But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13
Here in this passage, we see the beginning doctrinal foundation within the early church of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.*
The idea of God in three persons comes in 2 Thessalonians in a bedrock of gratitude. Paul and his ministry team have seen the work of God in the lives of the Church in Thessalonica, and their gratitude to God cannot be contained.* It is in this posture of gratitude that we see what we all need: sanctification. Now, maybe you are thinking, “what is sanctification?” I’m so glad you asked.
We must first begin with out understanding of holiness. Holiness is “set apartness.” God is holy (set apart from all others) and tells us to be holy as well:
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct
1 Peter 1:15
When we become holy, we step into the place where God lives. The command to “be holy” isn’t just about discarding dirty things or being different, it’s about joining God where He is. The invitation to holiness is an invitation to intimacy. Imagine that your love lives in Hawaii (a place completely set apart). You then get a message from your love: “be in Hawaii as I am in Hawaii.” In these words is this underlying message: “I desperately want you to be here with me; please do what it takes to be close to me.”
Holiness is the goal. Sanctification is the process.* Sanctification is the trip across land, sea, and air required to get to Hawaii (our metaphor for holiness). This is not a trip that we can make on our own, however.
Just as it would be foolish to take credit for the flight, the boats, and the cars that got you to your love, it’s foolish to take credit for those things that God has done to bring us close to Him.* Why? Because those things that God did to bring us close to Him are impossible things for us to do. We cannot earn, work, or will our way to God.* We can only choose to say “yes” to Him and His process.
Gene Green sums up the process in this way:
In 1 Thessalonians Paul exhorted the believers again and again to dedicate themselves to sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3, 4, 7), reminding them that sanctification was God’s will for them and that God called them to the same. But he also assured the Thessalonians that sanctification was a work of God (1 Thess. 5:23) that he effects through the agency of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 4:8). The process of sanctification began at their conversion (1 Pet. 1:2) and is being worked out throughout their lives so that the believers might be blameless before the Lord at his coming (1 Thess. 5:23; and see Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2).*
Stephen Kim clarifies that his work of God is a work of the Holy Spirit:
the work of the Holy Spirit here as “sanctification,” that is, as making the readers separated from the world and consecrated to the holy God as his own people, he seems to have in mind the Spirit’s help for the readers to accept especially the gospel’s teachings to know and serve only “the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9; 4:5; 2 Thess 1:8) and to render the obedience of faith to his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who reigns on his behalf (2 Thess 1:8, 1 Cor 6:11), so as to turn from idolatry and immorality and live a life of holiness and love (1 Thess 4:1–12).*
This work of the Spirit in our lives walks us through a process of becoming Holy. This process begins with an embracing of the truth, which we know from the context, is the truth of the Gospel.* This Gospel, as indicated in this verse, includes the triune work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: chosen by God, loved by the Lord Jesus, made possible by the Holy Spirit.
We only see humanity’s role in this process in one way: belief.
Our salvation does not depend upon how much we can believe.* Those who find belief easier than others do not have greater chance of salvation.* Salvation and the process toward holiness is a response to the call of God to believe the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, lived the perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, rose again, and ascended to Heaven in order to inaugurate the Kingdom of Heaven come. This then is worked out by our surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do in our selves.
Want to live a holy life? Allow the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to have their way in you today.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit to bring you to holiness. Perhaps today God wants you to remember that you do not need to earn anything. Maybe today God wants you to remember that He loves you… a lot. Perhaps today God wants you to remember how much of Himself He has invested into you: everything.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (pp. 252–253). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (pp. 302–303). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 325–327). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 616–622). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 133–135). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 224–230). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 545–553). Baker Academic.