1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 - God's Choice - Reprobation?

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

Target Date: Sunday, 23 January 2022

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

4 – know – this participle (knowing) is in the active perfect tense. This means it was accomplished in the past and continues in effect.

4 – beloved – this verb (participle) is in the passive voice and the perfect tense. It is passive because it is something God does for them. It is a perfect tense because is it fully-realized.

He doesn’t refer to them as those who God is loving, nor as those who God loves. He chose this tense to indicate that God had loved them, and that His love is complete, not growing in their regard.

The participle in the present verse lays more emphasis than the adjective on the active exercise of God’s love as already consummated and resulting in a fixed status of being loved (perfect tense).

4 – He has chosen you – chosen=election.

By election is meant that act of free grace by which God destines individuals to become believers in Christ. Thus the Thessalonian converts were chosen or elected by God from among their heathen countrymen to become Christians. The ultimate reason of their Christianity was their election of God.

It is the relationship initiated by God to bring you from being an enemy of His to adoption as sons and daughters. What He did, He did when the only thing certain about you is that you were guilty in Adam – He saved you through the sacrifice of His Son.

??? The third descriptor follows quite closely from the second: God chose them (1 Thess 1:4). The focus here (eklogē) is not a kind of one-sided election (i.e. “predestination”), but more a testimony to how precious they are in God’s eyes. Imagine a couple passing by an alley and noticing a poor, homeless child lying on the ground half-dead. Their heart goes out to the child and they rush over and carefully scoop her up and find her care, later adopting her into their family. They were not forced to shelter her, but they went out of their way to rescue her and she becomes precious, one-of-a-kind, an object selected through persistent attention and interest. No doubt, in the midst of their trials and tribulations, the Thessalonians felt ignored by God. Perhaps they felt rejected. Paul responds tenderly: he chose you then, he loves you now.

??? No man is elected to be destroyed. You take the fatherhood out of God, you take the crown off the majesty of God, when you suppose that he could fore-ordain or elect any soul to wander in darkness. If he did I should abandon his altar and hate him. This word “election” is always used in relation to the temporal, and the immediate, and the superficial, always in the sense of setting in a certain direction, investing with certain responsibilities, and giving chance of certain destinies.

Calvin - “By faith,” say they, “we obtain salvation: there is, therefore, no eternal predestination of God that distinguishes between us and reprobates.” It is as though they said—“Salvation is of faith: there is, therefore, no grace of God that illuminates us in faith.” Nay rather, as gratuitous election must be conjoined with calling, as with its effect, so it must necessarily, in the mean time, hold the first place.

We should observe how Paul uses this concept here. It seems that Paul has two goals in using this doctrine of election in his prayer of thanksgiving. First, Paul is saying that God’s choice of these Thessalonians was the reason why they had faith, love, and hope. If we believe in the importance and reality of grace, we would not want it any other way! We would never want to say that God’s choice of these Thessalonians was based on their own faith, love, and hope. If we do that, we turn these virtues into works that gain God’s favor, and we certainly do not want to do that. So Paul was thankful that God chose these Christians and that God’s choosing them produced the fruit of faith, love, and hope.

Paul is using the doctrine of election to bring them assurance! How odd that is, at least to our way of thinking. The doctrine that often causes disputes in the Christian church is used by the Apostle Paul as a source of comfort. But remember, it is not comfort because we know the eternal plans and decrees of God. It is comfort because we see that plan unfolding before us in history. The Holy Spirit has brought the gospel to us, and we are following Jesus as disciples.

Thoughts on the Passage:

Geneva Bible: Knowing, beloved brethren, that ye are elect of God.

The NIV mistakenly places a paragraph break at this point despite the fact that vv. 2–4 string together three adverbial participles (“mentioning,” “remembering,” and “knowing”) that all modify the verb found in the main clause of v. 2, “We always thank God for all of you.” Therefore we should understand v. 4 as part of the sustained thanksgiving of the opening section of this book.

Paul is able to reinforce the connection between their new Christian way of life and the certainty of their salvation at the parousia or public manifestation of Christ.

In what is literally the first sentence written in the New Testament, the full responsibility of God in salvation, through His election, is confirmed and demonstrated.

