1 Thessalonians 2:12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
In referencing
conduct, Paul calls those of believers in Thessalonica to walk worthy of God who
had called them into His kingdom and glory. We are so blessed to have God who
loves us and has called us into His kingdom and His glory. And then to receive
His word that will hold us in that kingdom of God and His glory too!
Paul, the
Apostle, reminded believers to walk worthy of God while pleasing God. If
married they were to be faithful to one spouse and they could expect some
suffering as was written in 1 Thessalonians 4:6..that no one should take advantage
and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all
such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to
uncleanness, but in holiness.
It is the
truth that we are to behave with honor and with purity in all our
relationships!
Luke 5:36-39 NKJV 36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; or else the new wine will burst the wine-skins and be spilled, and the wine-skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wine-skins and both are preserved. 39 And no one having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, “The old is better”.
For you and
I, the teaching Jesus talked about was radical indeed. And what He taught could
not be used as a patch over the existing form of Judaism (the old garment). New
wine is put into those who are of Jesus Christ. They hear His voice and adhere
to His teachings! The radical teachings of Jesus moves the complacent out of
that recliner and into life.
As we see
even in this day, there are many who like the “old” ways of doing and their normal
is to do what is good in their sight! But Jesus was bringing light to what God
had planned for man to live in accordance with His kingdom that had come.
2
Thessalonians 2:13-17 NKJV 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for
you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14 to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught
whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and
our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and
good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word
and work.
Like the
those in Thessalonica, we are chosen for salvation through sanctification by the
Spirit and we are chosen to belief in that truth! Amazing GRACE!
Then we are
to know that we are called to the same gospel Paul preached, so that we would
obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! From this passage, glory is the
salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To
which you and I are called by the Gospel, yes, what Jesus taught from the
Sermon on the Mount. We stand fast in that faith of the word given us…....we hold
to that tradition of what is revealed by the Son of God and those prophets and
apostles whom He sent to declare His word! So now may our Lord Jesus Christ and God
our Father who has loved us, given us everlasting consolation, that hope by
grace, comfort our hearts, and establish us in every good word and work. Amen.
It is in
the labor of life and that labor of speech that we may know this process that
Paul speaks of in that sanctification was not by which a Christian grows in
Christ likeness but the initial work of grace in which the Spirit of God works
in us the believer to make us God’s possession.
When you
and I were born again, we went through that period of time when we did not have
the same vitality in our thinking nor in our reasoning. We certainly
were " street smart ” to the ways of the world, so we had to learn, to gain
understanding of God in His wisdom to express the new life that was within us.
And yes, that comes by forming the mind of Christ we see in Philippians 2:5-6.
“Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God,
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. "
Jesus saw His being of God as something to be given away and not selfishly grasped for
or horded. He willing came to earth to live as human being on our behalf, to
experience what we experience. Yes He relinquished His glory through retaining
His deity. Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls.
Jesus
called for an open, yes free, and loyal relationship when He spoke the word
yoke. In that relationship to Jesus, we gain the ability of obedience to the
Law’s righteousness which was His burden.
From Luke
21:19 By your patience possess your souls. That soul is the seat of our
affections, our will, that desire, emotions, reasoning and understanding.
Patience in
Romans 15:5 is interesting. Verse 5: Now
may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another,
according to Christ Jesus 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether you
are a weak Christian or a strong one, our conduct in relationships is
forbearance and love so that a unity of believers will be seen as that harmony
of praise together for God and the Lord Jesus Christ!
We should be satisfied in Him and understand that satisfaction is not found in the world. No one thing can satisfy you for very long. If you think of Judas Iscariot, he walked with Jesus, heard the teachings, and yet his heart for that one moment was to take the Roman empire down, moved out of Israel and use Jesus to do it! But no, Jesus would not take any throne at that time. If you look back at Esau, he was famished from hunting all day and was really hungering for something to feed his belly. Yet, he wanted it now and sold his birthright to get it. People are never satisfied for very long!
If we
refuse Jesus and His kingdom that He brought to us, we are refusing our
birthright for His kingdom. Satisfaction is only found in the Lord. Psalm 91:16
With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation. Those who know God’s
name are in covenant relationship with Him. Those who revere and honor Him are
satisfied in deliverance, in honor, and preservation. It was a blessing to
Israel and is a blessing to us. It means we belong to God and to His kingdom. We have a home in His glory!
Jesus spoke of glory
in John 17! John 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that
they may be one just as We are one;
This glory (doxa) is dignity and honor! John 14:6-13 NKJV 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth
and the Life:. “No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had
known Me, you would have known the Father also; and from now on You know Him
and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to HIM, “Lord show us the Father & it is
sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet
you have not known Me, Philip?” He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how
can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the
Father, & the Father in Me?” ‘The words that I speak to you, I do not speak
on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” “Believe
Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake
of the works themselves.
No one gets to the Father without first acknowledging Jesus!
This passage should epitomize our lives: that encapsulated within the Father
and the Son in us so that we experience the same works. Jesus was pointing them
to the Father always, pointing them to truth and life revealing the Authority with
which Jesus spoke.
Jesus was not a people pleaser. It was always for the sake
of the Gospel and for the glory of God that Jesus was active in communicating
the Gospel of grace. Jesus did as His Father commanded Him to do so. Jesus
obeyed, He gave the Message, encountered conflict and was crucified. His
crucifixion was for life to those who required a REDEEMER!
Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.” Consider, though, that many who claim to be
Christian today do not consider the idea of forgiveness through crucifixion to
be foolishness.
They glory in what
the cross produced but foolishness to them is His example of complete
surrender, which we are to imitate. As a result, it is the nominal Christianity
that
has become tolerant of sin, increasingly more human-centered, and less inclined
to actions that might involve them in some kind of discomfort or inconvenience
that disrupts their day.
Yes, it is the carnal mind that says surrender is folly,
because it creates a vulnerability or the possibility of some kind of loss. But
it is the same carnal mind that is blind to the vital reality
that God is on His throne, overseeing the outcome—gladly using His power on our
behalf if we will only but trust Him with our lives.
Glory is comprised of His word, the salvation through
sanctification by the Spirit and belief in that truth! Holding to that tradition of what is
revealed by the Son of God and those prophets and apostles He sent to declare
His word so that now by the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who has
loved us, has given us everlasting consolation, that hope by grace, that comforts our hearts, and establishes
us in every good word and work.
The message: forgiveness of sins. The response: should be
likewise a self-denial, that complete surrender, a reckoning ourselves as
already dead to this present, evil age so that we might live for Him with a
kingdom in mind, a life revealed and relationship of secure love indeed.
Glory!
Reflecting the Lord in Favor
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