2 Thessalonians 2

2Th 2:1-17.

CORRECTION OF

THEIR

ERROR AS TO

CHRIST'S

IMMEDIATE

COMING.

THE

APOSTASY THAT

MUST

PRECEDE

IT.

EXHORTATION TO

STEADFASTNESS,

INTRODUCED WITH

THANKSGIVING FOR

THEIR

ELECTION BY

GOD.

1. Now--rather, "But"; marking the transition from his prayers

for them to entreaties to them.

we beseech you--or "entreat you." He uses affectionate entreaty,

rather than stern reproof, to win them over to the right view.

(2Co 1:8).

our gathering together unto him--the consummating or final gathering

together of the saints to Him at His coming, as announced,

Mt 24:31;

1Th 4:17.

The Greek noun is nowhere else found except in

Heb 10:25,

said of the assembling together of believers for

congregational worship. Our instinctive fears of the judgment

are dispelled by the thought of being gathered together UNTO HIM ("even as the hen

gathereth her chickens under her wings"), which ensures our safety.

2. soon--on trifling grounds, without due consideration.

shaken--literally, "tossed" as ships tossed by an agitated sea.

Compare for the same image,

Eph 4:14.

in mind--rather as the Greek, "from your mind," that is,

from your mental steadfastness on the subject.

troubled--This verb applies to emotional agitation; as "shaken"

to intellectual.

prophecy

(1Co 12:8-10;

1Jo 4:1-3).

The Thessalonians had been warned

(1Th 5:20, 21)

to "prove" such professed prophesyings, and to "hold fast (only) that

which is good."

2Th 2:5, 15);

some word or saying alleged to be that of Paul, orally communicated. If

oral tradition was liable to such perversion in the apostolic age

(compare a similar instance,

Joh 21:23),

how much more in our age!

forgery. Hence he gives a test by which to know his genuine letters

(2Th 3:17).

day of Christ--The oldest manuscripts read, "day of the Lord."

is at hand--rather, "is immediately imminent," literally, "is

present"; "is instantly coming." Christ and His apostles always

taught that the day of the Lord's coming is at hand; and it is not

likely that Paul would imply anything contrary here; what he denies is,

that it is so immediately imminent, instant, or present, as to

justify the neglect of everyday worldly duties.

CHRYSOSTOM, and after

him ALFORD, translates, "is (already) present" (compare

2Ti 2:18),

a kindred error. But in

2Ti 3:1,

the same Greek verb is translated "come."

WAHL supports this view. The Greek is

usually used of actual presence; but is quite susceptible of the

translation, "is all but present."

3. by any means--Greek, "in any manner." Christ, in

Mt 24:4,

gives the same warning in connection with the same event. He had

indicated three ways

(2Th 2:2)

in which they might be deceived (compare other ways,

2Th 2:9,

and Mt 24:5, 24).

a falling away--rather as the Greek, "the falling away," or

"apostasy," namely, the one of which "I told you" before

(2Th 2:5),

"when I was yet with you," and of which the Lord gave some intimation

(Mt 24:10-12;

Joh 5:43).

that man of sin be revealed--The Greek order is, "And

there have been revealed the man of sin." As Christ was first in

mystery, and afterwards revealed

(1Ti 3:16),

so Antichrist (the term used

1Jo 2:18; 4:3)

is first in mystery, and afterwards shall be developed and revealed

(2Th 2:7-9).

As righteousness found its embodiment in Christ, "the Lord our

righteousness," so "sin" shall have its embodiment in "the man of sin."

The hindering power meanwhile restrains its manifestation; when

that shall be removed, then this manifestation shall take place. The

articles, "the apostasy," and "the man of sin," may also

refer to their being well known as foretold in

Da 7:8, 25,

"the little horn speaking great words against the Most High, and

thinking to change times and laws"; and

Da 11:36,

the wilful king who "shall exalt and magnify himself above every god,

and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods; neither

shall he regard any god."

the son of perdition--a title applied besides to Judas (the traitor,

Joh 17:12),

and to none else. Antichrist (the second "beast" coming up out of the

earth); therefore he shall at first be "like a lamb, while he speaks as

a dragon"

(Re 13:11);

"coming in peaceably and by flatteries," "working deceitfully," but

"his heart shall be against the holy covenant"

(Da 11:21, 23, 28, 30).

