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Commentary on "Joyous and Thankful"
Day 4: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - Assurance in Christ (1 Thess. 1:5)
Overview
Today the lesson author asks, “How do we gain the assurance that we are right with God?” Three evidences for being right with God are taken from the text, Thessalonians 1:5. The church members are showing the fruit of the Spirit, such as love, joy, and peace, in very real and genuine ways. Their lives were changed in ways that were obviously supernatural. The lesson author returns again to the theme of being “chosen” by God, and states: “For Paul, the final evidence that God had chosen the Thessalonians was their deep conviction and inner assurance that the gospel was true and that God was real in their lives.”
Observations
The lesson makes valid points about how evidence of salvation is expressed in deeds of love from a genuine heart, and that these are gifts of the Spirit. That is real evidence of born-again people. However, the lesson heading today is assurance, and that is something quite different from evidence of regeneration. The author never mentions the real basis, the deep foundation of our assurance. He has continued his favorite theme of sanctification with “real-life evidence” manifested by “visible and outward signs.” At the end of the lesson, he asks the reader, “On what, in the end, must that assurance be based?” That is the real question.
If we look to our own experience and performance to give us assurance of salvation, the ship of our faith will run aground. This author does not believe in unconditional election or eternal assurance, so the believer does not have anything solid on which to rest his faith in his future. Looking to one’s performance for assurance of salvation is like trying to build self-esteem by self-hypnosis. It may feel good for awhile, but eventually, we realize that self talk and promises don’t carry much sustaining power.
Our foundation for assurance of salvation rests on something of infinite value, the eternal promises of God. He has promised to sustain and carry His people that He has purchased and adopted, and such promises are repeated all throughout scripture. We are given commands to obey and endure because we have been predestined to conform to the image of His Son. Holiness isn’t just an option, it is an absolute standard for Christians that exceeds a mere keeping of the law. The commands are so high that they keep us broken, serious and humble. They drive to us Jesus who forgives and helps us. But our holiness can never be the basis for our assurance. We need something much more potent. Here’s one from Isaiah:
“…even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” Isaiah 46:4
Let’s look at a most extraordinary promise for the New Covenant child of God, that gives a more detailed look into God’s plans for us:
“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.” Jeremiah 32:40,41
The covenant is to be everlasting, and it has already begun. He will never turn away from doing good to us. He will certainly put the fear of God in our hearts so that we will never turn away from Him. That is the new birth, and it means you won’t leave Him because He hold on. Will you miss your old life and want out of His covenant? I don’t think so, and that’s not a freedom worth coveting.
This promise in Jeremiah is amazing, but He doesn’t stop with that. He will rejoice in doing us good and settles us in the inheritance He promised Abraham. Can we imagine God rejoicing? He will do us good with all His heart and soul. It’s hard to get my head around that. When the infinite God does something with all His heart and soul, the intensity of it is beyond our wildest imagination. The best comparison I can think of may seem strange to you, but it is by way of its complete opposite. We have imagined the intense agony, horror, and passion of Jesus on the cross, bearing the weight of our sins. He did that with all His heart and soul. Now imagine the opposite—the same passion and intensity, but with the infinite pleasure of doing you good, with all His heart and soul.
We don’t have to look to ourselves to find our confidence in our future. His promises are sure, and He will carry us, even into our oldest age.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised July 23, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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