Entrusted with the Gospel of God

How God’s sovereign grace teaches us to speak courageously, serve faithfully, and love tenderly.

A Gospel Reflection of 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8

What does a person need most when he walks through the doors of a church building?

He may be grieving someone he loves. His marriage may be strained beyond measure. Perhaps he is worried about his children or carrying a hidden shame he has never dared to speak aloud. These burdens deserve our attention. We should listen carefully, offer practical help where we can, and make room for the sorrows people bring with them. The church meeting must be a place of honesty, confession, and restoration.

Beneath those burdens, however, lies the deepest need of every human heart: true reconciliation with God. We need forgiveness. We need a righteousness that will stand before a holy God. We need life that death cannot take away.

God has provided everything necessary for our salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. He has also entrusted His church with proclaiming that wonderful news!

In 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8, Paul recalls the ministry he and his fellow laborers shared among the Thessalonians. His words reveal how the Gospel shapes both our message and our manner of life. The grace we proclaim teaches us to speak with courage, handle the truth faithfully, examine our motives, and treat people tenderly. We might even call our lives an exercise in sovereign graciousness.

Courage rooted in God

Paul arrived in Thessalonica bearing the wounds of opposition at Philippi. He and his companions understood the cost of preaching Christ. Still, they continued to proclaim Him:

“But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.”

1 Thessalonians 2:2

Notice where their courage rested: “in our God.” They knew whose message they carried, and they trusted His power to make their preaching fruitful.

That confidence helps us understand the inseparable relationship between sovereign grace and evangelism. In the preceding chapter, Paul speaks both of the Thessalonians’ election and of the Gospel coming to them in the power of the Holy Ghost. God’s saving purpose and the proclamation of His Word belong together. Separating them obscures the fullness of His gracious work.

The God who chooses His people also appoints the means by which He brings them to faith. He sends His Gospel, and through that proclaimed Word, the Holy Spirit awakens sinners to believe in Christ. God’s sovereign purpose guarantees that His saving promises will be fulfilled, and His power makes the preaching of His Word effectual.

We therefore proclaim Christ with confidence. The Lord who commands us to speak is also the Lord who opens hearts to receive His truth. Faithful Gospel ministry holds these truths together: salvation belongs entirely to God, and He gathers His people through the proclamation of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes people ask why we should evangelize if salvation is entirely of the Lord. Paul’s ministry gives us a living answer. His confidence in God sustained him through suffering and sent him forward with the Gospel.

We cannot create spiritual life through eloquence, pressure, or force of personality. We cannot make a heart love Christ simply by finding the perfect argument. But God can give life. He can awaken someone who has resisted the truth for years. He can humble the religious person who has always trusted his own efforts at righteousness. He can bring the ashamed sinner to rest fully in the sufficiency of His Son.

This gives us reason to keep speaking and praying. Invite your family. Talk with your neighbor. Teach your children about Christ. Remember the person whose name has been on your heart for years. We do not know what God may accomplish through the next conversation or invitation!

Christian courage can be quiet and patient. Paul, who spoke boldly, also served with gentleness. We can tell people the truth with love and then rest, entrusting the outcome to the Lord.

A message entrusted to our care

Paul understood the Gospel as a sacred trust:

“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”

1 Thessalonians 2:4

A steward is responsible for what has been placed in his care. The church therefore has a responsibility to proclaim faithfully the salvation God has revealed. We have no authority to revise the terms of peace with Him.

The Gospel addresses our actual condition. We have sinned against a holy God. That includes the preacher, the lifelong church member, and the person whose reputation is admired throughout the community. God sees our motives as clearly as our actions. Tomorrow’s improved behavior cannot erase yesterday’s guilt. No amount of ‘not sinning’ can ever atone for the sins already committed.

We need a Redeemer, and God has given us one.

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

1 Corinthians 15:3–4

The eternal Son of God took our humanity and lived in perfect obedience to the Father. At the cross, He stood as the Substitute for His people and bore the judgment they deserved. His sacrifice satisfied divine justice. The God who justifies the believer remains perfectly righteous, for sin has been answered in the blood of His Son.

Christ’s death accomplished redemption. The Good Shepherd gave His life for His sheep, securing the salvation of those the Father entrusted to Him. His resurrection declares His victory over death. The Savior we proclaim lives and reigns, and He will raise His people at the last day.

Our acceptance before God rests upon Him:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

Christ remained personally holy, yet He bore the guilt of His people. Believers stand accepted in His righteousness imputed unto us. To be justified is to be declared righteous before God, and the ground of that declaration is the perfect work of Jesus Christ, received through God’s gift of faith.

What comfort this brings to a troubled conscience. Your tears cannot add value to His blood. Your religious accomplishments cannot improve His righteousness. Faith receives Christ and rests in what He alone has accomplished.

Perhaps you have been searching within yourself for enough goodness, enough sorrow, or enough spiritual feeling to make yourself acceptable to God. Look to Christ! The forgiveness and righteousness you need are found only in Him.

