His Word Today

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

And now, briefly, let me say that election is ABSOLUTE, that is, it does not depend upon what we are. The text says, “God has from the beginning chosen us unto salvation.” But our opponents say that God chooses people because they are good, that He chooses them on account of sundry works which they have done. Now, we ask in reply to this, what works are those on account of which God elects His people? Are they what we commonly call “works of law”? works of obedience which the creature can render? If so, we reply to you—If men cannot be justified by the works of the law, it seems to us pretty clear that they cannot be elected by the works of the law. If they cannot be justified by their good deeds, they cannot be saved by them. Then the decree of election could not have been formed upon good works.

“But,” say others, “God elected them on the foresight of their faith.” Now God gives faith, therefore He could not have elected them on account of faith, which He foresaw. There shall be twenty beggars in the street and I determine to give one of them a shilling—but will anyone say that I determined to give that one a shilling, that I elected him to have the shilling, because I foresaw that he would, have it? That would be talking nonsense. In like manner, to say that God elected men because He foresaw, they would have faith, which is salvation in the germ, would be too absurd for us to listen to for a moment. Faith is the gift of God. Every virtue comes from Him. Therefore, it cannot have caused Him to elect men, because it is His gift.

Election, we are sure, is absolute and altogether apart from the virtues which the saints have afterwards. What if a saint should be as holy and devout as Paul? What if he should be as bold as Peter or as loving as John? Yet he could claim nothing from his Maker. I never knew a saint, yet, of any denomination, who thought that God saved him because He foresaw that he would have these virtues and merits. Now, my brethren, the best jewels that the saint ever wears, if they be jewels of our own fashioning, are not of the first water. There is something of earth mixed with them. The highest grace we ever possess has something of earthliness about it. We feel this when we are most refined, when we are most sanctified, and our language must always be “I the chief of sinners am; Jesus died for me.”

Our only hope, our only plea, still hangs on grace as exhibited in the person of Jesus Christ. And I am sure we must utterly reject and disregard all thought that our graces, which are gifts of our Lord, which are His right-hand planting, could have ever caused His love. And we ever must sing “What was there in us that could merit esteem or give the Creator delight? It was even so, Father, we always must sing, because it seemed good in Your sight” “He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.” He saves because He will save. And if you ask me why He saves me, I can only say, because He would do it.

Is there anything in me that should recommend me to God? No. I lay aside everything. I had nothing to recommend me. When God saved me, I was the most abject, lost, and ruined of the race. I lay before Him as an infant in my blood. Verily, I had no power to help myself. O how wretched did I feel and know myself to be! If you had something to recommend you to God, I never had. I will be content to be saved by grace, unalloyed, pure grace. I can boast of no merits. If you can do so, I cannot. I must sing “Free grace alone from the first to the last Has won my affection and held my soul fast.”

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

The witnesses of truth stand by us. With these for us, we will not say that we stand alone, but we may exclaim, “Lo, God has reserved unto himself seven thousand that have not bowed the knee unto Baal.” But the best of all is God is with us. The great truth is always the Bible and the Bible alone. My hearers, you do not believe in any other book than the Bible, do you? If I could prove this from all the books in Christendom, if I could fetch back the Alexandrian library and prove it thence, you would not believe it anymore, but you surely will believe what is in God’s Word.

I have selected a few texts to read to you. I love to give you a whole volley of texts when I am afraid you will distrust a truth, so that you may be too astonished to doubt, if you do not in reality believe. Just let me run through a catalog of passages where the people of God are called elect. Of course if the people are called elect, there must be election. If Jesus Christ and His apostles were accustomed to style believers by the title of elect, we must certainly believe that they were so, otherwise the term does not mean anything.

Jesus Christ says, “Except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved; , but for the elect’s sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened the days.” “False Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” “Then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” Mark 13:20, 22, 27. “Shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them?” Luke 18:7.

Together with many other passages which might be selected, wherein either the word “elect,” or “chosen,” or “foreordained,” or “appointed,” is mentioned, or the phrase “my sheep,” or some similar designation, showing that Christ’s people are distinguished from the rest of mankind. But you have concordances and I will not trouble you with texts. Throughout the epistles, the saints are constantly called “the elect.” In Colossians, we find Paul saying, “Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies.”

When he writes to Titus, he calls himself, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect.” Peter says, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Then if you turn to John, you will find he is very fond of the word. He says, “The elder to the elect lady.” And he speaks of our “elect sister.” And we know where it is written, “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you.”

