Summary
The Joy in Belief
Belief by itself is no guarantee of joy. Martin Luther believed, and yet for years he wrote of an afflicted conscience that could never give him certainty: "I tried to live according to the rule with all diligence... I was so jealously performed my allotted penance, and yet my conscience could never give me certainty. But I always doubted." The more he tried to remedy his weak conscience by the traditions of men, the more troubled it became. That is what belief looks like when it is bent back on the believer's own performance — anxious, exhausting, and joyless.
The answer Paul gives the Thessalonians is not "try harder" but "stand firm and hold fast" 2 Thessalonians 2:15. These are not gentle suggestions; they are imperatives. To stand firm is to persevere under opposition. To hold fast is to grasp and not let go. And what is to be held? "The traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter." Not the traditions of men that drove Luther into despair, but the apostolic tradition handed down — Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the preached Word — each of which delivers the forgiveness, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ.
This matters because every age is buffeted by shifting doctrines. Paul warned that Christians must "no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming" Ephesians 4:14. The world insists that Jesus is one savior among many, that morals must shift with the times, that we may remake God to fit our preferences. But Isaiah already exposed that pride: "Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?" Isaiah 29:16. We are not our own truth. The one truth to which the Christian holds fast is Jesus Christ Himself, who said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" John 14:6.
Where, then, does the comfort come from? Paul continues: "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word" 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17. And before that: "God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation, through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth" 2 Thessalonians 2:13. You are chosen. You do not stand under the Word as one trying to be enough — you are not enough, and never will be in yourself — but as one already chosen "before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him" Ephesians 1:4-7.
This is the gospel Luther rediscovered and the gospel Paul defines plainly: "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. The Reformation insistence that law be law and gospel be gospel — never mixed, never distorted — exists precisely so that the gospel may remain pure, sweet promise for sinners. Law kills; gospel comforts. And the comfort is not a feeling we manufacture but a glory we have already obtained in Christ: His righteousness, His forgiveness, His eternal life, given freely.
That is why "Stand Firm and Hold Fast" is the shape of Christian joy. To confess the faith publicly — as catechumens do at confirmation, as the friend who left the party scene to follow Christ did before unbelieving parents — is hard. The world changes; opposition comes. But the believer is not standing on personal truth or holding fast to private effort. The believer stands on the living Word of God and clings to a promise delivered by Christ Himself. The joy of belief, finally, is this: it is not you who has done anything for you, but God who has already claimed you and chosen you for belief. That is joy that cannot be taken away.
Video citations
- "Stand Firm and Hold Fast" — We are going to be continuing in our series of joy. We have talked about the joy of revelation, the joy of God, and we are currently in the part of this series where we are discussing and learning…