Speaking and acting

THERE is hardly space here to deal with the doctrine of election and yet verses such as ‘For we know, brothers and sisters, loved by God, that he has chosen you…’ c1v4 give rise to it. Briefly, we might say the following: It’s impossible to separate being chosen by God from being loved by God. The key point is that God does so out of grace – he loves us because he loves us and not because of any perceived merit of our own. Therefore, as we reflect on this truth that God has chosen us, it should cause us, in wonderment, to ask: ‘You love even me, Lord?’ In an age when so many struggle with a lack of sense of worth and when so many ‘alternative remedies’ focus on finding it within ourselves, it’s good to remember that, first and foremost, our worth is based on the truth that God loves us and has chosen us to be his children. The former lead to pride, the latter to humility. As we saw in the first of these studies, the apostle Paul was single-minded in his commitment to sharing the good news of Christ. That required that he spoke. In these days we seem to have convinced ourselves that speaking of what we believe is to be abandoned in favour of communicating it by our actions. And yes, Paul does say, ‘you know how we lived among you…’ c1v5. But our actions aren’t supposed to be instead of our words! Why not both? People love to quote the words of St Francis saying, ‘Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary use words.’

I’d want to argue that in 21st century Scotland, when so many know so little of what Christian faith is really about, that it’s necessary for us to use words – and that these should sit side by side with our actions. So when coming to Thessalonica, Paul and his companions spoke of Jesus and lived accordingly. We might say that they had integrity, that they practised what they preached.

But there was more. In describing how the gospel was shared Paul says that it was communicated ‘with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.’

The deep conviction was on the part of the speakers. Many love the old hymn, ‘Firmly I believe and truly…’ and it’s that kind of confident assurance that makes the diff erence in terms of whether others will give us a hearing or not. And the deep conviction flows out of personal experience. We can hardly speak with conviction about something that we only know about second hand. Worship leader Matt Redman’s song, Worthy, you are worthy, picks up Job 42:5 where we find, ‘I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes (NLT.) Therein lies deep conviction. Let each of us cry out, open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

The fact that Paul’s message was delivered with power and with the Holy Spirit is critical. No matter how eloquent, how persuasive our speaking might be, it is only by the Spirit that the door to the ‘inner place’ is opened. A person might listen to the Gospel but never hear it, let alone be captivated and, in turn, transformed by it, unless the Holy Spirit is at work. As speaking and acting belong together, so do Word and Spirit. Let it be so among us.

The Rev Dr Martin Fair is minister at Arbroath: St Andrew’s and Moderator-Designate to the 2020 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (see page 41).