They were not ashamed of the word in those days. They were not afraid to talk about it. Nowadays the word has been dressed up with diversities of meaning, and persons have mutilated and marred the doctrine so that they have made it a very doctrine of devils, I do confess. And many who call themselves believers have gone to rank Antinomianism. But not withstanding this, why should I be ashamed of it, if men do wrest it? We love God’s truth on the rack, as well as when it is walking upright.

If there were a martyr whom we loved before he went on the rack, we should love him more still when he was stretched there. When God’s truth is stretched on the rack, we do not call it falsehood. We love not to see it racked, but we love it even when racked, because we can discern what its proper proportions ought to have been if it had not been racked and tortured by the cruelty and inventions of men. If you will read many of the epistles of the ancient fathers, you will find them always writing to the people of God as the “elect.” Indeed the common conversational term used among many of the churches by the primitive Christians to one another was that of the “elect.” They would often use the term to one another, showing that it was generally believed that all God’s people were manifestly “elect.”

But now for the verses that will positively prove the doctrine. Open your Bibles and turn to John 15:16, and there you will see that Jesus Christ has chosen His people, for He says, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Then in the nineteenth verse, “If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Then in the seventeenth chapter and the eighth and nineth verses, “For I have given unto them the words which you gave me; and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given me for they are yours.”

Turn to Acts 13:48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” They may try to split that passage into hairs if they like, but it says, “ordained to eternal life” in the original as plainly as it possibly can. And we do not care about all the different commentaries thereupon.

You scarcely need to be reminded of Romans 8, because I trust you are all well-acquainted with that chapter and understand it by this time. In the twenty-ninth and following verses, it says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”

It would also be unnecessary to repeat the whole of the ninth chapter of Romans. As long as that remains in the Bible, no man shall be able to prove Arminianism. So long as that is written there, not the most violent contortions of the passage will ever be able to exterminate the doctrine of election from the Scriptures. Let us read such verses as these, “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls; it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.” Then read the twenty-second verse, “What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory?”

Then go on to Romans 11:7, “What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for, but the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” In the sixth verse of the same chapter, we read, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

More to Come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

First, I must try and prove that the doctrine is TRUE. And let me begin with an argumentum ad hominen—I will speak to you according to your different positions and stations. There are some of you who belong to the church of England and I am happy to see so many of you here. Though now and then I certainly say some very hard things about church and State, yet I love the old church, for she has in her communion many godly ministers and eminent saints.

Now I know you are great believers in what the Articles declare to be sound doctrine. I will give you a specimen of what they utter concerning election, so that if you believe them, you cannot avoid receiving election. I will read a portion of the 17th Article upon Predestination and Election— “Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He has continually decreed by His counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He has chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honor. Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God’s purpose by His Spirit working in due season: They through grace obey the calling: they are justified freely: they are made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God’s mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.”

Now, I think any Churchman, if he be a sincere and honest believer in Mother Church, must be a thorough believer in election. True, if he turns to certain other portions of the Prayer Book, he will find things contrary to the doctrines of free-grace and altogether apart from Scriptural teaching, but if he looks at the Articles, he must see that God has chosen His people unto eternal life. I am not so desperately enamored, however, of that book as you may be and I have only used this Article to show you that if you belong to the Establishment of England you should at least offer no objection to this doctrine of predestination.

Another human authority whereby I would confirm the doctrine of election is the old Waldensian Creed. If you read the creed of the old Waldenses, emanating from them in the midst of the burning heat of persecution, you will see that these renowned professors and confessors of the Christian faith did most firmly receive and embrace this doctrine as being a portion of the truth of God. I have copied from an old book, one of the Articles of their faith: “That God saves from corruption and damnation those whom He has chosen from the foundations of the world, not for any disposition, faith, or holiness that He before saw in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ Jesus, His Son, passing by all the rest according to the irreprehensible reason of His own free-will and justice.”

 It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching—no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, which are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth, I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I would have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and Sermons #41, 42 Unconditional Election Volume 1 3 3 there a heretic of no very honorable character might rise up and call me brother, but taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren. I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church.

I also give you an extract from the old Baptist Confession. We are Baptists in this congregation—the greater part of us, at any rate—and we like to see what our own forefathers wrote. Some two hundred years ago, the Baptists assembled together and published their articles of faith, to put an end to certain reports against their orthodoxy which had gone forth to the world. I turn to this old book—which I have just published, the Baptist Confession of Faith, and I find the following as the third Article, “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of His glorious grace. Others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Those of mankind who are predestinated to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, has chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory out of His mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as condition or cause moving Him hereunto.”

