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The extent of God’s sanctifying and keeping (v23).
We are not talking “how long” but rather “how much.” Does God bring us to holiness in a spiritual sense or is it possible for us to be holy physically? That is, are we only usable to God in terms of the inner man or is the outer man intended to be set apart and usable to God? This is a logical question to ask in terms of Paul’s day when most of the Greek philosophies had a low view of the physical man.
When you read v23 you may conclude that your whole spirit, soul and body only refers to the issue of preservation. That can’t be denied. However on the basis of Rom. 12:1 I would suggest that this body of death, as Paul calls it (Rom 7:24), is holy when it is sacrificed to Christ. That is worth meditating on as we are considering this issue of sanctification. A “holistic” view of the body (the Greek word for completely is holoteles, perfected in all respects) in my view does not depend on the health of the body. Paul had some physical issues, at least in the matter of his eyesight. Further, he made it clear that bodily exercise is not of supreme importance for holiness (1 Tim. 4:8). We ought to be free of sins that abuse the body but what makes it holy is that it is given without condition to Christ to use for His purposes (2 Tim. 2:20-21).
For some it may be that the only reference to v23 is as fodder for one’s position on the dichotomy/trichotomy argument. Personally I don’t believe this passage actually answers the question of the makeup of humans (are we two part or three part). It certainly refers to three aspects of a person but does not state the relationship of those three aspects to each other.
My
view has been that the question is not extremely critical unless you use it to
go places doctrinally that are significant errors. We are going to quote from W. E. Vine (Expository Dictionary of the NT) after
stating my view, which is that the soul and spirit comprise the immaterial part
of man while the body is the material or visible man. Paul speaks of the inner and outer man (2
Cor. 4:16) and also of the things which
are seen and the things which are not
seen (2 Cor. 4:18). We understand
the soul to be that part of the inner man that relates to the rest of humanity
while the spirit is that part of the inner man that relates to God. Here is the quote from Vine:
Apparently, then, the
relationships may be thus summed up, soma, body and pneuma, spirit, may be
separated; pneuma and psuche, soul, can only be distinguished.
Let us not get hung up in mere academic discussions. We are being told that God will sanctify us completely and will preserve us body, soul and spirit. Let us hold to these truths and count on our faithful God to do His work. Proof that we trust God in this will be seen in a life of holiness until the day Christ comes for us.
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