Faith in Jesus for salvation is less like jumping off a cliff hoping to fly, and more like boarding a well-built, thoroughly-inspected airplane piloted by someone you trust completely. When Paul arrives at Thessalonica, he shows the locals that the gospel is reasonable, promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, explainable, proven, and necessary. In addition to being reasonable, the gospel is revolutionary. Among many other things, Christianity radically changed who people's ultimate allegiance was to. No longer did they confess Caesar as Lord; rather, they boldly proclaimed "there is another king, Jesus."

But He is no ordinary King. He's the one we've offended through our sin; he's the one to whom we owe a debt we cannot pay. And yet Paul says in Colossians 2 that Jesus "cancelled our record of debt" by being "nailed to the cross." Jesus called up all our debt and paid for it by dying in our place for ours sins. He's the king who saves by grace and the king who commands you to repent, put your faith in him, and follow him in this glorious revolution. Kill him or crown him, you have no other choice but these.