The Bright Lot of Believers (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14)

Above (verses 11–12) the lot of those who do not believe the truth of the Gospel and take pleasure in unrighteousness was described: because they do not believe, they will be given over to the spirit of the lie, will be led by it to worship Antichrist, and will then be condemned to eternal torment. To the believing Thessalonians, however—and through them to all Christians—a different lot has been appointed. They are beloved of God, chosen and called to salvation and to eternal glory with the Lord. The Apostle, as it were, conveys: “You have nothing to fear. Your future is so bright and full of joy that we can only give thanks to God for it.” St. John of Damascus and blessed Theophylact place this section, verses 13–17, in such a connection with what precedes it. St. John of Damascus: “Having set forth what concerns the unbelieving Jews, and having shown what their end will be (saying: ‘that they might be judged’), he now sets forth what concerns those who have believed.” Theophylact: “Since he has said something terrible that might trouble a weak soul, he now reassures the heart, teaching that all this is terrible for others—for the perishing, for whom it has been appointed. But for you we must give thanks to God—because He chose you and foreordained you to salvation, foreseeing that you would be worthy.” The order of thoughts in the Apostle is as follows: first, a testimony and assurance that the Thessalonians have a bright future laid up for them by God in their election and calling, verses 13–14; then, the indispensable condition for attaining it is named—fidelity to the faith, verse 15. But since God’s promises alone are immutable, while the condition of fidelity, depending on the unstable human will, cannot be considered necessarily fulfilled, the Apostle adds a prayer for the strengthening of believers both in sound teaching and in the good works that Christian faith requires, verses 16–17. In brief, the Apostle’s thought is this: you, however, have nothing to fear. You have been chosen for salvation and glory; only stand firm. And may the Lord help you!

2 Thess. 2:13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.

“We…” — that is, St. Paul together with his fellow workers—“are bound to give thanks.” They feel themselves obliged to give thanks to God for the bright present condition of the Thessalonians and for the still brighter future awaiting them—out of love for the Thessalonians, counting their good as their own, and out of devotion to the duty of apostleship, the success of which is visible in their conversion and faith. Instead of saying: things will go well for you, he says: we are bound to give thanks to God. We ourselves often express things this way when we wish to speak of our own or another’s well-being: there is no reason for grief—give thanks to God, or: we give thanks…

“Brethren beloved of the Lord.”

He begins the description of the good promises and hopes by pointing to the love that warms them on every side—both his own, as he calls them brethren, and the Lord’s, as he reminds them that they are beloved of the Lord. This is a sweet title; but sweet not for the pleasantness of the sound, but for the substance of the thing itself. The Lord testified His love toward them by choosing and calling them to faith and gracious sanctification. But once they had believed and been sanctified by grace, their hearts began to feel the warm breath of this love. Such are all true Christians. They are encompassed in the arms of the Lord’s love, as plants in a greenhouse. It nourishes them, causes them to grow, strengthens them, brings them to perfection.

“Because God has chosen you from the beginning.” He gives thanks for the primordial election. For “from the beginning” here is the same as in other passages—“from the ages” (Eph. 3:9, 11): “from the ages and from the generations” (Col. 1:26), or “before the ages” (1 Cor. 2:7), “before the times of the ages” (2 Tim. 1:9). He offers a similar thanksgiving to God in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4). See to what heights he lifts the minds of the believing Thessalonians! And he speaks as if to say: there was as yet nothing; only the one triune God existed, and this all-blessed God was already at that time thinking of you, had you in His regard and was disposed toward you, willing to choose you and to make you His own. He chose you, of course, “according to foreknowledge” (Rom. 8:28), knowing that you would prove worthy (Theophylact); but the very fact that you proved worthy is itself the work of His goodness (Oecumenius). If you have been so honoured by God and surrounded by such care of His, what cause have you for distress? “Has chosen… to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief” (from the Greek: ‘in belief’) “in the truth.” For those others—unbelievers—there is destruction; but for you salvation has been laid up, and to it you have been chosen. This salvation will be revealed in all its power in eternity, as will their destruction, yet its beginning is laid and its attainment is accomplished here below. The initiators, producers, and completers of salvation are the grace of the Holy Spirit and faith. Hearing the preaching of the truth, they believe; having believed, they are accounted worthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit through the reception of the sacraments; and, renewed by this grace, they begin to work out their salvation, remaining faithful to the holy will of God. This saving order is already the vestibule of eternal salvation, or its beginning; for death changes nothing in it. In the eyes of God, and in the faith of believers—this is already eternal salvation.

Some express the whole thought thus: from the beginning God chose you to salvation, appointing at that same time to sanctify you through the Spirit and to grant you belief in the truth. The fulfilment of this divine predetermination they see in the words of the following verse: “to which He called”—that is, to sanctification through the Spirit and to faith, which are indeed in you, as you can see: for you both believe and are sanctified by the Spirit, and this is the testimony of your primordial election. But St. Chrysostom, without this circular movement of thought, writes: “How did He choose to salvation? — The Apostle explained this when he said: ‘through sanctification of the Spirit’—that is, He sanctified you through the Spirit and through true faith—He sanctified you through the Spirit, for upon this our salvation depends, not upon works or labours, but upon true faith.” The same is said by Oecumenius: “He chose you to salvation, and chose you through sanctification by His Holy Spirit and through true faith.”