Seeds of "the falling away" soon appear

(1Ti 4:1-3),

but the full development and concentration of these anti-Christian

elements in one person are still to appear. Contrast the King of

Zion's coming as JESUS: (1) righteous or

just; (2) having salvation; (3) lowly; whereas

Antichrist is: (1) "the man of (the embodiment of) sin; (2) the

son of perdition; (3) exalting himself above all that is

worshipped. He is the son of perdition, as consigning many to

it, and finally doomed to it himself

(Re 17:8, 11).

"He whose essence and inheritance is perdition"

[ALFORD]. As "the kingdom of heaven" is

first brought before us in the abstract, then in the concrete, the

King, the Lord Jesus; so here, first we have

(2Th 2:7)

"the mystery of iniquity," then "the iniquitous one"

(2Th 2:8).

Doubtless "the apostasy" of Romanism (the abstract) is one of

the greatest instances of the working of the mystery of

iniquity, and its blasphemous claims for the Pope (the concrete)

are forerunners of the final concentration of blasphemy in the man

of sin, who shall not merely, as the Pope, usurp God's honor as

vicegerent of God, but oppose God openly at last.

4.

Da 11:36, 37

is here referred to. The words used there as to Antiochus Epiphanes,

Paul implies, shall even be more applicable to the man of sin, who is

the New Testament actual Antichrist, as Antiochus was the Old Testament

typical Antichrist. The previous world kingdoms had each one

extraordinary person as its representative head and embodiment (thus

Babylon had Nebuchadnezzar,

Da 2:38,

end; Medo-Persia had Cyrus; Greece had Alexander, and Antiochus

Epiphanes, the forerunner of Antichrist); so the fourth and last world

kingdom, under which we now live, shall have one final head, the

concentrated embodiment of all the sin and lawless

iniquity which have been in pagan and papal Rome. Rome's final

phase will probably be an unholy alliance between idolatrous

superstition and godless infidelity.

Who opposeth and exalteth himself--There is but one Greek

article to both participles, implying that the reason why he

opposeth himself is in order that he may exalt himself

above, &c. ALFORD takes the former clause

absolutely, "He that withstands (CHRIST)," that

is, Antichrist

(1Jo 2:18).

As at the conclusion of the Old Testament period, Israel apostate

allied itself with the heathen world power against Jesus and His

apostles

(Lu 23:12;

and at Thessalonica,

Ac 17:5-9),

and was in righteous retribution punished by the instrumentality of the

world power itself (Jerusalem being destroyed by Rome),

Da 9:26, 27;

so the degenerate Church (become an "harlot"), allying itself with the

godless world power (the "beast" of Revelation) against vital religion

(that is, the harlot sitting on the beast), shall be judged by that

world power which shall be finally embodied in Antichrist

(Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2;

Re 17:16, 17).

In this early Epistle, the apostate Jewish Church as the harlot, and

pagan Rome as the beast, form the historical background on which Paul

draws his prophetic sketch of the apostasy. In the Pastoral Epistles,

which were later, this prophecy appears in connection with Gnosticism,

which had at that time infected the Church. The harlot (the apostate

Church) is first to be judged by the beast (the world power) and its

kings

(Re 17:16);

and afterwards the beasts and their allies (with the personal

Antichrist at their head, who seems to rise after the judgment on the

harlot, or apostate Church) shall be judged by the coming of Jesus

Himself

(Re 19:20).

Anti-Christian tendencies produce different Antichrists: these separate

Antichrists shall hereafter find their consummation in an individual

exceeding them all in the intensity of his evil character [AUBERLEN]. But judgment soon overtakes him. He is

necessarily a child of death, immediately after his

ascent as the beast out of the bottomless pit going into

perdition

(Re 17:8, 11).

