SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/21/2014
10:57 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Do Not Be
Insecure PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2
Thessalonians 2:13-14
Message of the
verses: “13 But we should always
give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has
chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the
Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our
gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We were looking at God’s sovereign election of believers
in our last SD a couple of days ago. I
did miss doing yesterday’s SD because of a very long travel day.
John MacArthur who has written and taught about this
subject on many different occasions writes the following “God’s sovereign
election of believers becomes operative in their lives through ‘sanctification
by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
Sanctification’ is the work of the Spirit that sets believers apart from
sin to righteousness (cf. Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Peter 1:2). This miracle starts at salvation and includes
a total transformation, so that the believer is born again (John 3:3-8) and
becomes a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). The sanctification that begins at
regeneration does not, of course, mean that believers do not sin. But it does ensure that those set apart from
sin to God will lead lives of progressive sanctification, of increasing holiness
toward Christlikeness (John 17:17; Rom. 6:1-22; 2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:16-25;
Phil. 3:12; Col. 3:9-20; 1 Thess. 4:3-4; 5:23; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:4-10).”
Now when we look at the last part of verse 13 we see
these words “faith in the truth.” This
is speaking of the human factor in God’s sovereign, loving election and
regeneration. Now we know that many
people wonder what it is that a person can do in order to truly be a child of
God, and we must remember that salvation of a person is done totally by the
Lord, and we may wonder why this is true.
This is true because it is only God who can raise the dead, and what I
am speaking of is that when Adam sinned his sin cause every person who has ever
been born by the seed of man to be born with a sin nature in other words we are
all born spiritually dead, and only God can raise the dead. The story of Jesus raising Lazars from the
dead is a picture of God saving a sinner.
Lazarus was dead and buried and in the tomb for four days and Jesus gave
a specific call to the dead Lazarus and then he came out of the grave with his
grace clothes on, and then Jesus told those around him to help him take off the
grace clothes. I believe that the grave
clothes speak of getting rid of the old nature, in other words the
sanctification process that we have been writing about. Jesus specifically called to Lazarus and if
He had not done this then who knows how many people would have come out of the
ground, but Jesus called Lazarus, and this is true when the Holy Spirit calls a
specific person with an effectual call for salvation. Lazarus had no choice than to come out of the
grave when Jesus called him and when the Spirit calls a person for salvation
they do not have a choice either. Now
back to our part, MacArthur writes “Salvation is ‘by grace…through faith’ (Eph.
2:8). It is those who ‘believe in the
Lord Jesus [who] will be saved’ (Acts 16:31).
To the Romans Paul wrote, ‘If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the
mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation’ (Rom. 10:9-10). The truth that salvation is by faith in the
tru gospel permeates the New Testament.
The Spirit regenerates those who hear and believe the truth by granting
them repentance and the gift of faith.”
We see by these statements from MacArthur that a person is called by the
Spirit and then he is prompted to confess his sin and then ask Christ into
their heart to be saved..
Now as we look at verse 14 we have to go back in the
redemptive plan of God chronologically as we read “It was for this He called
you through our gospel.” Now I have
already covered this when I wrote about the Spirit’s call to the unbeliever,
calling him to salvation.
When we see all three of these gospel realities we can be
assured that the main thing that God is accomplishing is that we bring glory to
the Lord: “that you may gain the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What we are seeing in the reason why Paul wrote this way
to the Thessalonians is so that they will not be insecure about their salvation,
but be secure about it and this will cause then not to be so anxious about the
Lord’s return, thinking that they were in the Day of the Lord. They can understand like all believers should
understand that they were not destined for judgment but were destined to glory
as seen in 1 Thess. 5:9 “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Paul’s writing to
the Philippians is what I am thinking about for this part of my SD: “6 Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Not to be anxious for anything.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:8-11.
8 But now you also, put
them all aside: anger, wrath, malice,
slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its
evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true
knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-11 a renewal in
which there is not distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and
in all.
Answer to our last Bible
question: “Isaiah” (Isaiah 37:1-2).
Today’s Bible
question: “What were the Old Testament
people called that taught the spiritual rites to be performed?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/21/2014 11:49 PM
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