Travelling through 1 Thessalonians 01 How do I know if God loves me and has chosen me?

This is the first of a series of articles on 1 Thessalonians

How can I be sure God loves me? How do know I am elect? Read 1 Thessalonians 1 and ask yourself 

1. Has the gospel come to me with words and with power, the Spirit and deep conviction? Obviously, it is the norm for the elect to hear the message. Paul knows the Thessalonians are loved by God and chosen by him (5a) because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. Some hear the gospel but it makes no difference. Mere hearing guarantees nothing. It is basic, though. All God's elect hear the gospel - may be through you or me. Have you heard?

A mother says “tidy your room”. The child does nothing. He hears but does not respond. Similarly, it is only the elect who know the word coming with power, the Spirit and deep conviction. It may not come like that at first but it will. The elect not only hear the call to repent and believe but are able to do so. Power is vital for conversion. This is why one person leaves church untouched while another is converted. The Spirit makes the difference. The one who breathed out God's Word, when it is preached, takes it and uses it to transform those God has chosen.

The deep conviction could be the preacher's. Preachers must be deeply convinced and convincing. What happens when someone is converted is that they also become deeply convinced of the gospel. Are you aware of the gospel's transforming power? Of the Spirit in your life? Are you deeply convinced? You have reason to believe God loves you and has chosen you.

2. Has it come to me so that I imitate believers and Christ, welcome the message with Holy Spirit joy and have a faith that is known?

aul not only preached to the Thessalonians, he says You know how we lived among you or your sake. It was only for a short time but it had an impact. Verses 6-8 say more of how Paul knew God loved them and had chosen them.

He says You became imitators of us and of the Lord. The people saw how Paul lived and began to imitate him. He himself was imitating Christ so they were really imitators of Paul and Christ. Another mark of one loved and chosen by God is that he begins to imitate Christ and his followers. He wants to live as a Christian and, to some extent, like Christ.

Paul also observes how in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. Acts 17 reveals the strong early opposition. Paul recalls how despite this, they welcomed the message with Spirit given joy. So, after a more general reference to the Spirit and his transforming power, Paul also speaks of how he gives joy to genuine converts, a happiness independent of circumstances, another mark of the elect. By way of example, recall Latimer's dying words, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out.”

Verses 7 and 8 are specific to the Thessalonians but it points to the tendency of conversion. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it …. Sometimes the faith a person shows is quite striking. What an impact the gospel has, say, when someone turns from paganism to the truth and quite suddenly. In some cases everyone knows, it seems. Whenever anyone is converted, someone will know. Real faith cannot be hidden long. Sometimes, many know of it. Do people know about your faith? It is another evidence pointing to God's love and election.

3. Has it come to me so that I have turned from idols to serve the living and true God and wait for his Son my Saviour to come from heaven and rescue me? 

The final set of criteria, negative and positive (verses 9 and 10) say For they themselves (the people who spoke of the Thessalonians' faith) report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols. Many of the converted were people who daily worshipped pagan idols. Others were Jews who unknowingly worshipped demons. In each case there was a turning away from idols, another characteristic of people God really loves and has chosen.

The positive side is that they began to serve the living and true God. This is what happened in Thessalonica so long ago and what has happened to us if we are truly loved by God and chosen by him. We turned from dead, false idols to serve the living and true God from then on. Have you turned from idols to serve God? Are you serving him today? You have reason to believe God loves you and has chosen you.

The very last verse adds and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. There are several things there. Jesus is God's Son; he died and rose; he rescues from the coming wrath; he is now in heaven; he will return before the day of wrath. His servants, all those loved by the true and living God and chosen by him, wait for Christ's return. You hear of people waiting to be rescued. It is very hard, even when you know someone will come, to be patient and hold on until they arrive but that is what Christians do. Are you waiting for Christ's return? You have another reason to believe God loves you and has chosen you.

This article on 1 Thessalonians 1 first appeared in The Evangelical Magazine produced by the EMW.

