Part of Jesus’ crucifixion involved the failure of the government to do what it was supposed to do. The government should have prevented Jesus’ death instead of hastening it. Pilate had both the knowledge and authority to stop the crucifixion, but he failed to do so for a simple reason – he was too weak.

We still see government fail for this reason. Governments of any type are too weak to wield power or execute justice as they should. But when they do so, our first reaction is to question the power of God over government; as if it were capable of stymieing God’s will. Nothing could be further from the truth. God used government’s weakness to achieve our salvation. The corruption of the world was manifested in the government’s failure of Jesus; but God’s power is such that he was able to use that failure to redeem the world of its corruption.

The simple fact is government had no power over Jesus. John tells us that when Pilate said to Jesus, “Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you,” Jesus replied, “you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.”

The weakness of government it meant to make us desire the power of God. This does not mean we are not to obey earthly authorities. Indeed, it is all the more reason we should. For in spite of appearances, our faith in God’s sovereign power should enable us to endure what we must from government. And just as is the case when we are discouraged by our personal circumstances, our dissatisfaction with events in the world should not cause us to doubt God is sovereignly bringing his plan to pass, and that that plan it working for both our and the world’s redemption.

The fact of the matter is, the only way any worldly power can hold sway over us it by making us think God is not at work. But when we remember that the most corrupt act ever precipitated on earth resulted in the reversal of all corruption, we can take comfort when we witness corruption today; for we know it is working toward the same end.

Sin should be feared. The actions of the crowd in today’s passage should remind us of just how powerfully sin destroys mans capacity to reason. All involved knew Jesus was innocent, and yet they demanded the release of a murderer. There is no way to explain how this happened except that they had lost their ability to think rationally.

Equally as frightening, however, is that the majority of men in the 21^st century exhibit the same absence of reason. Multiple so-called “great religions” maintain murder and violence as legitimate, indeed noble, forms of service to their god’s. In the West, the self-styled “enlightened” count the sacrifice of tens of thousands of unborn children a day as a necessary means to the maintenance of their mode of life. And even some circles of Christianity view retaliation in kind as the only true way of stopping injustice. We are surrounded by mad men.

Judging by the way we are inclined to treat each other, those of us managing to avoid falling into the above camps are still susceptible to periodic fits of mania, less severe though they may be, but which still succeed in preventing us from being “one” as Jesus commanded us to be.

Left to ourselves, we should be afraid of what lurks both around and within. However, praise be to God, we are not by ourselves. The power of sin is frightening, but it is not to be compared with the power of God. The mind controlled by sin is capable of despicable things, and every day we encounter such minds. But our God has restrained that power, for which reason we are able to live in relative safety; but more than this, his power is capable of restoring fallen man to a state of grace.

In Acts we are told how Stephen was murdered in cold blood by a frenzied crowd, and that one of those overseeing the crowd was a man called Saul. This man looked on murder as an acceptable act in the service of his god. The power of sin ran amuck in his life. However, the power of evil was not strong enough to hold on to him. The power manifest in Christ, as a result of his death and resurrection, overthrew sin in Saul and changed him into Paul the saint. That same transforming power is available to us. Therefore, as fearsome as the world seems, we have every reason to face it, and seek its change through the Word and prayer.

Paul concludes his letter with a prayer that God continue to sanctify the Thessalonian Church. Paul’s petition is that the young Church grow in holiness in its entirety – spirit, soul, and body. Indeed, this has been the point of the whole letter – correcting error and increasing godliness. Paul wants this to be the last point he leaves them with. They must have the necessity of continually increasing in holiness fixed firmly in their minds. It is what God desires for them, and, moreover, it is what he will accomplish in them.

We know sanctification is necessary. We believe in grace, but we are told in Scripture that grace saves us from who we are transforming us into who God wants us to be. It conforms us to the image of Christ, renewing us in the inner man, turning us from our sins. Our problem is that we are inclined to turn back toward our sins. Our transformation is never clean; it is a process in which we frequently fail. But Paul does not want us to accept our failings. Though we are subject to falter, we must hate that it happens. We can become too used to our failings and cease to strive for the full transformation that God intends. Because of this we must be reminded that God would have us blameless at the coming of his Son.

While we are to be resolute in seeking to be sanctified, we at the same time have to realize that our perfecting is the result of God’s working in us. We must want to be sanctified; but he must be the one who accomplishes it. Our failings can quickly discourage us, but our hope is in the fact that sanctification is both God’s desire and his doing. We cannot do what we know needs to be done, but he can; and what is more, Paul tells us he will do it. We fail to make progress because we are not faithful, but God is not like us. He has determined it should be, and sealed the accomplishment in the blood of his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will do what is necessary in our lives to bring us to his Son and make us holy. This is not always easy, and may include tearing us from our sin, but as he is faithful, he will not let us remain how we are. He will see us holy.

Good teaching is to be held on to, and bad teaching is to be let go. Paul instructs the Thessalonians to examine all teaching and then instructs them what to do with what they have examined. Testing is not the same thing as trying. Paul’s command in v. 22 serves as a caution against doing such. Testing is essential because evil is to be avoided in all its forms. Every doctrine that comes before us is to be evaluated in the light of Scripture. On the surface some doctrines seem to bring knowledge or give comfort, but we cannot accept them unless we know they are supported by Scripture.

Falsehood makes its way into the Church because it has some semblance of truth. But, given time, what is false will eventually lead those in the Church away from God. This is why we test rather than try. When we indiscriminately try a doctrine, we use it to function. We use it to tell us who God is and how his plan for salvation works. If we choose a form of evil we start down a wrong path. That path may for a time closely follow the true path, but in the end it will lead us to destruction.

As Christians we cannot spend any time on the wrong path. There are no scouting missions as far as the way of glory goes. Once we go down the wrong way it is very hard to come back. In giving us his Word, God has given us the means of discerning the right path. When we come upon a new way God means for us to look to his Word and not the way itself to determine if it is evil or good, and once that determination has been made, we are not to look back.

Christians must be open to, yet careful of all teaching. In talking about “prophecies” Paul is referencing teaching and preaching in general, and not specifically foretelling the future. Prophecy in this context refers to the Spirit enlightening certain men to the truths of Scripture. In Paul’s day there were many people who desired to teach. This is not a bad thing; the Bible encourages us to be able to teach, but many would-be Christian teachers have the wrong motives. Some are excited by their faith, but have not spent enough time in the Word to be able to properly expound it. Others may simply be attracted by the authority vested in a teacher and use their position to bring honor to themselves.

This being said, a premium should be placed on competent, God-honoring teachers. Yet at the same time the Spirit can use any man to teach us. The simple man who has been attentive to the Word can be used by the Spirit to speak something profound. Paul wants us to be aware of this, and not to despise those things that the Spirit may teach through those who are not normally teachers. Indeed, anyone who the Spirit is working in, and who makes frequent use of the Word, may well be used to speak truth in our daily lives.

Just as in Paul’s day, we are surrounded by many teachers. The Holy Spirit may well use those teachers to reveal truth to us. At the same time, we are told to “test everything.” Insight can come from unexpected people, but just because someone comes in the name of Jesus, does not mean he comes bearing his Word. As Christians we must guard ourselves on both sides – we have to be open to the Spirit’s moving and yet at the same time we have to test those moving by the Word to see if they are genuine. Such is the nature of discerning good. It has to be worked at to be found, but when it is its benefit is worth the labor.