Year 2, Week 42, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 42, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Galatians 6; Acts 17; 1 Thessalonians 1.

Today’s reading completes the Book of Galatians. Galatians 6 calls for believers to not only express delight in the Cross but also live out the new life that the Cross provides: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Galatians 6:14-15). Galatians concludes with a call to orient life around the Cross and not mere religious ritual. Today’s reading also continues the Book of Acts. Acts 17 adds further details of Paul’s second missionary journey: “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ” (Acts 17:1-3). Paul’s pattern remains consistent: preach Christ first to the Jew and then to the Gentile.  Today’s reading, furthermore begins the Book of 1 Thessalonians. Another early letter from Paul, 1 Thessalonians provides encouragement and instruction to a church started by Paul: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). The life-changing power of the Gospel was evident in the church at Thessalonica.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was a common thread about repentance: “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). Paul offered a commendable assessment concerning the believers among the church at Thessalonica: “you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8). Much evidence of the Gospel’s power flowed from their lives. Their present display of the reality of Christ in their lives was rooted in their genuine embrace of the Gospel: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). The Thessalonians responded to the Gospel message with faith and repentance. In other words, their conversion was real, for they turned from their former manner of life and turned to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Such turning from and turning to entailed the heart, mind, and will. When Paul preached Christ at Thessalonica, many did not merely accept the message as true, they truly followed the One who the message concerned. Their lives now were oriented around Christ as they awaited His return.

Repentance or turning, “to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” is a mandatory component in preaching the Gospel. Acts 17 makes reinforces this matter of repentance as Paul explicitly required repentance as he preached Christ while at the Areopagus in Athens: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). Paul required of the people of Athens what he commended the believers for in Thessalonica: repentance. Paul preached, "Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18b), and as he finished his message, he called for a response: they could either stay in their idolatry, or turn to the one true God. Paul adds that remaining unrepentant would have devastating consequences on the day of judgment. While some mocked Paul and his preaching, others “joined him and believed” (Acts 17:34a). Paul’s preaching did not convince everyone, but to some the, “gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

The nature of repentance should be understood as not only an initial response of turning from and turning to, but also the continual, ongoing, enduring response away from idolatry and toward Christ. Looking back at something Paul said in the previous day’s reading, an awareness of the need for repentance is a common part of the Christian life: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Galatians 4:8). The believers in Galatia were in danger of turning away from Christ and back to the things that formerly enslaved them. The idolatry that believers initially turn from as they trust Christ, is a matter that will always need to be on guard against. Even though we are a “new creation,” believers still have the old creation remaining in our flesh; and what remains desires to turn back to what we have turned from.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe