As for us, we can't help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation — a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
Salvation is connected to two central realities -
one is that we believe the truth about
Jesus, placing our trust in him, and
the other is that the Spirit of God comes into our lives, making us holy and making his home inside us. Paul uses these realities as confirmation to the Thessalonians to help remind them of their salvation. Jesus talks about these two central realities with Nicodemus as he explains the new birth (
John 3:1-21). Those who responded to the first message after Jesus' resurrection and ascension experienced these two realities (
Acts 2:33-41). When these two realities are part of a person's life, there is a reason to rejoice and give thanks!
O Father, my heart is pulled in different directions as I think about these two realities. First, I rejoice and give thanks for those I know who have confessed Christ, have been baptized, and have received the Holy Spirit. Second, my heart aches for several that I love deeply that need to experience these realities. O dear Father, please use me to encourage the first group and to lead the others to know Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, that I pray. Amen.
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