June 16, 2025 -- I Thessalonians 1:4-5a -- With full conviction

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
I Thessalonians 1:4-5a ESV
 
Perhaps some of you already know this, but I know many who read this devotional blog do not, so I’ll mention it again. Every Sunday my wife and I host a house church, and it is called Conviction Chapel. At its peak there were eight or so who attended. Currently it is down to around 3 each week. No worries. Conviction Chapel is hosted weekly with the expectation that I will soon be able to bring one or two men (who are on day passes from prison as they are close to their release date and the process of reintegration back into society is beginning) to the chapel service. I am hosting the chapel in my home because my local church will not have certain Christians, who have been incarcerated, in their public worship service. To be clear, such men do not have parole restrictions that would forbid them from attending church, it is the local church that forbids their attendance. And this is tacitly accepted by my denomination. This is publicly known but not addressed. It is painful to me, and it is deeply painful for those who are in Christ but not allowed to be in fellowship with other Christians.
 
The chapel is called “Conviction Chapel” precisely because all those who attend have been convicted by the Holy Spirit of their sin-filled way of life and so are convicted of their dire need for a Savior. It is called Conviction Chapel as well, as a sly reference to the fact that many who have attended in the past, and those who currently attend, or might attend, have been convicted in court and found guilty. They have served their time. It is called Conviction Chapel because the full conviction of the Holy Spirit leads to a changed life for every believer.
 
Those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit can not continue in their former way of life and in their former, sinful actions. When the Father has declared a man or a woman to be justified by Christ and has imputed to him the righteousness of Christ, the Holy Spirit brings regeneration, new life, into every area of that person’s life. Faith in Jesus Christ is not like a hammock on a warm summer day in which one rests, lazily drifting in and out of sleep, inactive and not growing to maturity in Christ.. Faith in Jesus Christ so unites the believer to Christ that the Spirit of God transforms his life. The evidence of this faith in Jesus Christ is radical.
 
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some
of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.
I Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV
When a man or a woman is convicted by the Spirit of God, his whole being is changed. The sinful past has been punished; Christ has received the full weight of God’s wrath against their sin. The one who has been washed, was sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
It is my ardent prayer that my local church and my denomination should also be convicted by the Holy Spirit the truth of these passages. It is my fervent prayer, dear reader, that you too should examine your heart also and see if you are consciously or unconsciously excluding people based on an inappropriate bias, rather than the evidence of a regenerated life which is wrought in them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Dear reader, are you convinced of the fact that God takes the most wretched of sinners and clothes them in the robes of Christ’s righteousness? Are you aware this is precisely what He has been done for you? Your own sins, if known to the assembly of believers, would be so hateful and heinous that you too would be excluded, and that so fast your head would spin. Yet, brothers and sisters, what a gracious, loving, glorious God we serve. He choses people, the worst of sinners, and brings them the gospel of Jesus, in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction. If you really knew the depths of and the malodorous discharges of your own sinfulness, you’d be on your face in rapturous praise to God thanking Him for your glorious salvation in Christ. You’d rapturously welcome other sinners, who like you, have been washed and made clean and therefore know the lovingkindness and mercy of God. For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Oh, let the Spirit of God convict you of this blessed truth.
 
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
 
https://youtu.be/px-eU1QjQiU?si=pzyLsH3jIUi_o3yq Psalm 51 (Wisdom in the Secret Heart)
 

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