Introductory remarks:
"Paul greets the Thessalonians from himself, Silvanus and Timotheus. He thanks God for their greatly growing faith and charity and says their patient enduring of persecution makes the churches glory in them. He comforts them with the fact that God will take vengeance on their enemies when He comes with His mighty angels and they will be punished with everlasting destruction. He prays that God will accomplish all He wants to in them and they will bring glory to Christ" (A Survey of II Thessalonians - By Brenda). This chapter may be outlined as follows: Salutation vv. 1-2: The judgment at Christ's coming vv. 3-12.
Salutation
Verse 1, "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
LGT "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus to the assembly of Thessalonians in God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus: Paul includes Silas and Timothy in his greeting. These three had been through a great deal together. Paul, in including his friends, shows what a tremendous transition has taken place in Paul since his conversion from a proud Pharisee to a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the assembly of Thessalonians: to all the believers meeting in Thessalonica as a family. In God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ: the Thessalonian believers were part of the family of God because of their union with the Christ.
Verse 2, "Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
LGT "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ."
This is the source of all grace and peace. Where there is grace there is peace. If you have experienced God's grace, you are saved, "For by grace you have been saved" (Eph. 2:8,9). Grace is a free gift from God; therefore, salvation is also a free gift from God. This is a rare exception where the article is not used before the Father and Christ, yet they are definite and distinct Persons, of the same essence but not the same person.
The Judgment at Christ's Coming
Verse 3, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth."
LGT "We ought to thank God always concerning you, brethren, just as it is right, because your faith increases exceedingly, and the love abounds each one of you all to one another."
We ought to thank God always concerning you, brethren: Paul does not feel a necessity, but he feels obliged to thank God for these believers in Thessalonica. His brief ministry among them bound him to them by the Holy Spirit, and he regarded them as his family; and by the way, that's what believers are, they are part of the family of God in Christ. Whenever Paul speaks of agape love, he reserves it to the family; the unbelievers are not even in his consideration here. Just as it is right: because you deserve my thoughts and prayers. Because your faith increases exceedingly: here Paul explains the reason they are thanking God for them; you have taken grace doctrine and put it into every day experience; the word I have received is that you are standing firm in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the love abounds each one of you to one another: the Thessalonians have shown their love for God by their love for one another. The moment a person get saved, the Holy Spirit begins His work in the heart, and that believer immediately becomes aware that he or she is different, and that they will begin to recognize other believers, and this recognition sparks a love that cannot be explained until further growth is accomplished in their lives. Remember, agape divine love is not an emotional love, but is loving your fellow believer because they are believers, and they are joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ, and as joint heirs, part of God's family, and you will love fellow believers based on that wonderful knowledge.
Verse 4, "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure."
LGT "So that we ourselves make a boast of you in the assemblies of God for the patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations, which ye are bearing."
So that we ourselves: Paul, Silas and Timothy. Make a boast of you in the assemblies of God: Paul and his companions boasted about the Thessalonians in Macedonia, Corinth, and other assemblies throughout Achaia. For your patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations, which ye are bearing: Paul had a twofold purpose in his telling them that he boasted about them to the other assemblies: (1.) He wanted to encourage them in their faith, and that he was very proud of their growth, and (2.) He wanted the other assemblies to become imitators of them, in order that they might be encouraged, knowing that it was not impossible to endure hardships that were inevitable in their future growth. A Christian that has not had to endure hardships, is very poor indeed. Many Christians are confused about enduring hardships and enduring divine discipline. "There is a difference between being disciplined to learn patience and the punishment of the wicked. God disciplines His children for their development, for their growth, that they might have patience and a hope for the future. We don't need to get too comfortable down here. When we do, we no longer have the hope before us of the Lord's return" (McGee).
John Eadie comments:
"The apostle felt himself so wholly an instrument in the Masters hand that he never scrupled to mention his services - ever ascribing humbly and gratefully to Him the strength to do them, and any success which might attend them (1 Thess. 1:8,9:2:19,20) . . . The Thessalonian's endurance tested their faith, and showed its stability, and their faith was the inner element of that patience which was one of its fruits."
Verse 5, "Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer."
LGT "A manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, for you to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also ye suffer."
A manifest token of the righteous judgment of God: the reason we all suffer hardships and persecution is proof that we are loved by God. For you to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God: this does not mean that we earn the kingdom, it means that God is preparing us for His kingdom. For which also we suffer: this is in the present tense meaning that it is a continuing process. A thought well taken is that God holds back prosperity from us in order that we don't become too self-satisfied, and forget about our purpose for being here on this earth, to live for His glory. The unbeliever thinks wealth is a sign that they are not to worry about the future, because if they were evil, they would not prosper; it is very easy for a believer also to become confused through prosperity.
"The path of suffering, and that path alone,
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown."
Calvin comments on being counted worthy of the kingdom:
"There are no persecutions that are to be reckoned of such value as to make us worthy of the kingdom of God, nor does Paul dispute here as to the ground of worthiness, but simply takes the common doctrine of Scripture - that God destroys in us those things that are of the world, that He may restore in us a better life; and farther, that by means of afflictions He shows us the value of eternal life. In short, he simply points out the manner in which believers are prepared and, as it were, polished under God's anvil, inasmuch as, by afflictions, they are taught to renounce the world and to aim at God's heavenly kingdom."
Verse 6, "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you."
LGT "If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to those who afflict you."
The "if" in this sentence is in the first class condition, so that Paul teaches this principle as a fact. The wicked will not escape judgment. It may seem as though the wicked prosper, but they have no hope, but what lies ahead of them in the future is the righteous judgment of God.
