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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 4:9, 13; 5:8, 16-24; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 1:6; 1 Tim. 1:5; Rom. 6:6, 19; 7:24; 8:10-11; 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:13b, 1 Cor. 6:15a, 1 Cor. 6:19-20
In 5:23 Paul says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In order to understand this verse, we need to have a brief review of the entire book of 1 Thessalonians. Chapter one indicates that the holy life for the church life is constructed of faith, love, and hope. Such a life surely turns to God from idols, serves the living God, and waits for the coming of the Lord. This is the main point revealed in chapter one. Chapter two tells us that the apostles did their best as nursing mothers and exhorting fathers to foster such a life. They cared for this life and nourished it so that it would result in a walk worthy of God’s kingdom and glory.
How can such a life become worthy of God’s kingdom and God’s glory? There is no way other than to be sanctified. Thus, chapter three says that this life needs to be perfected in faith and also needs to increase and abound in love in order that the Lord may establish our hearts, the acting agent of our being, blameless in holiness. This is the establishment of our inward being, of our heart, our acting agent.
In chapter four Paul goes on to point out that not only should our heart inwardly be established in holiness, but also that our body outwardly needs to be preserved in sanctification, the process of being made holy. Furthermore, the physical body needs to be preserved not only in sanctification before God, but also in honor in the sight of man. In this chapter Paul also speaks concerning the saints who have died, who are sleeping. He deals with this matter in the scope of hope. In chapter three Paul says that the holy life for the church life should be perfected in faith and should increase and abound in love, and then in chapter four he shows that the resurrection of the dead saints is a matter of hope.
In 5:8 Paul covers the three matters of faith, love, and hope: “But we who are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet, the hope of salvation.” In warfare two crucial parts of our body — the head and the breast — need to be guarded. The breast must be covered, and the head must be protected. Hence, we have the breastplate of faith and love to cover our breast, and the helmet of the hope of salvation to cover our head. In our study of the Song of Songs we pointed out that the breasts of the seeking one signify faith and love in Christ. For this reason, the breastplate is of both faith and love. Our head, our mind, the thinking organ with its thoughts, needs to be protected by the helmet of God’s salvation. Therefore, in chapter five we see that when we are fighting the spiritual warfare, we need to be covered by the armor of God that includes the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation. In chapter five the three basic elements of the Christian life — faith, love, and hope — are all included.
Eventually, in 5:23, Paul expressed his desire that the God of peace would sanctify us wholly, not only in heart or in body. Inwardly we have a heart, and outwardly we have a body. The heart and the body form the main structure of a living, acting person.
As living persons, we have a heart within and a body without. The heart is the directing agent, for it directs our actions, activities, and motions. The body is the means, the organ, by which we act outwardly. Hence, through our body our heart moves, and our body acts under the direction of our heart. This is the reason chapter three deals with the sanctification of the heart and chapter four, with the sanctification of the body.
What, then, about our spirit and our soul? Even though the soul is very much like the heart in its components, there is still a difference between the soul and the heart. As far as the composition of our being is concerned, we have a spirit, a soul, and a body. But in our acting, our living, we have a heart and a body. Thus, when speaking of our being, we should refer to the spirit, the soul, and the body. But in speaking of our living and our actions, we should refer to the heart and the body. Our daily living is a matter of our heart and our body. For this reason Paul in 1 Thessalonians differentiates what we are from how we act. In action, we have a heart with a body. But in our being, that is, with respect to what we are, we have a spirit, a soul, and a body.
In chapter three of 1 Thessalonians sanctification is a matter of our inner part, our heart. In chapter four sanctification is a matter of our outward part, our body. Then in chapter five, as a conclusion of the book, sanctification includes our entire being. This is the reason Paul speaks of the God of peace sanctifying us wholly. By “wholly” Paul means our whole spirit and soul and body. Therefore, he expresses the desire that the saints’ spirit and soul and body would be preserved complete. This is to be sanctified wholly.
The adverb “wholly” in 5:23 indicates quantity. It points to the fact that every part of our being — spirit, soul, and body — needs to be sanctified and preserved. Furthermore, the adjective “complete” refers to quality. Thus, Paul, an excellent writer, indicates in a brief way that quantitatively we need to be sanctified wholly, and qualitatively we need to be preserved complete. We need to be preserved not partially or superficially but completely, even absolutely and perfectly. I hope that this brief survey of 1 Thessalonians will help you to understand what we shall cover in this message and in the message following.
God certainly aspires to sanctify us wholly. He wants to preserve us in the three parts of our being — to preserve our spirit, our soul, and our body. According to 5:23, we are tripartite beings; that is, we have three parts: spirit, soul, and body.
