1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

 

Rachel Workman: ²³ 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. ²⁴ God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. Nothing should be more comforting than to know the one who called you is faithful. Very much unlike us humans.

²⁵ Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.

²⁶ Greet all the brothers and sisters with a sacred kiss.

²⁷ I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸ May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you

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John Burnett:  23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.

25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us[m].

26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.

28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Paul is closing out his first letter to the Thessalonians with a prayer/blessing and instructions.  Verse 23 is his wish for these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.  When you become a born-again believer, you begin the process of sanctification.  The process of sanctification is the believer becoming more and more like Christ until that believer dies and receives their glorified body.  Paul then ask for prayer in verse 25 and puts them under an oath to share this letter with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  If you don't have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are under the wrath of Jesus Christ, because you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, as stated in the scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone. 

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Tomorrow’s reading for 2 Thessalonians 1:1-6

1 This letter is from Paul, Silas,^[a] and Timothy.

We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² May God our Father^[b] and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³ Dear brothers and sisters,^[c] we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. ⁴ We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. ⁵ And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. ⁶ In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.