Idolatry of self, spiritual pride, and rebellion against

God, are his characteristics; as Christ-worship, humility,

and dependence on God, characterize Christianity. He not merely

assumes Christ's character (as the "false Christs,"

Mt 24:24),

but "opposes" Christ. The Greek implies one situated

on an opposite side (compare

1Jo 2:22;

2Jo 7).

One who, on the destruction of every religion, shall seek to establish

his own throne, and for God's great truth, "God is man," to substitute

his own lie, "Man is God" [TRENCH].

above all that is called God--

(1Co 8:5).

The Pope (for instance, Clement VI) has even commanded the angels to

admit into Paradise, without the alleged pains of purgatory, certain

souls. But still this is only a foreshadowing of the Antichrist, who

will not, as the Pope, act in God's name, but against

God.

or that is worshipped--Rome here again gives a presage of Antichrist.

The Greek is Sebasma; and Sebastus is the Greek for

Augustus, who was worshipped as the secular ruler and divine vicegerent.

The papacy has risen on the overthrow of Cæsar's power. Antichrist

shall exalt himself above every object of worship, whether on earth

as the Cæsar, or in heaven as God. The various prefigurations of

Antichrist, Mohammed, Rome, Napoleon, and modern infidel secularism,

contain only some, not all, his characteristics. It is the

union of all in some one person that shall form the full Antichrist, as

the union in one Person, Jesus, of all the types and prophecies

constituted the full Christ [OLSHAUSEN].

in the temple of God . . . that he is God--"He will

reign a time, times, and half a time"

(Da 7:25),

that is, three and a half years, and will sit in the temple at

Jerusalem: then the Lord shall come from heaven and cast him into

the take of fire and shall bring to the saints the times of their

reigning, the seventh day of hallowed rest, and give to Abraham the

promised inheritance" [IRENÆUS, Against

Heresies, 30.4].

showing himself--with blasphemous and arrogant

DISPLAY (compare a

type,

Ac 12:21-23).

The earliest Fathers unanimously looked for a personal Antichrist. Two

objections exist to Romanism being regarded the Antichrist,

though probably Romanism will leave its culmination in him: (1)

So far is Romanism from opposing all that is called God, that

adoration of gods and lords many (the Virgin Mary and saints) is a

leading feature in it; (2) the papacy has existed for more than twelve

centuries, and yet Christ is not come, whereas the prophecy regards the

final Antichrist as short-lived, and soon going to perdition through

the coming of Christ

(Re 17:8, 11).

Gregory the Great declared against the patriarch of Constantinople,

that whosoever should assume the title of "universal bishop" would be

"the forerunner of Antichrist." The papacy fulfilled this his

undesigned prophecy. The Pope has been called by his followers, "Our

Lord God the Pope"; and at his inauguration in St. Peter's, seated in

his chair upon the high altar, which is treated as his footstool, he

has vividly foreshadowed him who "exalteth himself above all that is

called God." An objection fatal to interpreting the temple of

God here as the Church

(1Co 3:16, 17; 6:19)

is, the apostle would never designate the apostate

anti-Christian Church "the temple of God." It is likely that, as

Messiah was revealed among the Jews at Jerusalem, so Antimessiah shall

appear among them when restored to their own land, and after they have

rebuilt their temple at Jerusalem. Thus

Da 11:41, 45

(see on

Da 11:41;

Da 11:45),

corresponds, "He shall enter the glorious land (Judea), and he shall

plant the tabernacles of his palaces between the seas in the

glorious holy mountain"; and then

(Da 12:1)

"Michael, the great prince, shall stand up" to deliver God's people.

Compare Note, see on

Da 9:26, 27.

Also the king of Assyria, type of Antichrist

(Isa 14:12-14).

"Lucifer" (a title of Messiah, assumed by Antichrist,

Re 22:16);

"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." "I will sit upon the

mount of the congregation (that is, God's place of meeting His

people of old, the temple), in the sides of the north

(Ps 48:2);

I will be like the Most High."

