1 Thessalonians 5:23-28
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. Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us. Greet all the brothers and sisters with a sacred kiss. I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
There is a question that has the power to stop us in our tracks, to cut through the noise of daily life and reach something deep within us. It is not a complicated question. It does not require a theology degree to understand. But it demands an honest answer. The question is simply this: Are you ready?
Ready for what, you might ask. Ready for the return of Jesus Christ. Ready to meet the God who is described in Scripture as the God of peace, the God of faithfulness, and the God of grace. These are not merely poetic titles. They are the very nature of who God is, and understanding them changes everything about how we live, how we pray, and how we prepare.
The God of Peace
When the Bible speaks of God as the God of peace, it is not describing a passive, hands-off kind of calm. It is pointing to something far more profound. Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. It is a state of wholeness, of rightness, of everything being as it should be between God and humanity.
The closing chapter of Hebrews offers a breathtaking benediction that captures this beautifully. In Hebrews 13:20-21, the writer prays that the God of peace, who raised Jesus from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant, would equip believers with everything good for doing his will. The God of peace is also the God of resurrection. The God of peace is the God who acts, who moves, who equips. Peace is not something we manufacture for ourselves through better habits or positive thinking. It flows from a relationship with the living God.
This raises a searching question worth sitting with quietly. Are you finding it hard to be at peace? Is there a restlessness in your heart that no amount of distraction or busyness can settle? The closer we draw to God, the more peace we experience. This is not a formula or a self-help technique. It is a spiritual reality. Peace is one of God's attributes, part of who he is, and when we draw near to him, we draw near to peace itself.
Holiness Is God's Work in Us
Woven tightly into the theme of peace is the call to holiness. First Thessalonians 5:23 expresses a longing that the whole spirit, soul, and body of every believer would be kept blameless until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a staggering prayer. And it raises an equally staggering question. How could any of us possibly achieve that kind of wholeness?
The answer is that we cannot, not on our own. Holiness is not the result of gritting our teeth and trying harder. It is the work of God within us. Galatians 3:3 asks a pointed question, wondering how anyone could begin their new life in the Spirit and then attempt to reach perfection through their own human effort. It is a question that lands with uncomfortable precision on our tendency to take over from God and rely on ourselves.
The work of making us holy is God's work. Theologians call it sanctification. It is the ongoing process by which God shapes us, changes us, and transforms us from the inside out. The Father created us. The Son redeems us. The Holy Spirit changes us. That simple summary carries enormous weight. The Holy Spirit who lives within every believer is not a passive presence. He is actively at work, producing holiness, cultivating blamelessness, and preparing us for the day when Christ returns.
The God of Faithfulness
This brings us to one of the most comforting truths in all of Scripture. God is faithful. He does not begin a work and abandon it halfway through. Philippians 1:6 assures us that God, who began a good work within us, will continue that work until it is fully finished on the day Jesus Christ returns. The young man who gave his heart to God for the very first time is just beginning. But the God who called him is faithful to complete what he has started.
Lamentations 3:22-24 reminds us that the faithful love of the Lord never ends, that his mercies never cease, and that they begin afresh each morning. Great is his faithfulness. These words, written in the midst of devastation and grief, are a declaration that God's faithfulness does not depend on our circumstances. It is not contingent on how well things are going. It is rooted in who God is, and who God is never changes.
This faithfulness is our anchor. When we struggle to feel holy, when peace seems distant, when we wonder whether God is still at work in our messy, complicated lives, the answer is found not in our feelings but in his character. He who calls us is faithful.
The God of Grace
Paul begins his letter to the Thessalonians with a greeting of grace and peace, and he ends it the same way. In 1 Thessalonians 5:28, his final words are simply this: may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. It is as though Paul cannot help himself. Having said everything he needs to say, he returns to the thing that matters most. Grace.
Grace is the rich, undeserved blessing of God poured out on people who have no claim to it. It is the foundation of our salvation, the fuel of our sanctification, and the hope of our glorification. It is why Jesus took bread and a cup and said, remember me. Remember what I have done. Remember that this is grace made visible, grace made tangible, grace given freely.
Are You Ready?
Three attributes. Three anchors for the soul. The God of peace. The God of faithfulness. The God of grace.
The question that runs through all of this remains. Are you ready? Not ready in the sense of having everything figured out or having achieved some standard of perfection. Ready in the sense of knowing the God who is peace, trusting the God who is faithful, and resting in the God who is grace.
He is coming again. And he is more than enough to prepare you for that day.