The Barren Fig Tree Exegesis Mark 11:12-14

The one thing that all the commentators do agree about regarding Mark 11:12-14 is that it is difficult. ‘This narrative bristles with difficulties’, says Cranfield. (1) ‘One of the most perplexing in the Gospels’, wrote A M Hunter. (2)

For many exegetes problems arise from their approach to Scripture. For Hunter and others like him the story is ‘frankly incredible’. (3) They have two main problems with the incident. They find it both irrational and revolting’. (4) Revolting, because the story ‘does not ring true’ (5) with their ideas on Jesus’ character. William Barclay speaks of his ‘petulance’ and J B Phillips of Jesus ‘venting his feeling of frustration and despair upon the fig tree.‘(6) But there is need neither to accuse Jesus of sin nor to see the story as a legendary concretising’ of Luke 13:6-9 for aetiological purposes. (7)  As Bengel asserts ‘Whatever does not serve Jesus Christ is unworthy to serve any one of mortals.’ (8)

Then there is verse 13 which, for some, makes Jesus’ behaviour irrational. Certainly there is a problem. ‘The juxtaposition of the two seemingly contradicting assertions heightens the difficulties, for the explicit statement that it was not the season for figs appears to make Jesus’ action arbitrary and meaningless’. (9)  Of course, some are willing to cut the Gordian knot and remove verse 13, even though it is typical of Mark’s asides. (10)  Surely the better path is to take comfort in the belief the problem is one ‘which evidently the Evangelist did not feel as he deliberately makes it for us.‘ (11) But what is the solution to this apparent difficulty?

A number of evangelical commentators want to find the solution in the possibility of very late or very early figs. (12) However, the idea that Jesus would not have looked for figs without some hope of there being any ‘assumes too much’. Vincent Taylor is scathing about such a line of argument and says it has ‘nothing to commend it’. (13)  Bengel’s idea that Jesus may have been looking for inedible figs to miraculously transform is fanciful and bizarre. (14)

In order to do true justice to the passage one has to accept the following three propositions:

1. It was not possible for edible fruit to be on the tree regardless of how much foliage it had put forth

There are two crops for the fig tree, one early and one late. The first is in May or June and the second is in August or later still. (15) The incident occurs, of course, in April or even March, when, as Mark points out, ‘it was not the season for figs’. It was too soon for the early crop to be ready and too late for anything edible to he remaining from the previous year. ‘There was then no reason to expect fruit upon this tree beyond the promise of its leaves’. (16)

2. Jesus knew that this was the case

Wuest suggests that Jesus 'at least hoped to find figs on the tree' and stresses the 'self-imposed human limitations' of the incarnation, while warning against any denial of Christ's basic omniscience. (17) However, here common sense, a knowledge of his own land, would have been enough to convince Jesus that, regardless of appearances, there could be no fruit on the tree. Gould says ara is illiative here (ie denoting motion into) (18) and R Alan Cole states ‘The Greek particle ara suggests that the finding of figs was an unlikely possibility contemplated by the Lord; he was thus in no sense surprised the tree's unfruitfulness as he would have been had it been the time of the regular fruit crop.' (19)

3. Jesus’ hunger was nevertheless real

J A Alexander fulminates, ‘That this was a simulated hunger, is not only unworthy and irreverent but a perfectly gratuitous assumption as our Lord, by his incarnation, shared in all the innocent infirmities of human nature’. (20) This is where the Lord’s humanity appears, in his hunger not in his supposed ignorance.

An important Scripture for unravelling the remaining difficulties is one apparently ignored by everyone except Catvin. (21) That is John 4:31-34. On that occasion Jesus dealt with his hunger by doing the work of God. It is the same here.

After spending the night in Bethany Jesus and his disciples set off for Jerusalem early in the morning. Had he skipped breakfast as Henry suggests? (22) Being an area rich in figs, dates and olives it was reasonable for him to think of getting something on the way.

Jesus then looks up and sees a leafy fig tree in the distance, ‘a derelict perhaps of some old garden or vineyard’. (23) Perhaps it was in some sheltered hollow and so was more leafy, more precocious. (24) Jesus is aware, however, that it is not the season for figs. Immediately, his mind is turned from the natural to the spiritual. A number of Scriptures may have come to mind. Micah 7:1, 2 seems the most likely suggestion

What misery is mine!

I am like one who gathers summer fruit

at the gleaning of the vineyard; 

there is no cluster of grapes to eat,

none of the early figs that I crave.

The godly have been swept from the land;

not one upright man remains.

All men lie in wait to shed blood;

each hunts his brother with a net.

