1 Thessalonians 3:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Thessalonians 3:13
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Colossians 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of…
Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and withou…
1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1 Corinthians 1:7-8 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them whic…
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 3:11–end
In these words we have the earnest prayer of the apostle. He desired to be instrumental in the further benefit of the Thessalonians; and the only way to be so while at a distance was by prayer for them, together with his writing or sending to them. He desired that their faith might be perfected, which he could not be the proper cause or author of; for he pretended not to dominion over their faith, nor to have the donation of it, and he therefore concludes with prayer for them. Observe,
I. Whom he prays to, namely, God and Christ. Prayer is a part of religious worship, and all religious worship is due unto God only. Prayer is here made to God, even the Father and our Father; and also to Chris…
your hearts--which are naturally the spring and seat of unholiness.
before God, even our Father--rather, "before Him who is at once God and our Father." Before not merely men, but Him who will not be deceived by the mere show of holiness, that is, may your holiness be such as will stand His searching scrutiny.
coming--Greek, "presence," or "arrival."
with all his saints--including both the holy angels and the holy elect of men (Th1 4:14; Dan 7:10; Zac 14:5; Mat 25:31; Th2 1:7). The saints are "His" (Act 9:13). We must have "holiness" if we are to be numbered with His holy ones or "saints." On "unblameable," compare Rev 14:5. This verse (compare Th1 3:12) shows that "love" is the spring…
To the end he may establish your hearts - Without love to God and man, there can be no establishment in the religion of Christ. It is love that produces both solidity and continuance. And, as love is the fulfilling of the law, he who is filled with love is unblamable in holiness: for he who has the love of God in him is a partaker of the Divine nature, for God is love.
At the coming of our Lord - God is coming to judge the world; every hour that passes on in the general lapse of time is advancing his approach; whatsoever he does is in reference to this great event: and whatsoever we do should be in reference to the same. But who in that great day shall give up his accounts with joy? That per…
The Church Fathers
And again: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord God, Jesus Christ, at His coming? " Likewise: "Before God, even our Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the whole company of His saints." He teaches them that they must "not sorrow concerning them that are asleep," and at the same time explains to them the times of the resurrection, saying, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus shall God bring with Him.
"To the end He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." He shows that love produces advantage to themselves, not to those who are loved. I wish, he says, that this love may abound, that there may be no blemish. He does not say to stablish you, but your hearts. "For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts." (Matt. xv. 19) For it is possible, without doing anything, to be a bad man; as for example, to have envy, unbelief, deceit, to rejoice at evils, not to be loving, to hold perverted doctrines, all these things are of the heart; and to be pure of these things is holiness. For indeed chastity is properly by preeminence called holiness, since fornication and adultery is also uncleanness. But universally all sin is uncleanness, and every virtue is purity. For, "Blessed," it is said, "are the pure in heart." (Matt. v. 8) By "the pure" He means those who are in every way pure. For other things also know how to pollute the soul, and no less. For that wickedness defiles the soul, hear the prophet, saying, "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness." (Jer. iv. 14) And again, "Wash you, make you clean, put away the wickednesses from your souls." (Isa. i. 16, Sept) He did not say "fornications," so that not only fornication, but other things also defile the soul. "To establish your hearts," he says, "unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." Therefore Christ will then be a Judge, but not before Him (only), but also before the Father we shall stand to be judged. Or does he mean this, to be unblamable before God, as he always says, "in the sight of God," for this is sincere virtue-not in the sight of men? It is love then that makes them unblamable. For it does make men really unblamable.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Decision · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Perfection · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Perseverance · 1:10,22,23;2:7; — 1:10,22,23;2:7;
Second Coming Of Christ, The · The Manner of: With his saints — The Manner of: With his saints
Sinlessness · 1:9-11; — 1:9-11;
Steadfastness · Ministers: Should pray for, in their people — Ministers: Should pray for, in their people
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
To the end he may stablish your hearts,.... Which are very unstable and inconstant in their frames, and in the exercise of grace, and have need to be established in the love of God, against the fears of men, the frowns of the world, the temptations of Satan, and in, and with the doctrines of grace; See Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:2,
unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father. There is no holiness in men naturally; what is in them without the grace of God is only a show; true holiness is from the Spirit of God; and this is a stable thing in itself, and can never be removed or taken away; but the acts of it, through the prevalence of corruption, the force of Satan's temptations, and the…
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
11. Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
11. Ipse autem Deus et Pater noster, et Dominus noster Iesus Christus viam nostram ad vos dirigat.
12. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
12. Vos autem Dominus impleat et abundare faciat caritate mutua inter vos et erga omnes: quemadmodum et nos ipsi affecti sumus erga vos:
13. To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
13. Ut confirmet corda vestra irreprehensibilia, in sanctitate cora…
In the final part of this prayer (3:11-13), Paul prays that their hearts—their conduct and moral resolve (Matt 5:8; Acts 15:9; Heb 10:22)—might be strong, blameless, and holy. • When Jesus comes, he will be accompanied by all his holy people, possibly a reference to angels (Deut 33:2; Ps 89:5, 7; Dan 4:13; 8:13; Matt 13:41; Mark 8:38; 13:26-27; 2 Thes 1:7).
