Almost ten years ago I commuting to school when I was in a terrible auto accident. My car was totaled, my hand was broken, and had I not been wearing my seatbelt I probably would’ve died. In fact, the impact from the collision cracked my sternum right where the seatbelt goes across my chest. After that experience, it was difficult for me to get back behind the wheel of a car for several weeks. Whenever I started to drive my palms started getting sweaty, my heart rate started increasing, and anxiety filled my heart. Every time I went through an intersection I inwardly braced myself for impact. Fortunately that only lasted a few weeks, but it was amazing how one moment could crush my confidence as a driver.
We hear a lot these days about self-confidence. Self-confidence, we’re told, is the key to succeeding in the world. We mouth cliches like, "If it’s going to me, it’s up to me." We place success squarely on our own shoulders, relying our own attitude, our own ingenuity, our own efforts. If we just believe in ourselves, we’re told, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.
There’s of course a kernel of truth in that approach to life, but no one can sustain constant self confidence. But even the president of the optimist’s club has days where she feels like the cup’s half empty. Even the most confident person has feelings of inferiority. So if our success in life is completely dependent on our own self-confidence, then we’re in for a roller coaster of a ride because our confidence rises and falls more than the New York stock exchange.
And of course we get into even more trouble when we apply this principle of self-confidence to our spiritual lives. If everything depends on us in the spiritual life--our obedience, our efforts, our performance, our spirituality--then our relationship with God is also going to be a roller coaster of a ride. If my basis of confidence in the spiritual life is myself, that’s a pretty unsure foundation to base my confidence on.
We’re in the midst of 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 usher in the year 2000 by looking at what the Bible says about confident living. Last Sunday we talked about how to be confident in the face of rumors about the end of the age. Today we’re going to talk about where our confidence in the spiritual life ultimately rests.
How can we be sure that God will finish what he has started in our lives? That’s the question we want to grapple with today: The basis of our certainty, the foundation of our assurance. Is my assurance rooted in my own efforts, or is there a greater foundation for assurance that God will finish what he’s started in my life? Today we’re going to see that for the follower of Jesus Christ, God is our sure and sturdy basis for confidence, even in the midst of uncertain times. Specifically we’re going to see four reasons why we can be sure God will finish what he’s started in our lives.
1. Our Salvation Depends on God (2 Thess 2:13-14)
After warning the Thessalonians not to worry about rumors about the end of the age, Paul once again expresses his gratitude for what God is doing in their lives in vv. 13-14. Here Paul reiterates what he said back in chapter one, that Paul and his co-workers Silas and Timothy are obligated to thank God for the Thessalonians (1:3). Here, however, Paul’s gratitude focuses in on God’s choice of the Thessalonian Christians for their salvation. From the very beginning, before the Thessalonians came to Christ, God had chosen the Thessalonians to be the objects of his love. This is the same thing Jesus was talking about when he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you…" (John 15:16). This is what Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:11, when he says, "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."
The Bible clearly teaches that every person who comes into a relationship with God through Jesus was first chosen or elected by God. This is called the doctrine of election, and Christian theologians love to debate how God does this. But Paul doesn’t tell us how here; he merely asserts that God’s election is a fact.
But Paul does tell how this election in eternity translates into our salvation from sin (Bruce 190). Salvation comes through the sanctification of God’s Spirit; that is, through the supernatural influence of God’s Spirit to bring us into a saving relationship with God through Jesus. I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…" (John 6:44). God initiates our spiritual quest through the mysterious and supernatural agency of his Holy Spirit.If you’re here today as a seeker, investigating the Christian faith, that’s because God’s Spirit is drawing you. But along with God’s initiative, we must exercise belief in the truth about Jesus. God won’t believe for us, but it’s up to us to place our trust in God’s Son as the solution for our sins. We can’t do this unless God’s Spirit helps us, supplying us with the capacity to believe in Jesus, but God’s Spirit won’t have faith for us. New Testament scholar James Frame says, "Faith is man’s part; but behind the will to believe is the…work of the Spirit of God" (282).God invites us to have faith in Jesus when we hear the gospel message about Jesus. The gospel is the claim that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the grave on Easter Sunday, and that through faith in him we can enter into a personal relationship with God. We hear God’s invitation--his calling--when we hear the gospel.
Before I proposed to my wife Chris 17 years ago I’d already decided in my heart that she was the one, I’d elected her, but the time came to call her into that relationship, to propose. Similarly, God’s already chosen us for faith in Jesus, but the invitation comes when we hear the good news of Jesus; that’s the proposal.
The goal of all this is to share in the future glory of Jesus in eternity future. Elsewhere Paul describes this as being "glorified" with Jesus, where our imperfections disappear and our mortality is swallowed up by immortality and glory. This is when we’re fully transformed to be like Jesus.
Now in this section of scripture we clearly see a tension between what God does and what we do. On the one hand we have our own perspective of how we come to know God through Jesus Christ. From our human perspective we choose Christ. From our perspective, we choose to believe the truth about Jesus, that he died for our sins, rose from the grave, and is the only means of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. From our perspective we call on Christ to save us. But from God’s perspective things look a bit different. From God’s perspective, he chose us before he made us. From his perspective, it’s his God’s sanctifying Spirit is who draws us to faith in Jesus. From God’s perspective, God calls us through the gospel.
Both of these perspectives are true. God’s not a cosmic puppeteer pulling the strings, playing cosmic games with us, forcing some people to have faith and preventing other people from having faith. But neither are we in control, as if we had the resources to seek God without God’s help. Both of these perspectives are equally true, and according to the Bible they can be reconciled, but our problem is that we can’t see exactly how they come together. This is a divine mystery, but in this mystery it’s equally true that God chooses us and we freely place our trust in Jesus.
Here we find the first reason for our assurance. We can be sure God will finish what he started in our lives because salvation depends on God.
From start to finish, from eternity past to eternity future, God is the one who saves people. According to the Bible we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves. Salvation is God’s work, not our work. That doesn’t eliminate our need to have faith in Jesus--faith is the empty hand that receives the gift--but it’s to remind ourselves that salvation ultimately depends on God. God is the one who loves us, God is the one who chooses us, God is the one who sanctifies us through His Spirit, God is the one who calls us…in short, God is the one who saves.
This idea of salvation being the work of God from start to finish is unique to the Christian faith. Virtually every other religion in our world today offers a self-help approach to salvation, where we somehow participate in our own salvation. This is what’s offered through the karma and reincarnation approach of the New Age Movement, and in its classical expression in Hinduism. This is what’s offered in the four pillars of Islam, the laws and ordinances of the Latter Day Saints, and the gospel according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. But the Bible claims that from start to finish, from eternity to past to eternity future, salvation is God’s work.
If salvation depended on us, then we’d be in for a very uncertain ride, because our performance rises and falls frequently. But if salvation ultimately depends on God, then that gives us assurance that God won’t give up on us. God’s not through with us yet because salvation depends on God.
2. Our Progress Depends on God (2 Thess 2:15-17)
Now this idea of salvation depending on God has led some people to a kind of passive resignation about the spiritual life. If salvation depends on God-if he loves, he chooses, he sanctifies, and he calls-then I can just kick back. In fact, some people stop praying and stop sharing the good news of Jesus with people because of this idea.
But for Paul, knowledge that salvation depends on God leads him to a vigorous, active spiritual life. This is what we see in vv. 15-17. Based on what he’s said so far--"so then"--Paul commands us to stand firm and hold on. To "stand firm" means "brace yourself" (Stott 177). This word pictures us leveraging our feet, like people in a tug of war contest. Knowledge that our salvation depends on God should lead us to dig in, so we stand firm. To "hold on" means to grab ahold of something and grip if firmly (Morris 241). While our feet dig in, our hands hold on.
We hold on to the "teachings" that Paul passes on through his letters, those teachings that reflect the authority of Jesus and the authority of his apostles. For us today, the New Testament is our source for these "teachings."
