Are you given to the deluding influences of the world, or the clarifying, mind-renewing and transformative influences of God’s Word?

Are you ready to secure and maintain a sanctified tradition that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit Who gives the believer a love for the truth?

In 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul reminds the New Testament church that there is a tradition that safeguards believers from being swept downstream by an ungodly culture. There is a practical defense that shields the mind from the deceptive ‘lies’ and ‘lying wonders’ of this world. What is this sanctified tradition?  It is the tradition of continuing to feed on the Word of God and live according to its revelation.
Because human nature is prone to believe lies and resist truth, it is imperative that believers develop a sanctified tradition, energized by the Holy Spirit, of holding fast to what is written in God’s Word.

When the Apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which they were taught”, he is not referring to man-made traditions that compete with or contradict God’s Word. The word ‘tradition’ simply means that which is handed down from one person to another. Paul is speaking of the importance of holding firmly to what the designated authors of the Bible were inspired to communicate of revelation of God’s self-revelation. Here the tradition Paul is speaking of refers to the ‘apostles' doctrine’ or ‘the faith that was once and for all handed down to the saints’, the inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (2 Thessalonians 2:15; Acts 2:42; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:16)

Join us this Sunday as we encourage one another to hold fast to that which we know to be true. Join us for Part 3 of the Apostle Paul’s message designed to “Stabilize the Shaken”, our continuing study of 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2.

• Pastor David MacAdam