Grace searches our motives and humbles our pride

Paul understood clearly that God knew his heart. He therefore rejected flattery, covetousness, and the pursuit of human glory. Each of these temptations would turn ministry toward the interests of the messenger. Flattery wins approval. Greed uses people. Pride makes their attention feel like something we deserve. These motives may very well build up a large following or even a massive amount of money for the crooked messenger, but God knows and sees the truth!

The true Gospel exposes those motives for what they are: sin.  Everything we possess spiritually has come through God’s mercy in Christ. Therefore, God’s people must cultivate a heart of humility.

Scripture describes our condition apart from grace as being dead in trespasses and sins. Sin reaches our minds, desires, affections, and wills. No part of us is untainted with the curse of Adam’s fall.  We remain responsible for our choices, yet we depend entirely upon God to give us life and bring us willingly to Christ. Apart from the drawing power and effectual call of the Holy Ghost in the preaching of the Gospel, no one comes to Christ.

The Holy Spirit renews the heart so that the sinner truly repents of dead works and believes the Gospel. The person who once resisted Christ comes to see His beauty and sufficiency. Looking back, that believer has every reason to give God the glory.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

“Not of works, lest any man should boast.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:8–10

Grace excludes all boasting and produces a willingness to reply in faith by  godly good works. These good works grow from the life God gives us; they cannot supply the foundation of our acceptance before Him.

This should make us humble toward the unbeliever and patient with the struggling Christian. Whatever understanding we have, we received through mercy. Whatever love we have for Christ has grown from His prior love for us. After all is said and done, we owe everything to Christ!

Yet the doctrine of sovereign grace sometimes troubles a tender conscience. A person may ask, “How can I know whether I may come to Christ?”

Listen to the Savior’s own promise:

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

John 6:37

Both halves of that promise deserve our attention. All whom the Father gives to the Son will come. And every sinner who comes will be received.

You are called to trust the revealed Savior. You do not need to discover God’s secret decree before believing His promise. Come to Christ with your guilt. Confess the sin you have been defending. Abandon every claim of personal merit and rest in His mercy. Yes! Rest in Christ and in His sweet mercies!

Repentance turns from dead works to trust in the work of God in Christ. Faith relies upon Christ for salvation. Neither purchases His kindness; both belong to the saving response His grace produces. Sovereign grace gives us no excuse for remaining in unbelief, and Christ gives the coming sinner no reason to fear rejection. Praise God, we have great and precious promises in the Gospel!

People dear enough to share our lives

Paul’s description of his ministry becomes especially tender as the passage draws to a close:

“But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

“So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.”

1 Thessalonians 2:7–8

The picture Paul paints with words is of a nursing mother caring for her children. Her care requires patience, attention, and the willingness to give of herself. Paul loved the Thessalonians with that kind of tenderness. They were dear to him.

Here is a necessary examination for those of us who cherish sound doctrine. Does our treatment of people reflect the grace we confess? Are we patient with questions? Do we make room for those who are grieving? Can someone who is struggling expect both truth and tenderness from us?

A visitor needs more than directions to an empty seat. A weary believer may need someone willing to listen after the service ends. A person caught in the snare of public sin needs honest correction offered with a sincere desire for restoration. Gentleness cares enough to gently speak, and love stays near enough to boldly help!

Paul shared his life with the people who heard him. His sacrifice could never atone for their sins; Christ alone is the Redeemer. Yet his willingness to serve displayed the love of the Savior he proclaimed. This is the justification of our faith among men that James wrote so passionately about!

That same willingness should mark our churches. A Gospel tract can be a useful gift. So can an unhurried conversation, a meal, a visit, or a faithful promise to pray. Our words about Christ should be accompanied by the practical kindness His mercy teaches us. Again, let sovereign grace in our hearts become sovereign graciousness among the brethren!

Rest in Christ, and carry His Gospel with love

The passage brings us back to the message at the heart of Paul’s ministry: God saves sinners through Jesus Christ. The Father purposes salvation in sovereign love. The Son accomplishes redemption through His obedience, death, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit gives life and brings sinners to faith.

Where are you resting your hope?

It is possible to understand the vocabulary of sovereign grace while continuing to seek acceptance through efforts at personal goodness. Knowing how to explain faith cannot substitute for trusting the Savior. Bring your guilt to Him. His righteousness is sufficient, and His promise is true. Of those who come to Him, none will be cast away!

For the believer who feels weak, that promise remains a refuge. The grace that brought you to Christ has not grown weak. Your Savior knows the burdens you struggle to express. Return your eyes to Him.

And as a church, let us give ourselves to the work God has entrusted to us. Let us proclaim Christ, pray for the lost, welcome the stranger, strengthen the weak, and love one another. At Redeemer, may the truth be clear, Christ be exalted, and burdened people be treated tenderly.

We have been entrusted with the Gospel of God. May we carry it with courage, speak it with faithfulness, and adorn it with love. God, give us the strength to boldly preach the truth while boldly loving the brethren! Amen.

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Pastor Jason K. Boothe serves as pastor of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. Learn more about the church and explore additional Gospel-centered resources at RedeemerPiketon.org.