2 Thessalonians 3 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Chapter 3. Final Thoughts and an Exhortation to Right Living.

‘Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men. For all have not the faith.'

Paul the seeks their prayers continually, not for himself and his needs, but for the effectiveness of the Gospel through his ministry. As with the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) the concentration is on the setting apart of God's name through the establishing of His Kingly Rule and the doing of His will, not on ourselves.

‘That the word of the Lord may run and be glorified.' The picture is of the word of the Lord going out with speed and vigour (Psalms 147:15), and being so effective that it receives the respect and honour due to it. We can compare Isaiah 55:11-13. It effectively brings about His purposes. ‘The word of the Lord' may signify ‘the teaching and truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ', or alternately ‘the teaching and truth that came from Him', or indeed both. It would include the Scriptures for they were the inspired source of the truth about Him. Paul longs for it to be swiftly and powerfully successful everywhere, as it had been among the Thessalonians, ‘as also with you'.

‘And that we may be delivered from the unreasonable and evil men. For all have not the faith.' His second prayer is for deliverance, not for his own sake but so that the word of God may go forward. ‘The unreasonable and evil men' indicates those who seek to prevent the spread of the Gospel by underhand tactics. Every dirty trick was being played against him. Any method to hand was employed to get rid of him. The word for ‘unreasonable' signifies something that is ‘out of place'.

‘For all have not the faith (or ‘do not have faith'). The ambiguity is not important as to have faith always meant holding the faith. They have not responded to the truth presented and therefore they are not believers. Instead they have believed the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11), and reveal it in their behaviour. That it has within it the thought of faithfulness to God is suggested by the contrast with God's faithfulness in 2 Thessalonians 3:3. He may thus have very much in mind the persecutions by the Jews that he was facing, as he had also faced them in Thessalonika. We must remember his method of going into the synagogues to preach as a Rabbi. This inevitably aroused conflict in those who would not respond to the truth and who thus rejected the new covenant.

‘But the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the Evil One (or ‘evil').

The faithfulness to His own of God and the Lord is Paul's constant theme (1Co 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Timothy 2:13 compare also Hebrews 2:17; Heb 10:23; 1 Peter 4:19; 1 John 1:9). Behind all uncertainty we find the faithfulness of God. It is He Who watches over the Christian's life and will establish and protect us. To establish is to firmly found, to strengthen (compare 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). To build on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

Guarding from the ‘Evil One', and in view of chapter 2 this is the most likely emphasis rather than ‘evil' (compare the cry for deliverance in the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:13), reminds us that God is over all and He protects His own from the machinations of Satan (Joh 17:15; 1 John 5:18; Romans 16:20). They are sealed by God (Revelation 7:3-4 with Revelation 9:4). Thus the evil men of 2 Thessalonians 3:3 are now seen as spurred on by the Evil One of 2 Thessalonians 3:4. Compare how in Revelation John can speak of persecuting Jews as ‘the synagogue of Satan' (Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9), and Pergamos, with its persecuting authorities, as the place of Satan's throne and where Satan dwells (Revelation 2:13). But the fact that we are guarded does not mean that we can be careless about the matter (Ephesians 6:10-19; 2 Corinthians 2:11). We must take heed to put on the armour of God.

Note the change from ‘us' to ‘you'. The memory of what he and his companions had to face also reminded him of the tribulation and persecution the Thessalonians were facing, so as he asked for their prayers, he also prayed for them. They were in partnership together and were to share each other's burdens.

‘And we have confidence in the Lord with regard to you that you both do and will do the things which we command.'

Confident that the Lord will establish and guard them he also has confidence that they are fulfilling and will fulfil what he and his companions ask of them. Whether ‘in the Lord' refers to ‘having confidence in the Lord' that He will be the source of their obedience, or is ‘with regard to you in the Lord', referring to the sphere in which they will be obedient, is an open question but the general idea is the same, confidence in the Thessalonians because of the Lord's activity. ‘The things which we command' probably refers to the commands which are about to follow.

‘And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient endurance of Christ.'

Once again he prays that their lives may be filled with love resulting from God's activity within them, and may have patient endurance through Christ's strengthening (compare 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4). It is possibly love and patient endurance worked in them by God and Jesus Christ, rather than God's own love and Christ's own patient endurance, that are in mind, although he may be thinking of Their love and patient endurance to be seen as examples which produce and encourage a similar response. Of course the one would be intended to beget the other. The reference to patient endurance again emphasises the continual persecution the Thessalonian church is facing.