without blame at the 1coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it. (25) Brethren, pray for us.2 3 (26) Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss. (27) I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren. (28) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 1 Gr. presence. * Some ancient authorities add also. • Many ancient authorities insert holy. natural soul life and their bodily life in every direction against pollution through sin, so that they may finally be found unblamable at the return of Christ. He 24 commends them to Him, who in calling them gave them the assurance, that He would bring them to the consummation of their redemption, because He too will carry out that which He wills and which is necessary for this purpose. In the conclusion of his letter the Apostle commends 25 himself and his companions to their prayer. He urges 26 the officials, to whom this letter was delivered, in their name to greet all the Christian brethren and to seal this greeting with the holy kiss as a sign of the Christian communion of love. The fact that he solemnly 27 adjures them to have this epistle read in the public assembly of the congregation shows, that by this letter he began his dealings with the congregations he had founded and desired first to introduce this custom. But he especially insists that the letter is intended for all, also for those who, perchance, had been led away from him by the slanders that had been spread about him (cf. chapter ii.), and also for those who, perchance, were guilty of the sins reproved in chapter iv. He expressly styles them the saints, because those too, who were by no means all that they ought to have been, nevertheless share in the consecration to God which belongs to the congregation. He closes with the usual salutation, commending them 28 to the blessed communion of the grace of Christ. THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE I THESSALONIANS Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (3) We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one an It must not have been long after the first letter to the Thessalonians that Paul received further news from them, according to which the persecution of the congregation had increased and with these also the fanatical and excited expectation of an impending return of Christ, which should put an end to their sufferings. He felt compelled by these reports to write a second Epistle, the beginning of which reads exactly as does 1 that of the first, only that the salutation is enlarged so 2 as to correspond with that found in later Epistles (cf. Rom. 17). Here, too, Silvanus and Timothy join in with the 3 thanksgiving of the Apostle for that which God has wrought in the congregation. It seems, indeed, that in their great sufferings the readers had little occasion to be thankful. All the more deliberately does the Apostle emphasize the fact, that he and his associates are at all times compelled to render thanks, because such thanksgiving alone is worthy of their joy in the exceptionally great growth of the faith of the congregation and of the increase of their love, in which none of them other aboundeth; (4) so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure; (5) which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (6) if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, (7) and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of 1 Or, stedfastness. is behind the others. Even he and his companion, who 4 were accustomed to place before themselves a higher measure of Christian perseverance than they expect in others, boast of them before the congregations of God on account of their endurance in the faith, which had been severely put to the test in their persecution and in the 5 afflictions which they had to endure. But this, as the Apostle makes prominent for the purpose of strengthening them, is a sign of the just judgment of God. For the more the Gentiles by their persecutions of the believers reveal their hostility to God, and the believers, in patiently enduring these, prove themselves true, so much the nearer must the judgment of God be. If their present condition becomes for them an indication of this fact, then their faith must be strengthened, in order that in the end they may be regarded as worthy of the completed kingdom of God, for the attainment of which their passage through these trials in sufferings is necessary. For, as they well know, it is only just before God, that each one, according to the rule of 6 compensation, should receive exactly according to his deeds; and accordingly those who afflict them will receive affliction, and those who suffer afflictions will receive deliverance from these, such as he and his com- 7 panions also expect. Of course, this can take place only when Jesus is finally revealed as the exalted Lord, by coming from heaven, in company with the angels, of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, (8) rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: (9) Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (10) when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you 1 Gr. good tidings: and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Mt. 4. 23. who are to carry out His commands. To this Paul had already drawn attention in his first Epistle, when he spoke of the glory which awaits both the living and the dead. Now he refers the readers to the reverse of this picture, namely, to the judgment, which then will 8 come over their enemies. In the strong terms of the Old Testament he describes how the Lord will then come in a flame of fire, the symbol of destroying wrath, which will bring just retribution upon the heathens, who have not known God, although He had revealed Himself to them since the creation; and all the more upon those, to whom the gospel of our Lord Jesus 9 Christ had been preached, and who do not obey the demand of God to accept the message of joy. They will be compelled to pay the penalty for this in the eternal destruction which comes upon them from the face of 10 the Lord, who, will carry out His judgment upon them according to the glory of His exalted power. But this can take place only when He shall have come, in order that this glory of His may be revealed in the midst of the angels who accompany Him on His return, and who are here called His saints. Then those, too, will look with amazement at Him, who once had been convinced of the testimony of the Apostle and his associates concerning Him which was given to the Gentiles, and who now see this so wonderfully confirmed in that great day of His return. But as the Apostle in the opening of his letters adds to the thanksgiving a was believed) in that day. (11) To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every 1 desire of goodness and every work of faith, with power; (12) that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. II 3 Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto 1 Gr. good pleasure of goodness. Comp. Rom. 10. 1. prayer for his readers, so here he recalls the fact, that 11 his prayer for them, which at all times accompanies his thanks, has this as its final purpose. For this prayer can only ask that God, who has given to His messengers such success in the congregation, may also regard the readers as worthy of this calling. And for this purpose it is necessary that He powerfully bring to full development all the pleasure in righteousness and all evidences of their faith, which He has so far worked in them. For only in this way can the name with which we confess Jesus as our Lord, be glorified in them, 12 when they confess this name steadfastly, amid all persecutions. And only in this way can they too be glorified in this name, as God has, according to His grace, called them unto glory and has transmitted this His grace to them through the agency of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the deplorable sufferings of the Thessalonians, the 1 excitement of their minds had reached a climax, so that they were daily expecting the advent of the great day of the Lord. For this reason the Apostle is compelled to remind them of the conditions that must yet be fulfilled before the return of Christ. He turns to them with a fraternal petition, at the same time addressing them in the name of his associates. The matter under discussion is the expected return of the Lord Jesus Christ and of their being at once gathered around Him, of which Paul, |