BIG IDEA:
SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN THE MIDST OF PERSECUTION MERITS A GOOD REPUTATION
INTRODUCTION:
Gordon Fee: In this remarkable thanksgiving—a single sentence embracing all of verses 3–10—Paul does two things. In the first part (vv. 3–4), and very typically, he thanks God for the perseverance of the Thessalonians in the midst of their present trials. But in the second part (vv. 6–9) he launches into a considerable pronouncement of coming judgment on those responsible for their suffering, while concluding (v. 10) with a word of eschatological hope for those who believe. The clauses that constitute our verse 5 serve a transitional role between these two distinguishable elements.
Thus, in a manner somewhat similar to that in 1 Thessalonians, but unlike that of his later letters, Paul uses the actual thanksgiving report (vv. 3–4) to address his first major concern as well—the Thessalonian believers’ ongoing persecution and suffering at the hands of their fellow Gentiles (vv. 6–9). The result is the most exceptional of the Pauline thanksgivings, in that, beginning with verse 6, he focuses less on the Thessalonians themselves and more on God’s final judgment of their enemies. This initial thanksgiving thus evolves into the first of the three major concerns in the letter, namely to encourage the Thessalonian believers in the face of increased “persecutions and trials” (v. 4). The major part of it (vv. 6–10) is intended to demonstrate God’s justice in light of this present, apparently increased, persecution, concluding with the assurance of their own eschatological future. The result is a truly remarkable “thanksgiving,” since ultimately it focuses not on the believers themselves but on God’s final judgment of their enemies; and it is this future certainty that is apparently intended to encourage the Thessalonians and thus to cause them to take hope in the midst of present trials.
Grant Osborne: This is a three-part message. Paul begins by thanking and praising them for their continuing growth in the Lord in verses 3–4, then encourages them that they would be vindicated and their persecutors punished in the end (vv. 5–10), and finally exhorted to live worthily of God (vv. 11–12). These people had been through a lot, forced to be on their own way too early when persecution led to the flight of Paul and his team to Berea then Athens in Acts 17:13–16. They had to develop their own leadership and learn how to endure severe persecution, and yet they flourished through it all and became models for others to emulate (1 Thess 1:4–10). This spiritual growth continued, and so Paul once again lauds them for their accomplishments.
Ligon Duncan: There are problems in this church, there are trials that they are facing, and there are issues for him to address, but Paul is under a joyful compulsion to thank God for what he is doing in the lives of the Thessalonians.
How do we fight [the temptation to be discontent]? With gratitude—with thanksgiving. The apostle Paul had more reasons to complain than any of us, and yet he put a priority on thanksgiving. He shows us the way to fight discontentment: by acknowledging the Lord. We need to learn to say, “Lord, whatever good things you’ve brought into my life, I did not deserve them. They are your gift, and therefore I’m under an obligation to be thankful to you.” In other words, we fight discontentment by learning to sense, like Paul, that there is so much to be thankful to God for that we are under an obligation to be thankful to him. In salvation, God has given all of us what we don’t deserve; and in not punishing us for our sin, he has not given any of us what we do deserve. That’s just the start! When you think about the real, concrete, tangible blessings that God has given you, it will cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving; you will live under a sense of obligation to be grateful. This is not a grudging obligation: “Oh, I have to be grateful.” It is a willing obligation: “It would be wrong for me not to be grateful given what God has done for me.”
Notice that Paul does not thank the Thessalonians themselves for any of this. No: “We ought always to give thanks to God for you” (2 Thessalonians 1:3, my emphasis). The direction of the thanks is to God. Paul knows that growing in faith and love is the result of God’s work in a person. We didn’t build our faith; he did. He’s the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2, KJV). If you’re a loving person, you didn’t create that love in yourself—God’s love created that love in you. Our faith and our love have their origin in the work of the Holy Spirit. The credit goes to him. When we realize this, it humbles us, and it makes us grateful.
I. (:3b) OBSERVABLE SPIRITUAL GROWTH
A. In Faith – Growing in their relationship to God
“because your faith is greatly enlarged”
B. In Love – Growing in their relationship to one another
“and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.”
John Piper: “He does not say that he thanks God simply because they have faith and love, but because their faith is growing abundantly and their love for each other is increasing. It’s the beauty of growth and progress that fill him with joy.”
Michael Martin: Paul had heard about the confusion some of the Thessalonians were experiencing regarding the parousia (2:1–12) and about the problem of those in the congregation who were idle busybodies (3:6–13). But these did not blind him to the good news he also apparently received that the faith of the church continued to grow in spite of these difficulties. In typical Pauline style he began the letter with affirmation, not correction.
Faith and love in conjunction reflect both the theological and the ethical increasing aspects of the Thessalonians’ Christian commitment. If “faith” is directed Godward (as is common in Paul’s writings; cf. Gal 3:26; Eph 1:15; Col 1:4), “love” directed toward other believers serves to balance the affirmation of the Christian growth of the church. Special emphasis is placed on the inclusiveness of the love of the church in v. 3. In a clause that would sound redundant if translated literally, the apostle celebrated the love that each and every one of them had for one another.
