Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–24
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” When I was a seeker of Christ but not yet a follower, these kinds of instructions in holy living would fill my heart with despair. Paul does not say to the church at Thessalonica: “Rejoice as much as possible, pray as much as you reasonably can, try your best to thank God in the bad times as well as the good.” No, Paul commands followers of Jesus to pray without ceasing and rejoice always. But who can possibly do that? The obvious unachievability of these commandments, and others like them, was a provocation and a source of anguish for me. How could I ever become a Christian if this was the standard I had to meet?
Holy living is an important component of Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Paul sees it as fitting to remind the Thessalonian church of the necessity of abstaining from sexual immorality (4:3–8), of working to support themselves (4:10–12), and of living peacefully with one another (5:11–13). But alongside each of these directives, Paul also tenderly reassures the church that God, who is faithful, will help them. God has chosen them (1:4), and He is the one who makes them increase in love for one another and for everyone (3:11). Paul repeatedly reminds the church that in making his people holy, God prepares us for the second coming of Christ, making our hearts, souls, and bodies ready to meet Jesus at his return (3:13; 5:23).
What I failed to understand when I first read passages like the one above is that God doesn’t leave his people alone to figure out holy living through our own efforts. He himself helps us to become the kind of people ready to stand in his presence. Advent is a time to anticipate the coming of Christ. Let’s remember today that our faithful God is the one who will establish our hearts blameless on the day of Jesus’s return, and rejoice.
Dr. Julia Smith is an assistant professor of philosophy instruction at Hope College.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.