Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Thessalonians 1-3.

Once again Paul begins one of his letters by talking about prayer.  First, he says that he feels like he ought to thank God for the Thessalonian Believers, which is praying.  Then a few sentences later he writes that he constantly prays for them.  We should follow Paul’s example and pray for the Believers whom we know.  And what does he pray for about them?  He prays that God might bring to fruition their desire for goodness and the deeds which their faith prompts them to attempt.  Paul did not pray for them to receive good things, he prayed that their desire for goodness would be fulfilled, that they would be good as they, in the Spirit, desired to be.  He also did not pray that all of their deeds would be successful, only those which their faith prompted them to perform.

Paul goes on to speak of Jesus’ return.  He writes that will not happen to “the man of lawlessness is revealed.”  He goes on to say that the lawless one will use signs and wonders to serve the lie and to use wickedness to deceive those who are perishing.  Those who are perishing are doing so because they refuse to love the truth and instead delight in wickedness.  I want to point out a connection between praying and a love of truth.  If we love the truth, we will pray to God that He will reveal it to us more fully.  As He reveals that truth to us, we will pray more.  Resulting in God revealing the truth yet more clearly.  And as we embrace the truth we will act on it.  The more we act on God’s truth, the more we will pray, leading us back to God revealing more of His truth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1-5.

Paul begins this letter by writing that he continually mentions those to whom he is writing in his prayers.  He begins many of his letters in this fashion and it is a challenge to me to pray more.  With the number of people whom Paul remembered in his prayers, even if he only did so by remembering them as part of a group, he clearly spent more time in prayer than I do.  I strive to discipline myself to spend more time in prayer.  Paul’s comment about prayer is part of his reminder to his audience about the message which he spoke to them when he visited their city.  Which brings me to something else that Paul writes in that introduction, that he was not, and is not, trying to trick them.  We must keep this in mind when we seek to bring others to Christ.  We must not use deceptive tactics in order to disguise our intent. Nor may we use arguments which we know to be false, or arguments which use faulty logic.

Finally, when Paul gets to the meat of his letter, to the things which he wanted to share with the Church of the Thessalonians, he writes that they should live in order to please God.  He writes that he understands that they are already doing so, but wants to encourage them to do so even more.  He reminds them to avoid sexual immorality, and learn to control their own body in a way that is both holy and honorable.   We need to seek to live our lives with self-discipline and love for one another.  Again, Paul writes that he knows they are already doing so in a way which is a model which believers in other areas are following, but that they should not rest on their laurels.  Rather, they should seek to do so even more so.  Let us seek to follow Paul’s advice to the Thessalonians.  Let us seek to improve our self-discipline and our love for others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Thessalonians 1-3.

Paul writes that there will be those who falsely claim that the day of the Lord has already come, but we should not allow them to alarm us.  Paul tells us that the day of the Lord will not come until the rebellion occurs.  He does not tell us how to recognize the rebellion, except that when it occurs the “man of lawlessness” will be revealed.  Paul tells us quite a bit about this man of lawlessness.  First, he tells us that he will oppose everything which is called God, or is worshiped, and he will exalt himself over those things.  In fact, the man of lawlessness will proclaim himself to be God.  Every time I read this, it makes me wonder if Paul is referring to a single individual, or to society in general.  I look at our society today and see it encouraging people to oppose God and to view themselves as God.  On the other hand, Paul does seem to be referring to an individual whom others will worship.  In any case, Paul warns us that the power of lawlessness is already working in our society, but is being held back.  When it is no longer held back, the lawless one will be revealed and will deceive those who refuse to love the truth.  Again, I look at our society today and see people who refuse to embrace the truth, who instead choose to embrace lies and falsehoods.  People refuse to accept the truth because they delight in wickedness.  So, if we love and embrace truth, we will not be deceived by the signs and wonders which promote and serve lies.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1-5.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers that they should strive to live to please God.  Specifically, that they should try to do so more and more, because he knew that they were already doing so.  We should avoid sexual immorality, and control our bodies.  Paul implies that sexual immorality* involves taking advantage of others.  Paul teaches that we should avoid taking advantage of others to satisfy our desires and instead control our bodies and thoughts in order to serve the needs of others in love.  We should live holy lives.  We work towards doing so means minding our own business and working so that we are not dependent on others.  Interestingly, after telling us to mind our own business Paul writes that we should warn those who are idle and disruptive.  Further, he tells us to live in peace with our fellow believers and strive to do what is good for each other, and for everyone else.  Paul closely linked doing what is good for others to not paying back wrong to those who wronged us.  Finally, I think that some of Paul’s conclusion will help us understand what he means when he tells us to live holy lives.  He tells us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  Hold onto what is good and reject every kind of evil.

*Paul here only mentions sexual immorality, but from his other letters I think it is clear that he would include impurity, lust, and evil desires in this instruction, and quite possibly greed as well.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Thessalonians 1-3.

Once again in writing to the Thessalonian Believers Paul writes about Christ’s return.  In his previous letter to them, Paul had written that Christ’s return would be like a thief in the night.  From what he writes here it appears that some were telling the Believers that they had missed it.  After all, if Christ would return like a thief in the night, then some might miss His coming.  Paul tells them that they should not let such teachers deceive them.  The day of Christ’s return will not come until the man of lawlessness is revealed.  Most people read what Paul writes here as referring to a specific singular individual, the Anti Christ.  However, every where in the New Testament where the term antichrist is used, it suggests that the antichrist is not specific individual, but instead is an attitude possessed by many people.  My personal opinion on this is that we should be watching for an individual who matches Paul’s description here, while at the same time applying this verse as if it refers to a more general attitude among people in general.

So, what does Paul tell us about the man of lawlessness who must be revealed before Christ’s return?  He writes that he is destined for destruction.  further, Paul writes that the man of lawlessness will oppose and exalt himself over everything which is worshiped or called God.  Indeed, the man of lawlessness will declare himself to be God.  On the one hand, as I read what Paul writes here, he seems to be speaking about a singular individual who will appear shortly before Christ’s return.  On the other hand, Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness sounds a lot like what our society today promotes.  Our culture today opposes everything which is called God, except in cases where people set themselves up as their own gods.  It certainly looks as if the one who holds back the man of lawlessness has been taken out of the way.  Does that mean that an individual will soon arise who will fulfill Paul’s prophecy?  Or, has his prophecy already been fulfilled by the rise of a society of lawlessness?  In either case, we should be prepared for Christ’s soon return.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Thessalonians 1-5.

Paul writes that it is God’s will that we be sanctified.  Paul’s next phrase suggests that part of being sanctified means avoiding sexual immorality by controlling our bodies in ways which are holy and honorable.  Paul writes that when we allow passionate lusts to control our bodies we end up wronging or taking advantage of our fellow humans, instead we should live holy, pure lives, with love for each other.   We should seek to love the people of God in ever increasing degree.

Paul goes on to reiterate that those who have already died in Christ will rise when Christ returns, while those of us still alive will join them to meet Christ in the air. I am unsure if Paul meant that literally or merely as a metaphor, but I am sure that those who died in their faith will meet the Lord first on the day of His return.  He further tells us not to concern ourselves with the date and time of Christ’s return.  However, we should live our lives prepared for His return so that we are not surprised when that day arrives.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.