In this Christmas season, we wait on God’s good promises that Jesus is coming again, just as the people in the OT longed for a Messiah, we are to stand firm on God’s word today as we wait for Jesus’ second coming.
In light of the lawlessness and false teaching that is already at work (2 Th 2:7), how can we live our Christian lives faithfully? What hope is there for us not to be deceived or deluded by the false signs and wonders of Satan? How can we stand firm in our faith as we wait for Jesus’ second coming.
(A) Salvation: All by God’s Grace (2 Thess 2:13-14)
As we’ve read earlier in the chapter, the Thessalonians were quickly shaken in mind or alarmed concerning the coming of Jesus Christ and their gathering to him (2 Thess 2:1-2) for they were being told that the day of the Lord has come (2 Thess 2:2b). The mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thess 2:7) and there will be false signs and wonders, coming of the man of lawlessness, deception for those who are perishing: people who refused to love the truth, believe what is false, and had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess 2: 9,12).
Are you aware that we too, live in times where deception and false teaching is present and at work? This age of lawlessness is going to intensify with the coming of the man of lawlessness. Are you able to identify false teaching that is not from God?
Notice that finding our pleasure in unrighteousness (in sin) is refusing to love the truth. You don’t have to think exclusively about false teaching in a formal context, but even if we start anchoring our lives in sin and unrighteousness, unwilling to believe and love the truth of God, we find ourselves perishing in our sin as God judges and gives us up to it. Are our lives anchored in loving God and his truth, or do we find pleasure in unrighteousness and sin?
Paul starts our passage with a big “But”. He gives thanks to God for the Thessalonians. He is saying in spite of the age of lawlessness that they find themselves in, there is thanksgiving with regards to the Thessalonians. Recall that he does same thing in 2 Thess 1:3 and even back in 1 Thess, we have already seen Paul giving thanks to God for the Thessalonians. Paul gave thanks for their growing faith and love in 2 Thess 1:3. Notice how both times, he describes the thanksgiving with “ought to”, like “it is right to”. And when you read what is next, you realise why Paul is so thankful for the Thessalonians once again after speaking about the coming of God’s judgment of sin
Paul’s thanksgiving to God is pervasive in his letters to the Thessalonians. Paul knows how to give thanks and he seems to be thanking God for things that we don’t always think about to give thanks for! For most of us we often give thanks for things that God has given us, or has done in our lives. Many times we may have been thankful to God for good things accrued to me. It is about my own comforts, achievements, desires, etc. When was the last time we have been thankful for the good things that God bestows on others?
Paul not only gives thanks for other people, but also sees them in a different light. It seems that Paul knows what a miracle it is that they have accepted God’s gospel. In light of the heavy consequences of rejecting Christ and his truth, Paul is thankful once again for them.
Do we remember to give thanks to God for our Christian brothers and sisters? Every single Christian is a work of God who displays his glorious work. We also see the love and joy Paul finds in Christian brothers and sisters. Why else would you be so thankful? We are grateful for the things we enjoy and love. For Paul, it is the faithful lives of the Thessalonians. What are you thankful for?
Paul was specific in his thanksgiving to God for the Thessalonians. God loved them and chose the Thessalonians as the firstfruits to be saved . God loved and chose them for salvation (2 Thess 2:13b, c.f. 1Thess 1:6). In his sovereignty God chooses those he loves and saves them.
We know that this is God’s unconditional choice. Eph 1:4 tells us that God chooses before the foundation of the world. Rom 9:11 tells us that God chooses not based on anything we have done. We know that God loved them, and chose them. How was Paul sure of their election? 1 Thess 1:6 tells us that they responded to the gospel with the joy of the Holy Spirit in much affliction and became imitators of Paul and Christ.
Two practical observations follow:
This is troubling for many of us. We don’t know how to respond to God’s sovereignty in this area. We have boundless questions about God’s choices. However, this also forms the most solid of foundations for our assurance today. It means we are never relying on our own works to be saved. We humbly submit to God’s choices
We also see that a response to the gospel involves some change in the believer’s life. We read about their imitating of Paul and Christ.
How does God save them? God called them through his gospel that Paul preaches (2 Thess 2:14a). God calls his people through the good news preached. Through Paul’s preaching, the Thessalonians are called by God. In Romans 1:16, Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. When God calls through His gospel, it is effective and people will respond.
If you are a Christian today, this is why we must preach the gospel. It is how God calls sinners to himself. When you and I preach the gospel, God is working in and through us to save his people
If you enjoy the gospel, you can’t help but share it. A word here about preaching the gospel in tricky situations: I (the study leader) came from a non-Christian family and for a long time, I have always thought of my Christian life as my own. I will be satisfied to live my life without my relationship with my family breaking down. I will live my own life while they live theirs. Two years ago, during the season of Advent as we are in now, I attended a church in London while on holiday and got a hold of a short book that the church was giving out to encourage the members to share the gospel. I decided to sneak this book into the Christmas present that I gave to my parents that year. Over the past two years, we’ve had a chance to read the Bible with my parents and while things have not really changed, I’m glad for the opportunity to. If you are from a non-Christian family, I pray you will preach this gospel faithfully to your family. If you come from a Christian family, you can do the same. Advent is a great time to share this gospel. Let us not waste it.