Re 11:1, 2,

"The temple of God . . . the holy city" (namely, Jerusalem,

Mt 4:5),

compare

Ps 68:18, 29,

referring to a period since Christ's ascension, therefore not yet

fulfilled

(Isa 2:1-3;

Eze 40:1-44:31;

Zec 14:16-20;

Mal 3:1).

"In the temple of God," implies that it an internal, not an

external, enemy which shall assail the Church. Antichrist shall, the

first three and a half years of the prophetical week, keep the

covenant, then break it and usurp divine honors in the midst of the

week. Some think Antichrist will be a Jew. At all events he will, "by

flatteries," bring many, not only of the Gentiles, but also of "the

tribes" of Israel (so the Greek for "kindreds,"

Re 11:8, 9),

to own him as their long-looked-for Messiah, in the same "city where

our Lord was crucified." "Sitteth" here implies his occupying the place

of power and majesty in opposition to Him who "sitteth on the right

hand of the Majesty on high"

(Heb 1:3),

and who shall come to "sit" there where the usurper had sat

(Mt 26:64).

See on

Da 9:27;

Re 11:2, 3, 9, 11.

Compare

Eze 38:2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16,

as to Tyre, the type of Antichrist, characterized by similar

blasphemous arrogance.

5. Remember, &c.--confuting those who represent Paul as having labored

under error as to Christ's immediate coming when writing his first

Epistle, and as now correcting that error.

I told you--more than once, literally, "I was telling," or "used to

tell."

6. now ye know--by my having told you. The power must have been one

"known" to the Thessalonians.

what withholdeth--that which holds him back; "keeps him in

check": the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full and

final development, is

the moral and conservative influence of political states

[OLSHAUSEN]:

the fabric of human polity as a coercive power; as "he who now

letteth" refers to those who rule that polity by which the great

upbursting of godlessness is kept down

[ALFORD]. The "what withholdeth"

refers to the general hindrance; "he who now letteth," to

the person in whom that hindrance is summed up. Romanism, as a

forerunner of Antichrist, was thus kept in check by the Romanemperor (the then representative of the coercive power) until Constantine,

having removed the seat of empire to Constantinople, the Roman bishop

then to sole empire above the secular power. The historical fact from

which Paul starts in his prediction was probably the emperor Claudius'

expulsion of the Jews, the representative of the anti-Christian

adversary in Paul's day, from Rome, thus "withholding" them in some

degree in their attacks on Christianity; this suggested the principle

holding good to the end of time, and about to find its final fulfilment

in the removal of the withholding person or authority, whereupon Antichrist in his worst shape shall start up.

that he might be--Greek, "in order that": ye know that

which keeps him back, in God's purposes, from being sooner manifested,

"in order that he may be revealed in his own time"

(that is, the time appointed by God to him as his proper time for being

manifested), not sooner (compare

Da 11:35).

The removal of the withholding power will be when the civil polity,

derived from the Roman empire, which is to be, in its last form,

divided into ten kingdoms

(Re 17:3, 11-13),

shall, with its leading representative head for the time being ("he who

now letteth," Greek, "withholdeth," as in

2Th 2:6),

yield to the prevalent godless "lawlessness" with "the lawless one" as

its embodiment. The elect Church and the Spirit cannot

well be, as DE BURGH

suggests, the withholding power meant; for both shall never be

wholly "taken out of the way"

(Mt 28:20).

However, the testimony of the elect Church, and the

Spirit in her, are the great hindrance to the rise of the apostasy;

and it is possible that, though the Lord shall have a faithful few even

then, yet the full energy of the Spirit in the visible Church,

counteracting the energy or "working" of "the mystery of lawlessness"

way," or set aside, as to admit the manifestation of "the

lawless one"; and so DE BURGH'S'S view may be right

(Lu 18:8;

Re 11:3-12).

This was a power of which the Thessalonians might easily "know" through

Paul's instruction.

7. the mystery of iniquity--the counterwork to "the mystery of

godliness"

(1Ti 3:16).

Anti-Christianity latently working, as distinguished from its

final open manifestation. "Mystery" in Scripture means, not what

remains always a secret, but that which is for a while hidden, but in

due time manifested (compare

Eph 3:4, 5).