When I was a young Christian, I learned the truth concerning man’s tripartite being, and I contended for this truth. In theology this is known as trichotomy. There is also the school of dichotomy, which teaches that man is of two parts, body and soul. First Thessalonians 5:23 proves strongly that the school of dichotomy is not correct. In this verse there is a conjunction between the words spirit and soul and also between the words soul and body. This indicates that the spirit, the soul, and the body are different and distinct. Nevertheless, some teachers of the Bible claim that the words spirit and soul are synonyms. This can be compared to saying that the different members of our physical body, for example, the stomach and the liver, are the same. It is a very serious misunderstanding to claim that the soul and the spirit are synonymous.
Years ago, a missionary who believed in dichotomy came to Hong Kong to attend a conference I was holding there. After one of the meetings, he asked for a time to have fellowship with me. He told me that the conference was wonderful. Then he went on to say, “You teach that man is of three parts. I don’t believe this. Man has just two parts — the visible part and the invisible part.” I replied, “Brother, to say that man is of three parts is not my teaching; it is the teaching in the Bible. What would you say about 1 Thessalonians 5:23? In this verse Paul speaks of the spirit and the soul and the body, three nouns with two conjunctions. How can you say that man is of only two parts?” He answered, “I know this verse, but I don’t believe that the spirit and the soul are two different things.” Then I said to him, “Brother, this means that you don’t believe the Bible.” He then claimed that he believed the Bible to the uttermost and that no matter what I would say, he would continue to believe that the spirit and the soul are synonyms. At that point I said, “If you think that the spirit and the soul are synonymous, this is like saying that the nose and the mouth are the same. If you want to believe this, I won’t argue with you. But to me, the mouth is the mouth, and the nose is the nose. Do you say things with your nose, or do you smell things with your mouth?”
I relate this incident to point out that there is a big difference between the spirit and the soul. The spirit and the soul are not synonymous. Rather, the spirit is the spirit, and the soul is the soul. Just as the nose and the mouth are different organs with different functions, so the spirit and the soul are different organs and have different functions. First Thessalonians 5:23 speaks of the spirit and the soul and the body. This indicates clearly that we are of three parts.
It is easy to understand what it means for the body to be preserved. In chapter four Paul commands the believers to abstain from fornication. To abstain from fornication is to preserve our body in sanctification. But what does it mean to preserve our soul and our spirit? We need to be able to explain in a practical way how to preserve our spirit and our soul.
We Christians have a shortcoming in the way we read the Bible. This shortcoming is that we take things for granted and assume we understand them. For example, in reading 5:23 we may say, “Oh, I know what 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says. It tells us that our spirit and soul and body should be preserved complete. From this verse we know that we should not believe in dichotomy, that man is of only two parts, but should believe in trichotomy, that man is of three parts. I, therefore, believe that man is of three parts.” This is good, but it is not adequate, because it does not render much help in a practical way. Instead of taking this verse for granted, we need to seek to understand how to preserve our spirit and our soul.
Can you give me the name of a Christian book that explains how to preserve our spirit and our soul? I do not know of any Christian writing that speaks concerning this matter. I believe that if there were such a writing, we would have learned of it during the course of the last fifty years. As we have pointed out, some Bible teachers do not believe that our spirit and soul are different parts. How could they tell us how to preserve our spirit and our soul? Therefore, my burden in this message is related to the preserving of the spirit and the soul.
God not only sanctifies us wholly, but also preserves our spirit, soul, and body complete. “Wholly” is quantitative; “complete” is qualitative. In quantity God sanctifies us wholly; in quality God preserves us complete; that is, He keeps our spirit, soul, and body perfect. Through the fall our body has been ruined, our soul has been contaminated, and our spirit has been deadened. In God’s full salvation, our entire being is saved and made complete and perfect. For this, God is preserving our spirit from any deadening element (Heb. 9:14), our soul from remaining natural and old (Matt. 16:24-26), and our body from the ruin of sin (1 Thes. 4:4; Rom. 6:6). Such a preservation by God and His thorough sanctification sustain us to live a holy life unto maturity that we may meet the Lord in His parousia.
Our spirit is composed of three parts: the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition. Our spirit is mainly for us to have fellowship with God. When we have fellowship with God, we contact Him. This contact with God spontaneously gives us a sense of God, a consciousness of God. Intuition denotes the direct sense and consciousness that come from God. Through this intuition we can know whether we are right or wrong. If we are wrong, we shall be condemned by our conscience. But if we are right, we shall be justified by our conscience. Our conscience, therefore, either accuses and condemns or excuses and justifies. The way to preserve our spirit is first to exercise it to have fellowship with God. If we fail to exercise our spirit in this way, we shall leave it in a deadened situation.
Whenever we Christians come together in a church meeting, we need to function. We need to pray, praise, or give a word of testimony. This is to exercise our spirit and not allow it to remain dormant or in a deadened condition. But sorry to say, many saints do not preserve their spirit by exercising it in this way. Instead, they allow their spirit to remain dormant. It seems that they leave their spirit in a tomb.
