Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Thess 3:13

“To confirm your hearts without blame, in holiness, before God and our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Amen.”

“The Apostle shows that love benefits those who love, not those who are loved. "May the Lord fill you," he says, "with love, so as to establish your hearts." By "the Lord" understand the Spirit, as Basil the Great also interpreted this. For who else will establish them blameless before God and Father at the coming of Christ, if not the Spirit entirely? He did not say: will establish you, but: "your hearts. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts" (Mt. 15:19). It is possible to be evil without doing any evil deed, such as being envious, deceitful, bearing grudges, or holding to perverted teaching. Therefore, a person is truly blameless when he purifies his heart; then he also has holiness. For although holiness chiefly refers to chastity, just as impurity refers to fornication and adultery, in general every sin is impurity and every virtue is holiness. The Apostle wishes them to be blameless before God and Father, both now (for this is true virtue — before God, not before men, since human judgment is unstable) and at the coming of Christ, for He too will judge us before the face of His Father. Therefore, may you be, he says, blameless, as are all the saints.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.