1 Thess. 5:23, R. V.--"And the God of peace himself sanctify you
wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." "Wholly"
means complete in every part, perfect in every respect, whether
it refers to the Church as a whole, or to the individual believer.
Some day the believer is to be complete in all departments of
Christian character--no Christian grace missing. Complete in the
"spirit" which links him with heaven; in the "body" which links him
with earth; in the "soul" as being that on which heaven and earth
play. Maturity in each separate element of Christian character:
body, soul, and spirit.
This blessing of entire and complete sanctification is to take
place when Christ comes: 1 Thess. 3:13--"To the end that he may
establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even
our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his
saints." It is when we shall see Him that we shall be like Him (1
John 3:2). How explicitly Paul puts the matter in Phil. 3:12-14,
R. V. --"Not that I have already obtained, or am already made
perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold of that for
which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count
not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting
the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things
which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus."