How can you be sure that God is pleased with you? This of course is a perennial question. Every generation as searched for certainty, assurance that God’s pleased with them.
One tribal group in the country of Vanautu, the islands that Leigh and Barbara Labrecque will be moving to as Bible translators in six months, have a unique way of knowing whether God’s accepted them or not. You see, Vanautu is where bungie cord jumping started, but the native Vanautu people use vines instead of cords. The people confess their sins, and then tie a vine to their ankle. Then they jump, and if they don’t die, they can be sure that God’s accepted their confession, but if they die they know that God hasn’t accepted their confession.
People look to different things to try to find assurance of God’s acceptance. One of the most popular indicators of God’s acceptance down through the ages has been our circumstances in life. Historians who study the history of religion call this the principle of retribution. Simply put, the principle of retribution holds that God always rewards people he accepts with prosperity, and punishes people he doesn’t accept with suffering. Sheffield University Old Testament scholar David Clines says, "In one form or another [the principle of retribution] is shared by most human beings, not just religious people, since it is the foundation of most people’s childhood upbringing: certain behavior will earn you rewards, while certain behavior will bring pain or disaster" (Clines cited in Zuck 131). The principle of retribution allows no exceptions, but it claims that all suffering is a sign that God is displeased with people, and that all prosperity is a sign that God is pleased with someone. This principle of retribution lies at the heart of virtually every ancient religion, whether it’s the paganism of the Babylonians and the Egyptians, or the karma of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Lot’s of Christians today unknowingly hold to this principle of retribution. The most obvious example is the "name it, claim it" movement that’s popular on Christian television. These people say if you have enough faith in Jesus you’ll be financially rich, physically healthy, and happy in life. In this view, poverty, sickness, and unhappiness are always a sign that you don’t have enough faith or that there’s some hidden sin in your life. The ancient Babylonians would give a hearty "Amen" to the name it, claim it movement.
But most of us slip into the principle of retribution in more subtle ways. We reason, "God must be pleased with me because my stock went up this month." Or we think, "I know God’s happy with how I’m living because I got a promotion at work." Or the pastor’s version of this: "God must be pleased with my ministry because the church is growing." The other side of this is thinking, "God’s displeased with me because I’m infertile," or "God’s unhappy with me because I was laid off from work." Or the pastor’s version, "God must be displeased with me because the church is struggling."
Now undoubtedly God’s blessings can and sometimes do come in the form of financial gain, job promotions and growing churches. And of course things like sickness, losing a job, and struggling churches can be a consequence of disobedience to God. But "sometimes" is quite different than "always." The principle of retribution claims that our circumstances are always an infallible guide to how God views us.
The Bible rejects the principle of retribution. The oldest book in the Bible is the book of Job, and Job was written to show that the principle of retribution is untrue (Clines). Jesus himself rejected the principle of retribution when he said that God "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt 5:45). Yet many of us persist in looking to our circumstances in life for assurance of God’s acceptance.
We’ve been in a series through the New Testament books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians called LIVING CONFIDENTLY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES. In this series we’ve been preparing to ring in the year 2000 by having our lives firmly anchored in the certainty that God offers us through His son Jesus Christ.
Paul started the church in the city of Thessalonica during one of his missionary journeys--you can read about it in the book of Acts chapter 16. The city of Thessalonica is in located in modern day Greece. From the city square in Thessalonica you could see Mt. Olympus, the mythological place where all the Greek gods were thought to live. The church there probably consisted of just a few dozen brand new Christians, most of whom had probably come out of paganism. Paul wrote his first letter to them to help them grow, especially in light of the intense opposition they were receiving from the other Thessalonian citizens.
Now as Paul writes his second letter from the Greek city of Corinth, we’ll find that persecution had intensified against the Thessalonian Christians. Today as we start looking at Paul’s second letter we’re going to look at "Confidence for Uncertain People."
