Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:13

"to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." — 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (ASV)

The goal of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians is that the Lord will grant them inner strength to be “blameless” in holiness “in the presence of our God and Father” when the Lord Jesus returns. He looks forward to the time of final accounting. An overflow of love (v.12) is the only route to holy conduct in which no fault can be found (v.13). Unless love prevails, selfish motives inhibit ethical development by turning us toward ourselves and away from God and blameless living. The holiness of God is the ideal we must seek (cf. Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16).

The final accounting Paul alludes to will take place before “our God and Father,” as “in the presence of” (GK 1869) a judge (Matthew 25:32; Matthew 27:11; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Earlier Paul had made “our Lord Jesus” the judge at this scene (1 Thessalonians 2:19). But this is no contradiction. The unity of the Father and Son, just seen in v.11, allows a joint judgeship. The judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10) is also the judgment seat of God (Romans 14:10), because Christ in his present session is with the Father on his heavenly throne (Revelation 3:21; cf. Romans 8:34; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 10:12). This hearing will take place at the parousia (GK 4242) of the Lord Jesus . For the Thessalonians Paul prays for a favorable verdict at that time.

Others present at this reckoning will be “all his holy ones.” In the NT, this phrase almost exclusively means redeemed human beings (except possibly Jude 14). The redeemed are elsewhere associated with Christ at his return (2 Thessalonians 1:10). Since human beings are the objects of judgment and their holiness is what is in focus, we must identify “the holy ones” as other Christians joined with the Thessalonians before the judgment seat of God and Christ.

What relation does this event mentioned here bear to the predicted future wrath (1:10; 2:16; 5:9) and the meeting of the saints with the Lord in the air (4:15–17)? If it is Christ’s coming prior to the period of God’s final wrath, it is identifiable with the meeting of 4:15–17. This interpretation, however, encounters obstacles, for if “all his holy ones” refers to the redeemed, they cannot come with Christ until he has first come for them. To interpret “all his holy ones” as the spirits of the dead in Christ is not satisfactory, because some of those in Christ will not yet have died. Furthermore, the readers have not yet been assured that their dead would participate in the parousia (4:15).

But if this event refers to Christ’s coming after God’s final wrath, we encounter other difficulties—primarily a disregard for the contextual emphasis on the judgment of saints. By the time of his return to earth after the wrath, this reckoning will have already taken place in heaven, for 4:15–17 relates the judgment of God and Christ to Christ’s return in the air before the wrath.

In resolving this difficulty, we must consider the scope of the word parousia as indicated in these letters (see the introduction). The complexity of this term demands that it include an extended visit by Christ as well as the arrival initiating that visit. This is provided for adequately in the rarer meaning of parousia, “presence” (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:17; 2 Corinthians 10:10). Included in Christ’s visit is an evaluation of the saints (cf. 2:19; 5:23), which is the aspect in view here in v.13. This judgment cannot be completely dissociated from Christ’s coming in the air (4:15–17), because this advent marks its initiation. Yet it must be conceived of as a session in heaven in some measure separate from the arrival itself. At this juncture the degree to which Christians have attained a “blameless and holy” character will be divinely ascertained.