The Final Goal: Sanctification of Spirit, Soul, and Body (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)

What every Christian must keep in view, while working on himself in the spirit of zeal for pleasing God and for salvation—in compelling himself toward good and resisting evil—is the purification of himself from all passions, so that in no part of his nature there should remain anything impure, but that he should become wholly pure and blameless before the face of the all-seeing God Himself. — For this very purpose Christians were chosen even before the foundation of the world, to “be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4). The fallen man received into himself the seeds of evil passions, which grafted themselves to all the operations of his life and poison them all with their venom. When by God’s grace he rises again and makes the resolve no longer to indulge the passions but to live henceforth according to the will of God, and actually begins to act in this way, then the passions, receiving no nourishment, begin to weaken and weaken until they are wholly extinguished. Conversely, the natural operations of the powers, being freed from the corrupting action of the passions, under the action of gracious influences, efforts, and pious exercises, begin to recover their original goodness—the goodness for which they were destined in creation and in which they came forth from the hands of the Creator. When everything in the Christian has become pure and perfect, he becomes holy; while he is making his way toward this degree, he is being sanctified. God leads His chosen one to this perfection, though not without the participation of the person’s own efforts and the strivings of his spirit that is zealous for salvation. This is why the holy Paul prays for this to God, thereby teaching the Thessalonians themselves as well to sigh unceasingly for this toward His goodness.

1 Thess. 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 to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With a burning spirit, fulfilling every recognized good and turning away from every shadow of evil, the Christian sets himself on the path toward complete purification. One who has attained such a disposition stands at the threshold of holiness. The holy Paul sees the Thessalonians as such, and, as it were having equipped them for the good journey, speeds them on their way with the blessing that God would help them reach the end as well. He expresses this in a prayer to God, from Whom is every good and every perfect gift.

“The very God…” Do not put your trust in your own efforts and labors; they will not bring you to the goal unless God Himself takes you under His protection and care. But at the same time be assured that when you do everything on your part, God Himself also will not forsake you—He will come to your aid and by His cooperation will crown your labors with success. When He thus acts within you, do not doubt that you will attain what you seek—“the God of peace.” Sanctification both begins with the establishment of the first fruits of inner peace with God and conscience, and, as it matures, strengthens this peace. This is the preeminent fruit of sanctification. It is customary to honor benefactors with the titles of the blessings received from them; and the Apostle, knowing that the highest blessing from the salvation which God has ordered within us is peace, names Him the God of peace—not only here, but in many other places as well (Rom. 15:33; 16:20; Phil. 4:7, 9, and others). “Sanctify”—make “holy and unblameable and unreproveable” before Himself (Col. 1:22), so that nowhere in you there remains any “spot, or wrinkle” or anything “of such things,” but that you may be “holy and without blemish” in everything (Eph. 5:27), cleansed from every “filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). “Wholly”—from the Greek, in all parts — ολοτελεις (as also in the Slavonic parenthesis—“in all things”). Just as sin and the passions have penetrated all parts of human nature and interwoven themselves with them, so the Apostle desires sanctification also in all parts, so that the grace of God—guided everywhere by the person’s own efforts—might fill everything with itself and purge from everything all that is sinful, and transform all the members, which were formerly slaves “of uncleanness and of iniquity to iniquity,” into slaves “of righteousness to holiness” (Rom. 6:19).

The following words explain what all-encompassing sanctification in all parts means: “and your whole spirit” and the rest. — “Whole”—from the Greek ολοκληρον υμων — the whole of you, all of you, your entire constitution. And what is this all of you? — Spirit, and soul, and body. All these constituent parts of human nature, may they be preserved in blamelessness until the coming of the Lord. Just as having acquired some property one must still guard it, so one must guard the purity and freedom from passions acquired through toil with the help of grace. At every moment the danger of enticements and falls threatens, from which only God’s help can preserve. This is why it does not say: preserve yourselves, but “be preserved”—by that same God of peace, Who also produces the all-encompassing sanctification. Whatever degree a person stands on, the fear of falling does not leave him, and consequently help from above is needed for his protection. And this continues until the very departure from this life, or until the coming of Christ.