As for these human authorities, I care not one rush for all three of them. I care not what they say, pro or con, as to this doctrine. I have only used them as a kind of confirmation to your faith, to show you that while I may be railed upon as a heretic and as a hyper-Calvinist, after all I am backed up by antiquity. All the past stands by me. I do not care for the present. Give me the past and I will hope for the future. Let the present rise up in my teeth, I will not care. What though a host of the churches of London may have forsaken the great cardinal doctrines of God, it matters not. If a handful of us stand alone in an unflinching maintenance of the sovereignty of our God, if we are beset by enemies, ay, and even by our own brethren, who ought to be our friends and helpers, it matters not, if we can but count upon the past, the noble army of martyrs, the glorious host of confessors. They are our friends.

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

Each Lord’s Day for the next several months, there will be a devotional entitled A Word Fitly Spoken. The title is taken from Proverbs 25:11 which says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” 

Our current study from Scripture concerns the subject of holiness. Today’s essay continues to ask the question, what is holiness? Holiness, or to be holy, is a doctrine found throughout the Scriptures; in both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, an understanding of holiness is important for the converted, and unconverted, to know what holiness is, and what it is not.

In the Old Testament (OT), the Hebrew word for holy, or holiness, is kahdosh (קָד֧וֹשׁ׀). It means to be ceremonially and morally sacred, set apart, or uniquely consecrated. When referring to God, the term calls attention to the LORD’s unique and awesome splendor (Isaiah 1:4).

In the New Testament (NT), the Greek word for holy, or holiness, is (ἅγιος, hagios). As in the OT, hagios refers to separation from the common, unclean, profane. It is also a consecration unto God. The New Testament church borrowed heavily from the OT’s understanding of holiness. This should not surprise us. The Scriptures for the early church, prior to the writing of the NT, was the OT (Psalm 1; 19; 119; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).  

“The New Testament’s terminology and meaning of holiness is directly dependent upon the Old Testament’s conception of holiness.”— Dr. M.C. Lyons 

“God’s holiness means He is separated from sin and devoted to seeking His own honor.” – Dr. Wayne Grudem

Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy” (Rev. 15:4). He only is independently, infinitely, immutably holy. In Scripture He is frequently styled “The Holy One”: He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute Purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Holiness is the very excellency of the Divine nature: the great God is “glorious in holiness” (Ex. 15:11). Therefore, we read, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13). As God’s power is the opposite of the native weakness of the creature, as His wisdom is in complete contrast from the least defect of understanding or folly, so His holiness is the very antithesis of all moral blemish or defilement. Of old God appointed singers in Israel “that they should praise for the beauty of holiness” (2 Chron. 20:21). – A.W. Pink

God calls believers to holiness (I Thess. 4;7). Every believer is God’s holy temple (I Cor. 3:17; 6:19-20). Jesus Christ will present each Christian holy and blameless before Himself (Col. 1:22).  The converted are to continue in faith, love and holiness (I Tim. 2:15), along with being upright, holy and disciplined (Titus 1:8). Believers are to be holy, because God is holy (I Peter 1:16).

Christians are to strive for holiness (Heb. 12:14), to share in God’s holiness by His loving discipline (Heb. 12:10), to avoid close associations with the unconverted (2 Cor. 6:14-18), and to cleanse ourselves from any and all moral defilement (Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 7:1). The church is to grow in holiness (Eph. 2:21), in order to be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:26-27).

Dr. Keith A. Mathison is professor of systematic theology at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Fla. He comments on holiness are worth considering.

The early centuries of the church’s existence, Christian apologists would sometimes appeal to the distinctively holy lives of Christians as evidence for the truth of Christianity. Would such an appeal be of any use today? According to numerous surveys, the behavior of professing Christians is not discernibly different from the behavior of those who profess other religions or no religion at all. The phrase one often hears on the lips of pagans who observe contemporary Christian behavior is: “The church is full of hypocrites.” This should not be. We worship a holy God who calls His people to be holy and who has provided the means by which they may be holy.

The believer’s pursuit of holiness begins with a salvific encounter with the living God of the Bible who is holy, holy, holy (Isaiah 6:1-3). This encounter occurred in my life over 50 years ago. God justified, redeemed and reconciled me by grace alone, through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. The Lord also called me to live a holy life for His honor and glory (I Peter 1:13-16).

This pursuit has not always been easy (Rom 7:13-15). I often sensed I was moving one step forward in my pursuit of holiness, while simultaneously moving two steps backward.

