Our Passage From October 10th
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers. We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing your election, brothers loved by God” (1st Thessalonians 1:4-7, HCSB).
Paul, Silus and Timothy discussed the growth and the health of the church in Thessalonica and this letter that Paul writes is the result of their discussion. It serves as a means of encouragement, instruction and teaching. As Paul addresses them, the statement Church of the Thessalonians means to those called out in Thessalonica. “Called out” means that, though they reside in the world, they no longer belong to the world; they belong to the Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13). As their hearts now belong to the Lord, those who have been “called out” know their purpose in Thessalonica to be serving the Lord. What does the outworking of their purpose entail? What Paul reflects upon and rejoices over: “their work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing your election, brothers loved by God.”
The question of the meaning of election often arises here, in this passage. Are we predestined and elected or do we have free-will? As your pastor - my direction is that it remains a supernatural work and the Lord’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So, as to the question: predestined or freewill - from our human-perspective it seems fitting that both views apply, in part.
Spurgeon also lays out his thoughts on this text: “I am not sure that in Heaven we shall be able to know where the free agency of man and the Sovereignty of God meet, but both are great Truths” (His I Th Sermon Series, 1889).
When Pauls says “knowing your election” what we can deduce is that the Lord has elected to offer salvation unto those of us in the world. He has elected through Whom to make salvation available - through His one and only son, Jesus. He also foreknows who will come to know Him as Lord and He also foreknows those who will remain under His wrath; additionally, we also know that it is His desire that none should perish (2 Peter 3:8-9). So, to know our election is to know that God comes after us in His love (1 John 4). Those who submit to His love, He then enables us to love Him, to put His love into every facet and relationship of our lives. In essence, knowing our election is knowing that the Lord has made possible for us, through Christ alone, the privilege of being in relationship with Him - to know that we belong to Him.
Those of us who’ve looked at the law and, under conviction, see God’s holiness and our sinfulness; acknowledging that there’s nothing we can do to rid ourselves of the curse of sin or make ourselves right with God. Jesus, Who hung on that tree for us, bore our penalty of sin due to us in His body - offering us the chance to call our Creator, “Father”, then, through the Holy Spirit, a new heart and a renewed disposition that hungers for holiness to those who repent, declaring Him to be Lord.
While we still deal with the residue of sin, we are no longer defined by the curse of sin. He took upon Himself the curse of sin, offering to those who repent His righteousness, that, by His spirit, we might be able to share in a heart agreement with our Heavenly Father, as sons and daughters of the Most High. The results in the mercies of God being upon us, our children, and our children’s children for a 1000 generations!
Now, Paul makes clear that there is evidence or fruits that flow out of the church’s life that verify their calling out - “our work of faith, our labor of love and our endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Highland, as we closed our sermon last Sunday, I asked you to reflect on the evidence, both in your personal life and in the life of our church. I look forward to hearing from you.
As a matter of fact, there is a space below for you to offer your reflections on church’s evidences. Completing this form will help us to examine the life of our church and continue bear much fruit together. Please consider completing this section below. Thank you!