If our life circumstances aren’t a sure guide to find out how God sees us, how can we regain our confidence when we are feeling uncertain about our spiritual lives? All of us go through seasons where we feel uncertain. We all have those times of doubt, that voice in the back of our mind whispering that God’s not really pleased with us after all. When these inevitable seasons of uncertainty come, where do we turn to regain our sense of confidence? Today we’re going to look at four reliable indicators of how God views our lives in 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.
1. Looking For Signs of Life (2 Thess 1:1-3)
Let’s look at the beginning of the letter together in vv. 1-3. The first two verses are almost identical to Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Like Paul’s first letter, this second letter follows the basic pattern of letters that was common back then. But the "thanksgiving" portion of the letter in v. 3 is different than it was in Paul’s first letter. Paul’s first letter oozed with confidence in the Thessalonians, so much so that he saw them as a model church for all the other churches in their region. But now as he writes them they’re suddenly not so sure about their spiritual lives. After reading Paul’s first letter, many commentators think that the Thessalonians felt that Paul’s confidence was excessive (Bruce 144).
So here Paul says it’s only right for him to thank God for the Thessalonians, that his confidence in the Thessalonians is appropriate and fitting. The basis of Paul’s confidence is their growth in faith and their growth in love. Their "faith" is their total trust and reliance on Jesus Christ to bring them into a relationship with God. This "faith" in Jesus started at their conversion and it’s been growing ever since. In fact, the word Paul uses here for "growing more and more" literally means "super growing." It was as if the initial seed of faith that sprouted when the Thessalonians first became Christians had been sprayed with miracle grow, and so it exploded in growth. Their confidence and trust in Jesus was flourishing like a healthy garden.
But they were also growing in their love, which is their self-less sacrifice for each other. In the Bible, love’s not a sentimental feeling or a romantic attraction, but it’s a willful choice to give of ourselves for the best interests of others. And this Christ-like love was growing. The word Paul chooses here paints the picture of a river overflowing its banks. The river bank marks the boundary where our love stops, but when our love overflows the boundaries, that means we’re stretching ourselves to love more and more people. So a flourishing faith in Jesus and an overflowing love for others is what leads Paul to such confidence.
You might remember that these are the very things Paul prayed for back in 1 Thess 3:10-12, so here Paul is excited about an answer to his prayer. But here we find the first indicator to regain our spiritual confidence. When we’re feeling uncertain, we can regain our spiritual confidence by looking for signs of spiritual life.
A flourishing faith in Jesus and an overflowing love for other people are presented here as two vital signs for spiritual life. Just as a living body has a healthy blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration rate, so a spiritually alive person will have a healthy faith and love. Faith in Jesus accompanied by Christ-like love for people is an infallible sign of spiritual life.
Now often when I ask a person how they know God accepts them, I hear something like this: "I hope God will accept me because I’ve tried to be a good person." Underlying that statement is a fundamental misunderstanding as to the basis of acceptance before God. According to the Bible, if acceptance before God depends on us--our performance, our merit, our religious devotion--none of us would be accepted. Instead the Bible claims that no matter how hard a person tries, no one can earn acceptance with God. Instead, acceptance before God is a free gift, and the only way to receive the gift is by placing our faith in God’s son, Jesus Christ. So the New Testament’s answer to how a person can know he or she is accepted by God is faith in Jesus Christ. Hoping that our goodness or our performance counts reflects faith in ourselves, faith in our own goodness, our own performance, our own merits. This is where many people fall, because though the majority of people in our communities believe in God and many even believe that Jesus is God’s son, when you really come down to brass tacks, they’re trusting in themselves.
What’s your answer to the question? Are you banking on your faith in Jesus, or in your confidence in yourself? An infallible indicator that we’re accepted by God is faith in Jesus that creates Christ-like love for people. Do you see signs of life in yourself?
2. Spiritual Stamina (2 Thess 1:4)
Even though the Thessalonian Christians are feeling uncertain, Paul is still extremely confident in them. We see that in v. 4. The word for "boast" here doesn’t mean "to brag," but it means "to express an unusually high degree of confidence in someone" (Louw and Nida 33.368).