Christ weeping over Jerusalem is vividly brought to mind (Mt 23:37; Lk 13:13:34). Seeing the beautiful foliage and knowing it all means nothing reminds him of the judgement about to fall on his own people. Cranfield is one of many commentators who notice the careful way Mark has woven the clearing of the Temple into the narrative, 'The best commentary on vv 12-14 and 20f is found in the narrative these verses enframe.' (26)

Many other Old Testament references identify God's people with the fig tree. Hosea 9, and especially verses 10 and 16, echoes the sentiments found here. Israel was not short of 'foliage' - the Temple and it spiritual, outward and legalistic acts of virtue, a form of godliness. But what was lacking was actual fruit, the fruit of righteousness. Like the fig tree they were 'louder than all the rest in profession, yet behind in performance'. (27) This was the very thing that John the Baptist had warned about (Mt 3:7-10) and that Jesus too had spoken of (Mk 7:6). Israel's sin was not just the sin of barrenness but of barrenness with the appearance of fruitfulness.

The warning of this enacted parable, for such it was, is still needed today. Ryle, in his 'Expository Thoughts on the Gospels' applies it admirably.

There was a voice in the fig tree for all the branches of Christ's visible Church, in every age and every part of the world. There was a warning against an empty profession of Christianity, unaccompanied by sound doctrine and holy living, which some of those branches would have done well to lay to heart. But above all there was a voice in that withered fig tree for all carnal, hypocritical, and false-hearted Christians. Well would it be for all who are content with a name to live while in reality they are dead, if they would only see their own faces in the glass of this passage.

Let us take care that we each individually learn the lesson that this fig tree conveys. Let us always remember that baptism, and church-membership, and reception of the Lord's supper, and diligent use of the outward forms of Christianity, are not sufficient to save our souls. They are leaves, nothing but leaves, and without fruit will add to our condemnation. Like the fig leaves of which Adam and Eve made themselves garments, they will not hide the nakedness of our souls from the eye of an all-seeing God, or give us boldness when we stand before Him at the last day. No: we must bear fruit, or be lost for ever! There must be fruit in our lives, - the fruit of repentance toward our Lord Jesus Christ, - and true holiness in our conversation. Without such fruits as these, a profession of Christianity will only sink us lower into hell.

References

1 C E B Cranfield, Cambridge Greek New Testament Commentary, St Mark with supplementary notes, Cambridge 1972, p 354 2 A M Hunter, Torch Bible Commentary, St Mark, London 1949, p 110 3 Hunter, p 110 4 Bundy, quoted in D E Nineham, Pelican Commentary, St Mark, London 1963, p 225 5 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible, Mark's Gospel, Edinburgh 1975 6 J B Phillips, Peter's Portrait of Jesus, London 1976, p 104 11 7 See A W Blunt, Clarendon Bible, St Mark, 1939, p 226 and Hugh Anderson, New Century Bible Commentary, London 1976, p 263f

8 Bengel's 'Gnomon', Vol I p 553 9 William Lane, NICNT, GOSPEL OF MARK, Grand Rapids 1974, p 399 10 Cf eg 3:30, 5:42, 7:3,4 etc 11 Richard Glover, A Teacher's Commentary on the Gospel of St Mark, London 1957, p 208 12 These include Barnes, Bengel, Cole, Hendriksen, Ryle and Swift (NBC rev) 13 Vincent Taylor, The Gospel according to Mark, London 1952, p 458

14 Bengel, p 553 15 This is the consensus of the commentaries and dictionaries consulted. 16 H B Swete, Greek Testament with notes and indices, The Gospel according to Mark, Cambridge 1920 17 Kenneth S Wuest, Word Studies, Mark, Grand Rapids, 1950, p 219 18 Ezra Gould, ICC, St Mark's Gospel, Edinburgh 1896, p 211 19 R Alan Cole, Tyndale NTCs, Leicester & Grand Rapids 1971, p 177 20 J A Alexander, Mark, 1858, Edinburgh & Carlisle Pa 1960, p 303 21 John Calvin, Harmony of the Synoptics, Vol 3 P 18 Baker ed, (CTS trans)

22 Matthew Henry, Commentary, Vol 5 p 526 (MacDonald ed) 23 Swete, p 254 24 Alford's word in his 4 vol Greek Testament 25 See Lane pp 401,402. Following Bird he argues that the final clause of v 13 should translate, 'and the significant thing about this is that it was not the season for figs'. Such passages come where 'Jesus alludes to the Scriptures without explicitly quoting them'. 26 Cranfield, p 357 27 See the list in Lane, p 400 28 Glover, p 208 29 J C Ryle, Expository thoughts on the Gospels, Mark, 1856, Cambridge 1973, p 234

This was Exegesis 11 in Foundations. See here.