Satan will resort to a mode of opposition more conformed to the then

imminent "appearing" and "presence" of the Saviour, and will anticipate

Him with a last effort to maintain the dominion of the world

[DE BURGH], just as at His

first advent he rushed into open opposition, by taking possession of

the bodies of men. "Iniquity," Greek, "lawlessness";

defiant rejection of God's law (compare Note, see on

Zec 5:9,

Zec 5:10).

"Wickedness" (translated by the Septuagint by the same

Greek, meaning "lawlessness," which Paul employs here), embodied

there as a woman, answers to "the mystery of iniquity," here embodied

finally in "the man of sin": as the former was ultimately banished for

ever from the Holy Land to her own congenial soil, Babylon, so iniquity

and the man of sin shall fall before Michael and the Lord Himself, who

shall appear as the Deliverer of His people

(Da 12:1-3;

Zec 14:3-9).

Compare

Mt 12:43.

The Jewish nation dispossessed of the evil spirit, the demon of

idolatry being cast out through the Babylonian captivity, receives

ultimately a worse form of the evil spirit, Christ-opposing

self-righteousness. Also, the Christian Church in course of time taken

possession of by the demon of Romish idolatry, then dispossessed of it

secularity, and rationalism, but "swept empty" of living faith, then

finally apostatizing and repossessed by "the man of sin," and

outwardly destroyed for a brief time (though even then Christ

shall have witnesses for Him among both the Jews,

Zec 13:9,

and Gentiles,

Mt 28:20),

when Christ shall suddenly come

(Da 11:32-45;

Lu 18:7, 8).

already--

(2Jo 9, 10;

Col 2:18-23;

1Ti 4:1);

compare "even now already"

(1Jo 2:18; 4:3)

as distinguished from "in his own time" of being revealed

hereafter. Antiquity, it appears from hence, is not a

justification for unscriptural usages or dogmas, since these were

"already," even in Paul's time, beginning to spring up: the written

word is the only sure test. "Judaism infecting Christianity is the

fuel; the mystery of iniquity is the spark." "It is one and the same

impurity diffusing itself over many ages"

[BENGEL].

only he who now letteth will let--The italicized words

are not in the Greek. Therefore, translate rather, "only (that

is, the continuance of the MYSTERY of

iniquity-working will be only) until he who now

withholdeth (the same Greek as in

2Th 2:6)

be taken out of the way." "Only (waiting,

Heb 10:13)

until he," &c. Then it will work no longer in mystery, but in

open manifestation.

8. Translate, "the lawless one"; the embodiment of all the godless

"lawlessness" which has been working in "mystery" for ages

(2Th 2:7):

"the man of sin"

(2Th 2:3).

whom the Lord--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "the Lord

Jesus." How awful that He whose very name means

God-Saviour, should appear as the Destroyer; but the

salvation of the Church requires the destruction of her foe. As

the reign of Israel in Canaan was ushered in by judgments on the

nations for apostasy (for the Canaanites were originally

worshippers of the true God: thus Melchisedek, king of Salem, was the

"priest of the most high God,"

Ge 14:18:

Ammon and Moab came from righteous Lot), so the Son of David's reign in

Zion and over the whole earth, is to be ushered in by judgments on the

apostate Christian world.

consume . . . and . . . destroy--So

Da 7:26,

"consume and destroy";

Da 11:45.

He shall "consume" him by His mere breath

(Isa 11:4; 30:33):

the sentence of judgment being the sharp sword that goeth out of His

mouth

(Re 19:15, 21).

Antichrist's manifestation and destruction are declared in the same

breath; at his greatest height he is nearest his fall, like Herod his

type

(Isa 1:24-27;

Ac 12:20-23).

As the advancing fire, while still at a distance consumes little

insects [CHRYSOSTOM] by its mere heat, so Christ's

mere approach is enough to consume Antichrist. The mere "appearance of

the coming" of the Lord of glory is sufficient to show to Antichrist

his perfect nothingness. He is seized and "cast alive into the take of

fire"

(Re 19:20).

