The Holy Scriptures make many conditional promises regarding Christian believers that are to be received by faith in the One who promised them. The Apostle Peter tells us,

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)


If I may, I like to put it this way. Through God’s divine power, He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. He has done this through having called us by His own glory and goodness, through the knowledge of Christ, and through His very great and precious promises. Through them we can participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires, if we choose to!

Now, one of these great and precious promises of God given to us is the promise of our whole sanctification that incorporates the blameless preservation of our spirits, souls, and bodies unto the coming of the Lord.

“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 the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it.” (1Thessalonians 5:23-24)


Here we have the Apostle Paul offering a divinely inspired prayer to the God of all peace on behalf of the individual believers in the church at Thessalonica, that He would sanctify them wholly; and that their whole spirits and souls and bodies be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord. Then he adds a God breathed promise. “Faithful is He who calls you who will also do it.”

If “all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” which it is, (2 Timothy 3:16), and if “God is no respecter of persons,” which He is not, (Romans 2:11) then this promise is relative to all believers, including you and me. Right? So, this is a great and precious promise that we can choose to believe or disbelieve. If we choose to believe it, we must ask ourselves, how will the God of all peace sanctify us wholly; and how will our whole spirits and souls and bodies be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer is that He will do it in us, to us, and through us, but not without us.

To prove this fact, let’s turn to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He Himself gives us the answer to this question in a God breathed prayer offered to His Heavenly Father on behalf of His disciples and also on behalf of those who would believe in Him through their preaching. “Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth.” (John 17:17) And consider this exhortation of the Apostle Paul,

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)


The Holy Scriptures found in the Bible are the Word of God because they are God breathed. “All scripture is God–breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit are trusted in and obeyed, it results in the sanctification of the Christian believer’s whole spirit and soul and body through the truth of God’s word and the empowerment of His Spirit.

In the following scripture we find a condition in order to experience God’s sanctification; namely, we must continue in His word to know the truth, and if we do so, the truth will make us free from sin. Then we will be sanctified wholly, spirit, soul, and body unto the coming of the Lord!

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’” John 8:31-36


Let’s take a look at some scriptures that we must continue in, on a disciplined basis, in order to experience God’s conditional promise of sanctification for our spirits, souls, and bodies, so that we might know the truth, and so that the truth might make us free from sin.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)


But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:27)


Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)


“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But whoever keeps His word; truly the love of God is perfected in Him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)


With this in mind, please consider the following sobering scriptural truth dictated by the Lord Jesus Christ and recorded by the Apostle John.


But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelations 21:8)


As Christian believers the key concept for our sanctification is found in denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily and following Christ. Every day of our lives we can choose to do this or choose not to. If we choose to do this, we will experience the happiness of holiness that comes from sanctification; if we choose not to, we will experience the pleasures of sin for a season, but in the end it will pay off in dividends of death. (Romans 6:23 paraphrased)

Now, God has promised to sanctify us wholly, that our whole spirits, souls, and bodies would be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and remember, “Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it.” God has chosen to sanctify us through Christ’s own blood and the name of Jesus in which we have placed our trust, through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and leads and guides us into all truth, as well as through His words that are Spirit and life. All of these means and ways of God’s choosing involve the submission of our wills to His will. If He is leading, we must follow! If we refuse to submit our wills to His will, He will have to deal with us as disobedient sons, and this will mean unpleasant circumstances allowed by God for our ultimate good.

“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrew 12:5-11


The hard times and the difficult circumstances that we encounter as Christian believers are more often than not the results of our refusing to submit our wills to God’s will through chosen obedience to His word. If this is the case, then we must consider the hard times that we have to endure as the chastening of the Lord, and in that knowledge, run towards Him and not away from Him! “God will not tempt us with evil, neither can He be tempted with evil,” (James 1:13) but we have been “tempted through our own lust, drawn away and enticed.” (James 1:14) Remember, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Nevertheless, “If we lose faith He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself,” (2 Timothy 2:13) and “He will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able to bear, but will with the temptation, make a way of escape.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) And again, the way of escape from our sins is in our choosing to abide in Him through trusting and obeying His word (John 8:31-32) and through following the leading of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13)

Now, let’s take a look at the words of the psalmist, King David, on this subject of God’s faithfulness to afflict us for our correction, which he knew something about on a personal level!

