Standing Firm In The Truth

God’s people in Thessalonica were confused. Someone they trusted had lied to them. Someone had told them that the day of Christ’s return had come and gone and that they had missed it. Christ’s return is just one thread, of course, in the total fabric of doctrine, but, like all the other threads, it is important to get that one right. In 2 Thessalonians, right at the beginning of chapter 2, Paul urges these dear people “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed” about these things. He had already disclosed to them the truth of sound doctrine.

Of course, Paul is not surprised by the presence of false teachers. He says very clearly in verse 7 that “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work” because, as he points out in verses 9 and 10, Satan is at work “with all wicked deception.” But we are not to be deceived. In our text for today, Paul tells us to “stand firm” in the truth, to “hold to the traditions” we have been taught, and he gives us three reasons for doing so. We are to stand firm in the truth because the truth assures us (1) that God is sovereign, (2) that He is gracious, and (3) that He is faithful. Let’s look at each of these affirmations in turn.

Truth Assures Us that God Is Sovereign

Scripture urges us to “stand firm” in the truth, first of all, because truth assures us that God is sovereign. Paul writes in verse 13, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved”—or, to use the marginal reading, “because God chose you from the beginning.”

This is the great comfort that Scripture gives to those who believe in Jesus Christ, that God has chosen us “from the beginning.” Otherwise, we would never have chosen God, and we would be left in our sins. Here is the truth: All of humanity is fallen, and outside of Christ we have lost communion with God and abide under His wrath. But God in His great mercy has appointed a means of redemption. The Shorter Catechism asks, “Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?” And it answers, “God having, our of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a redeemer.”

The whole world is under the spell of deception, perpetrated by “the father of lies” (John 8:44), but God has chosen some out of this world “to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). This He has done, not on account of any special qualities that we have—the truth is, we have none—but simply because of His sovereign pleasure.

So, how can we know that we are chosen? Paul tells us in his first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 4 and 5: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came not only to you in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” In other words, you believed that what we said was true, and it was the Holy Spirit who convinced you. It was the sovereign Lord. What great assurance is this, that “God chose you from the beginning”!

When I was a kid at recess in school, we would often choose up teams to play one game or another. And, of course, the best athletes would be chosen first. Why? Because they were good. But God chose His people despite the fact that none of us is good. As Paul says in Ephesians, “He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

This is the truth, and we are to “stand firm” in it. Otherwise, we are vulnerable to deception, and, like the people of ancient Thessalonica, we may find ourselves “shaken in mind or alarmed.” Look, if you will, at verse 10: Satan is at work, deceiving “those who are perishing.” And why are they perishing? “Because they refused to believe the truth and so be saved.” But you have put your confidence in the gospel. You have believed the truth. You are saved. Stand firm in that truth.

Truth Assures Us that God Is Gracious

This we must do, first of all, because truth assures us that God is sovereign, and, secondly, because truth assures us that God is gracious. We see this in verses 13 and 14. How do we know this truth? Paul gives us three pieces of evidence.