Kept blameless until the end
Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 Once our life is yielded to the Lordship of Christ, we will start to manifest the changes He is working in us through the Holy Spirit. God promised to enable us to do what we cannot do on our own. But inspite of the enabling power He provides, we can still not experience His working when we start to douse the fire of the Spirit by the actions we take that are contrary to godly living. This is why we are warned about such actions. “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We are not yielding to the Spirit’s influence when we start to ignore His call for us to be faithful. We are drowning His voice when we start to follow the ways of the world. We are quenching the Spirit when we are not abiding in His presence and will not yield to His leading. God wants to produce in us characters that reflect our relationship with Him. “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). God had proven then and as He has ever since that He is absolutely faithful. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Instead of ignoring God’s leading, “test everything that is said” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). It is through the convicting power of the Spirit, the revelation given through His Word, and the loving instructions from mature believers that we can filter everything that comes to us. The goal of God in the life of His children is to sanctify them. He wanted us to be kept blameless until He comes. He had set us apart so He can demonstrate through us His loving presence. Being blameless does not mean earthly perfection but an integrity that reflects God’s lordship in one’s life. We are not left on our own and we will endure until the end. He expects us to persevere until the end. “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). We will persevere until the end not because we are faithful but the One who called us is faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24). “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6). Do not resist God’s working in your life, instead trust Him and place your hope in Him for He is faithful.
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com