‘So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure, a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingly Rule of God for which also you suffer, if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to those who afflict you.'
Their faith and love were so great and abounding that Paul and his companions were able to hold them up as an example, and glory in them in other churches. This was especially so because of their patient endurance and faith in the midst of afflictions and tribulations. They were steadfast and unwavering, and thus an example to all. Some would translate ‘faith' as ‘faithfulness'. This is quite possible. But faithfulness results from faith. It is because of faith that men are faithful. Thus their growing faith (2 Thessalonians 1:3) ensured their faithfulness.
‘A manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.' Their response to their tribulations and afflictions are an openly revealed evidence, a clear token, that God's aim to count them worthy of the Kingly Rule of God is a righteous judgment. This is not to say that they have merited their promotion, but that their lives reveal them to have so responded to Christ that they can now, through His sacrificial working, be ‘counted worthy' of it. By revealing now their worthiness in their weakness they are able to be ‘counted as worthy' of the greater prize. Note that they are only ‘counted worthy', they are not so in actuality, for they were once undeserving sinners. Nevertheless their lives, and bold response to persecution as a result of their true faith, can be seen as evidence that they are those who have truly turned their backs on sin and have been accounted righteous by God, by faith, thus being seen as ‘accounted as deserving' of the everlasting kingdom. Compare James 2:18, ‘I by my works will show you my faith'. Thus they can be ‘accounted as worthy' (even though not being so) of the kingdom of God. The verb is kataxio-o, an o-o verb (like dikaio-o = to account as righteous) which indicates judicial pronouncement rather than actual reality. Note how the idea is confirmed in 2 Thessalonians 1:11.
We may see this as also indicating that for Him to bring His people through affliction to final salvation is itself an indication of the righteous judgment of God in His dealings with them, in that He also takes into account the sacrifice made on their behalf, which can be assumed here rather than being mentioned. Through their persecution they are seen as entering into His sufferings. And it is clear from the context that also Included in that righteous judgment is God's rebounding affliction on their persecutors (2 Thessalonians 1:6). So both the ways of the righteous, and their reward, and the ways of sinners, and their reward, reveal the righteous judgment of God.
Thus we may see it as signifying that their persecution and affliction, and their response to it, both demonstrate that God is righteous in judging the just and the unjust, and determining their eternal futures.
Note On ‘The Righteous Judgment of God' In This Passage.
There can be no doubting that the thought contained in this phrase is wide ranging, for it has in mind both God's righteous dealings with sin, and with people, and with the inevitable eternal consequences, for both believers and unbelievers of those dealings. For we should note that in fact the whole passage (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12) has to do with the righteous judgment of God, and with its consequences, for both. Thus in some way the persecution of God's people, and the way that they respond to it, is to be seen as proof positive that His dealings with both believers and unbelievers is just and righteous.
In this regard it will be noted that 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 deal in some depth with God's righteous judgment on unbelievers, declaring that such judgment is a righteous thing for God to do, while 2 Thessalonians 1:10-12 then revert to believers declaring that they in their turn will not suffer the righteous judgment of God in the future but will enjoy His favour, something that, having endured their present affliction, they can look forward to. Thus it may well be that we are to see ‘the righteous judgment of God' as having wide reference in the passage.
One of the aspects of this passage is undoubtedly that Paul is seeking to explain the rationale of the present sufferings of His people. We may see his first point as being that sin brings suffering, so that even His people, because they are sinful, do have to endure suffering, even though it is only temporary suffering. And this in itself is then seen as pointing to the rightness of unbelievers also one day having to suffer in an even more severe way. The first is to be seen as a 'clear pointer' (manifest sign) to the second, and is positive proof that the latter will one day take place as well. While evil men may often appear to ‘get away with it' in this life, the sufferings of the saints are absolute evidence that they will not get away with it in the end. We can compare the Psalmist who was so perplexed about the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked, until he ‘considered their latter end' (Psalms 73).
