1 Thessalonians 5: Stanly Community Church

Transcription

1 No matter how faithful the Church may be in its representation of Christ and His kingdom, it must always guard against complacency. Zeal for the Lord and dedication to His will must be renewed daily in the life of each Christian. The ultimate hope is for the Church and its members will be consistently set apart for Christ until His return. When Paul wrote to the Church in Thessalonica, he commended them for their good example, assured them of his commitment to their sanctification, and urged them on toward spiritual maturity. After encouraging them to personally live a godly life in anticipation of Christ s return, the apostle called them to collectively remain in unity around the Lord and His Word. All-in-all, Paul s hope for the true Church of Jesus Christ was to recognize the Lord s supreme role in regard to its faithfulness, to remember its God-given obligations, and to rely on His essential grace. Hope for the Church (5:23-28) The Lord s Role (vv ) When Paul began the doctrinal part of his letter, he emphasized that God s will for the Church was to be set apart from sin to a life of holy service (4:3). He specifically noted the need to strive for sexual purity, since it reflected the self-control necessary for total sanctification. However, overall sanctification is not something we can achieve on our own. 1 Copyright All rights reserved.

2 If Christians are to obey the will of God, then we cannot live simply reacting to fleshly desires. Instead, we must pursue our true desire for holiness to the point of controlling our entire being here and now to serve the Lord as effectively as possible. And, above all things, we do desire holiness, because we have been spiritually born again in the Lord s image and likeness (Jn. 3:3). Now, like God, we love righteousness and hate sin (Rom. 6:1-8:17; cf. Matt. 5:48). But fulfilling this desire requires effort if we are to be totally sanctified. Therefore, we must submit to the leading of the indwelling Spirit of God for encouragement, instruction, and self-control (Jn. 14:15-17; Gal. 5:16, 22-23). So, only God s Spirit, working in us, can produce our sanctification. As Paul taught the Philippian Christians: it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). As he closes his first letter to the Thessalonians, he expresses his agreement with God s desire to accomplish sanctification in them. He says in the first portion of verse 23: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. That is, he wanted God, who has made it possible for believers to have peace with Him through the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 5:1), to thoroughly set His people apart from sin. That is precisely why He made peace with us. He has redeemed our spirit, is sanctifying our earthly body, and will ultimately glorify us totally in His presence. 2 Copyright All rights reserved.

3 Sanctification is obviously essential for the success of the Church s mission on earth. If we are to represent the Lord and His Kingdom with the message of the Gospel, then we must live in agreement with the message. In other words, we must outwardly live in agreement with the work of salvation God has already produced in our spirit. The flesh (i.e. the body) is, therefore, the object of sanctification our spirit is already redeemed. That is why Paul says in the rest of this verse: may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 23b). With the Rapture of the Church still in mind (4:13-18), Paul desired that believers be found sanctified should they come face-to-face with the Lord on the day of His return to take the Church out of the world. This does not apply to the departed believer who enjoys fellowship with God in heaven. Because the Lord s return is imminent, we are to live as if any moment we will see Him. That is a powerful motivator for a sanctified earthly life. Paul s mention of spirit and soul is not to differentiate between two parts of our spiritual being. The spirit merely refers to the essence of our being that is created in the image and likeness of God, and the soul refers to the nature of our spiritual personhood (i.e. mind, will and emotion). There are only two parts to our being the spirit/soul (i.e. the immaterial or spiritual) and the body (i.e. the material or physical). Both terms are used interchangeably throughout the New Testament (e.g. Heb. 6:19; 10:39; 1 Pet. 2:11; 2 Pet. 2:8). 3 Copyright All rights reserved.

4 The apostle is simply using them together here for added emphasis, since he is talking about our whole person and our complete sanctification. His point is that he knew the believer s complete sanctification is God s method of producing a holy life in which we will not be ashamed should we be that generation caught up into heaven with Him. And God who calls you is faithful (v. 24) to sanctify the true follower of Jesus. The call refers to the effective call of God using the Gospel to bring His elect into the kingdom (cf. 2:12; 4:7; Rom. 8:28, etc.). His work in Christians is guaranteed He will do it, says Paul. The question is: Will we cooperate and fulfill our obligation as the Church? Paul s hope for the Church was that believers be sanctified, useful and unashamed should Jesus return in their lifetime. All of this pertains to our earthly service. The Church s Obligation (vv ) Paul wanted the Church to cooperate with God s work of sanctification by fulfilling its obligation as His representative. And what is that obligation? Well, Paul defines it in the next three verses as prayer, brotherly love, and attention to the Word of God. First, he says in verse 25: Brethren, pray for us. That simple request was certainly a sincere appeal to the Thessalonians to undergird Paul s preaching ministry with their prayers. It goes back to his earlier teaching in this chapter to lovingly regard pastors and other legitimate teachers of Scripture for the sake of their work (5:12-13). 4 Copyright All rights reserved.