So the world kingdoms, and the kingdom of the beast, give place to that

of the Son of man and His saints. The Greek for "destroy" means

"abolish" (the same Greek is so translated,

2Ti 1:10);

that is, cause every vestige of him to disappear. Compare as to Gog

attacking Israel and destroyed by Jehovah

(Eze 38:1-39:29),

so as not to leave a vestige of him.

with the brightness of his coming--Greek, "the manifestation, (or appearance) of His presence": the first outburst of His

advent--the first gleam of His presence--is enough to abolish utterly all traces of Antichrist, as darkness disappears before the

dawning day. Next, his adherents are "slain with the sword out of His

mouth"

(Re 19:21).

BENGEL'S distinction between "the appearance of

His coming" and the "coming" itself is not justified by

1Ti 6:14;

2Ti 1:10; 4:1, 8;

Tit 2:13,

where the same Greek for "appearing" (English

Version, here "the brightness") plainly refers to the coming

itself. The expression, "manifestation (appearing) of His

presence," is used in awful contrast to the revelation of the

wicked one in the beginning of the verse.

9. whose coming--The same Greek as was used for

the Lord's coming

(2Th 2:8)

or personal "presence."

is--in its essential character.

after--according to the working ("energy") of Satan, as

opposed to the energy or working of the Holy Spirit in

the Church (see on

Eph 1:19).

As Christ is related to God, so is Antichrist to Satan, his visible

embodiment and manifestation: Satan works through him.

Re 13:2,

"The dragon gave him (the beast) his power . . . seat

. . . great authority."

lying wonders--literally, "wonders" or "prodigies of falsehood." His

"power, signs, and wonders," all have falsehood for their base,

essence, and aim

(Joh 8:44),

[ALFORD]. In

Mt 24:24

Jesus implies that the miracles shall be real, though demoniac, such

mysterious effects of the powers of darkness as we read of in the case

of the Egyptian sorcerers, not such as Jesus performed in their

character, power, or aim; for they are against the revealed Word, and

therefore not to be accepted as evidences of truth; nay, on the

authority of that sure Word of prophecy (here, and

Mt 24:24),

to be known and rejected as wrought in support of falsehood

(De 13:1-3, 5;

Ga 1:8, 9;

Re 13:11-15; 19:20).

The same three Greek words occur for miracles of Jesus

(Ac 2:22;

Heb 2:4);

showing that as the Egyptian magicians imitated Moses

(2Ti 3:1-8),

so Antichrist will try to imitate Christ's works as a "sign," or

proof of divinity.

10. deceivableness--rather as Greek, "deceit of (to

promote) unrighteousness"

(2Th 2:12).

in--The oldest manuscripts and versions omit "in." Translate,

"unto them that are perishing"

(2Co 2:15, 16; 4:3):

the victims of him whose very name describes his perishing

nature, "the son of perdition"; in contrast to you whom

(2Th 2:13)

"God hath from the beginning chosen to salvation through

sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."

because--literally, "in requital for"; in just retribution for their

having no love for the truth which was within their reach (on

account of its putting a check on their bad passions), and for their

having "pleasure in unrighteousness"

(2Th 2:12;

Ro 1:18);

they are lost because they loved not, but rejected, the truth

which would have saved them.

received not--Greek, "welcomed not"; admitted it not cordially.

love of the truth--not merely love of truth,

but love of THE

truth (and of, Jesus who is the Truth, in opposition to Satan's

"lie,"

2Th 2:9, 11;

Joh 8:42-44),

can save

(Eph 4:21).

We are required not merely to assent to, but to love the truth

(Ps 119:97).

The Jews rejected Him who came in His divine Father's name; they will

receive Antichrist coming in his own name

(Joh 5:43).

Their pleasant sin shall prove their terrible scourge.

11. for this cause--because "they received not the love of the

truth." The best safeguard against error is "the love of the truth."

shall send--Greek, "sends," or "is sending"; the "delusion" is

already beginning. God judicially sends hardness of heart on those who

have rejected the truth, and gives them up in righteous judgment to

Satan's delusions

(Isa 6:9, 10;

Ro 1:24-26, 28).

