“God Will Make You Worthy”
[II Thessalonians 1:1-12]
October 31, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Today is Reformation Sunday, so let us consider the primary question of the Reformation: what must a person do to become right with God? This is the question that Martin Luther and others struggled with as they saw that the varieties of works that the Roman Catholic Church was prescribing to become right with God was not in line with the Scripture.
The problem is that the Scripture is clear: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a, ESV). If we sin – if we do anything wrong to or neglect to do anything good for God or our neighbor – we shall die – physically and spiritually – we will be eternally separated from God, suffering for our sin. So, how does a person become right with God? How can you and I pay the debt that we owe for sin – so that we might become right with God – spiritually alive – righteous and holy?
The answer if found throughout the Scripture, and the answer that is found is why the Reformers ultimately split from the Roman Catholic Church. This morning, let us see the answer as it is found in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.
Paul begins with a standard greeting in verses one and two, but let us notice one thing that is unusual – Paul addresses them as “the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” What does Paul mean by saying “in”?
Paul is noting, right from the start that they are not a church because they are a group of believers who have gathered together in the faith. No, by saying that they are a church “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul is saying that they area a church because they are a work of “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” which is why they are a group of believers who have gathered together in the faith. Paul notes that they are not a church because they made themselves a church, but because “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” made them a church. They are not a work of themselves; they are the work of God. As Paul wrote, “[God] is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctificatifflict those who have afflicted and give relief to those who have been afflicted.
Jesus will return in a flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who never believe savingly in Jesus, sending them away into eternal punishment. Also on that day, He will be glorified in all those who have believed in Jesus Alone for salvation; He will be glorified in us as He grants us relief and perfects us according to His Own Image. And the saints – those who have believed – will marvel. They will marvel at the Glory, the Love, the Mercy, and the Beauty of God. And all who believe will marvel because they believed the testimony of Paul – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It was important for Paul to stress that when Jesus returns, then the judgment will occur. There were false teaches in the Thessalonian church who were teaching that Jesus had already returned, and this was upsetting many of the Christians who didn’t know what to make of this teaching. So Paul assured them, in both of his letters to them, that Jesus had not returned yet, but when He does, He will set all things right.
To the end that Jesus will return and set all things right, Paul tells the Thessalonians that they continued to pray for them. And Paul tells them four things as he ends the first chapter:
First, God will make you worthy of His Calling.
This is what the Reformers came to understand – the answer to the question, “What can a person do to be right with God?” – is, “Nothing.” On our own, you and I are absolutely hopeless. We cannot possible repay what we owe and make ourselves right with God. That is why Jesus came – because we cannot make ourselves right with God – only God can make us right with God; only God can make us worthy of His calling. So our works do not make us right with God, God’s Works make us right with God; we could not make ourselves right with God, so God made us right with Him.
Second, God will fulfill all resolve for good and works of faith.
As Paul told the Philippians, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6, ESV). In other words, God not only makes us right with God, but God will make all things come together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), and He bring all the good works of faith that He started in us to completion.
When Jesus returns, all that we have suffered will melt from view as Jesus reveals Himself to us, and we will be lost in wonder and praise as we see His Wounds and His Glory. And all the good that God has been doing through us since He made us right with Him, He will bring to completion with Jesus’ Return; all those who belong to Jesus will finish the race – we will accomplish everything that God intends for us to do and be, because God is the One Who works in us and through us and accomplishes His Own Will for His Glory and our joy.
Third, God will glorify the Name of Jesus in you.
This is an amazing promise: this is what Paul wrote about to the Romans, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory – even us whom he called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles” (Romans 9:22-24, ESV).
Now, we who believe in Jesus savingly – vessel of mercy – have Jesus in us. His Gospel and His Glory shine forth from us. We are not holy and glorious, so Jesus can be seen standing out from us. I’ve used the example before of diamonds and a littler box. If you drop a diamond in a box of diamonds, it will be difficult to see, but if you drop a diamond in a litter box, it will stand out. God works in and through us so He and His Gospel will stand out.
But that’s not all: Fourth, God will glorify us in Jesus.
John Calvin explains that this means that Jesus will “irradiate” us with His Glory. On that final day, we will be glorified – every shadow and spot of sin and its effects will be removed from us and we will shine with the Glory of the Name of Jesus as we – somehow – participate in His Glory.
You see, the work of salvation, the work of making us right with God is entirely God’s Work, and God does not merely restore us to a sinless state, but when Jesus returns, He Will make us holy and glorified so it will be impossible for us to ever sin again. In the meantime, we continue to grow and become more like Jesus – what the Scripture calls sanctification. Our faith grows more abundantly, our love for each other increases, we are steadfast in the faith as we suffer and are persecuted, because God – according to His Sovereign Pleasure – has chosen to make us worthy for His Sake and our joy.
Paul writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:1-10, ESV).
“Amazing love, how can it be, that Christ, my God, should die for me?”
We are all born dead in our sins, so we are unable to make ourselves right with God. But God has chosen to make some right with God by Himself, through Jesus for His Own Pleasure – and our joy. God makes us right with God.
Ours in not to save ourselves; ours is to respond to God’s salvation of us in thanksgiving and wonder and praise. Ours is to live out what God has done in us through Jesus. Ours is to follow God in all that He has called us to do and be in His Word and to love our neighbor because Jesus has saved us – which means we do all we can to help them – in thanks for our salvation – in the hopes that God will show His Mercy upon our neighbor.
Through Jesus, we are freed from slavery to sin and trying to merit our way to God. So now, in thanksgiving and love, we can follow God and seek the salvation of our neighbors by showing them and telling them the Gospel. Some of us are good at talking about what Jesus has done – others may be better at giving something you baked, or giving a meal to someone in need, donating time, and so forth. In whatever way we find to proclaim Jesus and His Gospel, let us do it with prayer, and if someone asks why we do what we do – let’s tell them, it’s because Jesus saved me – and you – and everyone who believes in Him.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for saving us and making us right with You when we were dead in sin – incapable of doing anything to help ourselves. Help us to present Your Gospel rightly, and keep us from leading anyone to believe that we are saved by our works. Let us joyfully show Your Great Gift of Salvation to others. For it us in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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