Paul concludes his statement in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 by asserting that the faith given to the Christians by the Holy Spirit is not a bare faith, but it is one that is fully persuaded regarding Jesus. He completes his thought in verse 5:
Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.Paul is not saying that if you are saved, you are always going to have a complete assurance of your salvation. True believers will sometimes have doubts about their election and whether they are saved or not. We are going to have our ups and downs. Sometimes we are going to be foolish and fall into sin, and we are going to be picked up, and we are going to have to be called to repentance. And we are not saying that if you believe and the Spirit comes with power, it is a straight-line progression forward. Usually, it is not. It is a winding road—all according to God’s wisdom in our lives. What he is saying, though, is that while you may have struggles in your life, you will be fully persuaded about the Lord Jesus Christ. And the truly saved Christian may say,I’m having a hard time. Maybe I’ve made some mistakes. Maybe I’m confused. But this I know: that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour, and I commit myself to him. And nothing can take my eyes off of him—or his hands off of me. I am fully persuaded by Christ, and my faith will endure the trials and temptations to turn away.Now, Jesus spoke of this in his very important parable of the soils in Matthew 13:1–58. In many respects, it is the master parable of all the gospel parables. And Jesus said there that the kingdom of God is like a farmer who went about sowing seeds. And he said,
Richard D. PhillipsThe seed is the Word of God.So there we have ministry again: the kingdom of God happens where the Word is being scattered. And Jesus then taught of a number of different kinds of soil and the way that the Word comes to those different kinds. In one case, the seed fell on rocky soil. And the problem there was that though the seed seemed to take life and to grow, there was no root to it. And Jesus said that that person hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself. It endures for a while, but when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, he immediately falls away (Matthew 13:20–21). Well, the Thessalonians had borne testimony to their election precisely in that they had endured under hardship and persecution. They not only received the Word with initial experience of the Spirit’s power, but they were persuaded in faith, and they endured—and they showed their salvation by refusing to give way under trials.1
5 notre Evangile ne vous a pas été prêché en paroles seulement, mais avec puissance, avec l'Esprit-Saint, et avec une pleine persuasion; car vous n'ignorez pas que nous nous sommes montrés ainsi parmi vous, à cause de vous.