2 Thessalonians - Chapter 1

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The light tone Paul used in his first letter is gone in this one, which was written only a few weeks or months later. The Thessalonians had misunderstood portions of his first letter, so he is more stern and direct when writing this one. The good news Paul had received from Thessalonica was that the church members were continuing to grow in their faith. But the bad news was that false teachings about Christ’s return were spreading, leading many of them to quit their jobs and wait idly for the end of the world.


1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

This letter is written by Paul, on behalf of himself, Silas, and Timothy who were together in Corinth. It is written to the church in Thessalonica as a follow-up of his first letter.

Silas: In Greek, the name was Silvanus, a variant of Silas

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

Paul begins his letter with praise, showing he still has great love and respect for them.

The Greek word used here, which was translated as “brothers and sisters” was adelphoi and refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family. As Christians, we should always attempt to build up and encourage fellow believers.

Paul is aware of the difficulties they are enduring because of their faith and lets them know how proud he is of their perseverance. The key to surviving trials is perseverance and faith. When we are faced with crushing problems, we should have faith that God is using our trials for our good and for His glory.

5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

Paul tries to give them encouragement. Although it may not be evident while they are being persecuted, God will reward them for their steadfastness and punish their persecutors.

Some people believe trials are a result of lack of faith or punishment for not living the way God wants us to. Paul is saying trials are a way of strengthening us and our perseverance is what will make us worthy of God’s kingdom. Our problems can help us look upward rather than inward and provide us with opportunities to comfort others facing similar trials. How we react to our troubles can be an indicator of the strength of our faith, either helping or harming our testimony as Christians.

Knowing God is fair and just will give us patience in our suffering because we know He has not forgotten us. In His perfect timing, he will release us from our suffering. We need to trust in His timing.

6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

The believer’s victory will be when Christ returns. That is when we will see justice served.

“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” What an image! In 1 Thessalonians, Paul mentions Christ’s return, but here he gives a more powerful image of that event. The fire illustrates the Lord’s wrath and vengeance toward the disobedient.

So many times we hear people ask the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “Why does God allow people to profit from their wrongdoing?” Paul’s answer to that question would probably be, “It’s only temporary.” His conviction was that one day God would turn the tables on the unfairness of life. Our reward will be revealed in the future. We must remain steadfast in our faith for now.

The “everlasting destruction” Paul describes here is the place of eternal separation from God. Those separated from God in eternity no longer have any hope for salvation.

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s “calling” is for us to become like Christ. This is a lifelong and gradual process that will not be completed until we see Christ face to face. In order to be “worthy” of this calling, we need to strive to be as much like Christ as possible. That is our goal. We cannot achieve perfection in this world, but we need to be moving in that direction by allowing God to work in us.

An old proverb: "If you ask the wrong question, you will get the wrong answer."

When it comes to sin, we often ask the wrong question. When we ask the "is it wrong if..." questions, what we are really saying is "how much can I sin without it being labeled a sin by others?"

Examples:

• A young couple wants to know how much sexual contact they can get away with before marriage and still not be sinning.

• A business man asks how many corners he can cut on his taxes and it not be considered cheating.

• A woman wants to know if it's okay to "share" some "facts" about someone so we can all pray for them.

• A man wants to know if it is a sin to utter a profanity when you bang your shin.

• A man wants to know if it is a sin if he was born with a bad temper and cannot control it.

• A teenager asks if her latest behavior is sin if "everyone is doing it" and other people don't think it's wrong.

In all of these instances, and others, there will be an ineffective or wrong answer because the wrong question is being asked.

Remember: If you have to wonder whether something is right or not, it's most likely wrong.

1 John 1:5   This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

The things of God are "light." They are not hidden in shadows or fog. What is right is plainly right, and the true seeker of righteousness will have no problem knowing what is right in God's eyes.

James 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Psalm 18:28  You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

The Bible is abundantly clear on what is sin and what is not... lust, greed, gossip, selfishness, anger, pride, dishonesty, language, modesty, etc. The mature Christian quits playing the games of rationalization and calls sin for what it is. If something is NOT clearly and immediately righteous (according to God), then err on the side of holiness.