Another small letter written by Paul to the church of Thessalonica. Chapter 1 sticks out to me when Paul is talking about rewards and judgments, beginning in verse 5:5 It is a clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, 8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength 10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed. 11 And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
One might jump on this and say that sinners will have what's coming to them in the end. However, that's not what I take from this. Remembering we will all face judgment in the end, we need to remember our calling, live in Christ and under the covering of His blood, and seek to be a light to those who still don't follow Christ. Because do we really want others to face judgment and condemnation and be sent to Hellfire? Absolutely not. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and Christians are an extension of that. We are not to rejoice in someone's downfall ( I think we are all guilty of that behavior on some level) but seek to help lead them to redemption.
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