Paul’s Encouragement: A Reforming Process

This is our fourth time with Moshe Dayan Karunaidoss, who writes at Our Living Hope. We often think of Paul’s letters as being encouraging, but in this article he uses the language that they are part of a reformation process for the churches which heard them read and applied them in the situation they were facing or would face. Click the link which follows to visit the site in person.

A Letter of Encouragement

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you….” 1 Thessalonians 1:4.

Recently I was reading an interesting article on reformation, and it was the story of English reformer William Tyndale but with a fresh insight, and it was good to know how God used him in his time in a unique way. The Holyspirit is the greatest reformer of the Church, time and again he raises and inspires people to voice out his reform whenever it is needed. Apostle Paul who was once persecuting the Church became the torch bearer of the Gospel, he not only planted churches but also reformed the churches time and again through his letters. His letters spoke reform to the upcoming churches in the Greco-Roman world and still speaks reform and transformation even in our times. This is one such letter to a growing Thessalonian Church which was influenced by many issues. He carefully lays out his heart and his burden with all humility to strengthen them in the truth.

Apostle Paul writes to the Church at Thessaloniki encouraging them in their faith to face challenges, reminding them about the acts God performed among them when Paul and his team approached and preached them the Gospel of Jesus for the first time and how they received it with great joy. Apostle Paul takes them on a journey back to remind them of their strong faith in the Lord, God’s faithfulness in their lives and their own ministry among them. Reformation means growth and change towards the truth, and Paul sought growth in them by speaking out the truth in various dimensions.

In Power and of the Holyspirit :

“Because our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction”. 1 Thessalonians 1:4.

First and foremost A. Paul reminds them that their message didn’t come with just words but was attested by the power of God. It came with the conviction of the Holy Spirit which transformed their lives and made them believe in the midst of suffering. The Holyspirit acted powerfully through their ministry and the heart of the Thessalonians got convicted by the Gospel and there were signs and miracles resulting in people being delivered and coming to the knowledge of God. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), the kingdom of God is not just talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20) and the Holyspirit brings conviction in people’s lives through the Gospel (John 16:8). A. Paul underscores in authenticity that their message was accompanied by God’s power, which was evident by their changed lives and that a community of faithful was raised among them.

Amidst Persecution and challenges:

“We had previously suffered in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his Gospel inspite of strong opposition”. 1 Thessalonians 2:2.

A. Paul then reminds them of the manner in which they brought the message of truth to them. It was not an easy journey to them, they had to go through suffering and opposition in order to reach them. It tested their faith and commitment to their call but it also became a witness and testament to the church at Thessaloniki that they were indeed servants of God. Truth will be tested but it has the power to remain till the end ( 1 Thessalonians 3: 3-4, 2 Timothy 3:11-12, John 15:19-20, Revelation 2:10-11, 1 Peter 4:12). As Paul reminds them of his sufferings, the Church were reminded them about their responsibility to care for those who serve them and be an encouragement to them by growing in faith and commitment to the Lord who suffered for their salvation.

With Authority and Good intentions:

“On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness”. 1 Thessalonians 2:4-5.

The Gospel preached by Apostle Paul came with authority as the one approved by God. Their intent was to please God than men, they called upon God as their witness and their accountability partner. They didn’t deceive them with carefully constructed stories but their motives were true, and they sought the wellbeing and growth of the Church at Thessaloniki. They served God with pure hearts and clean hands for the Glory of his Holy Name ( Psalm 2:11-12, Matthew 3:17, 25:23). They didn’t do anything to exploit them but their intention was to fulfill God’s plan for them.

In Love and Care :

“..But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us”. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8.

Like Christ gave himself to the Church, A. Paul reminds and encourages the Church at Thessaloniki that their message came with care and love that they shared themselves with them. He carefully shows them that they not only shared the message, but they have a relationship with them in the Lord. ‘We were gentle to care for you as a mother cares for her own children’ he states (Isaiah 44:3, 66:13). He lived among them and fed them with spiritual milk so that they may be nourished and grow in the Lord. It was out of love and care the ministry was built among them (Philippians 1:8, Galatians 4:19, Philippians 2:1-2). Paul taught that the spirituality of our Faith hinges not only on the divinity of God but also from the support of the community of God.

In Example and in Truth :

“You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children….”. 1 Thessalonians 2:10-11.

