2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 contains one of those classic passages in scripture that addresses God’s election of the saints. God has provided this particular passage to give us hope and let us know that He is in complete control of all situations. We are to stand firm in His promises. Everything that we put our faith into is the knowledge that He keeps His word to us. Our hope is in Him and nothing else. It allows us to stand firm.

Lets see what God has to say about standing firm in Him.

13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Verse 13 and 14 are classic reference points in scripture that talk about God’s sovereign will and election. God clearly chooses who will be saved from the beginning of time. We cannot deny how clear this passage is and many many other passages teach this doctrine of God’s election. We are chosen by God however there is this thread of human responsibility that is woven through the scripture. On judgement day when a non believer faces the Father they cannot give an excuse that you did not choose me as a reason of blaming God for not believing in Jesus Christ. This is one of those great mysteries in the Bible. I can apprehend this concept but I don’t fully understand it. It is like the Trinity, I know what it is 1 God (the who) in 3 Persons (the what’s) but it is hard to get my head wrapped around complete understanding. I like what John Piper writes and by the way he is a hardcore Calvinist but he says the following:

Our final judgment will accord with the way we have responded to the gospel in this life. Which means that our final entry into heaven or to hell is not unconditional. To be finally saved we must have believed. And to be lost we must have sinned and not believed. No one will stand on the precipice of hell and be able to say, "I don’t deserve this."

Now mind you this was taken out of a message that John Piper gave 1 week after he gave this sermon titled Unconditional Election and the Invincible Purpose of God - Romans 9:6-13. There are great Theologians on both sides of this argument and these are internal discussions to have but this is not something that should ever divide the body of Christ over. Whether God is looking down through the corridors of time and chose me because He knew I would believe in Jesus or whether God gave me the ability to even have faith is a debate that has been going on since Christ rose from the grave and it will be debated until the day He comes back. All “I” know at the end of the day is He is in control of everything and I believe in His promises and that NO man can thwart the will of God. We can stand firm in knowing God chose us from the beginning of time.

At the end of verse 13 there is something so important that more than likely if you were just reading this passage you might miss it. Paul tells us at the end of that verse

salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

First, we are sanctified in part from this world by the Holy Spirit who convicts and leads us to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who works on our hearts to bring us into a saving relationship with Christ. We must never forget that the Holy Spirit is responsible for leading people to Christ. Not me or you. Now God can use us to bring the Good News to people but it is the Holy Spirit who does the real work of changing a persons heart. It is not us but God. We can be stand firm in the Holy Spirit that He has drawn us to Christ.

The very last phrase in verse 13 says faith in the truth. This is the part if you don’t pause and think about you may pass right over it. Why didn’t Paul just end the passage with sanctification by the Spirt and faith. Why did he say in the truth?

Think about this do you think the men who hijacked those planes on 911 had some serious faith? Do you think they believed in what they were doing? I remember hearing a quote that really upset some people and it was saying that these men did have serious faith. I would also agree these men had faith.

But here in lies the problem. What was their faith directed into? Was it truth? Of course not. Our faith is meaningless unless it is based in Truth. What is our faith? We put our complete faith into the Cross. It is what Jesus did upon that cross that we put our complete faith into. If our faith is misdirected then who cares how much faith you have. You will perish. Paul writes in:

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

15 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

We put our faith into Jesus who is truth. We stand firm in the Truth.

Verse 14 says It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the Good News. Why do we need the good news because before gaining the glory of Christ we were children of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-9 tells us who are the children of wrath.

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The children of wrath are those who do not know God. In verse 4 of Ephesians, God loved us so much and had mercy upon us that He made us alive in Christ. Just as verse 14 states back in 2 Thessalonians. It is God who called us through His Gospel message to save us. We stand firm in His promise of salvation through the gospel message.

In Verse 15 what does He tell us to do? Stand firm and have comfort because of what I have done.

I have Chosen you
I have Sanctified you
You have faith because I am True
I have called you through the Gospel to know my Son Jesus

Therefore stand firm. Hold onto the word of God. Believe in what He says. Do the things I tell you, take comfort I am in control of everything. Believe in Me... God is telling us to stand firm because He really is in control of everything.

This passage of encouragement is written to believers. People who have been called by Christ for salvation to stand firm.

In the next post I want to discuss the difference of two biblical characters. One who stood firm Abram (Abraham) and the other who did not, Lot. Both were saved but one finished the race glorifying God and the other ended in complete disaster. Stay tuned!