Now "standing firm" and "holding on" sounds very active, very energetic, far from passive resignation. But then Paul in v. 16 starts praying, asking God to supply us with what we need to stand firm and hold on. Recognizing God’s love leads God to give us gifts of encouragement and hope, Paul asks God to supply our hearts with the encouragement we need. This inward encouragement flows from our hearts, to our feet to stand firm and to our hands to hold on. This inner assurance strengthens us in our lifestyle-our actions and our words, so we can stand firm and hold on.
Here again we see this tension between what God does and what we do. From our perspective, God commands us to stand firm in our faith in Jesus and hold onto what the Bible tells us. From God’s perspective, he’s the one who supplies us with the resources we need to stand firm and hold on. Without God’s strengthening, flowing from the inner assurance he gives us by grace, our knees would buckle and our hands would lose their grip.
Let’s face it: None of us is strong enough to stand firm and hold on in ourselves. Once again, both perspectives are affirmed to be true, and we can’t see exactly how they fit together. We can be sure God will finish what he started in our lives because our spiritual progress depends on God.
How hard does a seedling have to work to grow?
Well it can’t try to grow; all it can do is allow the nutrients of water and sunshine strengthen it, which results in growth. God holds our growth in his hands, and he supplies exactly what we need to grow. We still must stand firm in our faith in Jesus and hold on to what the Bible says, but we also need to remind ourselves that it’s actually causing is to progress in the spiritual life.
3. Our Effectiveness Depends on God (2 Thess 3:1-3)
This leads Paul to ask for prayer in 3:1-3. Paul’s prayer request has both a positive and a negative dimension. The positive dimension is that the message about Jesus might spread rapidly and be honored. The Greek here literally reads "that the Lord’s message might run." The word "spread rapidly" conjures up the image of a marathon runner who sets a pace so he or she completes the race. Paul’s ministry goal was to put shoes on the message of Jesus, so it could run effectively, and be honored. The message is honored when people receive it as their own. The Thessalonians themselves are a living example of how the message of Jesus runs and is honored when people receive it.
The negative dimension of Paul’s prayer request is that God might deliver Paul and his friends from people who violently oppose his work of sharing Jesus with people. Paul’s writing this letter from the Greek city of Corinth, and we know from the book of Acts in the New Testament that lots of people opposed Paul’s ministry in Corinth. Some people will do anything to stop the good news of Jesus Christ, even to the point of violence. But even in the midst of this kind of opposition, God is reliable and trustworthy. God promises to protect us from attack and to stand guard over our lives. We can count on God to be God, to protect us and guard us, to shield us from assaults on our soul.
Once again, we see this tension between what we do and what God does. From our perspective, Paul was doing everything he could do within his power to ensure that the message of Jesus would spread rapidly and be honored by people. When you read the New Testament, you get the sense that Paul was a brilliant strategist, that he thought through everything he did. Paul had goals and objectives, he made strategic plans, he studied to make sure he shared the message clearly, he adopted a methodology. In short Paul worked hard to be effective in his ministry of sharing Jesus with people.
But from God’s perspective, God is the one who caused Paul’s ministry to be effective. God’s the one who overcomes barriers so the word can spread rapidly and be honored by the people who hear about it. God’s the one who delivers us from people who violently oppose the message of Jesus. God’s the one who’s faithful to strengthen our efforts and guard us against failure.
Here we find a third reason for our assurance. We can be sure God will finish what he started in our lives because our effectiveness depends on God.
This is not only true of Paul, but it’s also true of us: Our effectiveness as a congregation ultimately depends on God. This reality doesn’t let us off the hook from doing our best, from adopting the best ideas and strategies we can find, from working hard. But this reality reminds us that our own best efforts are feeble and ineffective unless God chooses to work through them. We might paraphrase Psalm 127:1 to say, "Unless the LORD builds the church, its members and pastors labor in vain…" We labor, but God is the one who builds.
Many of us have been unknowingly impacted by the thinking of the 18th century evangelist Charles Finney. Finney was a great evangelist, but he was a bad theologian, and much of his teaching is riddled with doctrinal error. Finney thought that our effectiveness in ministry depends entirely on us using the right techniques and methods, that God wasn’t part of the process at all. According to Finney, if you have an outreach service and no one comes to know Jesus, it’s our fault because we didn’t use the right techniques. Charles Finney popularized the idea of the altar call, complete with dramatic testimonies, heart wrenching songs, and tearful pleas to come forward, because in his thinking it all depends on us.
