As indicated in yesterday's blog, we are going back and forth between Old and New Testaments in our daily reading and blogging, and today is our initial dive into the New Testament with Paul's letter to the Thessalonian Christians known as 1 Thessalonians.
The first chapter of this epistle is a small jewel in the Bible, one of my favorites. It is not usually heralded among the great chapters of the Bible (such as John 3, Ephesians 2, Romans 8, Isaiah 53, Psalm 23, etc) but is really a short, succinct distillation of the core New Testament doctrines from election, salvation, repentance, the new life, reception of the gospel, the Holy Ghost, and other treasures to be dug out with reflection and prayer.
The chapter, beyond Paul's standard introduction, is really a summary of the effect of the gospel upon the evangelized. But don't skip Paul's introductions, which follows his usual pattern, for they are nuggets of truth to digest and enjoy.
First, he identifies himself, as was done in letters in the ancient world (unlike the later Western tradition of signing our name at the end, though Paul often does this as well). Here he identifies himself simply as Paul, without title or further designation. This is for at least two reasons: first, this is a very early letter of his (probably the first) and, second, the Thessalonians are not in rebellion against his message or apostleship as were later congregations (such as Corinth). He then, as usual, gives them the greeting of grace and peace, which combines the traditional Greek greeting of grace, with the Jewish greeting of shalom or peace. Thus, with this greeting, we have a picture of the church and, indeed, of Paul's apostleship, of uniting Jewish and Gentile (Greek) Christians. Grace is the free, unearned, favor of God, bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ due to the cross. Peace, as understood by ancient Hebrews and Christians, is more then just the absence of conflict or harmony, but the whole inner health of the soul, given us due to the fact we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (see Romans 5:1). His greeting then, again as usual (see Galatians for the only time he did not follow this pattern) praises the Christians for their spiritual life. Here (vs 3), specifically, he praises their: work which comes from their faith, their labor inspired by love, and their patient endurance daily which comes from their hope of all that awaits them at the return of their Savior, Jesus. Here we have one of myriads of examples of Paul's focus and teaching on faith, love, and hope being the cornerstone of the Christian life.
Faith, meaning trust (and not as has become popular in the last 100 years or so, decision), specifically trust in God through Jesus Christ. Faith is the core, essential, aspect of spiritual life (see Hebrews 11:6), and this is due to at least two reasons: first, God is invisible, as are all His actions among us and, thus require faith; and second, the Christian life is based upon promises which we are awaiting to be fulfilled. Now as seen here, faith is not a work, but it produces works. We are not commanded to perform works in order to acquire faith, but rather that faith produces works. So, if you would like to see more good works in your life, don't focus on yourself, focus on the seed of your faith, the power that makes it grow, the gospel of the crucified and risen Messiah for you, Jesus! Only by trust in that gospel will faith grow and, thus, produce work. Look to Jesus, not yourself, and works will inevitably follow.
Love, in the New Testament is not a feeling but actions, as most famously described in 1 Corinthians 13. When the Bible says: husbands, love your wife, or Christian love your neighbor, or disciples, love your enemies, it is not calling upon us to feel a certain way to them, but to consider them and their needs before our own and act accordingly. As you can tell with an honest bit of self examination, this is incredibly difficult, which is the topic is so often raised in the Bible. We need the repetition because love is so very difficult.
Hope in the Bible is not, as we usually use the word, wishing. We say things like I hope it won't rain tomorrow or I hope the Lions win the Super Bowl, but this not what the Bible means by hope. Based on my personal reading, when the Bible uses hope, it means the sustaining power that gets us through the struggles of life based upon the fact we rely upon the promises of God. Hope is future oriented, but only in the sense that it relies upon promises of the future. Hope is for today. Hope, because of the promise of eternal life, impels us to face the struggles, disappointments, and trials of life with uplifted faces, for the promises of God are true and, thus, the better is yet to come. And since the better is yet to come, this can be endured. If this moment is a good one, hope tells us "you ain't seen nothing yet". If this moment is negative, a struggle, depressing, discouraging, or rough, hope says: "eternal bliss is in the hands of your Savior and you are going to Him very soon." Even 100 years is simply a blink of an eye, or will seem that way, in light of eternity enjoyed.