Gideon and his fleece – a model for guidance?

In Exodus 20:15 God says You shall not steal. It is a command and few people have ever tried to deny its plain meaning. In Acts 16:3 it says of Paul and Barnabas that after the people had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The 1689 Baptist Confession concludes, therefore, that today elders “should be solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer” (26:9). However, not all churches committed to the confession would vigorously enforce the rule.

Why the distinction? It is because Exodus 20:15 is prescriptive and Acts 16:3 is descriptive and so although the latter may give a good example that ought to be followed, we cannot insist on it in the same way that we can with not stealing.

Gideon

The Book of Judges is chiefly descriptive rather than prescriptive. At the end of Judges 6 we are told how Gideon twice put out a fleece in order to reassure himself that God was with him in the task he had been given of repelling the Midianites. On both occasions he was rewarded with a wonderfully assuring miracle. In light of this passage some Christians in the past, and perhaps still today, will speak of “putting out a fleece” in order to know God's guidance. Other Christians react quite strongly against speaking in such terms.

Some Christians assume that Gideon's example is a good one, while many others would point out not only that there is no command to “put out a fleece” but would even question whether what Gideon did was a good thing anyway. It was a lack of faith rather than example of faith they contend. There are several questions then. Did Gideon do right? If so, has he left us with an example to follow? If not, is there something to avoid here? 

Man of faith

Certainly, we should be very slow to criticise a man who is held up to us in the New Testament as an example of a man of faith. He is not criticised for testing the Lord in the way he did anywhere in Scripture. We need to remember too that Gideon's circumstances were very different to ours today. Unlike us he had no New Testament; he had very little of the Old Testament, either. The Holy Spirit was on him but the Spirit had not been poured out in abundance as he later was. For us today, looking to God for a special sign to confirm our decisions can be a form of laziness rather than a form of godliness.

Gideon does show a certain immaturity perhaps. Even he fears God's anger when he asks for a second miraculous sign of confirmation. Bruce Waltke reminds us too that Gideon was not making a decision about what car to buy or what college to go to. Such decisions are important but “are not on the same scale with determining the course of a nation whom God has selected for a blessing”.

Looking for signs

It is understandable that many writers warn against looking for signs to guide us. The story is told of a woman wanting guidance about whether to go on a trip to Israel. After reading the brochure about the available trip in bed one night, she prayed that the Lord would give her a sign as to whether she should go. She then fell asleep with the brochure next to her. Waking the next morning the first thing she saw was the digital clock reading 7:47. Given that the flight to Israel was to be on a Boeing 747 she had the sign she wanted it seemed and booked that day!

Another story describes someone committed to missionary work but wanting a sign as to where to serve. Entering a shop one day they see Brazil nuts and they are convinced it is a sign that they should serve in Brazil. (What if they had fixed their eyes on the Mars bars, I wonder?) One of the problems with such examples is that they are not really like Gideon's experience anyway. What Gideon sought and found was a double miracle not to guide him about what to do but to reassure him in what he was about to do. This is quite different to these other examples. Such sign seeking is also open to abuse. Spurgeon told a story of a woman who was very much into such signs coming to a minister seeking guidance. The truth was that her mind was already made up and so he told her to listen to the church bells and see what they were saying. It seemed to her that they were saying “Do it! Do it!” So she went and did it. And she later regretted it. Now the bells seemed to say “Never do it! Never do it!”

Warnings

It is true that Jesus warns us that A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! We ought to take care that we are not merely seeking signs for their own sake. However, to look to our Father for reassurance and encouragement along the way is surely not wrong. When a big dog is barking who can object to a child holding her father's hand a little tighter and asking “Will it be okay?”

God has already given us many “fleeces” that encourage us to go in the right direction. Poor, weak creatures as we are, however, we sometimes need further reassurances that God is leading us. To seek such signs is not necessarily laziness or superstition.

For a man who is new to the ministry, for example, to pray for someone to be converted through his preaching in those early days as a sign that God is going to use him is surely not wrong. To ask for some sort of encouraging sign in a new job – a fellow Christian or a sympathetic boss - is surely not to be outlawed. Yes, we must trust the Lord but he is a gentle Father and to ask, in the spirit in which Gideon asked, for a sign of God's favour is surely not a lack of faith but a desire to have our faith strengthened.

