Chosen by God
1 Thessalonians 1v4-5a
25th June 2021
Paul, Silas and Timothy began their letter to the young church at Thessalonica with several very encouraging thoughts. Perhaps the greatest of these is:
1 Thessalonians 1v4-5a
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power,
with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.
Paul and his friends give thanks to God for the church at Thessalonica because they know that the members of the church there are genuinely Christians. They're our brothers and sisters in Christ. They're loved by God. How sad it is when a church contains people who think they're Christians, but they're not. But the Thessalonians were genuine Christians.
If you're a Christian, then you know that God the Father loved you when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for you. God the Son loved you when He stayed on the cross, bearing your sin and shame. God the Holy Spirit loved you when He revealed the truth about Jesus to you. When They did this, They knew about all your weaknesses, all your doubts, all your bad decisions, all the things you'd get wrong. And They did it anyway. God's not going to stop loving you now.
Here is perhaps the most true, most important thing you can say about yourself: you are a person that God loves. The Thessalonians were being persecuted. That didn't mean that God didn't love them. In all their struggles, Paul, Silas and Timothy wanted to assure them that they're loved by God.
More than that, the apostles wanted the persecuted, baby Thessalonian Christians to know that God has chosen them. And what a wonderful, assuring truth it is that God has chosen us. God chose you. God loved you, before the beginning of time. God could have chosen that you wouldn't be born, or you wouldn't survive, or the person who told you about Jesus wouldn't meet you. He could have chosen that that person, or you, was too busy or too ill to be there. He could have chosen not to reveal the truth to you, not to give you faith to believe, or not empower you to repent of your sins. But He chose to save you. He chose you.
The apostles explain their confidence that the Thessalonian church were chosen by God in this way:
1 Thessalonians 1v5a
because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power,
with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.
When Paul, Silas and Timothy preached the Gospel there, it wasn't just words. It wasn't just an alternative philosophy. It wasn't just a world-view that was more coherent, more believable and more comforting that paganism (although, of course, it was all that). The Gospel – the Good News of Jesus Christ – was accompanied by power. It was vindicated by the Holy Spirit.
It may be that miracles were performed when the Gospel was first preached in Thessalonica, but neither this passage nor Acts 17 mentions any. Paul probably means that the preached word had a powerful effect on the minds, hearts and consciences of the listeners there. It brought deep conviction. To be "convicted" here means to be "completely convinced". The Holy Spirit convinced the people listening that the Gospel is the truth, not only intellectually, but in their hearts, in their emotions, in their guts:
Hebrews 4v12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges
the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Holy Spirit of God applies the Word of God to our inner being. He causes it to bring truth and life where before there were lies and death, to those He has chosen. When Paul and his companions preached in Thessalonica, the people were convinced that what they were saying was true, that it was important, and that they needed to change the way they thought and lived in order to respond to it. Only the Holy Spirit can do this.
You and I have read the Bible, probably many times. We know what it says. And, by and large, we believe it. Other people have studied the Bible, perhaps in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek in which it was written, and have written books about it. Some of these people don't believe it. They don't believe the miracle stories. They don't believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection, or the ascension. They don't believe Jesus is God. And they don't believe they need to change their world view because of what the Bible says.
Why do we believe the Bible, when they don't? It's not because we're cleverer than them. Some of them are university lecturers. It's not because we're better people than them. Some of them are very nice people. When some of us first believed, we really weren't very nice. So why is it?
It's because when we read the Bible, or heard it preached, it moved our hearts powerfully. That's because the Holy Spirit convinced us of the truth of the Bible, and He didn't convince them. Why did He choose to persuade us and not them? I don't know, but He did. And if the Holy Spirit powerfully convinced us of the fundamental truths of the Bible, and if God gave us grace to repent – to change the way we think – that demonstrates that God chose us.
I know that Jesus is God. I know that He died to pay for my sins. I know that He rose from the dead. I know that I know. There is no doubt in my mind. Why? I know these things because the Holy Spirit has powerfully convinced me that they're true, and He continues to do so. And therefore I know that God chose me.
And therefore, I will work for Him, I will labour for Him, and I will fix my hope on His accepting me into the heavenly dwellings, and on His victory on earth. He is my Lord. He is the Lord of all the earth. He is the Lord of history. He loves me and He chose me. And I pray you will know that He loves you and He chose you. What a blessing! What an assurance! What security! Hallelujah!
Here are the three fundamental attributes of the Christian heart: faith, love and hope. Here are two fundamental truths about who you are: you are loved by God, and you are chosen by God. The state of your heart: your faith, love and hope, demonstrate that your salvation is real. You belong to God. You're in God. And these things make your life beautiful, even in suffering. They make your life worthwhile. Whatever comes, hold on to your faith, hold on to your love, hold on to your hope, in the name of Jesus.