Grace to Thessalonica

Sometimes people say what you believe in the doctrine of election.

Then why witness why pray why preach the gospel. Why go to the mission field.

That of course is one of the more common objections to the doctrine of election and one Dr. Steven Lawson is not afraid to answer.

Stay with us Renewing Your Mind is next pleased to present another message from Dr. Lawson series on the foundations of grace in the New Testament is focusing today on Paul's letters to the Thessalonians in Hillwood, not just of the doctrine of election, but other key aspects of God's sovereign saving grace in this session we find ourselves in the book of first Thessalonians, and it was on Paul's second missionary journey that he came to the Macedonian port which was Thessalonica. Any preach the gospel there so powerfully that he created a riot and he was forced to leave town and he went down the road to Corinth and while in Corinth he wrote two letters back to the Thessalonians, which is first and second Thessalonians is actually 1/3 letter this.

The loss letter, but we have the two canonical books and in these two epistles. First and second Thessalonians, Paul continues to_the doctrines of grace is all want to bring these to your attention during this session.

So were in first Thessalonians chapter 1 and in verse four and I want to draw to your attention. Also, I said chapter 1 verse four.

Again, this is not hidden in the back of the book. This is right here frontloaded, you take one step into the book of Thessalonians, and Boone, there you are immediately confronted with the doctrine of sovereign election and this tells me what are commonly taught doctrine. This was in the first century church that the entire church was well taught and doctrines of sovereign grace. So in first Thessalonians 1 and beginning verse two he says we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you and our prayers and now in verse four he more specifically identifies who they are. This is their identity. Any citizen knowing and that that's a very strong word. He has a full conviction that this is true about them knowing brethren beloved by God.

And here's what I want us to see his choice of you and please note, is not their choice of God. That is the ultimate determinative factor in their salvation. No, this goes all the way back to eternity past God's choice of them.

This word choices word that means to choose out from among many possibilities. So it's not like God chose the whole world, and then only those who choose Christ back become the elect no the very group that God chose are those who call upon the name of the Lord, and the next verse talks about the preaching of the gospel in power and sometimes people say well if you believe in the doctrine of election. Then why witness why pray why preach the gospel. Why go to the mission field.

Well, the reason we preach is one God has commanded us to preach but who we know that God has gone before us and God has already marked out certain hearts that will be responsive to the preaching of the gospel for me as an expositor. The word of God.

This this is liberating as I go forth to preach. I know that there will be those who will respond to the truth of the gospel and is not just in this country. It's all around the world. And so we read in verse five for our gospel did not come to you in word only is talking about Paul's preaching when he came to Thessalonica but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction, the doctrine of election in no way held back Paul's preaching is just the opposite. It's the doctrine of election that catapulted Paul forward to preach with with great power and authority and so we see here at the very beginning of this book, God's sovereign election and how it liberated Paul to preach the gospel.

You'll note at the end of this chapter. In verse 10, something of the eternal security of the believer. Also that these who were chosen in verse four are now waiting for God's son to return from heaven at this son, whom God raised from the dead. Jesus please note who rescues us in the eyes is the same as the elect in verse four from the wrath to come very clearly here all the elect and all true believers and that is one in the same will be rescued from the wrath to come in. The language is very definite language he doesn't say that he makes them redeemable are that they would possibly be rescued.

If they do this or that no there is a certainty about this that all the elect will be rescued from the wrath to come. In chapter 2 in verse 12 we are given yet another passage that tells us about the call of God upon the elect.

The elect come to faith in Christ because they are powerfully called by the Holy Spirit of God. In verse 12 he says, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory and a verb tense. There is important normally would be in the past tense. Referring back to their conversion. When God called them, but here it's in the present tense and it speaks of the fact that God will never let go of those whom he has called that he has called them to himself at the moment of conversion in the sense that he just continues to call all the way home to glory all the way into the kingdom of his glory. Again, this is the eternal security of the believer that he continues to sustain us in our walk with the Lord at the end of this chapter.

In chapter 2, verse 1980. He refers to the Thessalonians who were chosen by God.