Condescension

The lesson to be learned from Gideon's fleece then is really to do with the condescension of God. Charles Simeon called attention to this in a sermon on the passage. He says

It is true, we are not authorised to specify the terms on which we will credit the divine testimony, or to expect any visible signs in confirmation of God’s word: yet are we not a whit less assured of his condescension and grace, than Gideon ... We shall find, in his very covenant which he has made with us, the very same condescension to our weakness, and the very same desire to satisfy our minds … And … in the promises … We see, then, that at this day God is the same as in the days of old; and that still, as formerly, “he will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till he bring forth judgement unto victory.”

Conclusions

Surely it is correct to say that Gideon did right when he asked for reassurance in the way he did. Matthew Henry notes that

Though he took the boldness to ask another sign, yet he did it with such fear and trembling as showed that the familiarity God had graciously admitted him to did not breed any contempt of God's glory, nor presumption on God's goodness.

The story does not necessarily give us an example to follow in some wooden way but it does reassure us of God's compassion. It also suggests that when a servant of God is going about the Lord's work and becomes aware of his weakness, it is perfectly acceptable for him to seek reassurance from God that he is in the way of duty. We do not expect miracles to reassure us or even strange signs but we can ask that God will bless us in certain ways, ways that will serve to reassure us in our efforts to serve him.

First published in Grace Magazine

Reading the New Testament 1 Timothy

Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus are collectively known as the pastoral letters as in them Paul writes to those with pastoral oversight. The letters contain teaching highly relevant to the Christian ministry.

Paul

Paul's authorship has been questioned by some, even though this view has been strongly held from the earliest times and despite the testimony of the letters themselves.

Reasons advanced for a later author can be readily answered. The fact Gnostic teachers rejected it is hardly reason for us to do so. Supposed discrepancies in the historical references in the letters and suggestions that they do not fit in with Acts disappear if we accept that Paul was imprisoned, then released, travelled and was then imprisoned a second time. It has also been suggested that the organisation of the local churches evident in the Pastorals is too advanced for any period in Paul’s life. However, an examination of Acts shows this not to be so. Acts 6 may be the inauguration of the role of deacons; elders were established in Acts 14:23 even before Paul had completed his first missionary journey. 

The false teaching Paul counters is regarded by some as being from the Second Century, when Gnosticism was more fully developed. However, some matters Paul raises evidence a strong Judaistic flavour, for instance - genealogies and the Law (1 Timothy 1) circumcision and Jewish myths (Titus 1). This fits with the difficulties the churches were experiencing in Paul’s lifetime.

It has been asserted that the style is unlike Paul's. There are differences in style and content in the Pastorals compared with Paul’s earlier letters, but none that cannot be accounted for by age and experience. There are similar differences between the letters Paul wrote while he was free and travelling and those written when in prison. Such changes over the years should not surprise us. The fact the letters bear his name should be enough!

Timothy

Timothy was born in Lystra to a Greek father and a Jewish mother. He was raised in the Jewish faith and knew the Scriptures from childhood (2 Timothy 3:15). His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were believers and Timothy was probably converted during Paul’s visit on his first missionary journey. When Paul returned on his second journey, he took Timothy with him. To avoid offending Jews in the region who knew his father was Greek, Paul had Timothy circumcised. He then shared in the evangelisation of Macedonia and Achaia and was with Paul for three years in Ephesus. He also accompanied him to Jerusalem and was with Paul when he was under house arrest in Rome. His name appears with Paul’s at the head of the letters to the Colossians and Philemon. When Paul was released, he eventually travelled to Ephesus, then left Timothy there to sort out the difficulties that had arisen. When Paul was imprisoned again he urged Timothy to join him, which he probably did. Hebrews 13:23 refers to Timothy having been released, so it would seem he too suffered imprisonment for a while.

When we look at the letters for signs of Timothy’s personality, we see that he was not particularly forceful, though Paul considers him trustworthy. He is told not to let anyone despise his youth (1 Timothy 4:12) and so he was under the age of 40. He was also timid and perhaps overwhelmed by his responsibilities. Paul urges him to stir up the gift within and tells him God has not given us a spirit of timidity. The aged apostle refers to the young man’s tears (2 Timothy 1:6-14). The instruction to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake suggests he had physical afflictions, perhaps the result of his nervous and shy disposition. There is a tradition that Timothy was martyred during the reign of Emperor Domitian or Nerva, sometime in the last two decades of the First Century.