They first cast off the love of the truth, then God gives them up to

Satan's delusions, then they settle down into "believing the lie": an

awful climax

(1Ki 22:22, 23;

Eze 14:9;

Job 12:16;

Mt 24:5, 11;

1Ti 4:1).

strong delusion--Greek, "the powerful working of error,"

answering to the energizing "working of Satan"

(2Th 2:9);

the same expression as is applied to the Holy Ghost's operation in

believers: "powerful" or "effectual (energizing) working"

(Eph 1:19).

believe a lie--rather, "the lie" which Antichrist tells them,

appealing to his miracles as proofs of it . . .

(2Th 2:9).

12. they all . . . damned--rather as Greek,

"that all," &c. He here states the general proposition which

applies specially to Antichrist's adherents. Not all in the Church of

Rome, or other anti-Christian systems, shall be damned, but only "all

who believed not the truth," when offered to them, "but had

pleasure in unrighteousness"

(Ro 1:32; 2:8).

Love of unrighteousness being the great obstacle to believing

the truth.

13. But--In delightful contrast to the damnation of the lost

(2Th 2:12)

stands the "salvation" of Paul's converts.

are bound--in duty

(2Th 1:3).

thanks . . . to God--not to ourselves, your ministers, nor to you,

our converts.

beloved of the Lord--Jesus

(Ro 8:37;

Ga 2:20;

Eph 5:2, 25).

Elsewhere God the Father is said to love us

(2Th 2:16;

Joh 3:16;

Eph 2:4;

Col 3:12).

Therefore Jesus and the Father are one.

from the beginning--"before the foundation of the world"

(Eph 1:4;

compare

1Co 2:7;

2Ti 1:9);

in contrast to those that shall "worship the beast, whose names are not

written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of

the world"

(Re 13:8).

Some of the oldest manuscripts read as English Version, but

other oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "as

first-fruits." The Thessalonians were among the first converts

in Europe (compare

Ro 16:5;

1Co 16:15).

In a more general sense, it occurs in

Jas 1:18;

Re 14:4;

so I understand it here including the more restricted sense.

chosen you--The Greek, is not the ordinary word for "elected,"

implying His eternal selection; but taken for Himself, implying

His having adopted them in His eternal purpose. It is found in the

Septuagint

(De 7:7; 10:15).

through--rather as Greek, "in sanctification" as the element

in which the choice to salvation had place (compare

1Pe 1:2),

standing in contrast to the "unrighteousness," the element in which

Antichrist's followers are given over by God to damnation

(2Th 2:12).

of the Spirit--wrought by the Spirit who sanctifies all the elect

people of God, first by eternally consecrating them to perfect holiness

in Christ, once for all, next by progressively imparting it.

belief of the truth--contrasted with "believed not the truth"

(2Th 2:12).

14. you--The oldest manuscripts read, "us."

to . . . glory--In

2Th 2:13

it was "salvation," that is, deliverance from all evil, of body and

soul

(1Th 5:9);

here it is positive good, even "glory," and that "the glory of our Lord

Jesus" Himself, which believers are privileged to share with Him

(Joh 17:22, 24;

Ro 8:17, 29;

2Ti 2:10).

15. Therefore--God's sovereign choice of believers, so far from

being a ground for inaction on their part, is the strongest incentive to

action and perseverance in it. Compare the argument,

Php 2:12, 13,

"Work out your own salvation, FOR it is God

which worketh in you," &c. We cannot fully explain this in

theory; but to the sincere and humble, the practical

acting on the principle is plain. "Privilege first, duty afterwards"

[EDMUNDS].

stand fast--so as not to be "shaken or troubled"

(2Th 2:2).

hold--so as not to let go. Adding nothing, subtracting nothing

[BENGEL]. The Thessalonians had not held fast his

oral instructions but had suffered themselves to be imposed upon by

pretended spirit-revelations, and words and letters pretending to be

from Paul

(2Th 2:2),

to the effect that "the day of the Lord was instantly imminent."

traditions--truths delivered and transmitted orally, or in

writing

(2Th 3:6;

1Co 11:2;

Greek, "traditions"). The Greek verb from which the noun

comes, is used by Paul in

1Co 11:23; 15:3.