Now here we see that the Thessalonians were going lots of problems. They were undergoing "persecutions," which describes a systematic attempt to oppress and harass Christians (Louw and Nida 25.174). So not only were the other Thessalonians hostile to the Christians, but they’d actually organized themselves against the Christians. One out of four Christians alive today faces similar circumstances in their own country. They were also experiencing "trials," which refers to troubles and problems involving direct suffering (Louw and Nida 22.2).
Now from the point of view of the principle of retribution, the Thessalonians were forsaken by God. If prosperity, wealth, and success were the infallible indicators of God’s acceptance, any observer would conclude that God had rejected the Thessalonians. Perhaps they too wondered. But Paul looks beyond their problems to their perseverance.
The word "perseverance" refers to the "capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances" (Louw and Nida 25.174). Despite the pressure to give up, despite hostility from their former friends, despite pressure compelling them to turn away from Jesus, to compromise their faith and love, despite all these things, the Thessalonian Christians were hanging tough.
Here we find the second indicator. When we are feeling uncertain, we can regain our confidence by responding to problems with spiritual stamina.
That’s what "perseverance" is, spiritual stamina. The Bible never promises that the spiritual life of following Jesus will be problem free. In fact Jesus himself described the life of following him as "taking up the cross daily" (Luke 9:23). Following Jesus sometimes stirs up problems that wouldn’t otherwise be there. So a problem free life not only doesn’t indicate anything about a person’s spiritual life, but it simply isn’t possible. There is no problem free life. The band R.E.M. is right when they sing, "Everybody cries and everybody hurts some." The problem free life is a fiction created by fairy tales and TV shows.
The real indicator is whether we’re responding to our problems with spiritual stamina. The follower of Jesus has the capacity to endure even the most painful suffering with confidence in Jesus. The Bible even says that God can take things intended to destroy us and use them for good. The life of following Jesus is a marathon, not a sprint.
So when you’re feeling uncertain about your spiritual life, respond to your problems with spiritual stamina.
3. Anticipating Future Vindication (2 Thess 1:5-10)
Speaking of spiritual stamina causes Paul to look forward, to the end of the age in v. 5 to 10. The signs of life--faith and love--as well as spiritual stamina are proof positive that God’s accepted the Thessalonians, so they can be sure that God’s counted them worthy of his kingdom. When life falls apart for no apparent reason, our immediate reaction is to doubt God’s fairness. We begin to wonder--like Job did in the Old Testament--whether God is truly just. This of course is where the principle of retribution comes from, because if all suffering is a result of our failures and if all prosperity is a result of our goodness, then we can preserve God’s goodness.
But what we see Paul do here is refocus the notion of retribution forward, to the end of the age. If we look for justice to work itself out in this life, we’ll be looking far indeed, because evil people do sometimes prosper, and godly people do suffer disaster. So Paul invites us in v. 7 to look forward, to that time when "the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven." The word "revealed" here is the word apocalypsis, and it’s the same word that stands as the title to the last book of the bible, the book of Revelation, or the apocalypse. This word describes an unveiling, pulling back the curtain to make something previously hidden now visible. Even though Jesus is currently now Lord, the world doesn’t yet experience that reality--its hidden--but a day is surely coming when the Lordship of Jesus will be revealed for all to see clearly (Holmes 215).
When Jesus is revealed as Lord justice will be done. There’s an interesting play on words here. The word translated "obey" in v. 8 is often means "to respond to someone knocking or calling at a door" (Louw and Nida 46.11). The picture is that God is knocking at the door to a person’s life with the good news of Jesus Christ, but the person refuses to answer the door. So responding to the good news is opening the door.