As you can see, each of these: faith, hope and love are difficult, but vital which is why they come up so often in the Bible. Let us train ourselves to see life through the "glasses" of faith, love, and hope, and, convinced of their value, let us pray for their increase in our daily life.
Paul then progresses to his first idea: he knows they are truly the elect/chosen of God because of their response to the gospel and the effect that response had on their life. This is his point from verse 4 to the end of the chapter. So, the NIV has verse 4 as: for we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you." Paul then goes on in the rest of the chapter to detail why he is certain of their election. A word here about election, without getting into the historic debate and the various sides, but rather an observation of how the doctrine is used in the Bible, especially the New Testament. It is used for comfort. The doctrine of election is not used (with the possible exception of Romans 9 depending on your view of that chapter) to determine why people are or are not Christians. RATHER, it is used always to Christians as comfort that they are, indeed, the elect or chosen (elect in KJV language, chosen in all new translations essentially). Christians are comforted with the fact they are the elect of God. This is comfort because it means: they are truly loved by an eternal God and were from the foundation of the world; their spiritual life did not begin within themselves, but was created and will be sustained by God; they and their fellow disciples are the focus of what God is doing in the world; they are the treasure and inheritance of God, indeed of Christ Himself (see John 17). So I would encourage you not to ignore this doctrine, as so many Christians do because of the debates and the confusion. Instead, rather, relish in it as the comfort food it is in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why does Paul know they are chosen?
First, they responded to the gospel (vs 5) "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost." Conversion to Christ is only possible by the power of the gospel and the Holy Ghost Himself. This is why we proclaim the gospel instead of trying to convince people to become Christians. Only the gospel, with its inherent power, and only the Holy Ghost, can change hearts and lives. We are spokespeople, or heralds, nothing else.
Second, they began to imitate Christians and, indeed, Christ Himself (vs 6) which can only happen by the Holy Ghost through the gospel. Only through the new gospel eyes of faith is Jesus seen as one to be imitated, and only by the power of the Spirit of the living God can it happen in our life at all.
Third, they became examples themselves (vs 7-8). As Jesus walks His sheep through this life, and more and more lost sheep start to follow Him, then those sheep who are without a shepherd see this Good Shepherd and begin to follow Him by following His sheep trailing behind Him. Now, notice that Paul does not tell them to be examples. It's not a command to obey, but a reality that happens to those with trust in Christ. If you trust and follow Christ, yourself, you will find yourself an example. Don't try to be one, don't look behind you but ahead with eyes on your Shepherd, but trust that it will, indeed, happen. Further, look for some examples to shine some light when the path of life gets a little murky.
Finally, Paul knows they are elect because they have turned away from idols to God and are awaiting His Son's return. This one of my favorite sentences in the Bible: how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (vs 9b-10). All people are born worshiping idols, whether statues or invisible ones, we are born and naturally live our life serving that which is not really God. In North America that is more likely to be money, popularity, fame, power, sex, rest, education, status, etc, but false gods nonetheless, which are dead and, thus, unable to ultimately deliver us from judgment or hell, but also unable to satisfy the desires of our heart for today or tomorrow. But God, He is the living God, and He can give us life, real life, substantial life, a life walking in the right path to the right destination. Which requires that we repent, or turn from the false to the true God, which in the end is what repentance is: turn from the false to the true path, and God, of our life. And we await the Son, we await Him with anticipation and delight, we await Him in joy and endurance. We await Him for He has promised to return and, just as He promised to rise from the dead and then accomplished that, so He will indeed return for His own in victory and glory. And we await Him for He has delivered us from the wrath of God coming upon all those outside His Son (John 3:36). This wrath is coming. The judgment of God is real. It is not an imaginary holdover from medieval Christianity that we don't believe in our sophisticated age any longer. The eternal wrath of God is coming, but for those in Christ, it has already been taken in our place by our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross on our behalf. So, God's anger will never again be turned upon those He loves, for the One He loves the Best, His Son, has taken that punishing wrath already and God, the just, righteous, and fair one, will not punish twice. Now don't let the various translations here fool you: some say past tense (KJV, NLT), some say present (NKJV, NIV) but for us the difference is insignificant. Whether He has, or is, delivering us, in the end we are delivered, our salvation is a fact, God is not angry at us any longer, and we await His coming with exceeding joy for all the promised benefits that await us. Even so, come Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20).
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