“Spirit and soul and body”—a divinely revealed indication of the constitution of human nature. As a small world, man combines within himself all the modes of life that appeared in his predecessors on the ladder of creation. He has both vegetative-animal life, and animal-soulish life together with soulish-human life, and spiritual life, which belongs exclusively to him and characterizes him. These are designated by the words: body, soul, and spirit. The body is our animal-vegetative organism, with all its operations and needs. The soul is the principle of those inward conscious phenomena in us that begin with sensory perceptions, inclinations, and sensations, and end with scientific constructions, wide-ranging initiatives and enterprises, and productions of taste. The spirit is the organ of communion with God—the power that is conscious of God, seeks God, and lives by God. Its essential features are consciousness and freedom; its moving principles are faith in God, the feeling of all-round dependence upon Him, and confidence in Him. Its manifestations of life are the fear of God, the actions of conscience, and the thirst for communion with God, expressed (from the outward side) in dissatisfaction with anything creaturely. This is that breath of God-like life which God breathed into the first-created at creation. Having united in man with the animal soul, it transformed it into the human soul, which therefore in its actions shows a basic kinship with both animals and the spirit. Since the spirit is the distinguishing mark of man, this spirit has been granted the predominant position in man over soul and body, on condition of its own full obedience to God. The normal constitution of man is: the spirit in God, under its governance the soul, under both the body. When man fell from God, the spirit lost its power over the soul, and the soul lost its power over the body. The life of the fallen man became chiefly carnal—sensual—with a weak soulish life and an even weaker spiritual life. The prevenient—calling—grace of God, drawing near to man, acts directly upon his spirit and, quickening its elements—the fear of God, conscience, and the thirst for communion with God—turns him to the Lord the Saviour, Who, uniting grace with it forever in the sacraments, restores to the spirit its predominant position in man. From this moment the grace-endowed spirit begins to authoritatively govern the soulish powers and actions, with a view to transforming the soul entirely according to its own principles—or to spiritualizing it. Accustomed to occupations and tastes of another kind, the soulish man does not yield at once; hence the struggle that is the inevitable property of the truly Christian life. The body is the passive instrument of the soulish-spiritual life. The fallen life—sinful, passionate, sensual—forms its throne, dwelling, and stronghold chiefly in the body. The grace of God, guiding the spirit in the labors of the restoration of man from the fall, teaches it first of all to take this stronghold, in which everything sinful and passionate takes shelter and from which it receives reinforcement. Hence, immediately upon conversion, rigorous bodily efforts—the crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and lusts—to expel all corruption from there and thereby deprive it of its support. The aim of this labor is to sober the body and make it a submissive instrument of the spirit in its aims and strivings.

From all this everyone can understand when spirit, and soul, and body are blameless. The spirit is blameless when it is wholly in God, does not submit to the soul but subjects the soul to itself and directs and orders it according to its own principles. The soul is blameless when, suppressing within itself every passionateness, it follows in all things the contemplations, inspirations, and tastes of the spirit and permits nothing contrary to these—neither in learning, nor in the arts, nor in undertakings—and governs the body, not obeying it but making it its instrument. The body is blameless when one does not gratify it in its lusts, but keeps it in the strict measure of nature, cutting off all that is lustful.

The holy Chrysostom, Theodoret, the holy (John of) Damascus, Oecumenius, and Theophylact understand by “spirit” the divine grace communicated to believers in baptism, and understand the prayer for the preservation of the spirit in blamelessness as a prayer for the preservation unextinguished of this grace, which renders us blameless. This does not refute the thoughts set forth above. The spirit of fallen man, by itself, cannot act in accordance with its calling. The power to do so it receives from God’s grace descending upon it, without which its actions are not visible, and it is as if it does not exist. So that to preserve the spirit is the same as to preserve grace, and to preserve grace is the same as to preserve the spirit. The holy Chrysostom confirms this by saying: “When we preserve the gift (of the Holy Spirit) wholly in us, then our spirit too will remain unharmed.” — Oecumenius expresses the same thought when he says: “If we do not quench the grace of the Holy Spirit through evil deeds, it will be preserved in us whole, brightly kindling our own lamp (that is, our spirit). And if the spirit abides safely whole in us, then soul and body too will be kept blameless.” — Grace, having come into us, does not create new powers but restores those that are fallen and disordered. If, through grace, spiritual actions manifest themselves in us, they do so only from our spirit, restored by grace. And grace itself is not something separate from God, but is the restoration of communion with God—interrupted by the fall and now restored again as a result of the turning of the spirit to God and its self-surrender to Him, which God Himself brought about. The increase of grace in us is the broadening and deepening of communion with God. Its summit the Saviour indicated when He said: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him” (Jn. 14:23). And it is the Holy Spirit Who disposes one to keep the word of the Lord and gives the power to do so, and thus prepares a habitation fitted for God’s indwelling—this supreme good is immediately connected with the blamelessness of spirit, soul, and body.

Having expressed such lofty aspirations, the Apostle hastens to remove every wavering of hope in their fulfillment, restoring in the consciousness of the Thessalonians the assurance of God’s faithfulness to Himself.

1 Thess. 5:24. Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.

He will do all this—all that I wish for you—and such as I command you to be, such He will make you, so that you will assuredly stand before the Lord at His coming, blameless. This is as certain as faithful is He Who called you. He called—He will not abandon. Since He called you into His kingdom, into which nothing impure shall enter, He Who called you for the kingdom will also purify you for your entrance into it. “He who has begun will also complete it” (Phil. 1:6). “If He called you to salvation, and He is true, then He will certainly save you, for He desires this” (Chrysostom). Herein lies the foundation of hope of salvation for every Christian. Who could approach God, or utter before Him a vow to serve Him alone, if the assurance did not descend into his heart that He Who desires not the death of the sinner will never forsake him and will by whatever ways He knows lead him to the desired end (compare: 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:13; 2 Thess. 3:3; Heb. 10:23; 11:11). — Do not waver. The Lord will fulfill His promises—only be faithful to Him and diligent in everything required of you. Seek, strive, labor without slackening—and it shall be. Man is weak and changeable; his resolutions are unsteady. But God, through His grace, in those who surrender themselves to Him, knows how to bring the unsteady will of man into agreement with His own will and to fulfill through people, by their own powers, His intentions for them.