Tuesday 11th February
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4
“For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 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.” (NIVUK)
For those who love and follow Jesus it is sometimes incomprehensible how anyone could take offence at the gospel. Do they not understand why it is called ‘good’ news?
At the very heart of the gospel though is a message that says we are not good enough. There is nothing anyone can do to save themselves and live a life worthy of reward. There is no hope outside of Jesus and everyone, everywhere, must accept the free gift of forgiveness and grace. In a world that teaches children from a very young age, at least in the West, that they can do and be anything if only they believe and work hard, this is a bitter pill to swallow. The very ‘freeness’ of the gospel is offensive because there is nothing we can do to earn it.
There must be a catch then. No one could genuinely believe that the good news of salvation, of restoration, of new and lasting life, is completely free. Those who tell others must be benefiting in some way right? It is too good to be true. The ease with which we believe this opens up a chasm for those who seek to make a living for themselves. “Paul and his friends were leaving out the ‘catch’. This is what you need to do or give to be saved. It isn’t quite as grim as they say. You are not that hopeless after all.” Any number of changes to the gospel flow from there. Changes that bring doubt and death and, ironically enough, loss of hope.
Paul and his friends are appealing to the Thessalonian believers to not lose hope, to trust what they said in the beginning, and how they said it. There really was nothing in it for them. They were not serving themselves, or anyone else. They were serving only God. There were no strings attached.