God’s call to holiness for believers, referred to as sanctification, is as fundamental to the Christian life as justification. Justification results in sanctification and sanctification is the evidence of justification (James 2:14-26). True conversion, its initial occurrence and subsequent impact, results from an encounter with the holy God of Scripture. We will examine such an encounter, between the LORD and the Prophet Isaiah, next month.

Who else commands all the hosts of heaven?
Who else could make every king bow down?
Who else can whisper and darkness trembles?
Only a Holy God.

What other beauty demands such praises?
What other splendor outshines the sun?
What other majesty rules with justice?
Only a Holy God.

Come and behold Him
The One and the Only
Cry out, sing holy
Forever a Holy God
Come and worship the Holy God.

What other glory consumes like fire?
What other power can raise the dead?
What other name remains undefeated?
Only a Holy God.

Who else could rescue me from my failing?
Who else would offer His only Son?
Who else invites me to call Him Father?
Only a Holy God
Only my Holy God.

Come and behold Him
The One and the Only
Cry out, sing holy
Forever a Holy God
Come and worship the Holy God. — Michael Farren, Rich Thompson, Dustin Smith, Jonny Robinson. 

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.

IF there were no other text in the sacred Word except this one, I think we should all be bound to receive and acknowledge the truthfulness of the great and glorious doctrine of God’s ancient choice of His family. But there seems to be an inveterate prejudice in the human mind against this doctrine and although most other doctrines will be received by professing Christians, some with caution, others with pleasure, yet this one seems to be most frequently disregarded and discarded. In many of our pulpits it would be reckoned a high sin and treason to preach a sermon upon election, because they could not make it what they call a “practical” discourse.

I believe they have erred from the truth therein. Whatever God has revealed, He has revealed for a purpose. There is nothing in Scripture which may not, under the influence of God’s Spirit, be turned into a practical discourse, “For all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable” for some purpose of spiritual usefulness. It is true, it may not be turned into a free-will discourse, that we know right well, but it can be turned into a practical free-grace discourse. And free-grace practice is the best practice, when the true doctrines of God’s immutable love are brought to bear upon the hearts of saints and sinners.

Now I trust this morning some of you who are startled at the very sound of this word will say, “I will give it a fair hearing. I will lay aside my prejudices. I will hear what this man has to say.” Do not shut your ears and say at once, “It is high doctrine.” Who has authorized you to call it high or low? Why should you oppose yourself to God’s doctrine? Remember what became of the children who found fault with God’s prophet and exclaimed, “Go up, you bald-head. Go up, you bald-head.”

Say nothing against God’s doctrines, lest haply some evil beast should come out of the forest and devour you also. There are other woes beside the open judgment of heaven—take heed that these fall not on your head. Lay aside your prejudices—listen calmly, listen dispassionately. Hear what Scripture says. And when you receive the truth, if God should be pleased to reveal and manifest it to your souls, do not be ashamed to confess it. To confess you were wrong yesterday, is only to acknowledge that you are a little wiser today. And instead of being a reflection on yourself, it is an honor to your judgment, and shows that you are improving in the knowledge of the truth. Do not be ashamed to learn and to cast aside your old doctrines and views, but take up that which you may more plainly see to be in the Word of God.

But if you do not see it to be here in the Bible, whatever I may say, or whatever authorities I may plead, I beseech you, as you love your souls, reject it. And if from this pulpit you ever hear things contrary to this sacred Word, remember that the Bible must be first and God’s minister must lie underneath it. We must not stand on the Bible to preach, but we must preach with the Bible above our heads.

After all we have preached, we are well-aware that the mountain of truth is higher than our eyes can discern—clouds and darkness are round about its summit and we cannot discern its topmost pinnacle. Yet we will try to preach it as well as we can, but since we are mortal and liable to err, exercise your judgment, “Try the spirits, whether they are of God,” and if on mature reflection on your bended knees, you are led to disregard election—a thing which I consider to be utterly impossible—then forsake. Do not hear it preached, but believe and confess whatever you see to be God’s Word. I can say no more than that by way of introduction.

Now, first. I shall speak a little concerning the truthfulness of this doctrine, “God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation.” Secondly, I shall try to prove that this election is absolute, “He has from the beginning chosen you to salvation,” not for sanctification, but, “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Thirdly, this election is eternal because the text says, “God has from the beginning chosen you.” Fourthly, it is personal, “He has chosen you.” Then we will look at the effects of the doctrine—see what it does. And lastly, as God may enable us, we will try and look at its tendencies and see whether it is indeed a terrible and licentious doctrine. We will take the flower, and like true bees, see whether there be any honey whatever in it, whether any good can come of it or whether it is an unmixed, undiluted evil.

