Commentary in Simple English on 2 Thessalonians

Chapter 1

Verses 1 and 2 A blessing

This letter begins in the same way as the first letter. (See 1 The 1:1.) All the real life in the church comes from God.

With Paul in Corinth there were two other Christian men. The Christians in Salonika knew them: this is why their names are given. Silas (or Silvanus) was a Jew: he came from the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:22). Timothy came from Derbe (Acts 16:1). Derbe was in what is now Turkey. Timothy was a young man. He had become a Christian through Paul's work for Christ. Paul saw that he could become a useful worker, and so Timothy joined Paul's group.

Grace (verse 2) is the love which God has for sinners and which he gives away. He gives it to us because he knows that it can and will do us good. Grace is the great cause of the change in our lives when we become real Christians. Peace is the effect which grace has in us. There is a new peace within us. And there is peace between God and us. We also hope for peace with other people (Heb 12:14). And this peace does not come to us from other people or even from the church. It comes to us from God the Father and from God the Son. We may add that it comes to us through the Holy Spirit's work within us.

Verses 3 and 4 Thanks to God for his grace

Paul says rather more than: 'We give thanks to God for you.' Their thanks are like a debt that should be paid. Behind the words 'and rightly so' or 'as is fitting' is a word which is like the word 'worthy' in verses 5 and 11. It is true that some things are not right in the church at Salonika. Yet they feel that what God has done for the Christians there is really wonderful. And it is only right that they should praise God for it. Praise then is like a debt that must be paid to God.

The writers have two main reasons here for praise to God for the Christians in Salonika.

1. Their faith grows more and more as time passes. Their faith grows like a healthy plant or like a tree. There is something to learn here for each one of us who is a Christian. We should ask ourselves: ‘Has my faith grown? Has it grown more than it did in the past?’

2. Their love too grows: it is 'increasing'. They all had Christian love for all the others. They worked and they planned ways to do one another good. When there is too much water in a cup, it 'overflows'. And they had so much love that it 'overflowed'. Now there are always some people in a church that we do not like. We do not feel quite happy with them. We may feel that they are difficult. Even people like that were not left outside the Christian love in the church at Salonika.

We can see that the writers do not just tell the Christians at Salonika: 'You are doing well. Your faith and love grow more and more.' That might make the Christians proud. The writers do not just give thanks to God and then say nothing more to these Christians. They help the Christians by the thanks that they give to God. They tell the people at Salonika that they thank God for what he does in their lives. This will really help them.

We already know from the first letter that the church at Salonika had suffered. The Jews who were not Christians hated the church. And they found ways to make some of the Greeks join in the violence against the Christians (Acts 17:5-8). Probably some of the Christians died. Their homes might have been burned. Some of them perhaps were badly hurt in the troubles. The Christians would be rather frightened that it would happen again. This was when they needed 'brave patience', perseverance or steadfastness.

They needed to keep their faith in the Lord Jesus. And the writers speak of the 'persecutions', the wrong that their enemies did to them, and also of their 'afflictions' or trials. There would be a few days when their enemies would fight and kill, and burn and steal from them. After that, it would be quiet. The 'persecution' was over, but the 'trials' were still there. Some children had lost a father or mother or both. Some people had lost their homes. Some people could no longer trade to earn money to live on. Some had been hurt and might never be able to work again. This was why there was so much need for love at Salonika among the Christians. The 'trials' went on.

Christians in many places still face violence and hatred because of their faith. We still need to have love towards other Christians who need our help. These things do not only belong in a past age.

Verses 5-10 God is just

God is judge. He is the only judge of all men. We are not judges. When other people wrong us we must not wrong them in return. We should forgive them. So Paul says (verse 5) that there is a sign here that God has judged his people rightly. The way that they bear what they suffer is proof that God has judged in their favour. They still follow Christ. They become more like him. And they do not wrong their enemies.

But we ask: 'If we have God's favour, why do we suffer?' God has his own reasons. We do not know them now. See Psa1m 119:67. But we do know that our Lord Jesus had to suffer. God loved him. When we suffer, God still loves us. Paul says: 'God will count you worthy to have a place in his kingdom.' You do not suffer just because you are different. You are the sons of God. You are heirs with Christ. You suffer because you have a right to enter the kingdom of God. And when you feel that you are far from being good enough, you are right. You are not good enough. But God says in his Word: 'They shall be mine.' (See Malachi 3:17.) And it was his Word which made heaven and earth (Rom 8:18). His Word will make us 'worthy'.

That is one side of what is said here. The other side is in verses 6-10. Men go on doing wrong because they think that God does not care (Psa 50:17-21; Ecc 8:11-13). [1.1] People who do what is wrong do not 'get away with it'. God will punish them. But we have to wait until God is ready to judge the world. So there is no reason for us to look at bad men and think: 'They are better off than we are' (Mal 3:15). They may be better off than us now for a little time. But we shall be better off than them forever. When we are in trouble, we may say: 'God does not understand my trouble and loss.' We should remember that our Lord Jesus is the great Sufferer. He understands when we suffer (Isa 63:9; Heb 2:18; 4:15). And verse 7 says that we must wait until Jesus comes again.

