so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Truth to Learn
God will declare all genuine Christians to be blameless.
Behind the Words
“Establish” is translated from stēridzō, which is a derivative of histemi, meaning “to stand.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place.”
The word translated “blameless” is amemptos, which is composed of the privative a, meaning “without” and a form of the verb memphomai, meaning “to find fault.” Thus, amemptos means “without fault” or “blameless.”
Hagiosunē is the Greek word translated “holiness.” It is derived from the noun hagios, meaning “set apart” or “holy.” Holiness means to be completely set apart from sin and its consequence.
Back in verse nine we learned that the word translated “before” is emprosthen, which means “in the presence of” or “before.”
The word “coming” is from parousia. This word is derived from pareimi, meaning “to be present.” Parousia can refer either to the presence of something or it can refer to the coming of someone into our presence.
Meaning Explained
We are in the midst of a prayer by the Apostle Paul in behalf of the Christians in Thessalonica. In yesterday’s verse he prayed that God would increase the love that these Christians have for one another and for all people. The reason Paul gives for this growing and strengthening of their love for all is “so that He may establish (make firm) your hearts [as] without fault …”
Some people have used this as an indication that some may lose their salvation if they don’t properly show their love to others. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In the Apostle John’s first letter he said,
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7, 8)
In other words, John tells us that showing love for others is the evidence of salvation, not a condition of salvation. If you are saved, you will love others. If you don’t have a genuine love for others, you are not born of God.
Now Paul tells us that God will establish us blameless “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” This coming of the Lord may be a reference to the rapture or to His coming at the end of the Tribulation. It is more likely, however, that it refers to both events. Either way, it is when all believers will be judicially declared to have the righteousness of Christ. In God’s eyes (since He is not bound by time) this has already occurred, but for us (who are bound by time) it will occur at His coming.
Application
Periodically, each of us needs to calibrate our own salvation. One of the signs that we are genuinely a child of God is that we have love for the brethren and for all people. That doesn’t mean that we have to approve of the sinful actions of others. We are supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner. Do you regularly show love to others?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved