1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 • Perspective on God’s Word

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Your view of the Bible, whether you consider it the Word of God or not, will influence your perspective on every area of life. The question to ask is this: Can you trust the Bible to be God’s Word? And if you trust it, what should be your response to it? In the last article, we gained the perspective on servant leadership. This is post #5 in the Thessalonians series. In this article, we will look at the Bible being God’s Word and completely trustworthy to gain the biblical perspective about any issue of life.

God’s Word and Wisdom

Once you have turned from all your idols and trusted in the living God, the Holy Spirit moves into your spirit and begins to teach you the truth of God. That is very important for gaining the biblical perspective about any issue of life. You need information. The source of truth for every person is the Word of God—the Bible. Your view of the Bible, whether you consider it the Word of God or not, will influence your perspective on every area of life. The question to ask is this: Can you trust the Bible? And if you trust it, what should be your response to it?

Trusting the Bible as God’s Word to you and acting on it with obedience leads to wisdom. Wisdom has nothing to do with your intelligence, level of achievement in school, economic status, or even in what part of the country you were reared. Wisdom is “smartness” gained through the experience of making right or good decisions and avoiding the wrong or bad ones. Men and women can equally gain godly wisdom. Wisdom begins with the Word of God and is directly related to your acceptance of and obedience to God’s Word.

Proverbs chapter 2 says this,

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)

From His mouth. His Word. It is the best source of knowledge and the best foundation for decisions you make and actions you take.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. (Proverbs 2:8-9)

The Thessalonian believers found that to be true.

Accepting God’s Word

I love 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13,

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

They received the word of God—everything that Paul explained to them—and accepted it not as a human word, but as the word of God. These were mostly Gentiles!

What Paul said about the Thessalonians reminds me of what the book of Acts says about their neighbors, the Bereans. The Bereans literally rushed forward with eagerness to joyfully welcome Paul and his team. Instead of resenting Paul’s new teaching, they examined the Scriptures for themselves. The underlying Greek word means “to sift up and down, make careful and exact research as in legal processes.” Making careful and exact research. They are a great example for us. When listening to someone teach the Scriptures, open your Bible and check it out.

But today, we have so many voices telling us not to trust the Bible. Cultural voices cut and paste what they want to keep, discarding what they want to throw away. So it helps to start with our own decision about whether the Bible is God’s Word.

For a more detailed discussion on the reliability of the Bible, I recommend you take the free online course from Dallas Theological Seminary, “Can You Trust the Bible?”

Inspiration

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

All Scripture is “God-breathed.” That fits with Proverbs 2:6—from the mouth of God. From that phrase, we get the term “Inspiration.”

Inspiration means that God is the source; the very words we have in our Bible are the product. We learn from 2 Peter that the Holy Spirit is the agent.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things [or imagination]. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Respected theologian Dr. Charles Ryrie described it very succinctly,

God’s superintendence of the human authors of Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs. (Dr. Charles Ryrie)

No Scripture comes from the writer’s own imagination. God superintended all of it. Human authors, using their own personalities, composed and recorded what God wanted them to say as the Holy Spirit worked through them. The phrase “original autographs” refers to the authors’ original writings in their chosen languages—generally Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament).

This carrying along by the Spirit includes what Paul wrote and spoke as well.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

The gospel message is from the Spirit, not humans. It was God-breathed. The Holy Spirit taught Paul and his fellow workers the gospel message and all that it entails for believers. The Holy Spirit enabled the listeners who believed to understand those spiritual treasures that they received from God.

When God spoke to people through a human, He authenticated that person first. God authenticated those whom He chose to record the New Testament writings.

This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:3-4)

The disciples who heard Him (Jesus) continued sharing the message initiated by Jesus. God testified to their authenticity by various ways so people could trust what they were hearing and reading.

Towards the latter half of the first century, some writings were already being considered inspired Scripture.

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

Peter considered Paul’s writings to be inspired Scripture because what he wrote came from God. We have thirteen letters written by Paul included in the New Testament.

As the apostles and leaders of the first century church wrote personal accounts, letters, or doctrinal expositions, the original recipients accepted them as divinely authoritative because, just like the Old Testament writings, they came from the hands of those whom God had called.

