2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, Help to Stand Firm in the Faith

Paul has quieted the disquieted spirits of his readers about missing the rapture, reminding them that the Day of the Lord could not have come yet, and them miss the rapture, because certain events had to happen first, that is, the apostasy and the coming on the scene of the man of lawlessness. And he has told them how those who reject the truth will suffer the wrath of God in judgment against them. Now he encourages them about the certainty of their salvation and the confidence this should inspire in them.

^2:13 Yet we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brothers and sisters, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel to be a glorious possession of our Lord, Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold tight to the traditions you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter. ¹⁶ Now our Lord himself, Jesus Christ, and God our Father, who loved you and by His grace gave you eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

Unbelievers will be judged, but the Thessalonians are saved. They are “beloved” by the Lord Jesus and were chosen in eternity past to receive salvation in Christ. They were chosen and then when the time came they were sanctified, or set apart, by the Holy Spirit, who convicted them of the truth (John 16) and drew them to Jesus and gave them faith to believe the truth. The work of the Spirit always precedes the faith of the believer. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:44). We don’t have the ability to believe, Jesus says, but must be enabled to believe by the Father’s drawing action, an action done by the Holy Spirit.

The Thessalonians were chosen from the beginning, then the Spirit moved upon them to believe the gospel when it was preached by Paul and his team. God used Paul’s preaching, his and his team’s gospel, to call these chosen ones to faith and salvation, which Paul terms here as becoming the Lord’s glorious possession. To be possessed by Christ in this way is salvation. It means we belong to him forever, like a valuable treasure.

In light of this certainty of salvation Paul urges his readers to “stand firm and hold tight.” They can stand firm against the persecution coming their way. And they must hold tight to the “traditions” of Christian truth Paul has taught them, personally and through his letter. It was Paul and his team who mediated this message, so he asks the Lord Jesus and God the Father who gave them this salvation, and who gave them an unending source of encouragement and the hope of eternal life, to encourage them and strengthen them in everything they do and say, or as the Greek says, in work and in word.

Can we also embrace this for ourselves, the Lord’s desire to encourage and strengthen us? We are beloved by Him and made His glorious possession. We can stand firm and hold tight to the truth.