Keep sharing good news without ads.
Reading 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and understanding the reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone in light of this passage. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The Bible says that we were chosen for salvation from before the foundation of the world, and saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Yes, my friends, you are saved by faith when we understand the text.
This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.
Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you Becky. We continue with our study of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and I'm going to start again in verse 13 and read through to the end of the chapter. The Apostle Paul writes,. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Now last week on Wednesday, I mentioned to you that before we leave what we've been studying here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, I wanted to address one more thing and that is on the topic of what's called final sanctification.
This has come up in debate on social media recently and it largely has to do with a series of articles that have been published by Desiring God, which is John Piper's ministry. Now I wish that we could just talk about final sanctification here, whether it's a biblical concept or not, whether the scriptures actually draw a distinction between immediate salvation and what's called a final salvation.
I wish we could just have that discussion and using the scriptures here to come to an understanding of it. Unfortunately, I find it necessary to have to name the ministry because of certain things that are being published by them that I consider to be problematic.
And I hope that you really hear my heart as I approach this, that I'm not trying to smear anybody or denigrate a ministry in any way, but that we would come to a right understanding of subjects like justification, sanctification, and glorification, which are all the work of God in Christ Jesus to his glory.
So we're going to focus on the scriptures. We're going to look at some things that are said here in the Bible, and then I'm going to come back to those articles that have been published by Desiring God and these articles, the word choices that they have made, it's causing a quarrel over words.
I saw one blogger describe this kind of theology as sloppy, but I don't think it's sloppy in the sense that Desiring God doesn't know what they're doing. I think they exactly know why they're wording certain things the way that they are.
And it's not just Piper, it's other writers with Desiring God as well. So we're going to focus on that here in just a moment. Let me come back to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, where Paul says, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God shows you as the first fruits to be saved.
So we talked about that last week as God has chosen you from before the foundation of the world to receive salvation in Christ through sanctification by the spirit. So let's let's look at that together again.
God shows you as the first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the spirit. So the salvation that we have received from God means that we stand before him as justified. We're declared innocent.
But those whom God has justified, he is going to sanctify. If he's not sanctifying you, you've never been justified. So those who are who are justified will also be sanctified. You have been declared righteous.
That is the event. So before God, you are innocent. Your sins have been forgiven. But you've not yet been made holy, growing in holiness, shaped in the image of Christ. And this is a work that God will continue in you until the day of completion.
And that's on the day of Christ. So even on the day that you die, maybe in your personal effort, you are no longer being sanctified, but you are still being sanctified in the sense that the rest of the bride of Christ is still being sanctified.
So you have not reached your perfect sanctification until the day of Christ. So understand that about sanctification. There is a there is a a labor that you are in right now. If you are in Christ Jesus, pursuing God, growing in Christ, being made more like him, being being made holy, growing in holiness.
And that is a work that as far as you're concerned in your obedience to Christ, you will continue until the day that you die. But when you die, sanctification isn't over because sanctification is still continuing in the bride of Christ and all the rest of the bride of Christ needs to be sanctified until being presented before God in purity and splendor and perfect holiness, which will be at the day of Christ Jesus.
So in that sense, sanctification doesn't end until the day of Christ. So you are you have been saved by God having chosen you from before the foundation of the world and then through sanctification, this this process of salvation is being worked out in you by the spirit and belief in the truth.
So your salvation came about how you were predestined. You are being sanctified. And by faith, you believed in the truth. That is where your salvation comes from. This is the theology, as Paul has laid it out here.
And he goes on to say to this, he called you through our gospel. So you heard the gospel, repented and believed so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is all the work of God.
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
So if you have been saved and you have been called to salvation in Christ, there is a work that you are to do. And that is part of this whole complete work of salvation that has been done by God for everyone whom he has predestined to receive this salvation.
It is not just enough that you were converted, but that in growing in sanctification, you are continuing in the work of God. We have this written down for us in 1 John 2, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this, we know that we have come to know him.
If we keep his commandments, whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this, we may know that we are in him.
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. So this is the complete work of salvation that we that we see justification, sanctification, glorification. It's all in the work of salvation.
Now, there are some who will say that there is a distinction between an immediate salvation that you have received and a final salvation. Now, in a certain sense, I understand the argument because there are ways in the Bible, particularly in the English Bible, we'll put it that way, that the word salvation is used in in different ways depending on the context.
So let me give you an example of this. First Peter chapter one, verses three through five, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.
Now, you might read that and you go, well, hang on, I thought I was already saved. Well, you are saved in Christ. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, yes, you are saved. The context of salvation here is that we still walk in this world.
