Reflections on 2 Thessalonians 1

 

2 Thessalonians 01 (Contemporary English Version)

1. From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
3. My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time.
4. That's why we brag about you to all of God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.
5. All of this shows that God judges fairly and that he is making you fit to share in his kingdom for which you are suffering.
6. It is only right for God to punish everyone who is causing you trouble,
7. but he will give you relief from your troubles. He will do the same for us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels
8. and with a flaming fire. Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn't know God and won't obey his message.
9. Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength.
10. This will happen on that day when the Lord returns to be praised and honored by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed what we said.
11. God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God's power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do.
12. Then, because God and our Lord Jesus Christ are so kind, you will bring honor to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honor to you.
    

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    Paul's first letter to the Thessalonian church spoke highly of this group of Christians referring to them as his "crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming." (1 Thessalonians 2:19) The primary concern he expressed for them was that what was lacking in their faith might be made complete. Though they were relatively new Christians and their faith still not mature, they had remained faithful under persecution and demonstrated Christian love to Christians throughout Macedonia. Paul held them up as a model to other churches.
    
    The first chapter of this second letter to the Thessalonians reveals that they had continued to mature since the first letter. In verse three Paul expresses thanks to God that "your faith is flourishing, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing." Again he speaks of boasting of them "among God's churches--about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure." (1:4)
    
    Then Paul encouraged them in light of their persecution. First he pointed out that because they have endured pesecution they will be "counted worthy of God's kingdom." (1:5) Note, he doesn't say "worthy of salvation." That was already secure due to their faith in Christ. Then he spoke of the punishment that will come to those who are persecuting them. God is a just God and the evil that appears to have a free hand is only temporary. Those who have placed their faith in Christ must have patience and faith in God that He is just and will mete out justice. When Christ returns, God will take vengeance with "flaming fire" on those who don't know Him, and have not obeyed "the gospel of our Lord Jesus." (1:8) The primary penalty they will pay for their unbelief, however, will be forever being "away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength." (1:9)
    
    Paul told the Thessalonians in the last chapter of his first letter to them that retaliation is not an option for Christians. A Christian must always be motivated by service to God, not by the actions of others. Remaining faithful to God in all things and at all times demonstrates our trust in Him to bless us and to deal justly with those who afflict us. By trusting this to God we also understand that it will all happen in His timing and not ours.