Ephesus

The situation of the Ephesian church, as presented to its pastor, is one where professing believers of Jewish background were actively promoting wrong teaching, giving attention to myths and endless genealogies. These were important to the Jews, for instance in proving ancestry for the priesthood. They wanted to be teachers of the Law, Paul says, though they did not understand the Law's purpose. It seems that while Paul was under arrest in Rome there were developments in the Ephesian church that he would not have allowed had he been there. He delegates to Timothy responsibility for correcting bad practice and doctrinal deviation. There may have been moral lapses on the part of some. Hymenaeus and Alexander (1:20) seem to have been guilty of such things and were put under discipline.

The church's structure and organisation seems to have developed. The office of elder and of deacon are fixed and perhaps a certain amount of prestige had become attached to these roles. Therefore Paul has to emphasise the qualifications required of those aspiring to such positions. The term elder (Greek presbuteros) is used interchangeably with bishop, overseer (Greek episkope) as can be seen from Titus 1:5, 7. Elder refers to the maturity and understanding needed; overseer is more about the work done. We also see in 1 Timothy that the church kept a list of widows in need of financial support. Paul lays down criteria for recognising who is eligible for the list.

Outline

The theme of the letter is 'Advice to a young preacher'.

1. Greetings 1:1-2

2. The problem 1:3-17

The problem outlined 1:3-11

Paul’s experience of the gospel and call 1:12-17

3. The conduct of the church 1:18-4:5

The aim of the charge 1:18-20

Prayer 2:1-8

Worship by women 2:9-15 

The office of overseer 3:1-7

The Office of deacon 3:8-13

Parenthesis 3:14-16

Apostasy 4:1-5

4. Timothy’s Conduct 4:6-6:19

Personal conduct in general 4:6-16

Relationships with different groups:

5:1-6:2 Widows

5:1-16 Elders

5:17-19 Backsliders

5:20-25 Slaves

6:1-2 False teachers

6:3-8 The greedy

6:9-10 Timothy’s purity and spiritual battle

6:11-16 The use of wealth 6:17-19

5. Closing greetings 6:20, 21

This is a personal letter and at times it is as if Paul is talking to Timothy. Some verses seem to have no context, as in 5:23 where Paul tells Timothy not to drink only water. It is the kind of sentence that would occur to someone while talking and be interjected into the flow of conversation. Paul reminds Timothy of his commission - to fulfil the work of the ministry, especially in relation to the situation at Ephesus. He mentions Timothy’s responsibility seven times (1:18; 4:6,12,16; 5:21; 6:11, 20). Timothy was in danger of giving up and needed to be brought back to the duties laid on him by Paul and the Lord. To do this he needs both to pay attention to himself and his own walk with God and to keep in mind the desired conduct and organisation of the church.

This article was first published in Grace Magazine and was the last in the series, the final 10 books not being covered

Reading the New Testament 2 Thessalonians

'A bit sharper in tone than the first and also briefer'. This is how one writer speaks of 2 Thessalonians. The suggestion has been made that there were two churches in Thessalonica, a Gentile one and a Jewish one and that is why we have two letters but such an idea totally lacks support.

In a previous article on Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians we said something about the city of Thessalonica, the church that Paul established there under God and the first letter itself. We will not repeat that here but go on to look at Paul's second letter.

Paul's letters to the Thessalonians are among his earliest writings and interestingly they show that at a relatively early stage in Paul's preaching the message was well established and there was a well defined body of doctrine. In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 there is a reference to the traditions they had received (So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings [or traditions] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.) and in 3:6 it says that they should avoid any practices that are not according to this tradition (In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching [or traditions] you received from us.) It would have been an oral tradition at this point in the development of the Christian church but it was clearly defined and known. This last reference to it (3:6) shows that it included ethical teaching as well as doctrine. The teachings of the apostle were to be received as authoritative, as is made clear in the slightly earlier letter Galatians. No other teaching could be substituted for it. Paul shows to the Thessalonians that this is not just his own personal authority but one that comes from God. They received his message as it really is, God's Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13). 

The Second Letter

Paul's second letter was probably written fairly soon after the first, while he was still in Corinth, in AD 52 or 53. It was intended to help clear up some further misunderstandings about the Second Coming - that it was going to be very soon or else that the Day of the Lord had already come. They may have misunderstood what Paul had written in his first letter. Otherwise, they may have been influenced by some other false teaching. In 2:2 he warns them not to be shaken or disturbed by a spirit or message supposedly from him. It may be that Paul is having to deal with teaching falsely attributed to him. He wrote to them so that they could identify the approach of the true Day of the Lord.

