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1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; 5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
Notice that first three letter word “for” in verse 5. That is a conjunction connecting us to Paul’s reason why he knew God had chosen and saved these Thessalonians. How many people have we talked to who are not certain about someone’s salvation? It might be a mother or father or child or cousin or a friend at work. We’ve said it ourselves, “Well, I hope he’s saved. He claims to be, but I don’t know if he really understands the gospel.” Or “She’s a nice person, goes to church, even reads her Bible, but I’m not sure she understands the gospel.”
The message in verse 5 helps us explore exactly what the gospel is and how God uses it to save souls. You don’t want there to be a big question mark over your grave. Was he really saved? Is she in heaven or hell? This has been on the minds of many people since the deaths of Ozzie Osbourne and Terry Bollea, otherwise known as Hulk Hogan. Where are they now? And more importantly, how do we know the gospel has come to us to save us like it did these Thessalonians?
GOD BRINGS THE GOSPEL TO SINNERS
Paul says, “Our gospel came to you in a certain way.” God uses people to bring the gospel to us. Today God may use the radio or the printed page, but it is still a message faithfully brought to you. God may have used a family member or your neighbor or co-worker. Paul calls the gospel message “our gospel” because Paul himself was thoroughly transformed by the gospel and also because God had called and entrusted him personally with the task of taking the gospel to Jews and Gentiles.
Acts 20:24, But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
This was a unique message in a world of diverse human philosophies, much like we have today. Paul wasn’t called to reform the political world or change the culture or change anything. God called him to preach the gospel that changes sinners into saints and haters of God to lovers of God. That’s exactly what happened in Thessalonica. Before Paul came, there was no church. When Paul left, there was a vibrant, God-loving people who were following Christ, even in times of hardships and persecutions.
Paul not only preached it; he lived it. This good news of God’s free salvation through faith alone in Christ alone had captured and thoroughly changed his own life. He personally knew the power of the gospel. The Old Testament tells us how God gave Ezekiel a message and said to him, “Eat this scroll.” He had to eat the message, and as it was in his body he could preach it with great power (Ez. 3:3). We could say the gospel is “our gospel” because God calls all of us as His people to go into all the world and preach the gospel. This is God’s plan. And our gospel message is the same as Paul’s gospel.
The gospel hasn’t changed one iota through the centuries even as Satan continues to attack it with a vengeance. It got buried under all the traditions of the Roman Church in the Middle Ages. The Reformation was a God-given rediscovery of the very gospel that Paul preached and we preach. But there are many false gospels being spread in our world. Erwin Lutzer lists five false gospels in his book The Babylonian Captivity of the Church: 1) The gospel of permissive grace: You can be saved from your sin while staying in your sin. 2) The gospel of social justice. 3) New age spirituality: We all pray to the same god and we have a god who agrees with us about everything. 4) The gospel of sexual preference: Love, inclusion, acceptance are regarded as the moral high road. 5) The gospel of interfaith dialogue: Islam is regarded as a religion of tolerance and peace. We can add the liberal gospel: Try to be like Jesus, no wrath, no divine judgment.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOSPEL?
So before we go any further, let’s get a good look at the gospel. We’ve got to get it right. In Galatians 1:8 Paul pronounced a curse on anyone who distorts the gospel, including angels! Let’s see how the gospel came to these people in this ancient world. No where is the gospel more clearly defined than in the book of Romans. The good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified was Paul’s message. Here’s the passage that fired off the Reformation through that German monk Martin Luther.
Romans 1:16-17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Paul gloried in this message. He wasn’t ashamed because he knew it was God’s one and only message that brings salvation to sinners. Some think God will save people from every religion as long as they are sincere, but that is dead wrong. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 1-2 Paul insisted to the Corinthians that he brought this plain gospel message of Christ and the cross, not in high-blown rhetoric nor in human wisdom.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5, And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Let’s get a thumbnail sketch of the heart of this gospel message. It is seen most clearly in Romans 3:23-26.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Very briefly…
- We’re all sinners and guilty before God.
- God saves sinners by grace alone. Grace means we don’t earn it, merit it, work for it, or buy it. Salvation is a free gift from God through the cross of His Son.
