Rachel Workman: 1 This letter is from Paul, Silas,[a] and Timothy.
We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 May God our Father[b] and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3 Dear brothers and sisters,[c] we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. 4 We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. 5 And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. 6 In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.
We do not need to worry about justice because has already promised to take care of it.
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John Burnett: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater. 4 As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. 6 For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, The title added in the NASB Bible above says,"Giving thanks for faith and perseverance." Faith and perseverance are gifts of God, not something that we do on our own. Why would we give thanks for something that we do and who would we give thanks to, ourselves? To those whose eyes have been opened and believe, God gives the Holy Spirit to help grow us in our faith and help us persevere in our persecution and afflictions (v4). We are to give God the glory for our saving faith and perseverance through our trials we endure with God's help. God also promises to punish those who afflict us and make sure that we are not afflicting others so that we will be considered worthy. The Thessalonians were suffering persecution for the sake of the gospel. This type of suffering is not far off in the U.S. and only those who are in Christ will be able to persevere. You must realize you are a wretched sinner, confess and repent of your sin and put your trust in Christ alone, not your own faith but the saving faith that only Jesus Christ gives.
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Tomorrow’s reading for 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 10 When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.
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