And the very God of peace {i} sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(i) Separate you from the world, and make you holy to himself through his Spirit, in Christ, in whom alone you will attain to that true peace.

People's New Testament

5:23 The very God of peace. Who bestows peace of soul.

Sanctify you wholly. Make you holy in every respect.

Your whole spirit and soul and body. Let the whole man be preserved blameless.

Wesley's Notes

5:23 And may the God of peace sanctify you - By the peace he works in you, which is a great means of sanctification. Wholly - The word signifies wholly and perfectly; every part and all that concerns you; all that is of or about you. And may the whole of you, the spirit and the soul and the body - Just before he said you; now he denominates them from their spiritual state. The spirit - Gal 6:8; wishing that it may be preserved whole and entire: then from their natural state, the soul and the body; (for these two make up the whole nature of man, Matt 10:28;) wishing it may be preserved blameless till the coming of Christ. To explain this a little further: of the three here mentioned, only the two last are the natural constituent parts of man. The first is adventitious, and the supernatural gift of God, to be found in Christians only. That man cannot possibly consist of three parts, appears hence: The soul is either matter or not matter: there is no medium. But if it is matter, it is part of the body: if not matter, it coincides with the Spirit.

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] whole spirit and soul and body

Man a trinity. That the human soul and spirit are not identical is proved by the facts that they are divisible. Heb 4:12 and that soul and spirit are sharply distinguished in the burial and resurrection of the body. It is sown a natural body (soma psuchikon= "soul-body"), it is raised a spiritual body (soma pneumatikon). 1Cor 15:44. To assert, therefore, that there is no difference between soul and spirit is to assert that there is no difference between the mortal body and the resurrection body. In Scripture use, the distinction between spirit and soul may be traced. Briefly, that distinction is that the spirit is that part of man which "knows" 1Cor 2:11 his mind; the soul is the seat of the affections, desires, and Song of the emotions, and of the active will, the self. "My soul is exceeding sorrowful" Mt 26:38 see also Mt 11:29 Jn 12:27. The word transliterated "soul" in the O.T. (nephesh) is the exact equivalent of the N.T. word for soul (Gr. psuche), and the use of "soul" in the O.T. is identical with the use of that word in the N.T. (see, e.g.) Dt 6:5 14:26 1Sam 18:1 20:4,17 Job 7:11,15 14:22 Ps 42:6 84:2. The N.T. word for spirit (pneuma) like the O.T. (ruach), is trans. "air", "breath", "wind," but predominantly "spirit," whether of God (e.g.) Gen 1:2 Mt 3:16 or of man Gen 41:8 1Cor 5:5. Because man is "spirit" he is capable of God-consciousness, and of communication with God Job 32:8 Ps 18:28 Prov 20:27 because he is "soul" he has self- consciousness Ps 13:2 42:5,6,11 because he is "body" he has, through his senses, world consciousness.

See Scofield Note: "Gen 1:26".

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. the very God-rather as the Greek, "the God of peace Himself"; who can do for you by His own power what I cannot do by all my monitions, nor you by all your efforts (Ro 16:20; Heb 13:20), namely, keep you from all evil, and give you all that is good.

sanctify you-for holiness is the necessary condition of "peace" (Php 4:6-9).

wholly-Greek, "(so that you should be) perfect in every respect" [Tittmann].

and-that is, "and so (omit 'I pray God'; not in the Greek) may your . spirit and soul and body be preserved," &c.

whole-A different Greek word from "wholly." Translate, "entire"; with none of the integral parts wanting [Tittmann]. It refers to man in his normal integrity, as originally designed; an ideal which shall be attained by the glorified believer. All three, spirit, soul, and body, each in its due place, constitute man "entire." The "spirit" links man with the higher intelligences of heaven, and is that highest part of man which is receptive of the quickening Holy Spirit (1Co 15:47). In the unspiritual, the spirit is so sunk under the lower animal soul (which it ought to keep under) that such are termed "animal" (English Version. "sensual," having merely the body of organized matter, and the soul the immaterial animating essence), having not the Spirit (compare 1Co 2:14; see on [2447]1Co 15:44; [2448]1Cor 15:46-48; Joh 3:6). The unbeliever shall rise with an animal (soul-animated) body, but not like the believer with a spiritual (spirit-endued) body like Christ's (Ro 8:11).

blameless unto-rather as Greek, "blamelessly (so as to be in a blameless state) at the coming of Christ." In Hebrew, "peace" and "wholly" (perfect in every respect) are kindred terms; so that the prayer shows what the title "God of peace" implies. Bengel takes "wholly" as collectively, all the Thessalonians without exception, so that no one should fail. And "whole (entire)," individually, each one of them entire, with "spirit, soul, and body." The mention of the preservation of the body accords with the subject (1Th 4:16). Trench better regards "wholly" as meaning, "having perfectly attained the moral end," namely, to be a full-grown man in Christ. "Whole," complete, with no grace which ought to be wanting in a Christian.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:23-28 The apostle prays that they might be sanctified more perfectly, for the best are sanctified but in part while in this world; therefore we should pray for, and press toward, complete holiness. And as we must fall, if God did not carry on his good work in the soul, we should pray to God to perfect his work, till we are presented faultless before the throne of his glory. We should pray for one another; and brethren should thus express brotherly love. This epistle was to be read to all the brethren. Not only are the common people allowed to read the Scriptures, but it is their duty, and what they should be persuaded to do. The word of God should not be kept in an unknown tongue, but transplanted, that as all men are concerned to know the Scriptures, so they all may be able to read them. The Scriptures should be read in all public congregations, for the benefit of the unlearned especially. We need no more to make us happy, than to know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is an ever-flowing and an over-flowing fountain of grace to supply all our wants.