What does God call them to? God calls them to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth (2 Thess 2:13c). God calls them to holiness or Christ-likeness. He intends for all of them to become more like Jesus Christ. Notice that this sanctification does not come by human means. It is not a “let us behave better” or “let us try harder” type of sanctification but it is by the Holy Spirit. Our sanctification is a work of God, and we are saved through becoming more and more Christ-like.
Paul understood God’s work in sanctification in 1 Cor 15:8-10 where he calls himself the least of the apostles, and it was the “grace of God that is with me” that worked hard in his gospel ministry. Are you growing in Christ-likeness over the years as a Christian? Thank God for the Holy Spirit. He is at work in his people
The other part of the salvation of these people is belief in the Truth. In contrast to those who refused to love the truth, Christians are called to believe in the truth. No one is saved apart from faith in the truth of the gospel, in the good news of Christ. If we fail to believe and love the truth of who God says he is, and his offer of salvation through Jesus Christ’s death, we won’t be saved. If we don’t find pleasure in the righteousness that Christ offers, and instead find our pleasure and joy in sin or unrighteousness, we won’t be saved. Where can we find the truth? We can look to our Bibles.
We see Paul mentioning this later (2 Thess 2:15). It is interesting that sanctification by the Spirit is mentioned together with belief in the truth. We are saved through both of them. The Spirit causes us to believe in the truth of God, and as we do so, we become more and more like our saviour Jesus Christ. When we read our Bibles and believe in the truth, the Holy Spirit is sanctifying us!
What is the end result of God’s work? Paul told them that the end result is that the Thessalonians may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess 2:14) . Sharing with Christ in his glory is the goal of our salvation. In this epistle, Paul has already written about the glory of Jesus Christ. He has told the people that Jesus Christ will be glorified in his people (2 Thess 1:10), and He will be marveled at. Jesus is coming with his mighty angels, an army in flaming fire (2 Thess 1:7). Jesus is coming to have absolute victory over lawlessness (2 Thess 2:8). We have the glory of Jesus Christ to look forward to.
All of this is part of God’s salvation! All of our salvation is God’s work. God loves, God elects, God calls, God sanctifies and causes us to believe in the truth by the Holy Spirit, God glorifies. Paul puts it this way in Rom 8:29-30:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Therefore, we see that the our salvation is all by God’s grace and his work. It is God’s work from beginning to end. God doesn’t save halfway, he saves all the way.
(B) Stand Firm with Eternal Comfort and Good Hope (2 Thess 2:15-17)
In light of God’s work in saving them, Paul calls them to stand firm and hold to the traditions that were taught by Paul and his companions (2 Thess 2:15). This is in contrast to 2 Thess 2:2, where false teaching causes them to be shaken and alarmed, truth is worth standing firmly on.
Where can we find apostolic truth that we can stand firm and hold onto? We find it in our Bible. Are we reading our Bibles daily that we can stand firm and believe in the truth of God? When we open God’s word like we do today, we see all that God has to reveal to us, and we can stand firm even as the lawlessness around us grows.
When we fail to open our Bibles, we forget the truth of God (and I mean functionally), of course you can recite the gospel or Bible passages. But you lose that sense of dependence on God for your life. God doesn’t figure in your thoughts. This is what I have experienced: if I close my Bible, and I stop praying, I live my life on my own apart from God.
Paul ends off with a prayer (2 Thess 2:16-17). Paul reminds them that God has loved us. God has given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Paul prays for “eternal comfort” and “good hope”. This comfort is unbreakable, and from eternity past to forever more.
Our hope in God’s promise to save and glorify us with Christ is good. God is good on his promises. This hope is certain, sure and it is true. We can rest on it. This comfort and hope comes through grace. We rest on God’s grace towards undeserving sinners. We have comfort even in the attack of lawlessness because God’s grace is behind our salvation. We have sure hope of God completing his salvation because God’s grace is behind it.
If you wondered how you are going to stand firm all the way, remember that it is by God’s grace, we have no hope in ourselves. Don’t think of what you are going to do to stand firm but who are you depending on that you might do so. He will hold us fast.
Paul prays for their hearts to be comforted and established by God for every good work and word. Notice once more that Paul is most concerned with their hearts. He prays for them to be divinely comforted and established in good works. We too can pray this way today, that our hearts are comforted by God, and we be used for every good work and word by God to the glory of Christ.