More to come. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the LORD.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

Reminding all of us the content of today’s text encompasses many themes and doctrines the Apostle Paul previously mentioned to the Thessalonian believers. Take note of the following outline and cross references.

For “we are obliged to give thanks to God always for you” (2 Thess. 1:3).                   For “brothers beloved by the Lord” (1 Thess. 1:4).                                         For “because God chose you” (1 Thess. 1:4).                                                     For “salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8, 9).                                                                      For “sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3, 7).                                                                   For “belief” (2 Thess. 1:3, 4, 11; 1 Thess. 1:3).                                                     For “truth” (2 Thess. 2:10, 12).                                                                       For “calling” (1 Thess. 1:5; 2:12; 4:7; 5:24).                                                         For “with a view to obtaining” (1 Thess. 5:9).                                               For “glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).                                                                                    For “our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1).^[1]

First, Paul was grateful for the Thessalonians. The Lord Jesus Christ loved them. Second, the apostle was grateful for God the Father’s choosing them to be saved. Third, the Lord’s love and the Father’s choosing would coincide with the sanctificationby the Holy Spirit. The Savior’s love, the Father’s choice, and the Spirit’s sanctification of each believer would be for the individual’s trust, commitment, dependence and honor of the truth of God.   

The Apostle Paul stated God the Father purposed of all this to call sinners to unto salvation. The word called (ἐκάλεσεν; ekalesen) is an aorist, active singular verb. At a particular point in real time, God actively and individually summons or invites a sinner into a covenant relationship of salvation. This deliverance is from the penalty, power and eventual presence of sin. It is an irrevocable, effectual and irresistible call (John 6:37, 44; Rom. 11:29). God’s call for sinners unto salvation is grounded and rooted in His immutable and unchanging nature.

The means by which God calls sinners is the gospel or the good news of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The ultimate purpose of God’s call is for sinners to “obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To obtain (περιποίησιν; peripoiesin) means to experience, possess and to acquire something. Glory (δόξης; doxes) refers to splendor and honor. Both glory and honor are sourced in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“We will obtain the glory of Christ in that we will share in His glorified body, bearing His image fully in perfected, glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:49; I John 3:1-3). In turn, this will redound to the glory of God, for we are saved and glorified only because He has chosen us and has atoned for our sin in Christ. Salvation is in no way of ourselves, but God chooses us, sovereignly grants us faith, and guarantees that we will exercise trust in Him,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

John Calvin writes, “For the sons of God are not called otherwise than to the belief of the truth. Paul, however, meant to shew here how competent a witness he is for confirming that thing of which he was a minister. He accordingly puts himself forward as a surety, that the Thessalonians may not doubt that the gospel, in which they had been instructed by him, is the safety-bringing voice of God, by which they are aroused from death, and are delivered from the tyranny of Satan. He calls it his gospel, not as though it had originated with him, but inasmuch as the preaching of it had been committed to him.”

“What he adds, to the acquisition or possession of the glory of Christ, may be taken either in an active or in a passive signification — either as meaning, that they are called in order that they may one day possess a glory in common with Christ, or that Christ acquired them with a view to his glory. And thus, it will be a second means of confirmation that he will defend them, as being nothing less than his own inheritance, and, in maintaining their salvation, will stand forward in defense of his own glory; which latter meaning, in my opinion, suits better.”

Believers in Christ are no longer destined for judgment, but for glory. The judgment for their sin occurred at the cross (Col. 2:13-15). May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

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^[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 187.

¹³ But 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, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (ESV)

The content of today’s text encompasses many themes and doctrines the Apostle Paul previously mentioned to the Thessalonian believers. Take note of the following outline and cross references.

For “we are obliged to give thanks to God always for you” see on 2 Thess. 1:3.                 For “brothers beloved by the Lord” cf. see on 1 Thess. 1:4.                                         For “because God chose you” see on 1 Thess. 1:4.                                                     For “salvation” see on 1 Thess. 5:8, 9.                                                                      For “sanctification” see on 1 Thess. 4:3, 7.                                                                   For “belief” see on 2 Thess. 1:3, 4, 11; 1 Thess. 1:3.                                                     For “truth” see on 2 Thess. 2:10, 12.                                                                       For “calling” see on 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:12; 4:7; 5:24.                                                         For “with a view to obtaining” see on 1 Thess. 5:9.                                               For “glory” see on 1 Thess. 2:12.                                                                                    For “our Lord Jesus Christ” see on 1 Thess. 1:1.^[1]

Why was Paul was grateful for the Thessalonians? To begin with, the Lord Jesus Christ loved them.

