The coming of Christ is our incentive to work for Him by fostering the believers unto maturity so that they may be our hope, joy, crown, and glory at His coming. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, Paul says to the believers in Thessalonica, “What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at His coming? Are not even you? For you are our glory and joy.” These verses indicate that since the apostles were the believers’ nursing mother and exhorting father (vv. 7, 11), the believers, as the apostles’ children, were their glory and joy. If we work faithfully for Christ, at His coming He will reward us with joy, a crown, and glory.
In verses 19 and 20 Paul indicates that those who work with the Lord in fostering the believers to walk worthily of God will receive a reward. This reward will be the believers whom we have fostered becoming our crown, glory, and joy. What a glory it would be to any Christian worker for the ones whom he has fostered to be matured at the Lord’s coming back! What a crown and joy this would be to him! But on the contrary, what a shame it would be if none of the believers had grown and matured.
The result of our work with young saints should be their maturing. If they mature properly, they will be in the kingdom participating in God’s glory. This maturity will then become our crown, joy, and boast before the Lord Jesus at His coming. Those who have been edified, supplied, shepherded, and led by us will be our crown, joy, and boast before the Lord. Suppose, however, that we work continually with new believers but to no avail. If this is the situation, at the Lord’s coming back there will be no result of our work. What a shame that would be! When the Lord Jesus comes, the result of our work will be manifested. We need to learn how to work with the young ones and the new ones so that they may be fostered to grow unto maturity and so that there may be a positive result of our work before the Lord at His coming. This result will then be our crown and glory as the reward of our work today.
The coming Christ is also the cause of our blamelessness in holiness before our God and Father. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” The phrase blameless in holiness means that no fault is found in our holiness. The subject of 1 Thessalonians is a holy life for the church life—serving the living God, conducting ourselves in a holy manner, and waiting for the Lord’s coming. The subject of 2 Thessalonians is encouragement and correction concerning the holy life for the church life. Striking points in these Epistles are holiness and sanctification.
The establishing of the believers’ hearts blameless issues from faith and love. This spontaneously produces the hope of the coming back of our dear Lord, in whom we believe and whom we love. Inwardly, our heart must be established in holiness; outwardly, our body must be preserved in sanctification (1 Thes. 4:4; 5:23). This is so that we may have a holy life, and this holy life is for the church life.
The establishing of our heart is the result of the perfecting of our faith and of the increase and abounding of our love (3:6, 10, 12). For our hearts to be established blameless in holiness involves dispositional sanctification, not merely positional separation or sinless perfection. This indicates that the Lord is doing a work of building in us. This building work is to establish our heart. Our heart needs to be built up, to be established blameless.
Second Thessalonians 2:13 says, “We ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This verse speaks of salvation in sanctification, and 1 Thessalonians 3:13, of being blameless in holiness. To be in holiness is different from being in sanctification. Of course, holiness and sanctification both refer to an element that is holy. However, holiness refers to the element itself, and sanctification refers to the process of being made holy, the process of being sanctified. A process is going on to make us holy; this process is sanctification. Therefore, to be in holiness is to be in the element, and to be in sanctification is to be in the process of being made holy.
God’s salvation is in sanctification. This means that God’s salvation involves a continuing process through which we are being made holy. As this process is taking place, we enjoy God’s saving power. Holiness is the element of God’s holy nature. It is in this element that we are to be blameless. For our heart to be established blameless in holiness, it needs the element of holiness added to it. We need to be blameless in the element of holiness, and we also need to undergo the process of sanctification so that we may enjoy God’s salvation daily and even hourly.
Our heart is blamable, worthy of blame, because it is changeable; an unchanging heart is a blameless heart (Psa. 57:7; 108:1; 112:7). God is the unchanging One, but according to our natural birth our heart is changeable, both in our relationship with others and with the Lord (cf. 2 Tim. 4:10; Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23). There is no one who, according to his natural, human life, is steadfast in his heart; because our heart changes so easily, it is not at all trustworthy (Jer. 17:9-10; 13:23). In God’s salvation the renewing of the heart is once for all, but in our experience our heart is renewed continually, because it is changeable (Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 4:16). Because our heart is changeable, it needs to be renewed continually by the sanctifying Spirit so that our heart can be established and built up in the state of being holy, separated unto God, occupied by God, possessed by God, and saturated with God (Titus 3:5; Rom. 6:19, 22). If our heart is set, built up, and established upon a solid foundation, it will then become blameless. An unchanging heart is a blameless heart.
We need to realize and admit that our heart is changeable. Therefore, we need to receive mercy and grace from the Lord that we may give Him the permission to establish our heart. He is waiting for our permission before He works within us to do the establishing. When our heart has been established, it will become blameless.
When we were away from the Lord, our heart also was turned away from Him. Instead of being occupied by the Lord, our heart was occupied by many other things. Furthermore, our heart certainly was not saturated with the Lord. However, we can praise the Lord that through His mercy and grace, we are now on the way to being separated fully unto the Lord, to being occupied wholly by Him, and to being saturated thoroughly with Him. When this process has been completed, our heart will be in the state of being holy, in the state of holiness.
For our heart to be established blameless in holiness includes much more than simply for our heart to turn to the Lord and to be pure toward the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16; Matt. 5:8). This is to have our turned and pure heart separated unto the Lord, occupied by the Lord, and saturated with the Lord. Such a heart not only has turned to the Lord, but it also has a pure motive. It is separated unto Him, fully occupied by Him, and thoroughly saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will no longer be movable or changeable. Furthermore, when our heart is in such a condition, it will become blameless.
To be blameless is not the same as to be perfect. When something is perfect, it is without blemish or defect. This goes beyond blamelessness. In other words, to be without blame is not as good as to be without blemish. In 1 Thessalonians 3:13 Paul does not require perfection. Rather, he requires only that our heart be blameless. The way for our heart to be blameless is for it to be established by the Lord. If our heart is established by Him, we will be those whose hearts have been separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him, and saturated with Him. Then our heart will be set, established, and built up in holiness. Here, in this state of holiness, the state of being made holy, our heart will become blameless.
We all need to look to the Lord to have mercy on us. We need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. I want to have my mind renewed. I want to have my emotion filled with Your love. I want to have a will that is truly one with Your will.” If we have such a heart, then the heart will be established blameless in holiness, blameless in the state of being made holy.