Discipleship Principles of Paul - Part Four

Matthew Henry makes a powerful statement when he says, “To abide in the faith of the Gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of faith.”

Paul begins the fourth chapter of I Thessalonians with these words, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.[1]

The concept of abiding rather than abounding in faith is explained here, as the difference revolves around the way in which we respond to the commandments of God.

Look at the next verse, “ For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”[2]

Paul goes directly from “how you ought to walk and to please God” into “you know what instructions we gave”. The connection between the two is unavoidable. Pleasing God, walking correctly, is tied to the instructions they were given. How does that work?

We have to address the questions, “What does the idea of following the commands of God have to do with faith? Aren’t the two concepts very different ones? We can have faith without having to obey every command we find in the Bible, can’t we?”, and more.”

There’s a couple of different aspects to these questions, and we find the next two chapters talking about the various things we are called to do in a desire to live by faith. Discipleship includes a consistent pursuit of increasing one’s faith by obeying each and every command of God because of the way in which that obedience develops dependence.

Verses three through eight of I Thes. 4 talks about the idea that we “abstain from sexual immorality”. Verses 9 – 12 talk about the command to “love one another”, and specifically the idea of “brotherly love”.

Then he appears to jump into a completely different subject in verse 13 of that same chapter and goes through verse 11 of chapter 5, with the concept of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Then he goes back to his original concept of giving commands that they need to obey, when he addresses ideas such as respect for spiritual leaders, being at peace with each other, encouraging the fainthearted, and on and on, through verse 22.

But is he really changing topics? I don’t think so. This is where the idea of increasing our faith, abounding in faith, really finds its impetus. The more areas we find ourselves naturally and effectively obeying the commands of Scripture, the more we are ready for the return of Jesus Christ.

The issue of being left on this earth after our salvation, of remaining in an alien environment once we are citizens of Heaven, is key to this concept. We are left here for a couple of reasons, to make the King of our home country known, and to become ready for our citizenship in that new country.

Every believer living on Planet Earth is here for a reason. You may be more mature than I am, or I may be more mature than you, but there isn’t a single one of us that is ready for Heaven until the point that God calls us home.

What about babies who die?

I don’t know, I only know that God wanted them in Heaven and He wants us here.

What about those who die who seem to be in a state of rebellion?

Again, I don’t know, but there are other passages that address that to some degree. Once again, it is a matter of increasing our faith – abounding in faith – that is of importance for those of us that are left in this world.

This is further expressed by Paul in two other passages; Phil. 1:21-26 and 2 Cor. 5:6-9. Let me paraphrase those two passages; to the people of Phillippi he said “I would rather die and go home. Until I do, my reason for remaining is to labor on your behalf. I’d rather be with the Lord, but you need me here.” To the people of Corinth, he stated the same truth in a slightly different context, “We can live with confidence knowing that God controls when we go home, and it requires faith to rest in His timing. As long as we are left here, our aim is to please him.”

That is the connection between obedience and faith. Every moment that we spend living on this planet is a moment we can choose to live by faith. Each and every decision we make to obey His commands is a step in the path of “abounding in faith”, and we don’t get to make the decision as to when that journey is complete in God’s eyes. We only get to decide if we are going to obey His commands so that we are ready to go when He determines.

Discipleship Principle # 4 – We Must Seek to Abound in Faith

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Th 4:1.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Th 4:2.

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