He says who is our hope, or joy, or crown of exultation, is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again here we see the certainty of all the elect standing one day in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there are none who will fall away from Christ. There are none who will fall away from grace as they will be preserved faithful all the way to the end.

So these are wonderful versus even later in chapter 4 and verse 17 he says we who are alive and remain in the way, refers to all believers and all believers are all the elect.

He says we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them that then refers to those who have already died and fallen asleep in the Lord will be caught up together with them in the class to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord there will be none left behind. We will all be caught up to be with the Lord. When Christ returns. Again, the certainty of our future glory in heaven. Well, first Thessalonians is just such a wonderful book that sprinkles the doctrines of grace in chapter 5 verse 10 we read that Christ died for us in the office is very limited.

The us is more narrow in focus because the us refers to only believers. The us refers to the elect of God and this is for whom Christ died. He died for us, not for them.

He died for us and then at the end of first Thessalonians chapter 5 in verse 23 again another statement of the certainty of the eternal security of the believer and it comes in the form of this doxology now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ's next verse. Faithful is he who calls you the one who has called us to himself and he also will bring it to pass. There will be no unfinished business on the part of the Lord in our lives and what he has begun in our life. He will bring to completion in our life. He who called us to faith in Jesus Christ is the one who will preserve us complete, without blame all the way to the end of the age to the time of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ yet again another clear testimony of the Lord's sustaining grace in the life of the one who was called and why because he is faithful.

Faithful is he who called you faithful is he to bring this to pass this doesn't rest on us. Ultimately, this rests entirely upon the Lord, when we come to the book of second Thessalonians in we continue to read more of these similar kind of verses and I want to take you to the second Thessalonians 210 verse 13 second Thessalonians 2 in verse 13 and 14 and there is virtually an entire body of divinity contained in these two verses almost an entire systematic theology that is contained in just these two verses as Paul continues to bring instruction to the believers there at Thessalonica and he wants to the shore up their foundation by reminding them of these truths of sovereign grace, just as it's good for us to hear this yet again and to be reminded of the sovereignty of grace, so in verse 13 we read, but we should always give thanks to God for you.

Now what should be this motivating factor for Paul and his associates to give thanks for these believers at the church at Thessalonica only identifies him as brethren there there in the family of God that been birthed into the family of God, beloved by the Lord, meaning deeply loved by the Lord, and here's why.

He gives thanks because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. What a beautiful verse. This is so succinctly stated. Look at it again with me God has chosen you.

He wants to remind the Thessalonians that though within time, they did call upon the name of the Lord.

Paul loves to remind them that you can trace that River upstream all the way back to eternity past where there was simply God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit there before the foundation of the world God made a distinguishing choice of those who would be saved. Those who would become the bride of Christ, and it was not because of anything in them that drew God's love to them. It originated in God himself. God chose whom he would choose for reasons known only to God himself that there clearly God has chosen you and McGinnis were chosen means to be chosen out of many possibilities out of the entire fallen human race out of all of the sons and daughters of Adam who are plagued by original sin. God has chosen those whom he will say, and the timing is very clear from the beginning is not within time is from the beginning of time, really before the beginning of time. From the very beginning of God fashioning his eternal decree and setting forth his purpose and plan for what would take place within time. I also want you to note that he has chosen us for salvation and there are some believers who try to do an end run on this and plow around this boulder and say, well, God's choice is only for service, God would never choose for salvation. It's only that God has chosen you for a particular ministry. Oh really I don't think anything can be any more clear than our Bible that says that God has chosen us from the beginning for salvation and just to remind you the word salvation means to be delivered from distraction it means to be rescued from ruling and salvation here speaks of the comprehensive salvation, justification, sanctification, glorification the entire comprehensive package of salvation in its every part we could include regeneration and adoption and union with Christ in communion with him. It is the entire network of salvation God has chosen us from the beginning to enter into the fullness of this salvation, it becomes real in our life. In verse 13, through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Now the order that is very important as sanctification here refers to the initial sanctification at the moment of conversion when we are set apart from the world, set apart from our bondage to sin unto the Lord Jesus Christ and there is both a negative and a positive separation separation from the world. The evil world system being set apart unto the Lord Jesus Christ and that is in operation of the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is the only one who is strong enough in his omnipotence to break the power of sin in our life and to set us apart unto Christ and then please note and faith in the truth.