Now undoubtedly the Bible tells us to do our best in our service of God. Can you imagine a musician who decides that trusting the Lord means not practicing her instrument? Can you imagine an actor who thinks that relying on God means not memorizing his lines? 1 Cor 15:58 tells us to "Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." But Finney was dead wrong, because our effectiveness in ministry depends on entirely on God, not on our efforts, our techniques, our methods or our abilities.
It’s like a sailor who works hard to put up the sail in his boat…he’s still not going anywhere unless the wind fills the sail. Our best efforts to reach people for Christ, to help people grow in their faith, to build a healthy, vibrant church will all be fruitless and doomed to fail unless God breathes his Spirit into these efforts. Our effectiveness as a church ultimately depends on God, not on me, our elders, our pastors, or our members.
4. Our Ability to Obey Depends on God (2 Thess 3:4-5)
All of this focus on God’s ability to save, to grow, and to make us effective leads Paul to once again expression his confidence in vv. 4-5. Paul is confident in the Lord about the Thessalonians, that they will continue to obey what God wants them to obey. Paul’s not just confident in the Thessalonians-as if they somehow had within themselves superhuman resources-but his confidence flows from his conviction that God is reliable. As Paul looks at his Thessalonian friends he sees them trying to obey God. Their obedience may be only partial and imperfect, but he seems them trying. And the fact that they’re trying is proof positive that God is working in their lives, which makes Paul even more confident that they’ll continue to grow in their obedience.
Again v. 4 seems focused on their part, to obey. But in v. 5 Paul starts praying again, this time that the Lord would direct their hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. You see obedience is an issue of the heart, and as God guides our hearts to God’s heart, as our hearts are marinated in God’s incredible love, and as we reflect on Jesus’ incredible endurance, that leads us to obedience. Obedience in the Bible is a matter of love, because Jesus said, "If you love me, you’ll obey what I command."
So once again we find this tension between God’s perspective and our perspective. From our perspective we must obey. Obedience is a matter of our willing, of our choosing God’s way instead of our own way or our culture’s way. But from God’s perspective, he’s the one who directs our hearts to obey.
So here’s our final reason for assurance. We can be sure God will finish what he started in our lives because our ability to obey depends on God.
Without Jesus directing our hearts to soak in God’s love, we’re powerless to obey. Have you ever seen an electric knife before? Probably most of you used one at Thanksgiving to cut your turkey dinner. Can you imagine trying to use an electric knife without plugging it in? You’d have to work extra hard, and you’d wonder why it’s so hard to cut up the meat. But when you plug in the knife, suddenly there’s an external source of energy, and cutting up the turkey is easy.
In a similar way, we are responsible to obey, but God is the one who supplies the power to do it. Without the power to obey which comes from God, we’d be frustrated and unable to do that which God calls us to do.
Conclusion
How can we be sure God will finish what he started in our lives? Because it ultimately depends on God, not ourselves. Our salvation, our spiritual progress, our effectiveness in ministry, and even our ability to obey depends on God. Certainly we’re not puppets, with God pulling the strings. God’s not playing a cosmic game of chess with us for his own amusement. We are responsible to place our faith in Jesus, to stand firm and hold on, to do our very best in ministry, and to obey, but our capacity to do all those things comes from God not from ourselves.
Why does God do things that way? He does it that way because we can’t save ourselves, we can’t make ourselves grow, we can’t serve God effectively and we can’t obey God rightly without God’s help. But he also does it so we don’t get the credit. This way God gets the credit for our salvation, our progress, our effective ministry, and our obedience. None of us can brag to others about our salvation, or boast about how we’re growing in our faith, or become arrogant because our church is growing, or gloat about our obedience. These things don’t depend on what we bring to the table. This keeps us God focused instead of human focused, it keeps our ministry God centered instead of church centered.
