sin, but the flesh still is possessed of a sinful nature. When we walk after the inner man then we are blameless before our God. When we walk in the flesh, we bring a reproach upon ourselves. However, in the resurrection we are assured that our soul, spirit, and body will be presented blameless before God and will never sin again.

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” It is God who called us in the miraculous working of the new or spiritual birth. It is also God who will present us perfect in the resurrection of the dead. God is faithful to do what he has promised to do.

“Brethren, pray for us.” Paul asked the brethren at Thessalonica to pray for the gospel ministers. The gospel ministers are often at the forefront of the battle and are faced with many hardships and trials as a result of being our front in fighting the good fight of faith. We should ever be mindful to pray for the gospel ministers.

“Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.” Often we are asked what is a holy kiss? Since the word holy appears it must be a separate kiss as that is what the word holy means. Thus, it is not a romantic kiss but a glad uniting of brothers and sisters when they meet. It can in my opinion take many forms. Often it is a loving embrace, or a warm handshake or even a kiss upon the cheek. It signifies a gladness to be once again in one another’s company to worship and serve the Lord.

“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.” I have read that in that time, there would have been very few copies of the scriptures available for the brothers and sisters to read. Just as the Old Testament was customarily read in the synagogues by the Jews on their meeting days, so Paul desired that the word of God be read aloud to the church. Another thing this teaches us is that Paul believed that what he had written to the Church at Thessalonica was the revealed truth revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Paul opened and closed his epistles with the mention of God's grace. He surrounded his writings with the mention of God's grace. Grace is the grand subject of what he wrote.