Gordon Fee: Such giving of thanks “always for you, brothers and sisters,” is fitting because of what Paul has learned about their staying true to the gospel in terms of both their faithfulness to Christ and their love for one another. Indeed, they are more than simply staying true; in each case they are showing signs of “increase.” At the same time, it should be pointed out, these are also the two Christian virtues that need further attention in this community. In fact, the main parts of this letter address some deficiencies in these two aspects of Christian life for which they are also being praised. Thus both the content and the unusually long nature of the present “thanksgiving” seem aimed directly at their “faith”—as a means of bolstering it by reassuring them of God’s sure eschatological justice, despite present circumstances. Bolstering this faith seems also the ultimate concern of the eschatological reminders in 2:1–12. The matter of “love” for everyone is then addressed in 3:6–16.
II. ENCOURAGEMENT FROM A GOOD REPUTATION
A. (:3a) Encouragement from the Thanksgiving of Others to God
- Ongoing Thanksgiving
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren”
Jeffrey Weima: The fuller expression “We ought to give thanks to God,” therefore, along with the parenthetical phrase “as it is fitting,” does not mean that Paul views thanksgiving as a duty rather than a joy. Instead, the apostle is simply acknowledging, as do others of his day, the need for gratitude to be given to God since he is responsible for the growth of faith and love in the lives of the Thessalonian Christians. That this growth took place in the context of significant opposition and trial is, in Paul’s mind, truly remarkable and thus precipitated his shift from the expected, simple “We give thanks” to the fuller and more powerful expression used here to open his thanksgiving. This shift also stems from the larger concern of Paul at work in the passage, to comfort his readers. To his recent converts in Thessalonica, who are suffering opposition to their faith from their fellow citizens (1 Thess. 2:14), it will be comforting to hear how Paul, their spiritual “father” (1 Thess. 2:11), has found it not only “fitting” but even obligatory to give thanks to God because of their remarkable spiritual growth.
- Appropriate Thanksgiving
“as is only fitting”
B. (:4) Encouragement from the Praise of Others – Testifying to your
Good Example among the Churches
- Source of Praise
“therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you”
G.K. Beale: The way Paul uses “boasting” in his other letters (thirty-five times) confirms that the true people of God can boast only in God about their Christian character and never in themselves (see, e.g., 1 Cor 1:29-32).
- Sphere of Praise – “among the churches of God”
- Focus of Praise — “for your perseverance and faith”
- Degree of Difficulty — “ in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.”
Edmond Hiebert: “Persecutions designates the hostile actions of the enemies of the gospel, while afflictions relates to the varied pressures and painful experiences they have endured because of their faith.”
Michael Martin: The persecution apparently generated from the inception of the church continued (though possibly in various forms and with varied intensity) through the time of the writing of both letters.
Grant Osborne: The present tense throughout stresses as well as the use of “all” make it clear the opposition did not cease when Paul and his team left for Berea but continued to the present time and seemed unceasing. He uses two terms to describe their troubles—“persecutions and trials,” once more emphasizing the intensity of the mistreatment. The pagans are throwing everything they have (short of martyrdom) at this young church, trying to eradicate it forever.
Transition to the eschatological emphasis of the epistle:
C. (:5) Encouragement from the Conviction of the World
- Perseverance and Faith Speak Loudly
“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment”
Gordon Fee: Paul is concerned with two matters at once: that the Thessalonians’ understand
(a) the nature and purpose of their suffering, and
(b) the role their suffering plays in anticipating God’s righteous judgments on their enemies.
- Our Conduct Should Measure up to Our Calling
“so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God”
John Piper: “God’s design in the suffering of his persecuted people is that they be found worthy of the kingdom at the last day. This doesn’t mean that we become deserving of the kingdom. It means we become fit for it. There is a holiness (though not a perfection) without which we will not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14) and God works that holiness in us (Hebrews l3:2l) largely through the discipline of suffering (Hebrews 12:3-11).”
Grant Osborne: The present result of this process is that they “will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.” The sufferings they are enduring are the blows of the sculptor’s hammer fashioning out of the lump of rock that is their lives a masterpiece of creation, a God-worthy warrior of the divine kingdom. God is the implied agent wielding the hammer and creating something magnificent out of all their troubles. The picture is of the process of troubles involved in this new creation. It is the now and not-yet of the inaugurated kingdom that is in view, and it involves not only their present vindication but also their future glory. So their present suffering is a positive event in which divine judgment is already proving itself dikaios, just and right.
G.K. Beale: Therefore, God’s righteous judgment in 1:5 is not the judgment of the ungodly but includes implicitly God’s verdict that delivers believers from coming wrath because Jesus suffered that wrath for them. Explicitly in mind is that a person’s enduring faith in Christ’s death and resurrection and the accompanying fruits of such faith are evidence that God’s righteous judgment has been passed in one’s favor. Though God has commenced passing this judgment already, the focus of this context is on the completion of the juridical decision in the future to vindicate saints from the final punishment to be suffered by unbelievers.
- Suffering is Painful but Passing
“for which indeed you are suffering.”