I’VE HEARD IT said that faith will never remain status quo. It will either grow or go. In other words, you can reach a certain level in your faith, but you won’t remain there forever. To sustain your current level of faith and progress to the next, some faith maintenance is required.
First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “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 our Lord Jesus Christ.” Some commentaries and Bible dictionaries use the word “maintain” instead of preserved. I like that. You could say, “I pray your whole spirit, soul, and body be maintained together.”
You see, as born-again believers, we can’t give attention just to feeding our spirits. That’s important, but we also have a soul (mind, will, and emotions) and we live in a body.
The first part of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” The word sanctify—in its simplest definition—means “to set apart.” You could say, “The very God of peace set you apart wholly.” God desires us to set our whole being apart unto Him! To live a sanctified life of faith, we must manage not only our spirit, but our mind, will, and emotions as well.
What exactly is Paul instructing us to do in this verse? He’s saying that our whole spirit, soul, and body should be maintained unified together in our faith life. Our soul should agree with our spirit, and our body should obey the instructions of God’s Word. To see and experience the full impact of the life of faith, this must be our lifestyle. Then we’ll have the kind of power Jesus had when He walked the earth.
Remember, every time Jesus spoke, demons trembled. The wind and water obeyed, and the sick were healed. When words came from Jesus’ mouth, they carried the full power and life of God. Satan had no choice but to bow his knee. That’s the result of a sanctified life of faith!
To reach and sustain that level of faith, what kind of maintenance is required?
First, we’ve got to avail ourselves of reading and studying the Word. The Spirit of God is at work when we read the Bible. We’re feeding our inner man—our spirit—but we’re also doing something where our soul is concerned. The Holy Spirit is taking the Word and changing our thinking. (Some squirrelly stuff is going on in our minds that needs to get out of there!) It doesn’t matter whether we feel or sense something, or even understand completely what we’re reading. Something is happening to our souls.
Second, we must maintain our bodies. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
We can’t hide behind our flesh and say, “I just can’t do that.” No! We’ve got to bring our bodies in line with the Word. We have to sacrifice what the body wants to do—and would do—if we didn’t present it to the Lord.
Some people may argue, “That’s too hard.” No, it’s not. Romans 12:1 says it’s our “reasonable” service. It’s not anything out of the question. And Philippians 4:13 says we can do all things through Christ Who gives us strength!
What are we doing? We’re unifying. We’re feeding our spirit and aligning our soul and body with God’s Word to live a sanctified life of faith. When we do this, we’re following Jesus.
2013.]
Author
Charles Cowan
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