In v. 9 people who refuse to answer the door are described as "shut out from the presence" of Jesus. Can you see the picture that emerges? One day the door between the holy God and sinful humanity will be locked forever, but before that day comes God is knocking at the door with the good news of his son, Jesus Christ. God refuses to force anyone to be in a relationship with him, that’s the price for being created with freedom. When Jesus is finally revealed as Lord as the entire universe, when the curtain is finally pulled back, the door will be locked, and people who refuse to respond to the good news will live in eternal ruin. Paul looks forward to this incredible, climactic day--a day that’s described throughout the Bible--and then he looks back at the Thessalonians and reminds them, "That includes you." In other words, Paul’s reassuring them of the justice of this final moment, so they can live in light of that coming justice.
Here we find our third indicator. When we’re feeling uncertain, we can regain our confidence by anticipating God’s future vindication.
When we’re the victims of injustice and hatred, we often won’t find justice in this life. So what keeps us from despair or taking matters into our own hands? Knowing that the gavel will one day fall, and those who’ve propagated injustice will one day answer for their crimes.
As I read this section of Scripture I thought about an Iranian Christian named Mehdi Dibaj. Mehdi was born into a Muslim family in Iran, but at the age of 15 he came to faith in Jesus Christ. In 1984 he was arrested by the Iranian government, and for 9 years he was kept in prison. During his imprisonment another pastor cared for Mehdi’s two young sons. Then, finally, on December 3 1993--almost exactly seven years ago--Mehdi Dibaj presented his written defense of his faith in Jesus before the Iranian court of justice. After that trial he was condemned to die, but due to worldwide pressure, the Iranian government released him in January of 1994. But just five months later he was abducted, murdered, and left hanging on a tree in a city park. Reading this passage made me think about the children of Mehdi Dibaj, because they’ll never seen their father vindicated in this life.
But we have God’s assurance here that one day the gavel will fall, one day Jesus will be unveiled in his glory, and when that happens, God will make things right. Are you anticipating God’s future vindication for the injustices you’ve experienced?
Surely none of us have seen the kind of suffering that the Dibaj children have. But we too meet injustice, and when we do we sometimes become unsure of our spiritual life. God invites us to anticipate his future vindication when that happens.
4. Reflecting Jesus in the Way We Live (2 Thess 1:11-12)
This extended thanksgiving leads Paul to pray for his friends in Thessalonica in vv. 11 and 12. Paul’s prayer is that their acceptance by God might be worked out through their actions and through their character. We see the action part in v. 11, "every good purpose" and "ever act prompted by your faith." These two phrases describe our decisions and goals, our hopes and dreams. In other words, God’s ways so permeate our lives that our purposes become his purposes.
We see the character part in v. 12 when we read of Jesus being glorified in us. To be glorified is "to be held in honor," and the name of Jesus is a way of describing who he is, his character. So to glorify the name of Jesus is to have our character reflect a lifestyle that honors Jesus. This results in Jesus’ reputation being built because of our character. F. F. Bruce says, "His name...is glorified when those who bear that name bring credit to it in their lives" (156).
Then Paul reminds us once again that all of this is according to God’s grace, not according to our own merits, works, or efforts. Jesus isn’t glorified in us by trying harder to make ourselves acceptable to God, but he’s glorified when we open our hearts to him by faith, allowing him to transform us by his grace.
So here we find our final indicator. When we’re feeling uncertain, we can regain our confidence by striving to reflect Jesus in the way we live.
Think of our lives as being like the moon--the moon has no natural light in itself. Instead, moonlight is merely light from the sun reflected by the moon. Our lives have no natural light in themselves, but we only shine to the extent that we reflect Jesus in our lives. We reflect Jesus by making decisions that enhance his reputation and by demonstrating character qualities that build his reputation.
Conclusion
When you’re feeling uncertain about your relationship with God, where do you look to regain your confidence? The Thessalonians had lost their confidence, and they were frantically looking around them for assurance from God that he was still pleased with them. We regain our confidence by looking for signs of spiritual life, responding to our problems with spiritual stamina, anticipating God’s future vindication, and striving to reflect Jesus in the way we live.
