1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
V23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peace:
If I want peace, who do I turn to? God. If the families want peace, whom do they turn to? So, the same applies to society, church, world, governments, organizations, companies, etc. Peace with God has the fruit of peace (Galatians 5:22-23). Social justice, welfare, programs to not lead to peace, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached and believed, does lead to peace (Romans 8:15 and Romans 10:15). The Greek word for “peace” is (G1515) εἰρήνη eirḗnē, which means peace. The word also has the idea of safety as in Luke 11:21. Peace has the idea of rest as in Acts 16:36. The opposite of peace in society is dissension and war, which then are enemies (compare Romans 14:17). Instead of love and safety, there is hate and fear (1 John 4:18). For individuals there is peace and harmony instead of fighting, dissension, arguments, division, etc. It begins with faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone (Romans 5:1 and Ephesians 6:15). Jesus heals sickness and fear with health and peace (Mark 5:34). Peace is a gift of God as in John 14;27. Instead of being enemies of God (Romans 5:10), we are friends and at peace (Romans 5:1). Peace rejected brings many sorrows as in Luke 19:42. One of God’s judgments is to remove peace from the world (Revelation 6:4). We are to treat all people with peace as much as it is possible (Hebrews 12:14 and James 3:18).
Sanctify:
The Greek word for sanctify is (GG37) ἁγιάζω hagiázō, which means to make clean and pure (Word Study Dictionary (WSD). Compare Hebrews 9:13 referring to the covering of sin by the Old Testament sacrifices, which do not purify the soul. The blood of Christ applied to those who believe does bring the ministry of the Holy Spirit on the soul and spirit resulting in peace (1 Corinthians 6:11 and Hebrews 10:10). The second sense is (WSD) “To consecrate, devote, set apart from a common to a sacred use since in the Jewish ritual, this was one great object of the purifications.” These may be things as in Matthew 23:17-19 or people as in John 10:36. The third sense (WSD) is “To regard and venerate as holy, to hallow” as in Matthew 6:9.
Human beings:
Many, if not most believe in only 2 parts to humans a physical (flesh) and a spiritual nature (immaterial). They understand soul and spirit to be referring to the same thing i.e. soul/spirit. But, the Holy Spirit distinctly uses two different words–one for soul and one for spirit. Personally, if the Holy Spirit states that there are two nonmaterial parts of every human, then I do as well. There is body, soul, and spirit.
Blameless:
We cannot be sinless in this life. If nothing else, we still have the flesh and its desires. The goal is to be blameless until the time we die or the Rapture.
V24 “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” God is able to do these things especially our blameless life. We need God’s assisting grace to do so.
V25 “Brethren, pray for us.” The importance of prayer.
V26 “Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.” The middle eastern greeting.