We can trust the inspiration of the Bible.

Inerrancy

Believing in the inspiration of the Scriptures is a very important step toward trusting them as God’s Word. So is believing in the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

Inerrancy means that the Bible is true in all that it affirms not in all that it records.

The historical narratives record what real people did and said. That includes those who were godly, pleasing the Lord with their lives, as well as those who were in rebellion against God. Ungodly words and actions are never affirmed to be right in God’s eyes. The New Testament writings record how people responded to Jesus—with faith or with rejection.

Going back to Dr. Ryrie’s definition:

God’s superintendence of the human authors of Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs. (Dr. Charles Ryrie)

We do not have the original autographs. But we have thousands of verified copies that reach back to within 50 years of their writing. We can affirm that what we have is what they wrote.

Jesus also told us to believe the Scriptures as God’s Word and that it is true.

Sanctify them (the disciples) by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

That was Jesus’ view of Scripture—at that time all of the Old Testament. What the Bible affirms is true. To affirm means to “state as a fact; assert strongly and publicly.” That is inerrancy.

Infallible

Because the Bible is inspired and inerrant, it is also infallible. To be infallible means “never failing; always effective.” Remember that the Bible is what is inerrant—the actual words in the text. Our interpretation of the Bible is not infallible.

That is why we have to do proper Bible study. The best method of Bible Study follows the inductive process—observation of what is in the text, interpretation according to what the author intended, and correlation the truth to your life today so you can apply it.

If you are studying the Bible yourself or leading a Bible Study, never ask this question, “What does this mean to you?”

You don’t live by what the Bible text means to you. You want to know what it means to God.

Then, you can dwell in the truth of God you can know from His Word. You will need to humbly accept what you do not know or understand. Then, you discern any teaching that you read or hear by comparing it with the complete revelation of God’s Word

Read “Truth Is the Prescription for Healthy Living” for a more detailed discussion of this process.

The Bible affirms that the Thessalonian believers … 

“received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13).”

But many of those living in Thessalonica refused to accept the word of God taught by Paul and his fellow workers.

Not Trusting and Accepting God’s Word

Unbelievers

For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16)

From Acts 17, we learn that some Thessalonian Jews not only chose not to believe but also worked to stop the message from being spread any longer in their city. There are some who make it their goal to keep people from knowing God’s truth and gaining the biblical perspective on life.

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

It was foolishness to the unbelievers.

Deceived believers

Christians can also be deceived into not trusting and accepting the Bible as God’s Word. People tend to gravitate to the hard to understand passages and twist them and distort them. Human reason, experience, and feelings start to replace traditional biblical theology as the source of authority. We see this every day in our western culture of permissiveness, elevation of individual rights, and rebellion against authority.

Someone looks at a verse or passage, imagines what they want it to say, and then sees in their mind what they have imagined through twisting word meanings and interpretations. The result of their teaching feels a lot more comfortable with the prevailing cultural views. But it is not intellectually honest. And it really boils down to basing truth on someone’s opinion. Once it starts, it is like a fiery dragon burning truth in its path. 

Read “Taming the Look-Imagine-See Dragon” for a more detailed discussion of this problem and how to overcome it.

Conclusion

Perspective on any subject or issue of life (past, present, or future) should begin with the Word of God. Grasping the truth from God’s Word both protects you and preserves your freedom. Believers in Jesus Christ should never stop learning His Word and learning from His Word. Everything we go through adds to it as we make the right decisions and learn to avoid the bad ones. The goal of Bible Study is transformation, not just information.

As Charles Ryrie also said:

The Bible is the greatest of all books; to study it is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals. (Dr. Charles Ryrie)

Receive the word of God. Accept it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. Then, let it permeate your whole being so that you will gain God’s perspective about your past, your present, and your future.

Trusting God’s Word also helps us to gain a proper perspective on suffering in life. That is the focus of the next article in this series.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His perspective on life in the present and in the future. Then, live securely in Him during this time of waiting.

The above information is covered in our Perspective Bible Study of 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

Related Resources:

• Satisfied Series 13 Podcasts on 1 and 2 Thessalonians
• TRUTH Is the Prescription for Healthy Living
• Tame the “Look-Imagine-See” Dragon

AI was not used to generate this post.