The criteria he sets before them for this were obviously understandable to them at the time, though they it may not be quite so clear to us today, especially the identity of the man of lawlessness and whatever it is that is restraining him at the moment. Paul writes You know what is restraining him now (2:6). The Thessalonians obviously did not have to indulge in the protracted eschatological debate that has characterised attempts to interpret that verse in more recent times!

It seems that Paul puts before them three things that must happen before the Lord will come again

1. A great increase in godlessness and apostasy (2:3)

2. The removal of some restraining influence (2:6,7) You know what restrains him now … He who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

3. The manifestation of complete evil, the incarnation of evil, energised by Satan (2:9) who will exalt himself as God, the one traditionally called the man of sin and the son of perdition and whom modern versions refer to as the lawless one and the man doomed to destruction.

We do not find such teaching elsewhere in Paul’s New Testament writings, though it must have been an integral part of his instruction to new converts and young churches. It would seem that in his brief time with the Thessalonians he had already imparted some teaching on the Lord’s return. Paul shows that the mystery of lawlessness and of Christ will develop alongside each other in the world, leading to a final clash in which the Lord will triumph. 

The third chapter expands on the instruction given in the first letter that they should lead a quiet life, attend to their own business and work with their hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11). This addresses the problem of those who were so taken with the idea of the Lord’s return that they ceased any kind of work and just waited for him to come. This led to their becoming dependent on others for their support. The problems persisted, even after Paul’s first letter and had to be dealt with more thoroughly. 

The man of sin

All sorts of interpretations have been suggested to explain who the man of sin is, everything from a Roman Emperor to the Pope to Hitler or Stalin to a new incarnation of the devil himself. It all makes for entertaining matter for pulp fiction or the cinema and intriguing stories round the fireside but is not of much help to us in the end. 

His characteristics are worth noting – lawlessness, opposition to all that is called God, exalting of himself above God, one having access to the temple of God (that is where God is worshipped), one connected with apostasy or falling away and someone that first century believers needed to know about. He is also one who was being restrained but who will eventually be revealed and then removed. It seems likely that the man of sin and the Antichrist are one and the same and perhaps in both cases we are wisest to think in terms of principles operating in this world rather than in terms of one particular individual. The Reformers were right to see the Popes as fitting the bill but there are others too.

Outline

The book is about the church's expectation: Christ's Second Coming

1. Salutation 1:1-2

2. Expectation in Persecution 1:3-12

Thanksgiving for Growth 1:3-4

Explanation of Purpose of Suffering 1:5

It is for the sake of the kingdom Expectation of the Outcome 1:6-10

Christ will come in power to vindicate his saints Prayer 1:11-12

3. Explanation of Events 2:1-17

Fears Calmed 2:1, 2

Fears stirred up by false teaching Apostasy Predicted 2:3-7

A great falling away before Christ comes Antichrist Predicted 2:8-12 

Steadfast Faith Encouraged 2:13-17

4. Exhortations to Readiness 3:1-15

In Prayer 3:1-5

In Diligent Labour not idleness 3:6-15

5. Benediction and Closing Greeting 3:16-18

This article appeared originally in Grace Magazine

Reading the New Testament 1 Thessalonians

Are you interested in evangelism? Are you interested in the Second Coming? Are you interested in living the Christian life? If so, according to Phil Arthur (in his Welwyn Commentary) then 1 Thessalonians is a book you should know.

The City

Paul came to Macedonia, you may remember, in response to a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia calling for help. Paul and his companions worked first in Philippi then travelled west along the Via Egnatia, the Roman Road across Thrace and Macedonia, and came to the city of Thessalonica. It was about 20 years after Christ's death and resurrection. 

Today's city of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece was founded near Therma (named for its hot springs) in BC 315 by Cassander. It was named for his wife, a half sister of Alexander the Great. The Romans made it the capital of Macedonia and a free city under 'Politarchs'. It was a significant seaport, a centre of trading. It is now a much smaller city of around 70,000. In Paul's day the population was as as much as 200,000. There was a Jewish colony there and, unlike Philippi, a synagogue, where Paul preached for three consecutive Sabbaths.

The Church

Paul was probably only in Thessalonica for three weeks but he had an astonishing impact. See Acts 17:1-9. He reasoned from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to die and rise again, and that the Jesus he preached was that Messiah. This led to a sharp disagreement among the Jews there, some accepting what Paul said, especially the God-fearing Greek proselytes, others rejecting it and becoming jealous. The opposition became so intense that Paul and his companions had to flee from Thessalonica to Berea, 35-40 miles to the west.