If Apostle Paul’s work for the Lord can face criticism then it’s a gurantee that everyone else’s will be. But he also patiently reminds them about the exemplary life he lived before them (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). He was like a Father to them without any partiality teaching them the truth and disciplined them in the ways of the Lord ( Hebrews 12:6). He lived a life of such faith when he lived among them which made the Gospel message relevant to the fellowship there, his life became the most important message. He was able to say follow me as I follow Christ, and that he is a father to the Lord’s flock (1 Corinthians 4:15). His life itself became an encouragement to the Church at Thessaloniki.

One of the early letters of A.Paul to the church in Macedonian province serves as an encouragement even now. It was a letter of mutual encouragement and reformation. A. Paul was encouraged looking back at his own ministry in Thessaloniki and the believers were encouraged and refreshed by being reminded of their commitment to the Lord and was comforted to stay firm in their faith. The steadfast work of A.Paul for the Lord not only comes because of his call, anointing and the grace over his life but also his willingness to learn and grow (Philippians 3:12). In Paul’s appeal to the Church at Thessaloniki we behold one of the finest and powerful torch bearers of the Gospel.

There is always refreshing when your spirit flows
There is power as it overflows
May it reform us to incessantly grow
By the light of your gentle glow…

We Don’t Deserve It

^{NLT II Tim. 1:9} For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

Sometimes people will tell you they’re reading and a verse “just leaps off the page.” I’ve known that to be true, but I also find in a world of podcasts, audio books and sermon videos, sometimes a verse that someone is reading hits you as though for the first time.

It’s often because the person reading really knows the verse or passage in question and are able to bring it with the authority the writer intended.

That was the case with today’s opening verse. I can’t remember who was speaking, but I quickly set the playback a few minutes so I could hear it again and write down the reference. This verse in 2 Timothy reminds me of another passage that has been meaningful to me in more recent years.

^{CEV Titus 3:4} But “when God our savior’s kindness and love appeared, ⁵ he saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done. He did it through the washing of new birth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which God poured out upon us generously through Jesus Christ our savior.

(We looked previously at this passage in this article.)

The key phrase in both verses speaks to the idea that we did nothing to deserve this favor or mercy. “Not by works of righteousness that we have done” (the Titus passage in the KJV) and “Not according to our works” (the Timothy passage, in the NASB).

In Romans Paul says the well-known words, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (5:8) Eugene Peterson in The Message renders these words as,

^{MSG Rom. 5:6-8} Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

(This passage was actually the text of the sermon we heard preached in the Spanish church we visited in Cuba a few months ago.)

– o – o – o –

So why is there a stray quotation mark in the Titus passage? It appears in verse 4 and (for you OCD people!) the quotation continues to the end of verse 7. In the NLT the passage is indented. In the NIV, there are no such notations in the text.

Furthermore, N.T. Wright and Michael Bird, in the recently released The New Testament in its World introduce the idea that a majority of scholars feel Paul didn’t write the pastoral epistles at all, but two sentences later includes Titus 3:5 in a short list of passages that are “quintessentially Pauline.” (p.362)

I spent a long time online and with most of my go-to print commentaries seeing no mention of this.

The key is apparently verse 8:

⁸ This is a trustworthy saying

But then Ruth suggested the NET Bible notes which say,

Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in [certain original manuscripts]. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in verse 8. This is … a single skillfully composed sentence in Greek showing the goals of God’s merciful salvation…

This would make it similar to the Philippian Hymn of Philippians 2 which is more commonly indented in a larger number of translations. So if we use that passage as our guide, and say, ‘This was a hymn that was commonly known to the people to whom Paul was writing,’ we would have to say the same thing here.

Or conversely, Paul may have been doing a centuries-ahead-of-his time thing that the manuscripts the NET Bible translators checking the early manuscripts observed, and that is including what we today call a “shout out” or “call out” in the text to highlight a particular word or phrase. Remember, they had no bold face font, no italics, no large font, no underlining and no colored ink process at their disposal. If you were trying to make a point, you either made in prose or poetry or by the sheer force of the words themselves.

It makes the passage more noteworthy, and that means it bears repeating here (and may I suggest bears memorizing), all the way to the end of verse 7 and with this we conclude, quoting from the NET Bible itself.

^4… “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, ⁵ he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. ⁷ And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”