And the very God of peace Αυτος δε ο Θεος της ειρηνης, literally, May the God of peace himself; that is, he who is ready to give you peace with himself after all you have done; who is in Christ reconciling you to himself, not imputing your trespasses unto you, if in repentance and faith you turn to him, but on these terms preaching peace to you by Jesus Christ: sanctify you wholly That is, may he carry on and complete the work of purification and renovation begun in your regeneration, redeeming you from all iniquity, Titus 2:14; cleansing you from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Corinthians 7:1; stamping you with his whole image, and rendering you a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but made holy toward God, dedicated to and employed in his service, and without blame in the whole of your conduct toward men. The word ολοτελεις, here rendered wholly, signifies every part of you, and every part perfectly; implying that every faculty of their souls, and every sense and member of their bodies, should be completely purified, and devoted to the service of God. And I pray God These words are not in the original, which is literally, and may the whole of you, ολοκληρον υμων, your whole constitution, the whole frame of your nature, all belonging to you, all of and about you, be made and preserved blameless. And what the apostle means by this whole constitution, or frame, of their nature, he immediately specifies, mentioning the spirit, the soul, and the body. Here, says Whitby, “the apostle justifies the ancient and true philosophy, that man is, as Nemesius styles him, τριμερης υποστασις, a compound of three differing parts. This was the doctrine of the Pythagoreans, and also that of the Platonists, who held that there is in man a soul irrational, which includes the affections of the body; and a mind, which uses the body as its instrument, and fights against it. This also was the doctrine of the Stoics, whence Antoninus saith, The three constituent parts of man are σωμα, ψυχη, νους, the body, soul, and mind. Irenæus, and Clemens of Alexandria, and Origen, say the same.” He adds, “those two excellent philosophers, Gassendus and Dr. Willis, have established this philosophy beyond all reasonable contradiction.” It appears also, as the learned Vitringa has very accurately shown, a notion prevailed among the rabbis, as well as the philosophers, that the person of a man was constituted of three distinct substances; 1st, the rational spirit, which survives the death of the body, and is immortal; 2d, the animal soul, which man has in common with the beasts, and which dies with the body; and, 3d, the visible body. Many other learned divines, however, are of opinion, that as the apostle's design was to teach mankind religion, and not philosophy, he might use the popular language to which the Thessalonians were accustomed, without adopting the philosophy on which that language was founded: consequently that it is not necessary to consider him as intending more by his prayer than that the Thessalonian believers might be thoroughly sanctified, of how many constituent parts soever their nature consisted. “To comprehend,” says Macknight, “the distinction between soul and spirit,” which the sacred writers seem to have intimated in some passages, “the soul must be considered as connected both with the body and with the spirit. By its connection with the body, the soul receives impressions from the senses; and by its connection with the spirit, it conveys these impressions, by means of the imagination and memory, to the spirit, as materials for its operations. The powers last mentioned, through their connection with the body, are liable indeed to be so disturbed by injuries befalling it, as to convey false perceptions to the spirit. But the powers of the spirit not being affected by bodily injuries, it judges of the impressions conveyed to it as accurately as if they were true representations, so that the conclusions which it forms are generally right.” It may not be improper to add here, that the spirit, as distinguished from the two other parts included in the human constitution, seems to be supposed by the apostle (Heb 4:12) to be capable of being separated from the soul, his expression being, The word of God is quick, &c ., piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit; and some have thought that he intimates, (1 Corinthians 14:14-15,) that the one may know what the other does not. Be this, however, as it may, the apostle's words were certainly not intended to teach us philosophy, or to imply more than a prayer that all our powers of mind and body, the rational, including the understanding, the judgment, conscience, and will; the animal, comprehending the affections, passions, and sensations; and corporal, namely, the members and senses of our bodies, should be wholly sanctified; that is, purified from pollution, dedicated to God, and employed in glorifying him. Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ To call you hence by death, or to summon you to appear at his bar. Faithful is he
To his word and promises; that calleth you By his gospel; who also will do it Will preserve you blameless to his coming, unless you quench the Spirit. He “will not,” says Whitby, “be wanting in what is requisite on his part toward it; I say his part, for if the faithfulness of God required that he should sanctify and preserve us blameless to the end without our care, or should work in us absolutely and certainly that care, and the apostle believed this, how could he fear lest the Thessalonians should be so overcome by Satan's temptations, as that his labour with them might be in vain, 1 Thessalonians 3:5; this being, in effect, to fear that God might be unfaithful to his promise.”