2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 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.
Of all the reasons Paul must give thanks to God for the Thessalonian church, he thanks God that they are chosen and called by God into salvation. Paul thanks God for the outworking of the sovereign electing grace of God in the lives of the Thessalonian church.
In our modern church it seems so much easier for us to argue about the doctrines of election and predestination than to thank God for them. Why is that? I wonder if it is because we have not meditated on the practical nature these doctrines bring to our lives and how they inspire gratitude.
Of course, we will always have the tension of wondering about the paradoxical quandary of two adjacent truths that cannot be packaged into a tidy answer for our finite minds. We just can't seem to place God's sovereignty and human responsibility together without the acceptance of mystery. Yet, the acceptance of God's sovereign grace in the doctrine of election can bring gratitude into every obedience that every believer takes.
Paul was thanking God for choosing the Thessalonian Christians because he had just warned about the danger of deception in the world. Paul had every confidence that these believers would resist the deceptions and false teachings of this world to remain faithful in Christ. His confidence was not in them as amazing Christians but in their Savior as an amazing God. Because their salvation was attributable to the eternal God of all power and grace, Paul's confidence was in the certainty of God's character and work among them. They were chosen by God, for his glory. There is not a power in the universe that has the strength to undermine that.
What about us? Well, I propose we start looking every day at our own lives before God and recognizing the impossibility of our obedience in Christ if it was not for the electing love for God. It might look like this...
- Every morning you wake and go into your day knowing the only way you should live today is to live for Jesus - Thank God - That's his doing in your life.
- Every time you warn yourself about being apathetic toward loving his truth - Thank God - That's his doing in your life.
- Every step you take toward a more intimate love for your Savior - Thank God - He's doing that in you.
- Every step of righteous obedience you take - Thank God - He caused you to take it.
- Every time you are not do something you know you should not do - Thank God - He kept you from doing it.
- Every aspect of godliness you see growing in your life - Thank God - He's working in you.
Every aspect of your Christian life can be in gratitude toward God who has chosen you from before the foundation of the world. He chose you, called you, and he is working in you until the day he glorifies you in his Son forevermore. There is not a single aspect of your life that you can boast in and claim glory for yourself. Every aspect of your Christian life can be lived in complete gratitude to God - without him, none of it is possible.
Live in gratitude, the doctrine of election is a reality. We need it!