This faith we know comes from the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 12 three says no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit is the one who regenerates John chapter 3 verse 80 blows like the wind wherever he will.

We must be born of the spirit and it is the Spirit who grants the gifts of repentance and faith. It's the spirit. He takes out our old heart of stone. It puts in a heart of flesh. It's the spirit who opens our eyes to see the truth opens our ears to hear the voice of the shepherd calling us to himself.

This is all a work of the spirit. And here we see that even this sanctification precedes faith, we would put it this way in from other passages. Regeneration precedes faith regeneration produces faith because dead men don't believe, spiritually dead men do not believe in so even the order at the end of verse 13 is very important. It is by the spirit that we exercise faith in the truth, and this is a good reminder that our faith is no better than the object of that faith that you can have faith in the wrong thing and it's no good. Our faith has to be in the truth and Jesus Christ is the truth and so all saving faith is in the truth now in verse 14 he adds to this little section here small section that is rich in theology. He writes it was for this he called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here again we see the sovereign call of God calling us out of darkness, calling us out of our bondage to sin, calling us out of being oppressed by the devil calling us summoning us into faith in Jesus Christ. And if he did not call.

We would not come in the call extends the power to answer that call and that call is always through our gospel. No one is saved, apart from the gospel.

That's why we preach. That is why we witness this is why we send missionaries to the corners of the earth because the call is always through our gospel and then he says the outcome. The purpose is that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that looks to the end of our salvation. This looks to our glorification. This call is not only to our initial conversion, but to our ultimate glorification it's it's all this golden chain of salvation so all who are called will gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is another way of saying that we will be fully and completely conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. One day in heaven. Our bodies will be like his resurrection body hit his glorified body, but more importantly on the inside.

We will be as much as a redeemed center. St. can be made like Christ in heaven he he will always be God and we will always be but a creature, but nevertheless we will gain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ our sin nature will be completely eradicated, we will shed our flesh and we will be confirmed in the new man that we became when we became a new creature in Christ, and we will have now only pure and perfect thoughts and motives and words and deeds and actions. We will never again have to confess our sin because we will never sin again. We will never have to repent because we will never be going the wrong way. Our hearts will be liberated and freed to now do, what would be our hearts desire to give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ to cast our crowns before his throne to serve him to sing his praises throughout all of the ages to come, we will gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. These doctrines of grace are the sweetest truth that I know because it represents salvation from eternity past all the way through time unto eternity future.

Our life is in his hands and he will never let go for everyone born of the spirit. For everyone who is passed from death into life. There is no need to fear the future. Our place in heaven is secure. Our inheritance is immovable.

We been studying the incredible doctrines of grace filled in the New Testament today on Renewing Your Mind every Saturday Dr. Steven Lawson continues his series as he shows us God's sovereignty in celebration. We encourage you to contact us and request this complete series for your donation of any amount. There are 24 messages on two DVDs.

That's more than eight hours of study just request foundations of grace New Testament by Dr. Steven Lawson you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343. You can also go online to Renewing Your Mind.work realize that the some of this may be new to you and perhaps you'd like to know more. Another way to study the documents or braces to listen to rough that woodcutters Internet radio station are 24 hour programming provides teaching and preaching from a reformed perspective over the pastoral heart to help you grow in your Christian faith begin listening for free@roughneck.fm or download the free riff that up for your phone or tablet will next week we're going to look at other letters that the apostle Paul wrote, among them the letters to Timothy and Titus, which contain detailed directions on how the church should be structured and how to deal with unruly church members just sin was alive and well in the early church to but it was these doctrines of grace which provided the foundation for the body of Christ been in no we hope to see you right back here next Saturday for Renewing Your Mind