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. - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (ESV)
Second Thessalonians is a letter written by Paul during his missionary journeys, probably around A.D. 50, when Paul was in Corinth. The Thessalonians are doing well and Paul is grateful for them. They are suffering but faithful. Christ has not returned despite what some are saying, and the Thessalonians should continue to pray for and imitate Paul and his godly companions. Paul wants to encourage the Thessalonians in the middle of what sounds like significant suffering and affliction. Paul also wants to clear up confusion about whether Christ had already returned. Paul also wants to give final instructions to ward off ungodliness and ungodly examples. Readers can learn much about how to think as believers. They can also be exhorted to strive to follow the example of Christ like Paul and to live lives worthy of imitation.
The Big Idea of 2 Thessalonians
I have taught the big idea of Second Thessalonians as the following: Endure Suffering and Remain Faithful. Paul teaches the Thessalonians that times of suffering and affliction are not times to wilt but to thrive in faith and love. Believers need to stand firm together under faithful teaching and loving relationships with each other.
An Outline of 2 Thessalonians
Chapter 1: Keep Excelling in Your Suffering
Paul opens this letter by encouraging the Thessalonians to keep excelling in their suffering. He tells them how he is obligated to give thanks to God for their thriving faith and love and how he boasts about them to other churches. All of this is due to their reaction to the afflictions through which they are persevering. He encourages the Thessalonians in the rest of the chapter that those who afflict them will be judged and justice will be done. Christ will be glorified in them and they are right to wait faithfully for him.
Chapter 2: You Will Know When the Lord Has Returned
In chapter two, Paul proceeds to reassure the Thessalonians that they will know when the Lord has returned. Because of this, they do not need to listen to those who say that He already has. Paul describes how a person called “the man of lawlessness” will first appear by the power of Satan, but Jesus will kill him at his appearing.[1] In the meantime, the Thessalonians should hold fast to what they have been taught by Paul and his companions and not fall prey to false teaching from others.
Chapter 3: Pray for and Imitate Us
Paul ends this short letter with a call to the Thessalonians to pray for them and to imitate them. Paul knows he needs protection from evil that prayer on his behalf can make happen. As Paul has not grown weary in doing good, neither should the Thessalonians. Paul ends with a blessing on the Thessalonians to the effect that the Lord might give them peace in everything and always.
Benefits of 2 Thessalonians
This letter confronts suffering and difficulties head-on. We learn from this that, far from being a deterrent to growth in grace, suffering can rather catalyze it. Suffering does not destroy or hinder growth. Instead, suffering and afflictions expose weakness and shallowness, pushing us to sink our roots, our dependence and trust, in the Lord rather than ourselves or something else. In this way, suffering and affliction are a painful blessing, pushing us closer to Christ and uncovering the lie that the things we count on are able to sustain our hope or provide the strength that we need.
Paul interacts with the Thessalonians about their difficulties in a different way than we often do today. Paul does not say something like, “I am so sorry about all the hardship you have going on, Thessalonians. I will pray for you.” In that case, Paul’s prayer would be about the hardships and sufferings, that they might cease so that the Thessalonians can suffer less.
To be sure, Paul does express compassion for the Thessalonians. But he does not tell them that he will pray for their burden to be eased. Instead, he tells them that his prayer is for them to be comforted by God and to be established in every good work and deed. Paul does care about the Thessalonians’ suffering, but he does not pray for relief from the suffering. Rather, he prays for comfort through the suffering.
This is a different tack from what we normally take, or from what I normally take. We tend to think and act as though the really difficult thing, the problem, is that there is suffering in the world and there should not be. Comfort and ease are the status quo, but it is interrupted by suffering. When that happens, we pray things back to the status quo.
The problem is that it flies in the face of Paul’s example here. Suffering and affliction are taken to be the status quo, while a pain-free and pleasant life is the exception. What we need to drive for is not a life of less pain and unpleasantness but more faith and love. The pain and trials in this life are to be expected. But by God’s grace, we can thrive in faith and love because of the hope of the gospel. Christ paved the way to glory through suffering. We do not suffer for the sake of others as He did, but if we follow in Christ’s steps, we can expect to encounter similar experiences. We should not be surprised by suffering. We should expect. And we should pray to God for ourselves and each other that we will endure suffering and remain faithful in it. We can also pray for one another that God will comfort and help us. Suffering that is expected does not remove its pain, only the disappointment that we will experience it, and that is no small thing.
[1] 2 Thessalonians 2:4.