The verse adds several more things about this. Jesus is now in heaven: he will come again from heaven. He will then no longer be hidden from us as he is now: he will be 'revealed'. We shall see him. He will not be alone. He will not be weak then. He will come with great numbers of strong angels. And he will come with fire. 'Fire' here is a picture of the work that our Lord Jesus Christ will do. He is judge of what is wrong. Verses 6 and 7 say: 'Jesus will turn things round the other way.'

Then verse 8 adds still more. Jesus will punish those who do not obey the Good News. This mostly means the Jews who knew God's Word. 'Those who do not know God' mostly means people who are not Jews, and who did not know God's Word.

Verse 9 tells us a little about how God will judge those who are his enemies. When we destroy something, what we destroy comes to an end. But God will destroy them, and this destruction will be 'eternal' or 'everlasting'. It will have no end. To be with God and to see him is the best experience that men or angels can ever have. But God's enemies will be shut out. The door will be shut! (Matt 25:10) God will never open that door again to let in what is bad. Let us be sure that our faith is in Jesus. Then that door will never be shut to keep us out. And let us warn others to believe the Good News and to put their faith in Jesus. God made men for himself, so that they may enjoy him forever. How sad that anyone must be shut out from him!

Those who do what is wrong will also be shut out from the glory of God's great power. There will only be weakness and shame for those who are 'shut out'. But real Christians will be 'shut in' with God. We shall be 'shut in’ with his glory and his power. We shall shine with his glory. They will be in darkness.

Then in verse 10 we see that Christ does not only come to judge God's enemies. He comes also to do good to his people. The same people are called his 'saints' or 'holy people' and also 'all who have believed'. If we have believed in Jesus, we have become Christians. And if we really are Christians, then God will make us holy. 'The day when he comes' means, of course, the day when Jesus comes again. We Christians feel so poor now. But then something of the glory and honour of Jesus will be seen in his people. Then men and angels will see how wonderful is the change that Jesus has made in our lives. They will 'marvel' at what Jesus has done for us.

It is one thing for Paul to speak about the glory and honour that God will give to his people. It is quite another thing for us to feel and to know that we shall share in that glory. So Paul says to the Christians at Salonika: 'Yes! That means you too.' They will share in the glory because Paul and his friends came to them. They had preached the Good News in Salonika. The Christians had put their faith in Jesus to save them.

If your Bible speaks about 'saints' here it does not mean only a few special Christians. 'All who believe' are real Christians. That is what the Bible means by 'saints'!

Verses 11 and 12 Prayer for the power of God

The last six verses spoke of what will happen when Jesus comes again. Paul will say more about this in chapter 2. In chapter 1 he spoke about the day when God will judge men. In chapter 2, he will speak about things which must happen before Jesus comes again. But in these two verses we have Paul's prayer for the Christians in Salonika. And it is also a prayer for every Christian. This is what Paul asks God to do for the Christians in Salonika.

1. God has 'called' these Christians at Salonika. He has called to them from heaven. He has called them to follow the Lord Jesus. They know that they are not good enough for this. They are not 'worthy'. In verse 5 Paul said that the Christians in Salonika would be 'counted worthy' to enter God's kingdom. Now he prays that they may be 'counted worthy' of God's call to them. Other people may not 'count them worthy‘. But what others think does not really matter. What matters is what God thinks.

2. Then Paul prays that God will fulfil every good purpose that the Christians in Salonika had. [1.2] In other words, the Christians had thought out all sorts of plans to help other people. But when they tried to do these things, they found that they could not. It was more difficult than they thought that it would be. So Paul prays that God will use his power. Then these good ideas which they have will be 'fulfilled' or carried out.

3. Next Paul prays that God's power will help the Christians to finish these things. Perhaps we start to do something. It is 'prompted' by faith. In other words it is only because we are Christians that we think about doing it. But when we start, we find it will take much longer than we thought it would. It is not as easy as we thought that it would be. So we need God's power to help us to 'fulfil' or finish the good work which we have begun.

4. Then in verse 12 we have two more prayers. Christians want their lives to bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus. That means that they must start their good works. They must finish them, too. So Paul prays that great honour may come to the Lord Jesus in the lives of these people. This will be because they finish their good works.

5. Yet most of the Christians are only poor, humble people. They are not rich or well known. And they are likely to stay that way as long as they live. But Paul prays that the Christians may be glorified in Jesus. When we have ended our lives here, we shall be with Jesus. And then we shall share his great honour and his glory. He will give you all the glory you can take, and he will still have more to give. And all this is not because of what we are or what we do. It is all because of God's favour or grace to us.

These prayers are rather like the prayer of Jesus in John 17. There Jesus says (verse 22) that God the Father has given him glory. Now he has given that glory to his followers. Earlier in v 10 he said: 'I am glorified in them', that is to say, in my followers. In verse 12 Jesus speaks of 'The Name', that is, God's special character. That same wonderful name has been given to Jesus too. He speaks again of 'The Name' in verse 26. So here Paul prays that the name of Jesus may be glorified in these Christians. He prays too that the Christians may be glorified because they are one with Jesus