However, there are some brothers who disturb the meeting by functioning too frequently without any real riches of Christ. Again and again they stand up to speak without having anything to say. I would encourage brothers such as these to be silent for a period of time until they have the assurance that some of the riches of Christ have truly become their portion. If they stand up to release these riches, all the saints will be happy with them because their testimony will be helpful.
Although some saints may function too much without the riches of Christ, the need of most of the saints is to function much more with the exercise of their spirit.
Certain verses in chapter five of 1 Thessalonians help us to see that the first way to preserve our spirit is to keep it living through proper exercise. Verses 16 through 19 say, “Always rejoice; unceasingly pray; in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” To rejoice, pray, and give thanks are to exercise our spirit. When we exercise our spirit in this way, we cause it to be living. Exercising the spirit to keep it living is the first way to preserve it.
No one likes to have any kind of illness or disease in his physical body. If you become ill, you certainly will not want your body to remain in a sick condition. On the contrary, you will do everything possible to bring your body out of such an unhealthy situation. Likewise, we should not leave our spirit in a deadened condition. We should struggle to have our spirit freed from that kind of condition.
How can we release our spirit from a situation of deadness? We can do it through exercising our spirit by rejoicing, praying, and thanking. Do you realize that to be quiet is to keep your spirit in a deadened condition? If you allow your spirit to remain in a situation of death, this means that you do not cooperate with the sanctifying God to preserve your spirit.
Because of the fall, our spirit has been deadened. Our spirit, therefore, must overcome the problem of deadness. Many times the saints attend the church meetings in death. When they attend the meeting, they sit in their chair with a deadened spirit. But other parts of their being may be very active. For example, in their thoughts they may criticize the testimonies given by others; they may think that some testimonies are not real and that others are full of oldness. Although these saints criticize others, they do not preserve their own spirit. Instead of preserving their spirit, they allow it to remain in a deadened condition.
I wish to emphasize strongly the fact that to preserve our spirit is first of all to exercise it in order to pull it out of death. The spirit of an unbeliever is absolutely dead. Most of those around you at school, at work, or in your neighborhood are utterly dead in their spirit. Many of your relatives, perhaps members of your immediate family, are also dead in the spirit. Have you been sanctified, separated, from a spirit-deadening situation? Many saints have not been separated in this way. This is the reason they never pray or praise the Lord in the meetings. They do not rejoice or give thanks. Instead of praising the Lord with the exercise of the spirit, they prefer to save their face by leaving their spirit in a deadened condition. Some may say to themselves, “I am a cultured person. I must cause others to realize that I am refined and have a high education. Thus, I shall sit quietly in the meeting in a cultured way. Let the young people and those who are not well educated shout praises in the meetings. I don’t care to behave in such a way.” If this is your attitude, your spirit will remain deadened. Furthermore, as far as the condition of your spirit is concerned, you are not sanctified. You are common, for you keep company with those who are dead in the spirit.
This habit of allowing our spirit to remain in death has even invaded the church meetings in the recovery. I am not encouraging anyone to behave in an unruly manner in the meetings. My point is that we need to pull our spirit out of death and cooperate with the operation of the Triune God in sanctifying us. He wants to separate all of us from those whose spirits are deadened. Because we have been regenerated, we need to be different. We need to show that our spirit is living, that it is not deadened. Thus, our spirit should rejoice, pray, and give thanks to the Lord.
Another way to preserve our spirit is found in 2 Corinthians 7:1. In this verse Paul says, “Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” This verse indicates that we should abstain from all defilement of both flesh and spirit. We need to stay away from anything that contaminates our spirit. This is the reason we should keep our eyes from looking at evil things, such as defiling pictures. Such pictures defile not only our eyes; they also defile our spirit. This is something I have learned from experience. In 1933 I visited Shanghai the first time. The church had two meeting halls then, one in western Shanghai and the other in northern Shanghai, quite far from each other. For transportation we often used the streetcar. The ride from western Shanghai to northern Shanghai took more than an hour. The first few times I took this ride in the streetcar I looked around at the various sights on the main street. But when I arrived at the meeting hall, I realized that my spirit was deadened. It had been deadened by my looking at so many things on the street. From this I learned to close my eyes and pray when taking the ride by streetcar. This preserved my spirit. Because I learned to preserve my spirit in this way, when I arrived at the meeting hall in northern Shanghai, my spirit was living. I had truly been sanctified in my spirit.
If you become contaminated by looking at certain kinds of pictures, your spirit will be defiled, contaminated, and deadened. As a result, you will not be able to pray unless you first ask the Lord to cleanse you from all defilement. I offer this as an illustration of our need to cooperate with the sanctifying Triune God to have our spirit preserved from deadness and contamination.
