Every believer in Jesus Christ as Savior is sanctified. We are sanctified positionally by God at the point of our salvation, but we are also sanctified practically and Paul explains whose responsibility it is to sanctify and the process to get us there in these verses.
There are so many things in life that we pursue, but are we pursuing what is good? The apostle Paul tells us what is good in these verses and encourages us to pursue them.
How is it that God's people can show their love for God's Leaders? Expect only that which is found in the Word of God. Don't place on the Lord's laborer anything more than that which the Word of God clearly proclaims.
Does the church go through the Tribulation? Paul makes it very clear that the righteous, the saints, the church does not go through this day because the wrath of God has already been poured out on the church when Christ suffered on the cross at Calvary.
It is so common to hear Christians talk about the signs of the times, but are we as Christians supposed to be seeking signs?
The greatest way to be comforted as a Christian is to be Comforted by Christ's Coming.
So many of us want to succeed, but do not want to do what it takes to succeed. What is the secret of success? You must be willing to go beyond the norm. You need to exceed to succeed.
Sexuality is overwhelming our society and it isn't the only a secular world problem. There are a lot of moral issues going on within the church as well as those on the outside of the church. The only way we can overcome moral decay within the church is if God's people will set their minds to living Sanctified lives.
So often we are consumed with our own needs and wants when we pray. It is almost like we believe that God is there to grant us any wish we want and when He doesn't we question Him why or assume that He didn't answer our prayer at all. What we really need to do as Christians is search the Scriptures and see how Jesus and the apostles prayed. When we do this and pray like they did it is then that we can know, "This is how we should pray".
Many times ministry can be discouraging, but it doesn't have to be. If we want to have an encouraging ministry all we have to do is stay focused on the positive and not the negatives, which is described in these verses.
Jesus, the apostles and other writers of the Bible use many metaphors for the church, but I believe that team would be a good metaphor for the church. Listen to how Paul describes his team in these verses as they minister to the Thessalonians.
What is Christian fellowship? Many Christians consider getting together with other Christians for any reason is Christian fellowship, but this isn't true Christian fellowship. Christian fellowship is when two or more Christians get together where Christ is the focal point and others are edified as a result.
What should be the evidence of a true conversion? Paul says that the Thessalonian church received the word and welcomed the word with open arms which was evident in the way they lived.
What is ministering the gospel? Most would say ministering the gospel is telling others how to receive eternal life, but ministering the gospel is much more than sharing the means of salvation it is teaching them how to live out their salvation after they receive Christ for eternal life.
When we minister the gospel are we afraid of the way others may perceive us or are we more concerned with the way we honor God in our presentation? We need to minister, proclaim, the gospel and we need to do it in the way that honors God.
Everyone is looking for an example to follow and this includes churches. Paul explains the effectiveness of a faithful church and a church that all should strive to follow their example in the first chapter of the book of First Thessalonians.