How is Your Relationship to the Lord Like a Marriage?
II Thessalonians 2:13-17
Intro:
1. Boy falls in love with a girl.
2. He chooses her as his wife & proposes. She accepts.
3. He formally calls her to be his wife through the wedding ceremony. They become married.
4. But for the marriage to be successful, both must remain faithful to it.
5. The same principles are true in your relationship with the Lord!
I. v13 - God Loves You
A. God demonstrated His love by having Jesus die on the cross. Jn 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1. This was an historical event - it actually happened.
2. Jesus paid the price for your sin opening the door for a relationship to God. Rom 5:6-8 - You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will any one die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
B. This is like the boy in the story loving the girl & demonstrating that love to her.
II v13 - God Chose You
A. Here is a translation problem.
1. All translation involves interpretation.
2. ILL: In early manuscripts the words didn’t have spaces between them.
3. ἀπ αρχή = from the beginning. (NIV chose this interpretation), So from the beginning God chose you.
a. The Calvinistic concept is God chose who He wanted to be saved before the creation of the world.
b. This is the main scripture where they got that idea!
4. ἀπαρχή = firstfruits. (Notice the footnote at the bottom of the page in your Bible), So God chose you as His firstfruits.
a. The firstfruits of the harvest were presented to God as a thanksgiving offering.
b. I prefer this interpretation even though it’s not the preferred one.
B. So - God chose you to be saved.
1. Accomplished by the Holy Spirit sanctifying you - setting you apart.
a. He did this by providing the word.
b. He did this by having His Holy Spirit convict you.
c. This is God’s part of His plan of salvation.
2. Accomplished by you having faith in the truth.
a. You accept the truth found in the gospel message.
b. Your faith in it involves you accepting it as truth & obeying what it says.
c. This is your acceptance of God’s plan of salvation.
C. This is like the boy in the story choosing the girl by proposing marriage.
III. v14 - God Calls You
A. How does God call?
1. Does He do it by randomly selecting some to be saved & others not to be? NO!
2. He does it by:
a. Dying on the cross to pay for your sins.
b. Providing the gospel message for you to respond to.
B. What is the purpose of this call?
1. So that you could obtain the glory of the Lord - His inheritance. I Pet 1:3-4 - In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you.
2. This would allow you to be joint heirs with Christ. (Rom 8:17)
C. This is like the boy in the story formally calling the girl to be his wife by the wedding ceremony.
1. God formally calls you by providing the gospel.
2. When you obey the gospel, you are saying, “I do”, committing yourself to Jesus as Lord of your life.
3. You obey the gospel, complete the marriage covenant, when you are baptized.
IV. v15 - But You Need to Remain Faithful to That Call!
A. You do this by standing firm & holding to these teachings.
1. These verbs are in the imperative mood = they are commands.
2. These verbs are in the present tense = they are to be done continually.
B. The source of these teachings is the New Testament - we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. - v15
C. Just as both people in a marriage must remain faithful, so you need to be faithful to this salvation relationship for it to be successful!
God loves you - demonstrated by the cross
God chose you - demonstrated by the gospel message
God calls you - demonstrated by Christian baptism
You remain faithful - by learning & obeying
http://biblelifemessages.org/