2 Thessalonians 2 - Thankful to God for you
Are you on the list of things you will give thanks for? You ought to be!
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2 Thessalonians 2 (ESV)
1 Now concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our being gathered together to him,
we ask you, brothers,
2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed,
either
by a spirit
or a spoken word,
or a letter seeming to be from us,
to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one deceive you in any way.
For that day
will not come,
unless the rebellion comes first,
and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship,
so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And you know
what is restraining him now
so that he may be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.
Only he who now restrains it
will do so until he is out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus
will kill with the breath of his mouth
and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one
is by the activity of Satan
with all power and false signs and wonders,
10 and with all wicked deception
for those who are perishing,
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion,
so that they may believe what is false,
12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you,
brothers beloved by the Lord,
because God chose you as the firstfruits
to be saved,
through
sanctification by the Spirit
and belief in the truth.
14 To this he called you
through our gospel,
so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 So then, brothers,
stand firm
and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us,
either by our spoken word
or by our letter.
16 Now may
our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God our Father,
who loved us
and gave us
eternal comfort
and good hope
through grace,
17 comfort your hearts
and establish them in
every good work
and word.
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2 Thessalonians 2 Summary
One of the primary reasons Paul wrote this second letter to the Thessalonians is that they had gotten the idea that somehow the Day of the Lord (flashback) had come and gone and somehow they never got invited to the party (v2). Paul wants to reassure them that this isn't the case at all. Paul uses blurry language to describe what must happen before the Day of the Lord comes, but having just finished reading Revelation (which would not be written until several decades after Paul's letters to Thessalonica), we know that the Day of the Lord will not be an event anybody will somehow miss.
Dig Deeper
There's a good chance you're reading this chapter on or around Thanksgiving Day. As a society, we appropriately pause from our busyness to thank God for His goodness in our lives. Certainly we know to give thanks for our homes, food, family, jobs, and a hundred other good things we too often take for granted.
But are you on the list of things you're thankful for? According to v13, you ought to be!
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you... brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But before your head gets too big, realize that the reason you're worth giving thanks for has nothing to do with you and everything to do with what God has done to you and for you:
You are beloved by the Lord;
God chose you to be saved;
This salvation is possible:
Because through the Spirit you are being sanctified (being made holy)
God gave you faith which enables you to see and accept the truth.
God called you to this salvation through the gospel you're now reading and that you hear proclaimed weekly.
So give thanks for yourself for sure, but do so in a way that gives glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God our Father, who loved you and by His grace gave you eternal encouragement and good hope (v16)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to continue to encourage your heart and strengthen you in every good deed and word (v16)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
