I Thessalonians 2:13-16 ~ The Confirmation of Salvation

Excerpt:

Whenever he uses that phrase became, he is making reference to something that they were not normally; but something they became by the Spirit of God. And this word imitator means: expression. You have become the expression of all the churches of God. Most people think the apostle Paul is way up there in status. He is talking about things we can never become, or never be like. But the reality of it is Paul is always sharing what is the normal Christian life. He presents himself as living the normal Christian life, which other people are to mimic. Paul had a different ministry - he was an apostle and wrote most of the New Testament. But he is ministering to people who have the same Jesus Christ in them as in himself. And he says, "You see the expression of Christ in me? Let that be the expression of Christ in you."