“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for He who calls you is Faithful.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NLT)
This world is constantly on the lookout to take us hostage – that’s the great tactic of the ruler of this dark world, aiming to steal, to kill and destroy all that he can. (ref. John 10:10). He looks to hold our mind captive to his lies, and if he can succeed in that he can manipulate so much of our lives.
At the same time the Holy Spirit is calling us to the ways of God and His purposes. Day after day the war is raging over us for our attention and our surrender. The question is, Will we choose the things of God, or fall prey to the enemy’s schemes? Or perhaps the greater question is, What are we depending on to ensure that our faith is kept intact so that we can be presented blameless before the Lord when He returns?
God is Faithful to do what He’s promised to do – to lead us by grace through faith. As our faith develops, our lives become more and more like Jesus. Simply put, in our surrender to the Holy Spirit, we start to grasp the things of God and understand our role in His redemptive plan and His Kingdom. We become expectant on the return of Jesus and desire the Holy Spirit to sanctify us in His Truth, His Love and His ways. Not just part of us, but ALL of us.
Paul makes it clear that the entire person is involved in sanctification. He names three specific parts of a person:
Spirit – the part of us that communes with God.
Soul – our mind, will, emotions and personality.
Body – the physical representation and visual testimony for others to know who we are or Who we’re living for.
The Holy spirit calls us to holiness in all areas of our life. He longs to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To sanctify us and preserve us completely until the day of Christ’s return. However, sanctification involves our effort in working with God. His grace is the source by which we receive salvation, and His grace is the sustaining power by which we keep the faith, but we all still have personal responsibility in the process. Where we make the active decision to cease rebellion against Christ, ridding ourselves of the ways and ideologies of the world, and heeding to the Word of God.
So, let’s pray today, that the Holy Spirit would have His way in us. That we would desire more of Him and less of us. That we would have the courage to ask Him to increase our faith, so that we would develop and grow into the likeness of Jesus and be excited and expectant each day for His return. Amen?
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