“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
Thanksgiving requires more than just words. If we are taken by the greatness of God, what He has done for us with us, and will do to us, we respond in our living differently.
respond by steadfast belief in the truth. Certainly, we are not talking about math, history, science, or philosophy. We are talking about the truth of Jesus Christ. That is who Paul is talking about in all his letters. The truth of the revealed Word of God is the story of His love and salvation provided in Jesus.
When Jesus says “I am the way the truth and the life, and no man comes unto the father but by me,” we rejoice that we have truth in Jesus. When we believe Jesus and follow Him, we are following spiritual truth. When we follow men, regardless how knowledgeable they are, we will eventually be disappointed. We do not love like Jesus wants us to; we do not forgive the way our master did; we do not treat people the way they all ought to be treated. In other words, men will fail you sooner or later. That is why we need to keep pointing people to Jesus, not to men and women.
Regeneration depends upon faith. God's Spirit does not work apart from faith. For all practical purposes we may say that if a man believes the truth and obeys the Gospel, he is elect of God and he may exercise confidence in that fact. How is it that one man believes the message and another scoffs at it? There is no salvation for the scoffer. For the one who desires unholiness, sin, and dishonesty, there is no salvation, unless the Spirit convicts his soul and he prays for salvation by believing in God's offer of grace.
Paul also exhorts the believers to stand firm. We will not be moved by rumors, persecution, by people not liking us for following Jesus, or if people try to change our minds on morals. We will not be moved on things that are contrary to what we understand the Scriptures, God's word to teach. Standing firm implies there will be times when people will try to knock us down, move us, and cause us to want to quit. Thanks living is saying, Lord, because of all you did and are doing for me, I will not be moved. I will seek to stand firm by Your help and strength.
Application: Be an example of standing firm in the truth.
Prayer: Lord, help me to stay rooted in Your word and Prayer, so that I can stand firm in the truth of Your Word.
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