In telling this to the church at Thessalonica, Paul and his partners were also reaffirming the hope they have in Christ, built not on how good they were, but built solely out of God’s election.

We will not know, this side of heaven, WHY God has chosen us, but we can be assured of His choice when we persevere.

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption - 1 Corinthians 1:26-30

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers - Deuteronomy 7:7-8

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will - Ephesians 1:4-5

join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity - 2 Timothy 1:8-9

God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. – Romans 8:28-30

we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, - Ephesians 1:11

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. - Acts 13:48

Note that the evidences of this election were the work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. No “special” evidences were given, such as tongues, healings, or other miraculous events.

Even in the next verse, the fact that their conviction came in “power and in the Holy Spirit”, this gives no indication to any charismatic gifts that were in evidence. Those who wish to see that will, no doubt, assume it, but if those “spiritual gifts” were given as evidence, specific mention would have been made of them, at least in example.

If Paul’s (et al) intention was to detail the reason for their confidence in the salvation of God given to those chosen Thessalonians, it would be odd indeed if ecstatic manifestations of the Spirit were omitted if they had been present.

Not everyone we pray for will be saved, but, anecdotally, I see a great many that do become believers.

But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” – John 3:21

Sermon Text:

For the last several weeks we have been looking at this great doctrine of God’s Election.

You may recall that this doctrine, put simply, is the teaching of Scripture that those who come to faith in Jesus Christ are enabled, made, to come to Christ by God the Father.

That it is impossible to come to faith in Jesus Christ without God’s election.

This is because our hearts are so completely fallen, sinful, and prideful, in our natural state that we cannot find it within ourselves to seek God in any way apart from our own selfishness.

And we see, by its mention here at the beginning of this epistle, that the doctrine of God’s election is a fundamental teaching of the early church.

Over the last few weeks, we also looked at objections and misunderstandings related to this doctrine of God’s grace,

Looking specifically at how the Scripture answered each of these objections and misunderstandings in turn.

We certainly didn’t look at all of them, but I tried to choose those objections and misunderstandings that you may have run in to.

And also those that might trap us into considering this doctrine as something short of God’s loving grace.

Because at its heart, the doctrine of election is the doctrine of God’s grace.

It is the embodiment of “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in His should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

This great, loving, and gracious doctrine of election is the revelation of HOW God accomplished our salvation through that very Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the doctrine of God’s amazing grace because it affirms that:

1. The salvation of God is a gift, not something that is in any way earned.

2. That salvation is based on God’s power, not our own to follow or live up to His perfect standard.

3. That salvation was intentionally given to those who were unworthy and ungodly.

4. That salvation is, for every person who ever has been saved, by faith in Jesus Christ alone, whether they lived thousands of years before the crucifixion or after it.

If you remember nothing from this series of messages looking at this doctrine, please remember this:

God’s call is for all people everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. FULL STOP.

If you have never turned from your sin and followed Jesus Christ, never let any discussion of this doctrine keep you from coming to Him.

And never allow it to shake your faith that you are in Him if you have followed Jesus Christ in faith.

This doctrine is not intended to make you doubt your salvation, but to give you assurance so you may live fully in the assurance of God’s salvation in your life.

With that said, we come this week to look at the question of what is often called “reprobation”.

It is the idea that if God chooses some to be saved, is He implicitly or explicitly choosing everyone else to be rejected?

I will be the first to tell you that this is a troubling question.

And not only troubling to me, but troubling to many through the ages.

So this morning, I would like to look at this question in the light of Scripture.

But I will warn you that the question itself is based much more in following the doctrine of God’s election logically in our human minds.

So we must be cautious when we deduce a conclusion that we consider inevitable, but it is not supported by Scripture.

The first thing I would like to consider as a matter of introduction to the question is that there is a fundamental disagreement on whether reprobation exists between the great Reformed confessions.

Many of you know that we, as a church, confess that the 1689 London Baptist Confession is an accurate summary of the teaching of Scripture.

While many other Reformed brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian denomination hold to the older Westminster Confession of Faith (1646).