The wrath of God against all unrighteousness has yet to come. And it's on that day that that great day of God's wrath, that it will also be a great day of deliverance for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And we will be saved in that final judgment. So that's the context of salvation. They're a salvation that is to be revealed in the last time. And that is a salvation that we've not yet seen. Peter talks about that again in his next letter.
Second Peter chapter three, verses 14 and 15. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace and count the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Romans 3 .11 is another popular passage where we see this stated. Besides this, you know, the time that the hour has come for you to awake from sleep for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
Now, when you first believed you were saved, but yet there's another salvation that is nearer to us, and that is that final salvation. When all things meet their end and Christ comes back to usher in his peaceful kingdom, deliver those who were in his grace and pour out wrath upon those who were under his judgment.
Now, that's just the word or the use of the word salvation in a certain context. That doesn't mean there are different kinds of salvation. It doesn't mean there is an immediate salvation and then there is an ultimate salvation.
You have no reason to be concerned with that, because if you're saved in Christ, you are saved. You were saved the moment you came to Christ, and you're going to be saved on that day when Christ ultimately returns.
So there there is a distinction in context, but there's not a distinction in theology. Does that make sense? So if you are saved in Christ, you are saved. There's not an immediate salvation and a final salvation.
Unfortunately, recently, like in the months of September and October, Desiring God has been drawing a line in the sand between immediate salvation and final salvation. One of the most recent examples of this, and this is kind of what spurred most of the discussion that I've seen, although there was another article prior to this.
But recently there was an article printed by, hang on, I got to scroll back to the top. Greg Morse was the author of this article from DesiringGod .org on October 14th. So this was just a little over a week ago.
And the name of the article is How to Train Your Dragons, Killing Pet Sins Before They Kill You. Now, I want to say that is a magnificent title, partly because I really like the cartoon series How to Train Your Dragon.
So using that title in this article about killing pet sins, I thought that was masterful. Well done. And the article is terrific. It is a great article talking about how we need to take captive all our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ, that there can't be sins that we're just kind of la-dee-da about.
It's like, oh, that's not any big deal. Any sin is a big deal. And you must be killing sin before it is killing you. It is a great article that talks about those things with great examples and word pictures.
Bravo to Greg Morse for writing it. Unfortunately, there is a statement that is made in this article that distracts from the point. I mean, it radically distracts from the point, because as I've been hearing people discuss this article, it's not about the sins that Greg Morse addressed in that article, which was the important part.
And that's why people needed to read the article was for that part, but unfortunately gets to the end. And he says this. If you have a pet sin, you must renounce it at once. Your salvation depends on it.
Only those who have a string of sins carcasses behind them will enter into heaven. Only those who work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that God is working in them to will and to work for his good pleasure will be saved.
But what about and now he presents this hypothetical question. But what about being saved by faith alone? And Greg Morse says this. You're not. You're justified through faith alone. Final salvation comes through justification and sanctification, both initiated and sustained by God's grace.
When that article was posted on Twitter, that's the very line that they used to sell the article on Twitter. It was you are not saved through faith alone. Be killing your sin. And I think that that's that was an attempt at getting people to click on the article now.
Now, maybe I am reading too much into their thoughts and their motivations, but that's what it seemed like. This is the month of October nearing the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Many reformed churches going through a series on the five solos.
If they aren't doing a series, they're probably most likely going to be doing it in one sermon this coming Sunday. So things like by faith alone have been talked about all this year and especially this month.
And yet you've got desiring God, which is a Calvinist ministry coming out and saying you're not saved by faith alone. And that's got people going. What? John Piper denying one of the five solos. It's clickbait.
You click on it because you want to read what this is all about. And so that's again, that seemed like the motivation behind getting people to read that particular article. But this is all in keeping with things that Piper and desiring God and company have been doing in the months of September and October.
On September 13th, Piper preached a sermon entitled Faith Alone. How not to use a reform slogan. And then on September 25th, he published an article entitled Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone? And in response to that article, Rachel Miller, who's got a blog entitled A Daughter of the Reformation, really did quite a great job responding to the points that Piper made in that particular article.
Again, her blog is called A Daughter of the Reformation Wordpress .com, and her article called Salvation by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone was posted on her blog October 4th. And here's one of the things that she says here.
I'm going to read a paragraph. She says Piper is saying that we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone, but that there is also a final salvation separate from justification that includes our works.
In this way, he says, we are saved through faith and works. This is not simply sloppiness or poor wording. This is what he is teaching, and it is clear from the context of the article, and it is contrary to Scripture, to the Reformation, and to the Reformed confessions and catechisms.
And on that point, I totally agree with Ms. Miller that Piper is being divisive with his words. He is causing a quarrel over words to say something like, you are justified by faith alone, but you are not saved by faith alone.
