Preserved by God

"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."

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Having forgiven our sins and purified us by the Gospel of grace, He is able to preserve us blameless until Christ returns.  A "life preserver" is intended to save a potential victim of drowning, and Jesus is faithful to save all who trust in Him.  As it is written in Jude 1:24-25, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  During study preparation I was intrigued by the concept of how God preserves His people and realised His manner of preservation is very different than ours.

When we preserve things, we do so with the intention to keep them exactly as they are.  The first thing that comes to mind are fruit preserves or conserve, fruit canned with a high-sugar content to prevent spoilage.  I thought of pickled organs or body parts suspended in formaldehyde, or even entire bodies stored in glass tubes in clear fluid like in science fiction movies.  There are chemical preservatives added to food to keep it fresh as long as possible.  Artwork is preserved by sealing out moisture, dust and insects, and by maintaining an appropriate temperature out of direct sunlight.  All is done to keep things how they currently are to prevent further decay, damage or degradation.

This is not God’s way of preservation.  He does not put us in glass tubes to protect us from potential dangers of the world, nor is He like an additive infused into us to slow the decomposition process.  After we are born again, He does not preserve us how we are:  He uses our experiences in our fallen world, other people and trials to refine us, gives us His word to change us and supplies the Holy Spirit to transform us.  Our whole selves are blameless by His atoning sacrifice and no one can snatch us from His hand, yet God puts us through the fire of affliction and preserves us while He refines and purifies us.  Spiritually we are made righteous and preserved blameless, but He also moulds us to be more like Jesus every day.

By faith in Jesus we are enabled to endure and press on--even if we feel like the stress and toil of life is tearing us apart.  We can have all confidence in God's preservation and salvation during this life and also when our souls are required of us in physical death.  Having been made alive to God through spiritual regeneration, He desires us to keep growing, learning and choose to joyfully embrace our sanctification.  He does not treat us like the servant who buried the talent in the ground merely to preserve it:  God desires we would be invested in life for His glory and to be fruitful.  Praise God for preserving us blameless and also helping us mature and be changed for the best at the same time.