2Th 2:13-15; Backstage Passes to the Holy of Holies.Tuesday September 26, 2023
2Th 2:13-15 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
Paul launches us once again into the conundrum of election and faith, the sovereignty of God electing His first-fruits before the foundation of the world and right next to it, the faith of truth through the gospel.
We gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. His glory refers to future glory with Him at His coming and our ability to see it now.
Seeing the glory of God in Christ is the ultimate experience of life.
“gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” – see and praise the Person of Christ. Person – who, what, and why of Him.
In our context, it is the glory of Christ that every believer can “gain” or obtain. We don’t become Christ, but we see His glory and then become like Him.
God has made every person with a desire for moral goodness and justice. It is hardwired into every person. Every person desires to be right, just, or considered as such.
When a person rejects the only source of glory, he will find himself seeking glory somewhere else, and they are all doomed to fail.
“exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image” (Rom 1:23). “you receive glory from one another” (Joh 5:44) “seeks his own glory” (Joh 7:18).
Christ did not seek His own glory. He lived as He was and submitted to the Father, leaving glorification to the Father.
Glory – the nature and acts of God.
One cannot see the glory of Christ unless they are born-again and Spirit filled.
We are able to see who He is; His characteristics or attributes, and what He does, and to some extent, why He does what He does.
Joh 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
You have to be with Him where He is. The fulfillment of our election is that we are seated together with Him in the heavens.
This becomes the fulfillment of the eternal desire that God has placed in every person. And He fulfills it more than we every bargained for.
Our main passage (2Th 2:14-15) Born-again, we are made new, God’s first-fruits, sanctified by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This can only happen through faith in the truth of the gospel.
It helps to see the overabundance of blessing we have in seeing Christ by comparing it to what glory could be seen before He came.
The revelation of God through the Law came with glory, but a glory or revelation of God that was always destined to fade.
2Co 3:7-8 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?
The context is Paul’s great struggle in his ministry.
Paul understood that his whole ministry was not about his personal success but about the One who already succeeded in the most amazing endeavor imaginable. Christ tore the veil and gave Himself in the most incredible way so as to let us in to see God’s glory in the holy of holies.
2Co 3:4-18 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Seeking glory in the wrong places gets us nowhere but more deceived. Paul said he was not adequate and that nothing came from him (vs. 5).
Not even the Mosaic Law had the glory we crave. It did however open our minds to the existence of the true glory that we sought.
Torah revealed God in a way that would always leave the believer in that age wanting more. It was designed for this. The glory was coming in the Christ (Messiah).
Now we who are elected, saved through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith of the truth of the gospel have gained that very glory and we can look right at it.
2 Co 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Liberty – the freedom to look at the glory of the Lord.
Too much neglect of the word of God in the churches has failed to mature Christians and they do not see the glory of the Lord and the quality of their lives testifies to that.
What are some things we see? The glory of the Father (Heb 1:3). His grace and power (Joh 2:11). His power over death (Joh 11:4, 40). The unity of divine love (Joh 17:22). Heaven’s riches (Col 1:27).
These are just a few. When we’re considering the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we’re contemplating all that He is and does that have been revealed to us. Part of which is our union with Him.
We also see ourselves in light of His glory and get a feeling in ourselves that we should shrink away. James in chapter one deals with that aspect of the mirror of Christ’s glory. James says that we see ourselves and then leave, forgetting what we saw. God adds more to our learning as we feel the need to shrink away in shame and forget. He strengthens and comforts us. He reminds us of His cross and forgiveness. He says to us, “Stay and confess and I will cleanse your heart. I will change the things that we need to change and strengthen the things I have already built. Would you like that?”
Some results of what we see? Praise of His glory (Eph 1:12, 14). Live sanctified (1Th 2:12). Stand firm and take hold of all truth (2Th 2:15).
It is fascinating to see the people of the world seek their own glory or glory from another source then Christ. They seek for the right, the good, the just, the fulfilling, the happiness, the beauty, and it cannot be done without seeing the glory of Christ, and that cannot be done while the moral issue is not dealt with, namely sin justly done away with.
Let’s pray with David.
Psa 51:5-13 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.
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