Well Done, Church
At the beginning of chapter four of 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells the church God’s will for their lives. It’s not who they should marry, but that they should abstain from fornication (4:3-5). Not which job they should take, but they should work (4:11). God’s will is their sanctification, the gracious, continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He conforms us, more and more, to the image of Christ. Another avenue of this pursuit of godliness is to love the brethren (9-10). Paul reminds the people that they are “taught of God to love one another.” The fruit of the Spirit is love, and it’s the warp and woof of the Old Testament law, to love God and your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Next, he says, “And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia.” Rather than pointing out their failure to love the brethren, he commends them for their love.
Paul isn’t buttering up a church. He’s writing as he is moved by the Holy Spirit. This is the God-breathed, inerrant, infallible Word of God and the assessment of God concerning the church’s sanctification. Were they perfect? Of course not. They are encouraged to increase more and more. But Jesus knows that, too.
He knows who you are and what you can and cannot do. The Lord could have called His saints and immediately glorified us. Glorification will happen. So will our being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30). This is not part of our work to get to Heaven, nor part of our final justification. This is the will of God that we are both definitively and progressively sanctified. The Lord knows you are not perfect.
Doesn’t Paul say that his righteousness is like a pile of manure? Yes, in Philippians 3:8-9. He warned the Philippians against the false teachers, adding works to the gospel for justification. Paul reminded them that if anyone could be justified by keeping the law, it would be him. No one held a candle to Paul’s Hebrew street cred. But he’d give it all away and count all his good works as filth to have Christ and His righteousness. Justification is a legal act by which God declares the sinner righteous based on the person and work of Jesus Christ. That’s not sanctification. Make sure to distinguish the two. You cannot keep the law and earn salvation, but that’s not growing in godliness.
Christian, you can please God by faith even though it’s not perfect. God is not angry with your works of faith. The Thessalonians obeyed God’s law to love. Then, they are encouraged to abound more and more. In essence, the Lord Jesus told them, good job, well done. Keep it up, and continue to pursue loving others more and more.
Christian, Jesus loves you. He knows you are not perfect. He knows that you fail. He also knows when you obey Him by faith, and He’s pleased with that (Hebrews 11:6).