Second, the apostle was grateful for God the Father’s choosing them to be saved. The sovereignty of God in salvation is an often misunderstood and debated biblical doctrine. Some believers in Christ love it, while others reluctantly accept it. Still other believers hate and reject it. It has been a contested topic throughout church history and remains an intramural debate among Christians today.

The Apostle Paul stated to the Thessalonian believers God chose you. The word chose (εἵλατο; heilato) means to select for the purpose of special favor from, and by, the one who selects. Firstfruits (ἀπαρχὴν; aparchen) refers to the first portion of a harvest. It also means a foretaste of what is to come. It can also refer to a beginning. The beginning the apostle spoke of is salvation. To be saved (σωτηρίαν; soterian) means deliverance. In the context, the deliverance God provides for sinners is from the penalty, power and eventual presence of their sin.

Some theologians speculate God chose individuals for salvation because of some foreseen faith. This is known as Prescient View of election. The argument is God looked down the corridors of time and saw who would positively respond to the offer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Based upon this foreseen faith, God then chose to elect sinners unto salvation. This is a misunderstood interpretation of Romans 8:29. For God to foreknow means to foreordain and to love beforehand. The prescient view is also a denial of John 1:12-13 and Romans 9:14-16. It also fails to consider saving faith is a sovereign gift from God (Acts 1 3:48; Eph. 2:1-9; Phil 1>29; 2 Peter 1:1-2).

Third, the Lord’s love and the Father’s choosing would coincide with the sanctification by the Spirit. Sanctification (ἁγιασμῷ; hagismo) means to be set apart, consecrated, and dedicated to God. It also refers to personal holiness. The Holy Spirit sanctifies each believer in Christ as the believer grows in knowledge of God’s Word, prayer, and holy living (Phil. 2:12-13).

Finally, God’s choice of sinners unto salvation is for belief in the truth. The elected believer is to have an increasing trust in, commitment to, dependence upon and honor towards the Word of God.

“The Apostle gives us this information in the context of telling the Thessalonians that he ought always to thank God for them. In so doing, he gives us a remarkably full-orbed presentation of the Lord’s work in salvation that packs a lot of material in a concise form,” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“First, we get a picture of the work of the three persons of the Trinity in redemption. Believers are chosen by “God,” Paul’s common way of referring to God the Father. We are loved by “the Lord,” Paul’s preferred name for God the Son. Finally, we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (v. 13). Each of the persons of the Godhead is active in our salvation, yet we should not think of each of Them as performing a unique work in which the others do not participate. Note that we are loved by the Son (v. 13), and that Paul says elsewhere that the Father, in love, predestined believers in Christ for salvation (Eph. 1:3–10). Election to salvation is not the work of the Father alone, but the Son also loves us and thus chose us for redemption. By extension, given all that the Bible says about the Holy Trinity, the Spirit is also involved in predestinating God’s people to salvation.”

May we thank the Father, Son and holy Spirit for our salvation. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

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^[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 187

¹¹ Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (ESV)

The Apostle Paul described the Antichrist in specific terms. He is (1) a man of lawlessness; (2) the son of destruction; (3) self-exalting; (4) proclaims to be God; (5) is already working lawlessness; (6) is restrained; (7) will be killed by Jesus; (8) is empowered by Satan; (9) will do false signs and wonders; and (10) will use wicked deception for those who are perishing (2 Thess. 2:3-10).

Paul then shifted his attention from the Antichrist to those deceived by the Antichrist. These are they who do not believe the truth of God and also take pleasure in unrighteousness. What truth do these individuals reject? Romans 1:18-23 provides the answer.

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18–23 (ESV)

The truths the unrighteous reject are (1) the truth of God’s existence; (2) the truth of God honoring worship; (3) the truth of God centered thanksgiving; and (4) the truth of not worshipping idols. The consequence of such continued rejection of the Lord’s truth is increasing deception and wickedness. (See Romans 1:24-32).

The Lord does not sit idle. He brings increasing judgment upon increasing wickedness. Today’s text says God sends the unrighteous strong delusion.  The verb sends (πέμπει; pempei) is a present, active, singular verb. God alone actively causes the unrighteous to experience strong delusion (ἐνέργειαν πλάνης; energeian planes). This refers to functioning error and deceit. It means to wander off the path of truth or reality.

The Lord does this so the deceived become increasingly deceived. Sinful rebellion against God does not remain stagnant but like a cancer, it grows in its expanding, destructive spread.