- The cross is where salvation is provided. This is where those four sixteen-cylinder words drive God’s saving work. Propitiation is Christ’s cross work Godward, satisfying all God’s wrath against all the sins of those He would save. Reconciliation is Christ’s work manward, bringing us into an eternal relationship of peace with God (Rom. 5:10). Redemption means to release by a purchase. Through the cross Christ purchased us from the slave market of sin. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone is the blessing of the gospel for believers. God declares us righteous in Christ. Our sins were imputed to Christ on that cross. Christ’s righteousness was imputed to our account before God so through the cross God is the just and the justifier of the person who trusts in Christ alone.
- Verse 26b, “He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
That word “alone” is implied here. R. C. Sproul calls the word “alone” the eye of the Reformation tornado.
Back in the late 90s there was an effort by certain Protestant leaders to unite with Roman Catholics called “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” or ECT. MacArthur and Sproul met with these leaders to preserve the pure gospel of justification by faith alone. The other side wanted to leave out the word “alone.” This was undermining the gospel and capitulating to the main Roman Catholic error of adding to the gospel and Sproul wanted them to know it. In his passion for the purity of sola fide-faith alone, Sproul literally climbed onto the table and made his plea on his hands and knees looking into the eyes of every one of those compromisers. The gospel is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
HOW GOD BRINGS THE GOSPEL INTO YOUR LIFE
Back to 1 Thessalonians 1:5. Ask yourself, “How did the gospel come to me?” Paul indicates the gospel can come in two ways. One way saves you; the other way is ineffective and you remain in your sin.
The general call of the gospel is “in word only.” It’s just words going into ears with no effect. The words were heard but the person did not grasp a thing. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells the story of William Wilberforce, the British Parliamentarian who worked to abolish slavery and was a friend of William Pitt, the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Pitt was a nominal Christian, which greatly concerned Wilberforce. A powerful preacher was speaking one night and Wilberforce invited his friend to come with him to hear this great preacher. They sat side by side as the preacher expounded a great gospel message that absolutely ravished Wilberforce’s soul. As they walked out Wilberforce was anxious to hear his friend’s response to this amazing sermon. Before they got very far, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “I didn’t understand a word that man was saying. What was it all about?” That’s an example of “in word only.” The gospel goes out “in word only” constantly. Why? Because everyone is born with a sin nature and therefore naturally blind and deaf and really dead to the things of God. Something else is needed besides the words, although the words are important. Someone said preach the gospel, use words if necessary – that’s dead wrong. God’s gospel comes to us as a message with words, but something else is needed.
The effectual call is when the gospel comes to you with converting power. Put yourself at Lazarus’ tomb. You can call Lazarus out from the dead until you’re blue in the face. You can bring the most powerful men or women of the world. Imagine President Trump, “Lazarus, come forth!” Silence. Here’s Jordan Peterson, “Lazarus, come forth!” Nothing. George Soros or Saquon Barkley could call on Lazarus to come forth. Dead silence. What’s missing? Jesus steps forth, “Lazarus, come forth!” Immediately he comes. And Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go.” That’s the power of God! Paul in verse 5 identifies the effectual call of the gospel when he says, “Our gospel didn’t come in word only, but also in power and the Holy Spirit and with full conviction or assurance” (LSB). This is how God saves His people. He empowers the gospel message by the power of the Spirit of God in that particular heart, and the message is understood and gives conviction and assurance that it is absolutely true and that person says, “That’s exactly what I need.” The Spirit’s ministry is to drive that message home to the heart of all those God has chosen to be His people and something radical happens. This is how God creates regenerated men and women in and by His Son.
The gospel is God’s power to transform lives. It transforms drunkards into sober lovers of God. It transforms adulterers into loyal, loving husbands and wives. It transforms homosexuals into God-honoring heterosexuals. It transforms angry, bitter, depressed people into joyful, grateful worshippers of Christ. It’s a life-changing, exclusive power you can’t find anywhere else.
When the gospel comes to you in power and the Spirit with convincing assurance that this is God’s truth, what happens? God gives you a new heart, just like He gave to these Thessalonians. This proved their election and Paul calls them brothers, beloved by God. George Whitefield preached in Bristol, England, to those coal miners coming up out of their coal pits with faces covered with black coal dust. He called them to turn from their sins and preached the love and grace of God for all kinds of sinners. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as whiter than snow.” Whitefield said he knew the gospel was melting their hearts as he saw their tears etching white gutters down their coal blackened cheeks. The gospel came to them in power and the Holy Spirit.
