2 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Silvanus was Paul’s coworker, and he helped Paul and Timothy to start the church in Corinth (2 Cor 1:19) and also ministered with Paul and Timothy to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 1:1). Silvanus was also known to Peter (1 Pet 5:12).
2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wishes his readers grace and peace from the Father and the Son. As I’ve often mentioned, if God opposes you, then you will surely fail; that is why you need to be at peace with God. Further, if God helps you, you will surely succeed; that is why you need grace (help) from God.
Grace is not unmerited favor; we know this because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6, 1 Pet 5:5). Since pride and humility are opposites, we see that grace is given only to the humble. That is, to merit grace, you need to be humble. That is why I say that grace is not unmerited.
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is {only} fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows {ever} greater;
4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
5 {This is} a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
6 For after all it is {only} just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7 and {to give} relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Suffering for God’s kingdom is a rite of passage for those who believe – it shows you to be worthy of the kingdom of God. Paul told Timothy that all (no exceptions) who desire to live a godly life (in accordance to Jesus’ commands) will be persecuted.
It is very difficult for a ‘go along with the crowd’ type of person to be a Christian. True Christians are always in the minority because the gate to life is small, and the way to life is narrow.
If you’ve never been persecuted because you are a true Christian then you have to conclude that you have never wanted to live a godly life. Don’t be surprised if such persecution comes from others who call themselves worshipers of God – that was how it was in Jesus’ time, and in Paul’s time, and in the times of the Old Testament when the Jews (the people of God) persecuted the prophets.
Know that your persecutors will be punished. You however, must forgive them – for if you don’t forgive those who sin against you, God will not forgive you. So leave the revenge to God – He has promised that He will take revenge for you.
9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed – for our testimony to you was believed.
The wages, or penalty, for sin, is eternal destruction. This happens because God forsakes them. That is, they are away from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.
Just like how eternal life is a quality of life, eternal death (or destruction) is a quality of life. The former is a very pleasant thing (to say the least), the latter is a very unpleasant thing (to say the most).
Let me try to illustrate using an (imperfect) example…
Imagine for a moment, that you want to walk from here to there. You are able to do that without much effort. But that is only possible because the laws of physics exist, and that the constants of the universe remain constant. If, for example, the gravitational field began changing randomly, walking from here to there would become a nightmare, and a lot more difficult.
The laws of physics exist, and that the constants of the universe remain constant, only because God upholds them. Were He to abandon His post (so to speak), they would no longer continue.
In a God forsaken place, there will be no one to uphold anything. Life in such a place would be Hell.
Those who reject God now, will finally get their wish in full – God will depart from them – permanently, and consequently, they will experience Hell.
This will take place after Jesus returns. When Jesus returns, those who have believed Him will marvel at His awesomeness, and they will give Him glory (i.e. they will speak well of His awesomeness).
11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,
12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and {the} Lord Jesus Christ.
God allows us to go through trials because He wants us to get to a point where His kingdom is the only thing of importance to us. Once we learn that lesson permanently, the trials will reduce significantly, or go away. They will come back if we forget that lesson, or if we become proud.
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