The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

First Thessalonians is the Apostle Paul’s very first letter, and it was addressed to the Church at Thessalonica. It’s interesting that this first ever letter should be concerned with the Coming of the LORD. Paul never lost sight of that, and we shouldn’t, either. Just as we ready ourselves when someone is coming to our house for a visit, we should always be ready for the Coming of the LORD. We’re usually advised of our company’s time of arrival. With the Coming of Jesus, it could be at any time! Thus, we always have to be ready.

Paul commends the LORD to the Church when He refers to God as “the God of peace.” It is He, too, who makes us completely and thoroughly holy. And holiness brings with it peace.

The desire of the Apostle is that our total being be entirely complete. He then cites the three areas of our lives to which we must give vital attention: “spirit and soul and body.” Have you ever thought of yourself as being a three-fold person?

Well, you are! The order in which Paul places them is important, too. I often refer to them as body, soul, and spirit. But,

Paul reverses the order. Why does he do that? And why is it important?

Our spirit is most important because it is the human spirit that is God-conscious! Remember when Paul said in Romans 1:19, “…that which is known aout God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them”? He went on to say in the next verse (v. 20) that “they (meaning all of mankind) are without excuse.” The human spirit is the contact point of the Holy Spirit of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit resides in every believer from the point of that believer’s salvation. And it is the believer’s human spirit that is God-conscious and receives what the Holy Spirit brings from the Father.

The human soul is that part of man that is self-conscious. By “self-conscious” I don’t mean shy. In fact, it may be the very opposite of shyness; it may be openly flaunting conceit. The human soul want to follow the crowd and become their leader.

The human body is world-conscious. Of course, we’re all conscious of the world, but being world-conscious is more.

Let me conclude by saying that God begins His work with our spirit; He then move in to control our soul. Finally, He takes control of our bodies. (That’s when we dress properly, so as to reveal Him, rather than ourselves.) When we are

thorougly Spirit-controlled by the LORD, He is glorified and uses us fully and completely in His service.

Satan, however, commences his work with the body and works up through the soul and spirit. When he has conquered a man completely, it may be said that that man is demon-possessed. Because this is such a vital subject, and because I have less than needed room to say it all, I am attaching a diagram for further explanation.

Treat all of this with extreme care! Satan works on all of us. We must be careful to refute him by drawing closer and closer to the LORD, who gave Himself on the Cross for our sins. And remember: He is Coming! May the LORD bless you is my prayer.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”