The power here isn’t talking about physical miracles. Paul is talking about the Spirit of God taking the Word of God through the message of God, the gospel, into the hearts and lives of these people. They are regenerated or born again and become new persons in Christ. Hendricksen says, “There is spiritual dynamite in the message, enough to demolish all the idol-gods in their hearts.” Verse 9 gives a beautiful statement of what conversion looks like, “How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
I’ve recently been dipping into a biography of David Brainerd (Five Pioneer Missionaries). He was a missionary who took the gospel to the American Indians in the colonial days. On one occasion in 1745 he went to the Delaware Indians at Crossweeksung in New Jersey. He preached the gospel to them and saw the power of God work mightily in their hearts as they confessed their sins and wanted to hear more and more about Jesus and God’s love for them. It was one of the great revivals Brainerd witnessed in his ministry to the Indians. The gospel is still God’s power to save and change sinners.
THE GOSPEL COMES IN POWER AND THE SPIRIT AND FULL ASSURANCE
Has the gospel come to you in power and full assurance? How do you know? You can call this the spiritual miracle of grace, which is exactly what it is. There is no other message, no other philosophy or theory of human behavior in all the world like this. There you were, minding your own business, living your own life, maybe struggling with a marriage gone sour, or dealing with anxiety or depression. Or maybe you were a happy pagan loving your sin. Maybe you were a church attender. Then suddenly something happened.
Somehow you hear the gospel. God comes to your address, knocks on your door, visits your heart through that gospel message, and stirs your thoughts. You may have heard it a thousand times, but this is different. God stirs your heart, bothers your conscience, and doesn’t let you go. It may happen suddenly or slowly over time, but it happens. The gospel comes to you in power through the Spirit with conviction.
God reveals your sin. You feel troubled, convicted. You sense your guilt and realize you have a problem with the holy and righteous God. You aren’t prepared to stand before God because you know your sins are an offense to God. They may be loud and blaring sins or those hidden sins of ignoring God. You know you are a sinner. You’ve been living your own life, maybe trying to be religious to get God’s approval, but you know you are guilty before a righteous God.
Then God opens your eyes, shines the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ into your soul.
2 Corinthians 4:6, For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
God gives you ears to hear and you want to hear more about Jesus Christ. You tasted and have seen that the Lord is good. God has regenerated and renewed your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit so that instead of being dead to God and Christ and the Word, you are alive to Him. You have passed out of death into life. As the hymn beautifully describes regeneration. “God’s eye diffused a quickening ray, you woke, your dungeon filled with light. Your chains fell off, your heart was free, you rose, went forth, and followed Jesus Christ.”
You now trust in Jesus Christ alone and can’t be persuaded to trust in any other message, no other system of morality, no mother church, no other gospel except the biblical gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, based on Scripture alone, to God’s glory alone.
This is the gospel coming not in word only but in power and the Spirit and with full conviction. It wasn’t Paul’s slick techniques, letters behind his name, or highly developed people skills. God is able to bring His message with power to anyone, regardless of your human record. He can melt the strongest opposers, the worst offenders, the hardest hearts, the vilest sinners and bring them through the power of the gospel to a saving relationship with Him. This is how you know you were chosen by God.
GOD USES GODLY MESSENGERS TO BRING THIS WONDERFUL GOSPEL
Notice the last part of verse 5 – “Just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes.” Paul was so very careful to live a life that enhanced the gospel message. He says, “You heard our message and saw our lives.” We’ll see much more of this later in chapter two, but all of us who claim the name of Christ must live so as not to detract from the gospel. This clearly has not always happened. The gospel has been vilified and darkened by both doctrinal and moral corruption, whether through immoral behavior or financial mismanagement by plunging churches into debt with their so-called great visions. Paul was careful to avoid anything that would cast a shadow on the gospel. That’s why the first qualification of elders in 1 Timothy 3:2 is to be “above reproach.” Every member of the church needs to enhance the message of the gospel with a virtuous life.
SO WHAT?
Let’s go back to the introduction. Has the gospel come to you in power, in the Holy Spirit, with full assurance? Can people who know you say yes, this man, this woman, this young person is definitely saved? Do you not only profess Christ as your Savior, but does your life demonstrate the reality of the gospel. Will others be confident you are in heaven or will there be that question mark over your grave? May God bring the gospel message with power into every one of our hearts.