‘We know that God has chosen you’ (1)
[1 Thessalonians 1:4-5]
A guy who used to come to our church a long time ago asked me: 'Why did God choose some to go to heaven, and didn’t choose some to go to hell? God is unfair.' At that time I was a middle school student and I couldn’t answer his question. Although I thought that he could think that God is unfair, I didn’t agree with him. Perhaps I did not agree with him because I believed that perfect God can not be unfair. And yet, I was unable to answer his question why God chose some to go to heaven and not the others because I didn’t have strong faith or biblical knowledge to answer his question. But now, I think I can answer his question like this: 'God's justice is that it is God's righteousness for all of us to go to hell because we all have sinned.' But God loved us and chose us among so many people to believe in Jesus Christ. And He saved us and gave us every spiritual blessing in Christ. Look at Ephesians 1:3-5: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--.” Isn’t this completely the grace of God? What great grace it is that God loved us and chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. So the question we have to throw here is “How do I know that God has chosen me?” Do you believe that you were chosen by God? If you answered “Yes”, how do you know that you are chosen by God?
In 1 Thessalonians 1:4, Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians church saints “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.” How did Paul and his co-workers Silas and Timothy (v. 1) know that God chose the Thessalonian church saints? I found the answer in verse 5: “because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. ….” Paul and his co-workers knew that God chose the Thessalonians church saints because when they preaced the gospel to them, the gospel came to them not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (v. 5). When we proclaimed the gospel to our beloved people who don’t believe in Jesus, why didn’t they accept and believe in Jesus Christ? Why do they seem to have no change in their lives? The reason is that the gospel we preached to them was just spoken in mere words. In other words, because the gospel we preached didn’t come with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (v. 5). What does it mean to say that the gospel came with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction?
First, let us consider the meaning that the gospel of Jesus Christ came with power.
When we proclaim the gospel to our beloved family members, friends and neighbors, there is the Word of God that we must believe. That Word of God is Romans 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” This letter from Apostle Paul to the saints of the Roman church states that Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel because he believed that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation to all who believe. The gospel of Jesus Christ we preach is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. Here, what is “salvation”? Pastor Lloyd Jones said the three things: (1) First, it is salvation from guilt. If we are guilty, we have to take responsibility. And the responsibility is death [(Rom. 6:23) "The wages of sin is death". Death, the punishment of sin, is (a) physical death, (b) spiritual death, and (c) eternal death (eternal punishment in hell). But Jesus took our punishment for us by dying on the cross. Therefore, we were saved. We have avoided punishment. Rather, we were blessed with eternal life. (2) Second, free from the slave of sin. We used to follow “the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Eph. 2:2-3). In other words, we were the slaves of Satan. But by the Jessus' death on the cross, we became servants of Jesus Christ. (3) Third, salvation from the pollution of sin. Our nature is contaminated by sin. When God created us, we were good, but because of Adam's sin our nature was corrupted. But because of Jesus' death on the cross, we have been saved from the pollution of sin and our nature has become good and clean. That is, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God to give this salvation to all who believes in Jesus.
How can we know that God has chosen us? It is by the fact that when we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel came to us in power, we were saved from sin (salvation from guilt, salvation from the slave of sin and salvation from the pollution of sin). We can know that we have been chosen by God by the fact that when we heard the gospel and believed in Jesus, our sins were forgiven, we were no longer slaves of Satan, but the servants of the Lord and we had been enjoying the eternal life. We who were chosen by God have already experienced the power of God's salvation. We also experienced the power of the blood of Jesus. Therefore, we who are chosen by God are those who live by the power of the gospel and by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4).
Second, let us consider the meaning that the gospel of Jesus Christ came with the Holy Spirit.
There is a Bible verse that we must believe when we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our loved ones, such as family members and friends. It is 1 Corinthians 12:3 – “Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.” When the gospel of Jesus Christ was revealed by the Holy Spirit to the God's chosen people in Thessalonica, the power of God appeared and they heard the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ and confessed Jesus as Lord. The Bible Ephesians 1:13 says: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” What does it mean? It means that when we heard the gospel of salvation and believed in Jesus Christ, God gave us the promised Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us is the confirmation that we believe in Jesus. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we cannot confess that Jesus is Lord even if we hear the gospel. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts will not be opened (Acts 16:14). Without the work of the Holy Spirit we cannot realize our sins, nor can we confess or repent our sins. In Acts 2, when Apostle Peter, who was filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, about 3,000 people heard the gospel and “were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shll we do?’” (Acts 2:37) Then Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (v. 38). “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (v. 41). When the gospel is preached and when the Holy Spirit works, the the hearts of those who hear it will be opened and will listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Also, they will confess and repent their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
We must seek the work of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we must pray to God. The reason why we should pray when we share the gospel with our family, friends, or neighbors is because the Holy Spirit will open the hearts of those who hear the gospel we preach. Also, when the Holy Spirit works, then those who hear the gospel can confess their sins and truly repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Third and last, let us consider the meaning that the gospel of Jesus Christ came with deep convicition.
We have a Bible verse that we must believe when we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our loved ones, such as family members and friends. And that Bible verse is Philippians 1: 6 – “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Apostle Paul had conviction. And the conviction was that God would for sure complete the good work which was the work of salvation in the Philippian church saints. This Paul's conviction was never a conviction based on the Philippians. Rather, his confidence was based on God. In other words, Paul was convinced that faithful God who chose the Philippian church saints before the creation of the world would surely save them. That was whay Paul always thanked God and rejoiced when he prayed for the Philippian church saints. We too must have this conviction. In other words, we must have assurance and faith that those whom God loves and whom He has chosen before the creation of the world will be saved. God who started the good work of salvation in the Thessalonian church saint’s life used Paul and his co-workers to preach the gospel to the Thessalonians. Not only did God manifest the power of God, but He also opened their hearts to hear the gospel and to receive Him as the Lord and Savior. In the process, there was "deep conviction" in the Thessalonian church saints’hearts. I think there were at least two deep convictions: (1) First, it was a deep conviction of sin. In the gospel of Jesus Christ that was preached by Paul and his co-workers, there was a message of forgiveness of sins through the death of Jesus on the cross (Lk. 24:47, Acts 10:43, 13:38, Eph. 1:7). Therefore, when hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the heart of a person who hears the message of forgiveness of sins must have the assurance of forgivenss of sin through the power of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, a man who is convicted of sin repents of his sins in his piercings in his own conscience, and his sins are being wiped out (Acts 3:19). (2) Second, it was a deep conviction of salvation. When the Holy Spirit works, not only there is the deep conviction of sins by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ but also there is deep conviction of salvation. We believe that by the resurrection from the death of Jesus Christ, we who believe in Him are justified to God because the righteousness of Jesus was imputed to us (Rom. 4:25). Look at 1 John 5:11-12: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
How did Paul know that the Thessalonians church saints were chosen by God? How could Paul say to them, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you”? (1 Thess. 1:4) The reason was that when Paul and his co-workers preached the gospel to them, the gospel came to them “not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (v. 5).
Among the American gospel songs that I like, there is song called “Why have you chosen me?” The reason I like this song is because the lyrics came to my heart. This is how the song goes:
(1) Why have You chosen me out of millions Your child to be?
You know all the wrong that I've done
O, how could You pardon me, forgive my iniquity
To save me, give Jesus Your Son
(2) I am amazed to know that a God so great could love me so
He's willing and wanting to bless
His grace is so wonderful, His mercy's so bountiful
I can't understand it, I confess
(chorus)
But Lord, help me be what You want me to be
Your Word I will strive to obey
My life I now give, for You I will live
And walk by Your side all the way”