This is an example of an ever-widening gyre. This phrase refers to circumstances spiraling out of control. In the aftermath of the Easter Uprising of 1916, the Russian Revolution of 1917 and World War I (1914-1918), Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming. In part, Yeats observed:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre                                                                       The falcon cannot hear the falconer;                                                                                          Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;                                                                         Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,                                                                         The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere                                                         The ceremony of innocence is drowned;                                                                          The best lack all conviction,                                                                                            while the worst                                                                                                                  Are full of passionate intensity.

Why does God send this strong delusion. It is “in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” This refers to the final judgment (Rev.20:11-15) What sinners sow, they will reap (Gal. 6:7).

“The men of the end-time, who will harden themselves against the earnest exhortation to repent and to receive the love for the truth, will suffer the penalty of being hardened. God sends (i.e., will certainly send) them an “energy of (i.e., unto) delusion.” It will be a power working mightily within them, leading them even farther astray, so that they will believe antichrist’s lie,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.^[1]

“When Pharaoh hardens his heart (Ex. 7:14; 8:15, 32; 9:7), God hardens Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 9:12). When the king of Israel hates God’s true prophets, then the Lord permits him to be deceived by placing a lying spirit in the mouth of other prophets (2 Chron. 18:22). When men practice impurity, God gives them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (Rom. 1:24, 26). And when they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge God, he finally gives them up to a base mind and to unclean behavior (Rom. 1:28).”^[2]

God command sinners to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

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^[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 185.

^[2] Ibid.

⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 (ESV)

While discussion among believers in Christ continues regarding the identity of the Antichrist, and when he will appear on the world stage, the power behind him is biblically unquestionable. His power and authority are from Satan, which is a delegated power and authority from God Almighty (Job 1-2).

The Apostle Paul acknowledged to the Thessalonian believers the coming (παρουσία; parousia) or advent of the lawless one would be presently and actively by the activity (ἐνέργειαν; energeian) working and functioning of Satan (Σατανᾶ; Satana) the believers adversary. The is an indisputable truth or fact. Satan is a real being and so is the Antichrist.

Satan’s working through the lawless one will be with all power (δυνάμει; dynamei) ability and might. This power will be displayed by false (ψεύδους pseudos) or lying signs (σημείοις; semeiois) or miracles. His power will also feature false wonders (τέρασιν; terasin) or miracles (Mark 13:22; Acts 2:19, 22; Rom. 15:19; 2 Cor. 12:12; 2 Thess. 2:9; Heb. 2:4).^[1]

Accompanying these false signs and wonders will be all kinds of wicked deception (ἀδικίας ἀπάτῃ; adikias apate) meaning unrighteous deceit from the truth of God. Those who will follow this are those who are spiritually perishing (ἀπολλυμένοις; apollymenois). These are they who are lost and dead in their trespasses and sin and following the world, their sinful desires and the devil (Eph. 2:1-3). They are objects of God’s wrath and judgment.

Paul said these individuals refuse to love the truth. To refuse (ἐδέξαντο; edexanto) means to decisively, personally and collectively reject and repudiate “an object or benefit for which the initiative rests with the giver.^[2] They have no love for the truth of God. Therefore, they are not saved from the penalty, power and eventual presence of sin. What a tragedy. Professing to be wise, they reveal themselves to be fools (Rom. 1:18-23).

“Second Thessalonians 2:9–10 reveals that the man of lawlessness, the “lawless one,” will be a counterfeit Messiah. He will perform false signs and wonders that will confirm the reprobate in their hatred of the truth,” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.

John Calvin writes, “Christ puts forth the power of his Spirit for salvation, and seals his gospel by miracles; the adversary, by the efficacy of Satan, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, and by his enchantments confirms miserable men in error.”

“Now this coming of the final antagonist, with his lying power, signs, and wonders, though observed by both believers and unbelievers, has the effect of deceiving those who are perishing (i.e., those who then will be perishing); cf. 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; 4:3. The cause of their perishing lies not in God but in themselves. They are perishing because they did not accept (past tense from the aspect of the days just before the final judgment) the love for the truth,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“But what is meant by the expression “the love for the truth”? We answer as follows: When the Gospel is proclaimed, the hearers are urged to accept Christ and all his benefits. These benefits are not only objective, such as heaven, the resurrection-body, etc., but also subjective, such as love and hope. Those hearers who perish do so because they have rejected what they have been urged to accept, in this case: “the love for the truth” (objective genitive) as it is in Christ (the Gospel-truth). The purpose of their accepting it would have been “that they might be saved.” It is true that in his own power no man can accept “the love for the truth.” That, however, is not the emphasis here. Here what is stressed is man’s guilt. When man is lost, it is ever his own fault, never God’s.^[3]

Satan loves to disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Therefore, believers in Christ should expect he will present himself as a counterfeit savior and even as one who can perform signs and wonders. Dr. Sproul concludes, “The true messenger of God is not one who claims to be able to do miracles but is one who loves God’s gospel, teaches God’s Word faithfully, and does not practice deception.”

