May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. (1 Thess. 5:23)
Expanded Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
In 1986, I was with a team on my first-ever international outreach, a three-week effort in Mexico City. It was the year after a huge earthquake, and the economy was struggling. Many people were open as we shared the love of Jesus through service, street drama, and Bible distribution and study. We traveled by bus to partner with a ministry seeking to bring the good news to those in a women’s prison. We prayed on the bus as we made our way through the streets, and something unusual happened. We sensed that God’s Spirit was moving as several began to break down and weep for the women in the prison. God was preparing us as we moved into a place of ministry. One hundred women attended the meeting where we performed that evening, and some sixty women made professions of faith.
This work had been grounded in the power of God’s Spirit. God had empowered the prayer and the outreach, and he graciously empowered us to participate with him in his work. In the original language, the word “you” in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 verse is plural—meaning that God’s peaceful, sanctifying, and enabling power is given to the whole body of Christ. As we experienced God’s sanctification in Mexico City, we saw firsthand the power of sanctification in our work as his hands and feet.
Let God’s Spirit sanctify and prepare you for good works.
Matt Friedman was a professor of global ministry at Kingswood University (NB)and previously served in southern Asia for eighteen years.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