5 Praying for those who teach you the Word of God is essential for the effective overall ministry of the Church, since God s Word is used by the Holy Spirit to sanctify and direct us. God responds to the prayers of His people which are offered in keeping with His will. The apostle John wrote: Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we have asked of Him (1 Jn. 5:14-15). Acts 2:42 tells us that the Church is to continue faithfully in the doctrines of Scripture, and that it is God s will for us to be sanctified (4:3). Jesus Himself asked the Father to sanctify believers with His Word in order to accomplish the ministry He gives us (Jn. 17:17-19). Therefore, we should pray for God to use His Word to sanctify us. That logically means we should also ask Him to bless and enable those who teach it to us. We are obligated to pray persistently about all things as the apostle taught back in verse 17, but here he emphasizes prayer for the teaching of God s Word as it pertains to our sanctification. Second, Paul emphasizes our obligation to truly love the brethren. In verse 26 he calls on the Thessalonians to: Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. In their culture, this was a gesture of affection that involved a hug and kiss on the cheek. Paul uses similar language on three other occasions (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12), while Peter used it once (1 Pet. 5:14). 5 Copyright All rights reserved.

6 In the Church, this customary greeting was to express the brotherly love between Christians and was expected to be done in a godly manner. Brotherly love is a major theme of the New Testament as Paul also emphasized earlier in 4:9-11. Sincere love of the brethren is evidence of genuine salvation (1 Jn. 3:10-23). Third, Paul points out how essential it is to keep the Scripture central to the life of the Church. He commands in verse 27: I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. Paul understood that his instruction to the churches was the Word of God (2 Pet. 3:15-16). And, as is clear in this verse, he realized the great importance of God s Word for the sanctification of believers (i.e. holy brethren ). Although not always welcomed by everyone who professed faith in Christ, Paul knew that the truth of Scripture was essential to holding true believers accountable and for identifying false believers (Gal. 4:16; 2 Thess. 3:14). In the early Church, the letters of the apostles were often circulated among neighboring congregations and read for their edification and instruction (Col. 4:16). Paul told Timothy that all Scripture has been given to us by the inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching us, correcting us, and training us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). The Church is to give attention to the reading and exposition of Scripture as the focus of its gatherings (1 Tim. 4:13; cf. Heb. 10:23-25). Paul s command to the Thessalonians, to make sure that all its believers were exposed to the Word of God, expresses his hope for its use in their sanctification. 6 Copyright All rights reserved.

7 The Lord s Grace (v. 28) As in many of his epistles, the apostle acknowledged how essential the Lord s undeserved favor toward His people is in the sanctification process. He says in verse 28: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (cf. 2 Thess. 3:18; Rom. 16:20, 24; 1 Cor. 16:23; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 6:18, etc.). Grace is simply God doing for us what we do not deserve. And we certainly do not deserve to be sanctified to serve Him. Much less are we deserving of be redeemed or glorified by Him. So it is by God s grace only that we are saved from sin and judgment in order to do good works which glorify Him for eternity (Eph. 2:4-10). Paul s hope for the Church included His trust in God to pour out His grace on His children and accomplish in and through them His perfect will. Paul s first letter to the Thessalonian Christians is a wonderful picture of what the Church should be a faithful example of God s ability to save sinners and set them apart from sin for His holy purpose until His return. The apostle s hope was that this congregation would continue in its zeal and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ as His faithful representative. As is very evident, their sanctification and maturity was his passion. 7 Copyright All rights reserved.

8 As a Christian, are you representing the Lord to the best of your ability? Do you share Paul s passion for the Church? Do you recognize God s role in your sanctification? Are you fulfilling your obligation by praying for those who instruct you in the Word? By loving the brethren? By learning the truth of Scripture? Are you resting in His grace to sanctify you as a faithful witness of His salvation until He returns? 8 Copyright All rights reserved.