“…knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel…” (1 Thess. 1:3-4, NKJV)
Before I came to Christ I had heard something of the gospel many times. I attended church where the Bible was read and Jesus featured. Because of a girl I fancied, I attended a Christian group on college campus and a church that preached the gospel clearly. Despite all that, I had no interest in the things of God.
Then something happened. The teachings I was hearing started to make sense. Before long, I was very much tuned in and what I had heard many times suddenly became meaningful, important, and even urgent.
What made the difference? It’s what Paul describes to the Thessalonians when he writes: “knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance” (1 Thess.1:4–5).
Knowing is a perfect participle, meaning that Paul stands assured. He is confident of their election by God and salvation in Christ. How? Because the gospel he proclaimed to them was heard, received, and embraced. It did not go in one ear and out the other. It found residence in the good soil of a heart prepared by the Holy Spirit.
That’s what happened to me and to countless others who have found life in Christ and been brought to bow the knee before Him. In my case, a better picture might be the Spirit lighting fire to the tinder of truth that had been accumulated over the years with no effect. He filled my heart with life and light and heat.
Paul speaks of life-giving power of the Spirit coming with “much assurance.” Their complete certainty in the gospel gave Paul an absolute assurance that God’s saving purpose had found its mark in the salvation of the Thessalonians. They were not mere professors of faith, but possessors of it.
The apostle will go on to describe tell-tale signs of life but here he asserts the presence of saving faith, by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, in keeping with God’s effectual call in Christ.
Take stock of your own heart. Do you long for Jesus? Do you long to know Him more? Does the sin in your life stir an ache for the time you will not have to deal with it any longer? Do you experience a holy disgust with yourself when you engage in idolatry, giving your heart to another, being double-minded in your allegiance, seeking delight in what God has made clear is empty and vain? Do you exhibit a holy discontentment, yearning for faith to be sight, hope to be realized, and love to be perfected?
This dissonance and disequilibrium are characteristic of new life in Christ, being in the world but not of it, and yearning for what is in store. New life in Christ creates a longing and eagerness and expectation that compel us toward glory.
What longing to do see if your own heart that flows from new life in Christ?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