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” (Psalm 119: 67, 71, 75)


This is the proper response when we are chastened of the Lord for our sinful behavior. May the sufferings that we endure as sons, who are learning obedience to the word of God, lead us to the happiness that comes from holiness. Jesus Himself, the sinless Son of God, had to learn obedience through the things that He suffered (Hebrew 5:8) and as Christ’s followers, so will we. If we learn our lesson well, it is a suffering that will lead us to comfort, and an ability to comfort others in their difficult circumstances.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)


In the economy of the Christian faith there are times like the one just quoted when Christian believers will have to endure suffering at the hands of sinful men because of our faithful identification with Christ. At other times like the ones previously quoted, Christian believers will have to endure the chastening of the Lord because of disobedience to His will, and because we have yielded to our own lusts, and at times even pursued them instead of denying self, taking up our own cross daily and following Jesus! Then, of course, there’s what every human being conceived in Adam and born of Eve has experienced. It is what William Shakespeare called, “The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” In all cases, it is the way we respond to suffering and chastening that will cause us to succeed or fail in our spiritual pilgrimage. The latter painful experiences mentioned above, that we might have to endure for righteousness sake, will require an abiding trust in God. This will lead to our comfort from Him. The former painful experiences mentioned above that we might have to endure for our disobedience will lead to repentance from our sins and learned obedience through the things that we suffer.

One way or the other, as Christian believers, the end results of our sufferings for righteousness or unrighteousness will lead to the sanctification and preservation of our whole spirits, souls, and bodies unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the most extreme cases our disobedience can lead to sickness and death, and this is why we must learn obedience through the minor afflictions that we suffer in order to avoid those extreme cases. Let’s take a look at a couple of such extreme examples revealed in the scriptures through the exhortations of the Apostle Paul for our sanctification and edification.

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-30)


In the following scripture it is recorded that Paul made a decision (based on the severity of this man’s sin) to pass righteous judgment on him through his apostolic authority. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” (John 20:23) He retained this man’s sin for the ultimate salvation of his spirit man, “the hidden man of the heart” on the Day of the Lord, and for the overall good of the church at Corinth. Would be that there were men of God to exercise such authority in the Church today!

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sin nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Your glorying is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. ” (1 Corinthians 5:1-7)


So we see that God is faithful to sanctify us wholly and to preserve our whole spirits, and souls, and bodies blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what the cost. First He shed His own blood on the cross and released His Spirit into our hearts; next He gave us a written document of His God-breathed words that are called the Holy Scriptures and are found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Again, these are the means to our sanctification if trusted in and obeyed. If not, He will allow difficult circumstances and afflictions in our lives in order to cause us to learn obedience through the things that we suffer and to turn back to Him by confessing and forsaking our sins. (Proverb 28:13) If this does not work, He will allow weakness and sickness in our lives, and even premature death so that our sin nature will be destroyed, and our spirits saved in the Day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5) Having said that, God’s ultimate and highest plan for our sanctification is found in the revelation of the atonement, and the following scriptures express this quite well.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:1-4)


It is my prayer, dear reader, that “whoever names the name of Jesus will depart from iniquity,” (2 Timothy 2:19), and that we will all “be subject to the Father of spirits and live” (Hebrews 12:9) instead of having to go through afflictions, weakness, sickness, and premature death, or even worse, the second death which is Hell and the Lake of Fire! (Revelations 21:8) God’s promise is to sanctify each Christian believer wholly, and his/her whole spirit, and soul, and body will be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this will require our choosing to believe His promises and work with Him through appropriating His grace through faith in and obedience to His Word and Spirit.

You might ask, why is all this necessary? The answer is simple, because “without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14) Our sanctification is a necessary part of our salvation that follows our justification in Christ and precedes our glorification in Christ. So let us “rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (Thessalonians 5: 16-18) After all, how can we do otherwise? Because, “Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

But again, I must emphasize, do it in us, to us, and through us, but not without us. God has and will be faithful to His promise to sanctify us wholly unto the coming of the Lord, but our consecration unto Him is required, and this will take “energy, enthusiasm, and effort” on our parts. In other words, God’s part is to sanctify us, and our part is to consecrate ourselves unto Him that we might be sanctified! So for God’s sake, and for our own present and eternal comfort and happiness, let us be resolute in working with Him and not against Him in this great enterprise the Bible calls sanctification.

A couple of other promises that we have from God are that if we will separate ourselves unto Him and from the corruption of world, then He will be our Father, and we will be His sons and daughters, and He will walk in our midst. (2 Corinthians 6: 14-18 paraphrased) But whoever defiles his body, which is the temple of God where the Spirit lives, God will destroy! (1 Corinthians 3:16 paraphrased) “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) Amen!