It is true that the 1689 London confession was patterned a great deal by the Westminster because it was a very good first-pass as a summary of the teaching of Scripture.

But in weighing the teaching of the Westminster Confession over 40 years, there were deficiencies and imprecision found.

And one of those areas of imprecision was in Chapter 3, where the doctrine of God’s election is explained.

Many influential Reformed writers, like RC Sproul and others, are committed to the interpretation of scripture informed by the Westminster confession.

All that history to say this: the Westminster and the London confessions differ on the question of reprobation.

The third article in Chapter 3 of the Westminster confession says this:

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.

While the more accurate London confession puts the article this way:

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.

It is my intention this morning to examine why the London confession is a more accurate description of the question of reprobation than the Westminster is.

I will admit, though, that in the book we have over there, Chosen By God, RC Sproul actually adheres more to the London confession than his own Westminster confession.

But you may well be asking “Why? What does it matter?”

1st – An improper understanding of this question can cause people to misunderstand the grace and goodness of God.

2nd – This question can cause difficulty and doubt in the heart of a believer.

3rd – Misunderstanding of this question can lead to heresies,

Such as the belief that everyone will be saved (because a loving God would never send anyone to hell).

Or the belief that God actively causes people to reject Him, making Him the cause of their rebellion and sin.

I plan to look first at the difference between those who are saved and those who are not.

Looking carefully at whether the logical steps in the arguments for reprobation reflect the teaching of Scripture.

And then, finally, to look at passages that seem to describe reprobation and examine what they are saying.

So the primary question of reprobation: what is the difference between those who are saved and those who are not?

As we have seen over the last few weeks, the doctrine of God’s election is found over and over again in the Scriptures.

Perhaps one of the clearest statements of Jesus on the matter is found in the 3rd chapter of John, beginning in verse 17:

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. – John 3:17-19

As we have seen over and over again in our consideration of the doctrine of God’s election, the question of salvation always comes down to one question: have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord?

It is a yes or no question:

Yes, I am following Jesus Christ as Lord,

Or No, I am not following Jesus Christ as Lord.

If your answer is “no”, then you are God’s enemy, and He will judge you by His holy standard, and you will face His unlimited wrath on your sin.

If your answer is “yes”, then you have comfort in your faith and peace with God because Jesus Christ faced God’s wrath on your behalf.

The judgment comes to those who do not follow Jesus Christ.

And so we asked in the past what makes someone believe?

Jesus answers that:

But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. – John 10:26

God, Who sent His only Son into the world to bring salvation to all who believe, is calling for everyone to repent, but only some do.

And those who do call upon the name of the Lord are able to do that because God Himself has chosen them, called them, and made them alive together with Christ.

And the things we know about that choice, that election are:

1. God looked at all of fallen humanity and chose some to be saved.

2. He did it with no regard for their worthiness, but for His own purpose alone.

3. We are not able to understand His reasons because we are not told them in Scripture.

That is a very important point, and we need to understand that before we go on.

Logic is a good thing – it is an ability God has given us for our good.

But we have to always be aware that our logical thoughts pour out of a corrupt heart, and so they often break down.

So the argument about reprobation is that because God causes some to be saved, then He causes everyone else to be condemned.

That was certainly what the Westminster confession said:

some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.

The problem with that reasoning is that it goes beyond and against the clear teaching of Scripture.

Because the clear teaching of Scripture is limited to something much closer to the 1689 London confession:

some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.

The London is more accurate in regard to what we are actually told in Scripture, with the extra logical steps stripped away.

Because we have to keep in mind all along that NO ONE DESERVES SALVATION.

Every person who ever lived rightly deserves God’s wrath on the sin they are born into.

Those who God does not, in His mercy, call to salvation are no worse off than they deserved to be in the first place.

It can never, in no way, be said that someone would have come to God through Jesus Christ, but God rejected them.

Now if you are thinking of some passages that say something similar, we will get to those in a few minutes.

Please stay with what I am talking about here first.

Those who would use the idea of reprobation against you are beginning from a faulty premise: that there is anyone who deserves to be saved.

And then they move on to another faulty premise: that God is unfair to give grace to one and not everyone.