Verse 7, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels."
LGT "And to you that are afflicted repose with us, in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with [the] angels of His power:"
Paul writes this to comfort those who have been afflicted by the unbelievers, just as he himself had suffered. He tells them that Christ will come back to this earth and take vengeance on those who have troubled them. Christ will return with those angels of high rank. The power belongs to Christ, for the angels are just His servants.
Verse 8, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"
LGT "In a fire of flame, rendering vengeance on those that know not God, and those that obey not the Glad Tidings of our Lord Jesus."
In a fire of flame: in 1 Thess. 4:16 Christ comes for the church in the clouds, with a shout of a sound of the archangel and shout of the trumpet, summoning the believers to Himself, and the dead rise first, then the believers that are alive will be caught up together with Him in the air. The first time Christ comes back, He comes back to rapture the church in the air; the second time He comes, He comes back to earth in a fire of flame rendering vengeance on all unbelief. Rendering vengeance on those that know not God, and those that obey not the Glad Tidings of our Lord Jesus: Here he comes to purify the earth of all unbelief with the fire of His judgment. Those who refuse to accept Jesus as their personal Savior are the ones who obey not the Glad Tidings of our Lord Jesus. God only requires one thing from the lost, and that is, that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved, that is, "faith alone in Christ alone."
Verse 9, "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power."
LGT "Who shall suffer [the] penalty, eternal destruction, from [the] face of the Lord and the glory of His strength."
Who shall suffer the penalty, eternal destruction: this destruction is not total extinction, but an eternity where everything is the opposite of eternal bliss in heaven. Paul describes this destruction in the next phrase. From the face of the Lord and the glory of his strength: when we meet the Lord we will see Him face to face, and we will known, even as we are known (1 Cor. 12:13). "His face or countenance throws its benign [compassionate] radiance over His saints, who in their nearness worship Him, and are ever in fellowship with Him. His personal presence is the life and joy of heaven, and to see His face is supreme blessedness, so that to be severed from it is gloom and death, and in that sad severance is the penalty to be endured . . . The glory is so connected with His might that, as it is originated by it, it characterizes and envelopes it - all its outgoings are ever encircled with glory. That power manifests its glory in the perfection and happiness of His saints, who have been rescued and blessed by Him, and lifted at length beyond death to supreme and immortal felicity. This glory so won by His power is reflected upon Him from His glorified ones, as the next verse intimates, and from such living splendor surrounding Christ's and Christ are the unbelieving for ever exiled" (John Eadie).
Verse 10, "When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."
LGT "When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be wondered at in all them that believe, because our testimony to you was believed, in that day."
When He shall come to be glorified in His saints: Christ has already been glorified, but when He comes with the saints, He will glorify them with His glory. "Christ will come, that He might be glorified in the saints; that is, that He may irradiate them with His glory, and that they may be partakers of it. Christ will not have this glory for Himself individually; but it will be common to all the saints. This is the crowning and choice consolation of the pious, that when the Son of God will be manifested in the glory of His kingdom He will gather them into the same fellowship with Himself (He will gather them in full union, and will make them His partners)" (Calvin). And to be wondered at in all them that believe: Christ will be wondered at by all those on earth at what He has accomplished for the saints; for now, in this world, all believers are exposed to the criticisms and are hated by the world, and are looked upon as "vile and worthless; but then they will be precious, and full of dignity, when Christ will pour forth His glory upon them." Because our testimony to you was believed, in that day: what Paul had taught them about the saints being glorified in the kingdom, he now attributes to the Thessalonian believers, that they accepted the gospel of grace Paul had taught them. "Our testimony about you will then be substantiated, or our testimony to you shall be believed even by the wicked in that day" (Eadie).
Verse 11, "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power."
LGT "For which also we pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling, and may fulfill every good pleasure of goodness and work of faith with power."
For which also we pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of the calling: the believers are already worthy in Christ; what Paul is praying for is that they apply Bible doctrine to their lives, so that God sees that they are one of Christ's. It is not a condition of living, that is, they are not counted worthy because of the way they live, but they live life because they are called worthy in Christ. And may fulfill every good pleasure of goodness and work of power with faith: the pleasure of God is that His Holy Spirit works in and through the believer. "The thoughts in this passage are, (1.) That the purpose of God was one of goodness or benevolence: (2.) that there was a state of mind which would be regarded by Him as pleasing, or as his good pleasure, and (3.) that Paul wished that this might be accomplished in them. He desired that there might be in them everything which would be pleasing to God, and which His benevolence was fitted to secure. The work of faith is adapted to produce on the souls with power" (Barnes). The Holy Spirit does the work, and the soul of the believer responds to the Spirit in kind, and this is pleasing to God; again, I say, the Holy Spirit does all the work, and the believer receives the reward, and this is the good pleasure of God. Remember, everything produced in the life of the believer is a "fruit of the Spirit."
Verse 12, "That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."
LGT "So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ."
So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in Him: the glory of the Lord Jesus is reciprocal and is common to Paul, the same as the vine and the branches in John 15:1-11. The phrase name of our Lord Jesus, means the name the Lord Jesus has made for Himself. Our union with Christ makes His glory our inheritance, for it is a shared glory, for we are trophies of His marvelous grace. According to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ: our salvation is by grace, we are sustained by His grace, and we are glorified by His grace; we have done nothing to deserve His grace, we are simply recipients of this free gift of God, through faith in Christ, and our everlasting union with Him.
In the next chapter Paul will present one of the most important Prophesies in the New Testament.
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