Theological Commentary: Click Here
Paul has two
major points in writing this chapter to the Thessalonians. First, Paul wants to make sure that they understand
about the return of the Lord. Please
note the first words that Paul associates with the return of the Lord: thief in
the night. Paul wants to make sure that the
church understands that the world won’t see it coming. Then, Paul associates the day with another
term: destruction. Paul wants to make
sure that we understand that for many people the return of the Lord will
signify the end of their way of life.
That being
said, Paul then speaks about the church.
We do not live in darkness. We
won’t be caught by surprise. We won’t
think about judgment in terms of destruction.
We can live in love and faith instead of self-interest. We can live in the hope of salvation.
The second
major point that Paul talks about is general life advice. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks always. Don’t repay evil with more evil. It’s all great advice to live by and help us
be the change in the world that we want to see.
The part of
his advice that I personally resonate with the most is the advice to test
everything and hold fast to what is good.
We live in a world where there is little new under the sun. Most sin simply finds new ways to be
introduced into our life, but it is really just the same old passions. This is why we need to test everything. We don’t need to find new ways to partake in
old sin. What we need is to test things
and find the old truth that consistently anchors our life.
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