Paul deals with that question in the great discussion of God’s choice in Romans 9:15:

For [God] says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

I would like to point out that God did not continue by saying something like “and I will condemn the one I condemn”.

That is because the entire world stood condemned.

It is not His wrath that is exceptional – it is His mercy and Grace.

No one DESERVES His mercy; no one DESERVES His grace.

Everyone DESERVES His wrath and condemnation.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

So His wrath is simply our wages, what we have EARNED.

His salvation is His GIFT, entirely unearned.

Those of us who know the deep depravity of our own hearts, and who realize the great debt that has been paid through Jesus Christ,

Should never make the mistake of demanding what we DESERVE.

‘In him we live and move and have our being - Acts 17:28

We can stand only by His mercy and grace, and nothing else.

As the great hymn declares:

Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,O Lamb of God, I come.

O Lamb of God, I come.

So to sum up this section, God does not CAUSE people to NOT believe;

He simply has extraordinary mercy on some who are just as undeserving as those He passes by.

So ultimately no one can blame God for their lack of faith – He owed them nothing.

I would remind you again of this gracious truth: because God is the One who calls, we have every right to besiege Him with our prayers on behalf of those we would see saved.

It pleases Him when we cry to Him for His grace and mercy toward someone else.

When we storm His throne of grace to obtain mercy for someone.

Too often we argue or dispute before we pray.

When we should be praying, and then declaring the call of God’s extraordinary mercy and grace to all who would believe.

Now some of you, possibly, would try to defend God’s active reprobation by quoting one of a few passages in the New Testament; and I would like to look at those in detail.

The first might be that great passage in Romans 9:10-13:

Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

“Esau I hated” – meaning “I separated Esau from Myself”.

So you may ask, would this not be an example of God’s active reprobation?

And I don’t think so.

1st – What did Esau deserve except for God’s wrath and hatred?

What claim did he have on God for any mercy of grace?

What did God owe Esau based on his deeds, his family, or his will? Nothing.

Esau, like everyone, had only God’s hatred that he had earned.

2nd – The main thing about this passage, if you read the chapter, is not that God hated Esau, but that He loved Jacob.

That is what is in view here – the unmerited love of God.

We read the explanation of this earlier:

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” - Romans 9:14-15

It is not unjust of God to dispense mercy or compassion on someone.

Think about if you adopted a child into your family – are you unjust to the millions of other children you didn’t adopt?

The justice of God and the mercy of God are both true.

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. – Romans 9:16

Ok, so perhaps Jacob and Esau don’t prove God’s active reprobation: What about Pharaoh?

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. – Romans 9:17-18

You may ask – Doesn’t this prove that God chose Pharaoh for condemnation?

After all, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart when the plagues on Egypt might have softened it.

You will recall that during the first five plagues in Exodus, we are told that the Pharaoh hardened his heart.

And then the last five plagues, we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Even Paul asks there in Romans 9:19:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”

He is asking, in effect, how can God hold Pharaoh responsible when God Himself hardened his heart?

His answer follows the question:

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory - Romans 9:22-23

The answer here is this: Pharaoh’s hard heart was because he was not one of the called, and God has every right to use any one or anything for His own glory.

does not the potter have a right over the clay - Romans 9:21

God used the unredeemed Pharaoh of Egypt to display God’s own power.

And God declared, as we saw before, that He had even put Pharaoh into his position as ruler of Egypt for God’s own purpose.

The Pharaoh had no claim on God’s mercy, and his wickedness for a very long time caused God’s people to cry out for mercy.

So what shall we say? What does the Scripture teach about God’s election?

It teaches that we should always understand it for what it is: God’s gracious, merciful choice of some.

And if we are found in Him, we can praise Him and thank Him for His choice of us,

Knowing it was not anything in us that deserved salvation, but that we are the recipients of a great gift.

Great mercy.

Great love.

We must be cautious, though, in considering any active reprobation, because Scripture teaches without question that the condemnation of someone is entirely because of their rebellion and sin.

Never should God be blamed as the cause of their sin.

He is the only merciful God, who sent His Son to deliver salvation rather than judgment for His people.