remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Thessalonians 1:3

After Paul was beaten and driven out of Thessalonica by jealous Jews (Acts 17), his heart yearned for the new church he had left behind, he was concerned for their spiritual well being, wondering if the persecutions they had suffered had caused them to abandon their new found faith. So, he sent Timothy, his faithful companion and son in the gospel to go find out how they were doing. To Paul’s joy and to the glory of God, Timothy brought back news of a vibrant church whose faith in Christ had not been shaken by the trials and persecutions, but  instead, had grown stronger. Paul was thankful and overjoyed. In light of the good news from Timothy, he wrote his first letter (1 Thessalonians) to this persecuted but thriving church, praising them for the steadfastness, recounting the selfless service he had observed in their lives before he was abruptly taken from them.

What Paul remembered most about these new believers was their work of faith, labor of love and their steadfast hope in Jesus. Each of these Christian graces are not self focused, neither are they self serving but are directed outward. Faith is directed towards God, Love towards others and Hope towards the future return of our Lord Jesus.  These are Christian graces that should mark all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. They point to the fact that we are no longer living for ourselves, but for the one who called us and saved us.

Genuine faith in God always lead to good works. James tells us that faith without works is dead. (James 2:14-26). A genuine faith in God, produces a genuine love for people, a genuine love for people causes us to labor for them, both of which produces a genuine hope in the return of Christ. Living with the hope of Christ’s return (with eternity in view) causes us to remain patient and steadfast in the face of persecution and injustice.

True and genuine Christianity is marked by a life of faith towards God, our labor of love for people and steadfast hope in the return of our savior, Jesus Christ.  As John Stott puts it, “Faith works, love labors and hope endures”.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reason is not the foundation of faith, but it is the instrument of faith. – Kevin DeYoung

After he was released from the Philippian jail, Paul and his companions, headed to Thessalonica. As someone who took every opportunity to preach the gospel, Paul did not waste anytime. He found a Jewish synagogue and as was his custom, went in once a week (on the sabbath day) for three weeks where he reasoned with those present out of the scriptures, explaining and proving why the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus was necessary for our salvation. (Acts 17:1-3).

Notice that Paul did not go to argue, neither did he try to present the gospel by manipulating their emotions. Instead, he appealed to their minds by reasoning out of the scriptures, explaining from the scriptures and proving from the scriptures the necessity of the work of Jesus.  This does not mean that the gospel is all intellectual. The road to the heart is through the mind. It is impossible to love or submit or trust someone you do not know. That is why it was important for Paul’s hearers to know and see the plan of God for salvation from the scriptures and be convinced of it. While we are saved by grace through faith, we cannot put our faith in what we do not know.

Someone said to me some time ago, the Bible is a spiritual book, not a textbook, bringing reason into studying it is the same as reading the Bible like a text book.  While It is true that we need the Holy Spirit to open our minds to understand and obey the Bible, that does not mean however, that we do not need to engage our minds when we study the Bible. The Bible is not irrational, understanding it’s meaning requires us to engage our minds as well as our hearts. Kevin DeYoung puts it this way in his book “Daily Doctrine” – Reason is not the foundation of faith, but it is the instrument of faith. For two years, Paul reasoned daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). He reasoned with Felix and Drusilla (Acts 24:24). And he pleaded with Festus, “I am speaking true and rational words” (Acts 26:25). The truth of the Bible may be beyond reason’s comprehension, but it is never nonsensical and irrational.

Something else we see from Paul’s reasoning, explaining and proving the finished work of Christ from the scriptures is that we need words in order to share the gospel. Most of us have the heard the saying that goes like this “preach the gospel, if necessary, use words”. I believe the person who coined this phrase was probably calling Christians to not just talk the talk, but to also walk the walk which is a good thing. But in order to believe and receive the gospel, one must know exactly what it is. Words are necessary to convey the message of the gospel. What is the gospel? Paul summarizes the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as follows:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

The gospel message is that Christ died for sinners, He was buried, and He rose from the dead in order to save and justify those who would put their faith in Him. This is a message that cannot be communicated through behavior, but through spoken words. This message of the gospel is effectively communicated as we reason, explain and prove from the scriptures, the finished work of Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria