2 Thessalonians 1

2 Thessalonians 1English Standard Version

Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming
​5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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It's been quite a while since we went through 1 Thessalonians, but as promised, I'm coming back to 2 Thessalonians after we finished the Books of Wisdom.  Remember that Paul had to leave the Thessalonians quickly and didn't get to teach them everything he wanted to, so they wrote him with many questions.  They seem to have been concerned mostly with questions about the Lord's return and how to live a life pleasing to the Lord.

We're starting the Paul's second letter, and he starts with greetings from himself, Silas and Timothy.  He also gives thanks to God for each of them and lets them know how he's been praying for them and speaking about them everywhere he goes--like a father proud of his children.

Last time, Paul spoke much of the encouragement they should have that the Lord is coming for His people on the Day of the Lord.  This time, Paul gives warning that the world will be judged in the Day of the Lord.  God can be both loving and just (more on that when we study the Prophets together), but it has been a theme of the Bible that the day of salvation for those who belong to God is the day of judgment for those who do not belong to Him.

Paul prays for each of them that they will be revealed to have been made in the image of Christ on that day and receive every blessing that belongs to Christ as they will be co-heirs with Him.  We will even receive a glory that is like His, but to a lesser extent.  Until then, we are to live worthy of the calling which we have received--we should live worthy of the citizenship we have received as citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and we should live as Him ambassadors (more on that later).  In this, we glorify the Father and the Son by who we conduct ourselves here and now and we let others see there is another way to live and another king that we should be serving--the one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lord who will one day also be the Juge over the living and the dead.