The reception there was quite different. Luke records that the Jews there were more noble-minded than those at Thessalonica. They examined the Scriptures to see if the things Paul preached were true. Again, some were converted, along with some prominent Greeks, both women and men. However, news of this reached Thessalonica and some of the Jews from there came to stir up trouble and again Paul and the others had to move on. *They went to the sea, as if to board a ship away from the area. However, Silas and Timothy remained at the coast while Paul travelled across land, south to Athens. Paul probably left his companions in the area to help the young churches, who were meeting such great opposition. It may have been that they had not been so much in the public eye as him and so could more easily remain without attracting too much violent attention.

The Letter

First Thessalonians is one of the earliest New Testament letters. It was written after Timothy had reported back to Paul on what was happening to the fledgling church. We find his name alongside that of Silas (Silvanus) in the opening greeting. In Chapter 3 Paul expresses his anguish at the problems the converts would be facing. He says When we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy ... to strengthen and encourage you. This may indicate that Timothy, after being left behind at Berea, returned to Paul in Athens and was then sent back to Macedonia to further minister to the churches. The verse seems to imply that Timothy was sent to them from Athens. It may be that Silas was with Paul for a while and was then sent after Timothy and the two of them returned to Paul while he was at Corinth. Alternatively, Timothy went to Paul in Athens alone, having left Silas in Macedonia and was then sent back alone, both of them then returning to Paul at Corinth. Commentators are divided on how 1 Thessalonians 3:1 fits into the admittedly edited account in Acts.

Themes

One of the main themes of the letter is commendation for the Thessalonians firm endurance in the faith, despite harsh opposition. Paul also needed to correct certain misunderstandings about the return of Christ. The fact that Paul had only spent a short time there, perhaps as little as three weeks, and so had not had very long to teach the new converts probably meant that there were things he mentioned only in passing that needed to be expanded on. It is hardly surprising then that they had not fully understood some aspects of his teaching.

The problems dealt with in the letter are very different from those addressed in, say, Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia. They are the problems of a largely Gentile church, bringing with them the legacy of Gentile thinking, rather than the problems caused by Judaisers. Paul deals with matters like sexual immorality and idleness, frequently a part of everyday life for pagans but which for the Jews would have been kept in check by the demands of the Law. The Jews had a sense of brotherhood in the nation of Israel and in the family, which the Gentiles did not possess to any great degree. Therefore the Apostle encourages such positive attitudes in Chapter 5. 

A characteristic of the letter is its teaching on the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. Every chapter closes with a reference to the subject (1:10; 2:19, 20; 3:11-13; 4:13-18; 5:23, 24.). In his second letter Paul says that he spoke of these things while he was with them (2 Thessalonians 2:5). It may be that Paul knew of the Lord’s own teaching on his return, as he speaks in 4:15 of passing on the Word of the Lord. He uses the imagery of a thief in the night, which the Lord used in the same context. The fact that Paul wrote to them of these matters was partly because of the concern of the Thessalonians themselves for those among them who had died. They believed that Christ would return, as Paul had taught, but would those who had already died be worse off because they had gone before his return? Paul reassures them on this point and addresses the question of when the Lord would return. Of course, he does not answer the question, as no man can. Rather he urges them to be morally prepared, to be living in the light of the Lord’s Coming, whenever that might be. That is the real thrust of the New Testament teaching on the Second Coming. We are not intended to be experts on interpreting the twists and turns of human history in order to fix the exact date. Rather, the Lord’s Return is to affect the way we live now. It is to affect our morals more than our politics. 

Outline

We could entitle the letter Instructions and corrections for a new church.

1. Salutation 1:1

2. The State of the Church 1:2-10

Church's character 1:3

Church's election 1:4-7

Church's reputation 1:8-10

3. Paul’s Relationship to the Church 2:1-3:13

Paul’s conduct toward the church 2:1-12

Paul’s reception by the church 2:13-16

Paul's concern for the church 2:17-3:10

Paul's prayer for the church 3:11-13

4. The Problems of the Church 4:1-5:11

Sexual Morality 4:1-8

Social Conduct 4:9-12

The state of those who have died 4:13-18

Times and seasons 5:1-11

5. Closing exhortations and greetings 5:12-28

This aritcle first appeared in Grace Magazine