Really? What is justification? It is being declared innocent of your sins because the price of your sins has been paid by Christ on the cross. And so we stand before God as righteous. Our sins were placed upon Christ.
His righteousness was placed upon us. And it is in that righteousness that we now stand forgiven, saved by faith that we have in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We just read it right here in 2 Thessalonians 2 .13, and quite honestly, on this verse alone, I say, case closed.
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Yes, my friends, by faith, you are saved.
Now, understand something. When we say something like that, and when we go through the five solas by scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, we're not saying by faith only.
It is by faith alone that we are saved. But saving faith is never alone. For if you are truly saved by faith and you are going to be doing the works that Christ has commanded you to do. We just read that in 1 John 2, and Jesus saying to his disciples in John 14, if you love me, you will obey my commandments.
And so if we've been saved by faith, the evidence of that faith will be seen in our growing sanctification. These works are not separate. They are part of the saving work of God. Even he puts into our heart the desire to pursue holiness and grow in those works.
And to and to be doing the work of God. And we also just read that here in this section, that may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Who does that? God does that. He establishes your heart in every good work and word. So, yes, you're saved by faith alone. But again, saving faith is never alone because that faith is going to be accompanied by works that affirm the faith that you have in Christ.
Jesus is real and genuine and growing in sanctification and holiness at all. This is all the work of God. And I have been an admirer of John Piper's for years, but shame on him for misrepresenting the doctrine of by faith alone.
And he should know better as an apologist for Calvinism, particularly the five points of Calvinism. John Piper helped me understand those five points better than any other theologian with a book that he wrote called Five Points.
And he talks about in that book how opponents to Calvinism so often and regularly misrepresent the doctrines of Calvinism. And Piper has done that very thing and the team at Desiring God when they say that we are not saved by faith alone, that we're actually saved by a combination of faith and works.
It is indeed sloppy theology. It goes against what the Reformers taught and stood upon. And I believe, as I've demonstrated here from this passage out of 2 Thessalonians 2, it is also in contradiction with Scripture.
And it is with no joy or pleasure that I say that. I wish that Desiring God would repent of this quarrel over words. They would take the time to explain the doctrine of justification by faith alone instead of contending with it and consider what it is that we have given to us in the Scriptures.
Think about the number of times that Jesus said, your faith has healed you in the four gospels. It's really only Matthew, Mark, and Luke, because I don't think this is ever mentioned in John. But the people who would come to Jesus looking for healing and he would heal someone and he would say, take heart, your faith has made you well.
One of those stories that I can think of off the top of my head is in Matthew 9, where you had the woman who was experiencing a discharge of blood for so many years. And she saw Jesus and his disciples passing by.
And she thought, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I would be healed. And when she did, Jesus said to her, take heart, daughter, for your faith has made you well. And Jesus is the one saying this.
So who is going to argue with Jesus? Oh, my faith didn't make me well. You made me well. All right. Jesus is the object of our faith. He is the one who gives us salvation. But faith is the instrument, the mechanism through which that salvation has been transmitted to us.
By grace we are saved, by grace alone, through faith alone. Faith is the instrument that that grace has been delivered to us by God. We believed and we received his grace and we are saved by faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone.
Not by faith only, by faith alone. And so this is Jesus' own declaration. Your faith has made you well. You take that declaration and you apply it to our sin issue, the sickness that is in our hearts, which is the very way that Jeremiah describes our condition in Jeremiah 17, 9.
The heart is deceptively sick. And it is by faith in Christ that our wicked, sinful heart is cleansed and made well, justified before God, given salvation before time began. We were predestined for this salvation that we have received in Christ Jesus.
And it is by faith that we have received it. Let us pray. Our Lord God, I thank you for your word. And I thank you for the desire to labor over this word that we not just read through it and, okay, I've done my daily devotional and here's my words in black and white.
Now let me say my prayer and get on with my day. But we actually labor over these things. We struggle to understand them because we desire to know God. Your thoughts are so higher than our thoughts, your ways higher than our ways.
And yet it is by your spirit that we are given understanding by what you have said in your word. And you in this process of sanctification have called us to labor over these things that we would get to know you more and more.
And you're growing us in holiness as we work through these things, working through our salvation, our sanctification with fear and trembling. And so, Lord, I pray that you give us the desire to know you and not be quarrelsome over these words.
But when there's something that we don't understand, we're able to challenge one another with these things that we grow in the knowledge of God all the more. I pray that you would be with a ministry like Desiring God.
And I thank you for the great work that they have done, but that they would not be so quarrelsome over such a great doctrine as being saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. It is to you who belongs all of the praise for all of this, our very life and then our new life in Christ.
To God alone be the glory. And with our whole lives throughout this day, may we go giving glory to God with all that we are and everything that we do. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at wwutt .com.