God’s commands sinners to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

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^[1] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

^[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 571.

^[3] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 185.

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7–8 (ESV)

Not only have people asked me who the Antichrist is, they also inquire as to when he will appear or reveal himself. Today’s text, specifically vs. 8, answers the question. This involves the biblical doctrine of eschatology or the doctrine of the end times. However, biblical eschatology involves the now and the not yet. The New Testament church, since the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), has lived in the last days or the period of time immediately prior to the Lord’s return (I Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1).

“Biblical eschatology—the teaching of Scripture regarding the end times—is frequently thought to concern things that have not yet happened. When God’s Word addresses eschatological topics, many people suppose, it is speaking only of things that, from our perspective, are still to come. However, while biblical eschatology certainly involves things that lie ahead, we must not forget that according to the New Testament, the last days began during the ministry of Jesus and His death and resurrection,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 makes this point, but we also see it in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Paul notes that at the time of his writing, “the mystery of lawlessness” was “already at work.” Before Christ’s return, this mystery must reach its apex in the revelation of the man of lawlessness, one who embodies the spirit of antichrist most fully. But the presence of this mystery in the first century—and its continuing presence today—demonstrates that we are living in the final era of redemptive history. As 1 John 4:3 confirms, “the spirit of the antichrist . . . now is in the world already.”

At the divine decreed moment, the Lord will remove the restraint. This will allow the full fury of the satanic influenced individual to be revealed. Revealed (ἀποκαλυφθήσεται; apokalyphthesetai) means to disclose and to make fully known. It also means to uncover and to take out of hiding.

However, the divine reveal will coincide with the Lord Jesus Christ’s judgment upon the Antichrist. The text says the Lord Jesus will kill this individual. To kill (ἀνελεῖ; anelei) means to execute or destroy. The Lord will also bring to nothing all of this adversary’s plans.  

“There will not be a long-drawn-out conflict, with victory now apparently with the lawless one, then with the Christ, this “round” going to Satan, that to the Christ. The issue will be settled in a moment. The Lord Jesus (see on 1 Thess. 1:1) will very summarily and decisively put an end to antichrist and his program. The entire description is symbolical. The two clauses are parallel, though this does not necessarily mean that they are completely identical in meaning. The first clause stresses what will happen to the lawless one himself: he will be slain (which in this connection has been interpreted to mean that he will be punished with everlasting death, but the idea that he will first be put to death physically must not be excluded). The Lord will merely blow upon him, so swift will be his destruction,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.^[1]

“The second clause also indicates what will happen to him, perhaps with the added idea: in relation to his program of activities. Also, in this respect he will be “abolished,” “utterly defeated,” “put out of commission,” “rendered useless,” “made inoperative or inactive” (καταργέω; a verb very frequently used by Paul and almost confined to him in the New Testament; for the particular shade of meaning in the present connection see especially such passages as Rom. 3:31; 4:14; 1 Cor. 1:28; Gal. 3:17; Eph. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:10)” ^[2]

The phase breath of His mouth (πνεύματι στόματος; pneumati stomatos) refers to the spirit of the Lord’s speech. How fitting. The Lord spoke the universe into being (Gen. 1-2; Psalm 33:6-7) and He speaks forth the utter and total destruction of this evil opponent.

“Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 that at the Parousia of Christ—His final advent or second coming—this man of lawlessness will be killed with the breath of Jesus’ mouth and be brought to nothing. Paul here leans on Isaiah 11:4, a text that prophesies the righteous rule of the Messiah, particularly His just judgment. The Apostle is telling us that when Jesus returns in judgment, His decree of guilt for the man of lawlessness and all who support him will bring an end to his wickedness. Christ’s final judgment is sure and true, and when He speaks His judgment over His creatures, they will be consigned infallibly to everlasting punishment if they have not sought refuge in Him by faith alone,” concludes Dr. Sproul.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. ¹⁰ The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. ¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! (Psalm 33:8–12 (ESV)

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!  

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^[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 183.

^[2] Ibid.