From the three passages in which "tradition" is used in a good

sense, Rome has argued for her accumulation of uninspired

traditions, virtually overriding God's Word, while put forward as of

co-ordinate authority with it. She forgets the ten passages

(Mt 15:2, 3, 6;

Mr 7:3, 5, 8, 9, 13;

Ga 1:14;

Col 2:8)

stigmatizing man's uninspired traditions. Not even the apostles'

sayings were all inspired (for example, Peter's dissimulation,

Ga 2:11-14),

but only when they claimed to be so, as in their words afterwards

embodied in their canonical writings. Oral inspiration was necessary in

their case, until the canon of the written Word should be complete;

they proved their possession of inspiration by miracles wrought in

support of the new revelation, which revelation, moreover, accorded

with the existing Old Testament revelation; an additional test needed

besides miracles (compare

De 13:1-6;

Ac 17:11).

When the canon was complete, the infallibility of the living men was

transferred to the written Word, now the sole unerring guide,

interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Little else has come down to us by the

most ancient and universal tradition save this, the

all-sufficiency of Scripture for salvation. Therefore, by tradition, we

are constrained to cast off all tradition not contained in, or not

provable by, Scripture. The Fathers are valuable witnesses to

historical facts, which give force to the intimations of

Scripture: such as the Christian Lord's day, the baptism of infants,

and the genuineness of the canon of Scripture. Tradition (in the sense

of human testimony) cannot establish a doctrine, but can

authenticate a fact, such as the facts just mentioned. Inspired

tradition, in Paul's sense, is not a supplementary oral tradition

completing our written Word, but it is identical with the

written Word now complete; then the latter not being complete,

the tradition was necessarily in part oral, in part written, and

continued so until, the latter being complete before the death of St.

John, the last apostle, the former was no longer needed. Scripture is,

according to Paul, the complete and sufficient rule in all that

appertains to making "the man of God perfect, throughly

furnished unto all good works"

(2Ti 3:16, 17).

It is by leaving Paul's God-inspired tradition for human traditions

that Rome has become the forerunner and parent of the Antichrist. It is

striking that, from this very chapter denouncing Antichrist, she should

draw an argument for her "traditions" by which she fosters

anti-Christianity. Because the apostles' oral word was as trustworthy

as their written word, it by no means follows that the oral word of

those not apostles is as trustworthy as the written word

of those who were apostles or inspired evangelists. No tradition of the

apostles except their written word can be proved genuine on

satisfactory evidence. We are no more bound to accept implicitly the

Fathers' interpretations of Scripture, because we accept the Scripture

canon on their testimony, than we are bound to accept the Jews'

interpretation of the Old Testament, because we accept the Old

Testament canon on their testimony.

our epistle--as distinguished from a "letter AS from us,"

2Th 2:2,

namely, that purports to be from us, but is not. He refers to his first

Epistle to the Thessalonians.

16, 17. himself--by His own might, as contrasted with our

feebleness; ensuring the efficacy of our prayer. Here our Lord

Jesus stands first; in

1Th 3:11,

"God our Father."

which . . . loved us--in the work of our redemption. Referring both

to our Lord Jesus

(Ro 8:37;

Ga 2:20)

and God our Father

(Joh 3:16).

everlasting consolation--not transitory, as worldly consolations in

trials

(Ro 8:38, 39).

This for all time present, and then "good

hope" for the future [ALFORD].

through grace--rather as Greek "IN grace"; to be joined to "hath

given." Grace is the element in which the gift was made.

17. Comfort your hearts--unsettled as you have been through those

who announced the immediate coming of the Lord.

good word and work--The oldest manuscripts invert the order, "work

and word." Establishment in these were what the young converts at

Thessalonica needed, not fanatical teaching (compare

1Co 15:58).