Also behind this passage is surely the idea of the supreme Example of ‘innocent suffering' (although it is not patent in this passage) of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We can undoubtedly say that the very sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross are proof positive of the sufferings to come of those who do not take advantage of the cross. That indeed is why He suffered. It was to deliver the ‘many' from the fate that all deserved. Thus those who do not respond must still suffer that fate. This passage then says that His people to some extent share with Him in those sufferings in order to demonstrate the same. The fact that they can be allowed to suffer (even though redeemed) is absolute evidence of the inevitable consequences of sin.
We should note at this point that it is not directly God Who is seen as causing them to suffer, but rather that He is seen as graciously allowing them to suffer at the hands of the world alongside His Son in the carrying forward of His purposes so that the world may doubly prove the rightness of they themselves being judged, first in having crucified Christ Himself, and secondly in having made the righteous suffer. Thus His people are seen as being allowed to have a part in the sufferings of Christ as a testimony to the world of their own coming righteous judgment.
One question that arises is as to what the 'which is', which is incorporated into many translations (preceding ‘a manifest token'), refers. It is not actually in the Greek and has to be 'read in', and we have in fact omitted it. The fact that it was omitted may be seen as indicating that it is the nearest phrase which is being referred to i.e. 'the persecutions and afflictions which you endure.' But there is good reason for thinking that in context we are also to see as included the earlier reference to their steadfastness in the face of that persecution.
If we see the major reference as being to their persecutions and afflictions then it underlines the fact that the thought is that what they are suffering is a clear pointer (a manifest token) to the suffering that will eventually come on the unrighteous when they face the righteous judgment of God. In other words it is saying that if God allows the righteous to suffer, how much more deserving of suffering are the unrighteous. So the idea then is that if the righteous are thought worthy of suffering at the hands of the unrighteous, (both as a result of God's permissive will and as the verdict of the unrighteous on what they see as wrong), how much more will the unrighteous be seen as worthy of suffering at the hand of the Righteous One when they really have been wrong. (The righteous God will see it as only just. The unrighteous will have no grumble because they will be being treated as they have treated others, and thus in accordance with their own verdict).
But there is an added factor brought out by the reference to His people being 'accounted worthy of the kingdom of God, which suggests that Paul also has their perseverance and steadfast faith in mind.. This therefore brings out that included in the thought is that their endurance in affliction itself is to be seen as demonstrating the rightness of the gracious activity of God in strengthening and maintaining His people in the face of suffering, revealing by it both His concern on their behalf (His righteous judgment) and also their right to participate in the glory to come as a result of being 'accounted as worthy' for Christ's sake. It also further reveals His divine justice in that one of the reasons why His people have also had to endure suffering is because it is a consequence of sin, sin in which they had previously participated. They are not being punished by God, because they have been redeemed. But they are being allowed to suffer some of the consequences of sin. However, the saving factor is that having suffered a little while at the hands of unrighteous men His people can then be 'accounted worthy' (even though they are not) to enter God's righteous kingdom.
The consequence is that as others see the sufferings and afflictions of God's people they should take to heart the lesson that if the righteous have to suffer in this way how much more is it certain that one day the unrighteous will have to suffer. The sufferings of the righteous are thus to be seen as a token proof both of the consequences of sin and of the judgment that it calls down on the sinner. And meanwhile that suffering of the righteous is bearing witness to the world, and is preparing them for the glorious future that awaits them, and they are able to rejoice in it in that thereby they are sharing in their Saviour's suffering. 'If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him' (2 Timothy 2:12).
End of note.
‘To the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingly Rule of God for which also you suffer, if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to those who afflict you.' Both those who believe and those who reveal their disbelief by their behaviour towards God's people will receive their deserts, the one by being counted worthy of the Kingly Rule of God having suffered affliction, the other by receiving affliction, partly in this life but mainly in the day of Judgment. It was when he considered ‘their end' that the Psalmist became reconciled to the justice of God (Psalms 73:17). ‘If so be that it is a righteous thing' indicates that if it is right for God to afflict the unbeliever who persecutes believers, (and it is), then it is equally right that He reward the believers with coming under the glorious Kingly Rule of God, having been ‘counted as worthy' through the blood of Christ.