Paul's Thessalonian Blessing - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23‭-‬28 CSB

God answers prayer. And He listens when we bless someone.

This passage from 1 Thessalonians is a blessing. It’s like a prayer, but the format is a bit different.

In a blessing, I am trying to keep God’s power in mind and the needs of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Blessings in English usually start with the word “may.”

What I love about this blessing is this: Paul does not hold back on his words. He expects God to do great things for these Thessalonians.

Look at what Paul says: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.”

Completely. This word makes it something that only God does. Nobody can sanctify me. I can’t do it for myself. And I certainly can’t do it completely. Complete - that’s a God word.

Paul goes on.

And notice that when he prays, he boldly asks for God’s power to work.

“May your WHOLE spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and BLAMELESS.”

See, that’s the power of God.

Blameless. Who is blameless? Jesus. What happens is this: His children get to piggy back on his perfect life. He covers me.

And Paul is going before the throne and asking that it be applied to a whole church in a different town.

And it’s a written blessing (prayer). I don’t have to confine myself to spoken blessings; I get to write them too.

Finally, he writes that God is faithful. When I pray or bless people, I should say things I know to be true about God. That way I don’t get lost in the weeds. It gives me great confidence.

And Paul says that God will do it.

My prayers and blessings must be confident. I must believe that God will answer.

Lord, you are the God who saves and sanctifies. You rescued your chosen people from the grasp of Pharaoh. You answer above and beyond what I can think or ask. Lord today, I ask that you teach me to pray with a real knowledge of who you are. That I would believe you. And furthermore, if Paul could pray that You would sanctify the Thessalonians completely, I pray the same for anyone reading or listening to this prayer, and Lord keep them blameless through the resurrection power that only you hold. Lord, you are faithful. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. 

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