Rejoicing in believers’ faithfulness

There are really three things that Paul is filled with rejoicing over in the midst of his afflictions, and the first is the sheer joy of seeing and learning and getting news that fellow believers are persevering in the faith towards salvation. Interestingly, Paul’s concern over the Thessalonians’ continuing faith shows that it is far from automatic that a person continues in salvation. This contemporary revivalistic practice of assuring people that they have the certainty of eternal life—that they have eternal security when they make a bare profession of faith, when they walk down an aisle or fill out a form or raise a hand—and we say, Oh, congratulations, you are certain of having eternal life, and we do not warn them of the necessity of continuing in that faith—that is very far divorced from the biblical attitude and practice. We must persevere. Now thank God, he is the one who preserves us. We are kept. It is not you. It is not your effort. It is not your work. Peter says in the beginning of his letter, You are kept by God for that great salvation through faith.

And we are to persevere. Ben Witherington says this: Paul did not believe that one’s faith comes prepackaged and complete at the point of conversion. It is rather a living thing that grows or shrinks, can be little or great, can be enhanced or diminished, can even be said, ultimately, to be brought to completion. You know, Jesus in the Great Commission did not say, Go forth and get professions of faith, although we certainly value them. He says, Go forth and make disciples and teach them to obey all that I have written you. Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians shows there is nothing more vital than our perseverance in faith. You and I possess nothing more valuable than our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is always the key issue for us. And Paul already knew—and I dare say he would, in time, come to know even better—the bitter reality of apostasy. Apostasy: those are professing believers who fall away. And, my friends, it is very real.

Now, in 1 John 2:1–29, John deals with it, and he says someone who falls away and denies being a Christian never was a Christian. If they were among us, if they were really of us, they would not have departed. It is a person with a profession of faith that proves to be false, and that is a very real thing. You know, in the apostolic times, there were exciting things going on in the church. You had people doing miracles—I mean real ones, not fake ones. You have actual apostles. And there were people hanging around for ulterior motives. And there are people today joining churches for ulterior motives and making professions of faith. They want to marry a nice Christian girl. They have got to profess Jesus, so they do it. There are all kinds of blessings. The church is a great place to be. There is power going on. There is prayer being answered. The church remains a mighty, supernatural thing.

And so there are people who, without faith, want to be in the church—maybe you—but it is a dangerous thing to have a false profession of faith. And what reveals it is tribulation. Jesus says, trials come, and they fall away. We read in Paul’s letters of a man named Demas. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes this: Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas. Now, you are pretty high up in there if you are in Paul’s letters. I mean, this guy is an apostolic associate, and Paul seems to have thought he was a Christian. And then, in his last letter—2 Timothy 1:1–4:22—he laments that Demas, because he loved this present world, has deserted him.

Now, in fact, Paul knew that for anyone to remain in faith and to persevere requires a supernatural work of God. But God he promises to do that work: He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it—if you have true biblical faith. Now, if you really believe the Bible, if you really surrender to the Lord Jesus, if he is bearing fruit in your life, you should be confident that God is going to carry you through—but not in a false profession of faith. And Paul worried like a mother, anxious over the church. By the way, he is writing this letter to congregations. There is a mixed body there. Some he is probably sure about, others he is not so sure about—but he is nervous about them. And now, Greg Beale writes, Paul cannot thank God enough for their faith. He thankfully acknowledges that their standing in the Lord is because of God’s all-powerful and gracious work in their hearts.¹

Richard D. Phillips