Thoughts From 1 Thessalonians - Day 3

" You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. 2 We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority." 1 Thes. 2:1-6

         This is how Christianity started out. People who were intimately associated with Jesus and/or His teachings, went out to people who weren't and told them the good news. Then, if they were able to form a group of believers, the apostles would teach them more than just the good news but how does Jesus want us to live and even modeling it so the new believers could become imitators as we read in the last passage.

         Now we have to be careful of error creeping in. Paul knew the truth, he got it directly from the Lord and the disciples and he was saying "you can trust what I'm saying." Fortunately, we have the Bible and we can check teaching that we are hearing against the Bible.

        Now we have to be careful of impure motives. preachers can make a good living by being guest speakers. If you get a book deal or a huge following on social media or podcasts you are set. Ulterior motives creep in. Paul made sure they knew that wasn't the case with him.

        Now we have to be careful of people trying to change the gospel so as not to offend anyone. Don't mention sin, hell, judgement, sexual sins, abortion, politics, substitutionary atonement, the wrath of God, etc. Speakers flatter people and tell them how wonderful they are.

       We need to keep it simple. We are sinners separated from the God who made us and loves us. He sent His Son, Jesus, To pay the penalty for our sins on the cross and if we believe that and receive that free gift of forgiveness, He cleanses us and sends His Holy Spirit to live inside us to give us power to transform and eternal life in Heaven with a restored relationship with our maker. Some will believe but most won't but we don't need to change that message to have more people like us or improve the acceptance rate. We just proclaim the Good News as Jesus did.