Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19981025.htm

1 THESSALONIANS: HELPING CONVERTS FROM PAGANISM
Part I: Confirming The REALITY Of Our Soul's Conversion To Christ
(1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
  1. Introduction
    1. Several Christian writers have referred to our era as the "post-Christian era" in America. With our national government's sanction of late term abortions, its tacit approval of homosexual and lesbian orientations in the military and even its promotion in Disneyland, we can conclude we are living in a pagan country.
    2. With growing evidences of that cultural decay, we see a growing number of believers coming to faith in Christ who bring all sorts of "baggage" from their paganistic pasts into the Church.
    3. One of the leftover "baggage" problems of believers from paganism is a tendency for them to lack absolute assurances regarding the destiny of their souls, a problem Paul meets in 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10:
  2. Confirming The GENUINE Conversion Of Our Souls To Christ, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.
    1. When Paul evangelized at Thessalonica, reaching those in the synagogue and Gentile pagans outside of it, evil persecutors stirred up legal trouble from the town, necessitating his hurried evacuation to protect his new converts, Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 688 (Acts 17:1-10a; 1 Thess. 1:9b).
    2. This left new converts of Jewish and pagan backgrounds without their spiritual leader having had enough time to establish them deeply in the faith, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, p. 1697, "The Work at Thessalonica."
    3. Thus, Paul started off his 1 Thessalonians epistle by countering paganistic insecurities these believers would have been tempted to bear regarding the absolute assurances of their salvation (as follows):
      1. Paul declared to these believers that the Gospel of Christ came with evidential power in their midst, the power of the Holy Spirit given with a number of practical assurances to that end, 1 Thess. 1:1-5a,b.
      2. Then the Apostle laid out his description of those practical assurances to edify these new converts:
        1. He reminded them of the quality of the lives of his missionary team that had given credibility to the Gospel they had preached concerning Christ, 1 Thess. 1:5c.
        2. He recalled how these folk had believed in Christ regardless of afflictions to the contrary, 1:6a.
        3. He recalled how they had believed in Christ even with joy in the face of contrary afflictions, 1:6b.
        4. Paul stated that these converts had become examples to other believers of true conversions, 1:7.
        5. In fact, the Gospel had gone forth FROM these Thessalonian converts to Christ, and that to regions beyond Macedonia and Achaia, huge provinces of the area, 1 Thessalonians 1:8a.
        6. Amazingly, their outreach was so broad that Paul didn't need to tell other BELIEVERS about it as they also could see their outreach, signaling true conversion, 1 Thessalonians 1:8b.
        7. Going beyond that, other BELIEVERS had told Paul of the evidences of the conversion of these Thessalonians that they had witnessed in these Thessalonians: other BELIEVERS told him (a) these Thessalonians had turned from idols to believe and even serve the living God, 1 Thess. 1:9b. (b) Other BELIEVERS had also told Paul that these Thessalonian converts had come to wait in faith for Christ's pretribulation return in the Rapture of the Church, 1 Thess. 1:10!
Lesson: To be encouraged in coming out of our "post-Christian" American, paganistic culture that our salvation in Christ is REAL, we should gain ASSURANCES by way of the following recollections. Namely, (1) recall the QUALITY of life of those w ho GAVE us the Gospel that helped certify the CREDIBILITY of Christ's Gospel they taught us, 1 Thess. 1:5c. (2) Recall our faith in Christ that came REGARDLESS of afflictions from unbelievers opposed to our ever believing, a signal that GOD must have been behind our conversion, 1 Thess. 1:6a. (3) Recall how we experienced JOY amidst opposition to our faith, a signal of a powerful, divine conversion, 1 Thess. 1:6b. (4) Recall how we became examples to other believers by the evident change in our li ves, 1 Thess. 1:7. (5) Recall how we have WITNESSED our faith in SPITE of such opposition, an evidence of the power of God in us, 1 Thess. 1:8a. (6) Recall how OTHER reputable Christians have TESTIFIED of the change in our acts and beliefs, an evide nce of conversion, 1 Thess. 1:9-10.

Application: Using these tools, we can have assurance of salvation to offset our paganistic doubts.