2 Thessalonians 3
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as {it did} also with you;
2 and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.
Even if we know what God will for us is, we should still keep asking God to fulfill it in us. Paul knew that God wanted to spread the gospel, and Paul wanted to be a part of that. He prayed for that, and he asked others to also pray for that.
Paul was aware that he would be opposed by perverse and evil men, but that did not stop him. But it drove him to prayer and to seek prayer from others.
Salvation is by faith, and not all have faith – implying that not all will be saved. I point this out because some teach that everyone will go to heaven.
3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil {one.}
God has promised to give us strength and to protect those who love Him from the evil one, and He will do what he promised. We should remember that when we sense that the evil one is trying to pull us down. To avail of God’s grace for this we need to learn how to walk in humility.
4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will {continue to} do what we command.
Paul was not unwilling of expressing confidence in the Thessalonians. We too should express such confidence in our children.
5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.
Our hearts should always be oriented towards loving God, just as Jesus steadfastly loved God no matter what God asked of Him.
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.
Paul was very clear in how we should deal with slackers and troublemakers – we should keep away from them.
Unruly people are those who don’t follow rules. They just say what they want and do what they want without any thought of the impact of what they say or do. As a result, they make life difficult for those who are around them. You can’t trust them with your secrets or with your money. They have no compunction spending your money or wasting your time or disseminating juicy tidbits about you to whoever is interested. When you confront them about it, they always have an excuse. The best thing to do in such cases is to stay away from them.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,
8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we {kept} working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;
9 not because we do not have the right {to this,} but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
Paul and his team preached the gospel to people without taking any financial support from them. They had the right to receive financial support from those they ministered to, but they didn’t accept it because they wanted to be an example to the Thessalonians. We don’t find too many preachers or pastors like that today.
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
The people of God should have a great work ethic. We should do a good job in whatever we do. No one should take advantage of the goodness of the church and slack off because of that. And the church should balance goodness with toughness in that those who are unwilling to work should not be allowed to eat! That is the balance of Scripture.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
No matter how other people behave towards us, or towards those we love, we should always be doing good to others. This is important to remember, as we are usually tempted to withhold goodness from those who cross us or take advantage of us.
14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.
15 {Yet} do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!
While always desiring to do good towards others (especially those of the household of God), sometimes, we need to be tough with them; and sometimes, we need to stop associating with them so that they will be put to shame. Yet, we should not treat them as an enemy, but still regard them as brothers.
Paul wishes his readers peace with God, and that God be on their side. These are important things, as I’ve often mentioned elsewhere.
17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, and so he didn’t have anyone with him to write for him. As a result, he wrote this letter in his own hand. Some of the other epistles were written by Paul’s fellow worker, as Paul dictated the letter to them.
Paul had a way to distinguish his writing. I think that what he was saying here is that he always ended his letters by wishing the grace of God upon his readers. He did this because he realized how important it is to receive God’s grace.
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