There are two agents of our salvation: grace and faith—one from God’s side, the other from ours. First we believe, then we are accounted worthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit; yet even faith itself is not without grace. That the Apostle places sanctification by the Spirit before faith does not alter either the order or the significance of the saving acts. In the work of salvation, grace and freedom are inseparable. From the moment when salvation is begun, and throughout all the time it is being accomplished, to the very end, they are not parted for a single instant—and this is true both in the general accomplishment of salvation and in each particular act that pertains to salvation; so that the moment either of these agents ceases to work, the work of salvation itself comes to a halt. Our minds are not subtle enough to define precisely which of them precedes and which follows at any given moment. The safest course of all is to hold in general that in those who are being saved, grace and freedom always work together: neither can freedom accomplish anything salvific without grace, nor can grace work to salvation without freedom.

Our ancient commentators had in view, in the present passage as well, to indicate what is ours and what is from God in the work of salvation. Thus blessed Theophylact writes: “By the words through sanctification of the Spirit, the Apostle showed that God saved us by sanctifying us through the Spirit. Then, lest anyone say: What then? did we contribute nothing? — he added: and in belief of the truth—that is, He sanctified us who brought faith in the truth, that is, in true things. For we did not believe in some falsehood, but in truth itself.” Oecumenius says the same of faith: “We contributed only this one thing, and He sanctified us through the Spirit.” So it is at the beginning of salvation, so also in its continuation. St. Chrysostom asks: “Why did he speak first not of faith, but of sanctification?” And answers: “Because even after sanctification we have great need of it, lest we fall away.” Theophylact answers the same. But this does not mean that they considered faith itself to be present in us without the action of grace. In the words already cited, the thought is already implied, though not stated, that faith itself is the fruit of the all-sanctifying Spirit. But Oecumenius expressed it explicitly: “For this reason he first said: through sanctification of the Spirit—to show that we would not even have believed, had the grace of the Spirit not been sanctifying us.” So, is there then nothing from us? — From us there is the desire and the earnest seeking, while the work is always from grace. The desire for faith, the assent to it, the choosing of it—these are ours; but living faith itself is the work of grace.

2 Thess. 2:14. To which He called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“To which”—to what, toward what, He called. To what, then? Some say: to salvation; others: to sanctification and faith. But this is one and the same thing, for salvation is inseparable from its agents. Where there is gracious sanctification and faith, there is salvation. — “He called you through our gospel.” God called you through us. We spoke the word to you; but in this you must see nothing merely human. God brought us to you, God gave us the word, and He imparted such power to that word that, hearing it, you received it and agreed to answer the call. “Do you see,” St. Chrysostom asks, “how the Apostle lets them know that nothing depends on them, but all on God?” “Lest, upon hearing of faith,” Theophylact writes, “they should grow proud, as though they themselves had contributed something, he gives them to understand that this too is from God. ‘To which He called.’ To what? — That they might be saved through sanctification and faith, so that even if you did believe, this is the grace of Him who called. For if He had not called you through our gospel, how would you have heard?” “For the obtaining of the glory.” The beginning of the saving path is the calling; the middle—the working out of salvation through the action of sanctifying grace and faith; the end—the obtaining of eternal glory. In the first epistle he said that God appointed us for “the obtaining of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:9); here he says: He called us “for the obtaining of glory.” When we obtain glory, it will be fully revealed that we are saved and what is the power of that salvation. Glory and salvation are inseparable. Yet here this glory is hidden within, like a treasure in earthen vessels, while there it will shine forth outwardly as well. For this reason the Apostle says elsewhere of himself that he undergoes all labours and afflictions in the gospel with the good desire that those who have believed may attain “salvation” in the Lord “with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). The obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is the obtaining of that glory with which He Himself is glorified, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Thus He Himself assures us: “Where I am, there also shall My servant be” (Jn. 12:26). And for this very thing He prayed to the Father in His last prayer: “that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me” (Jn. 17:24). It should be noted that in our Slavonic translation the words “for the obtaining of glory”, and in the Russian: “for the attainment of glory”, contain precisely the thought that the saved are called to a share in the Lord’s glory. But the Greek word περιποιησις means not receiving but furnishing—and not so much for oneself as for another; not so much obtaining as bestowing. Therefore all our ancient commentators, following St. Chrysostom, understand this passage to mean not that believers will receive glory, but that through believers the Lord will be glorified—that is, believers are called through the gospel to the glory of the Lord, for the glorification of the Lord. With this the most ancient Syriac translation also agrees, in which the thought is: “That you may be an adornment to the Lord—that is, that through you the Lord may be glorified.” Such are the words of the holy Fathers! St. Chrysostom writes: “One cannot regard it as a small thing if Christ considers our salvation to be His own glory. For the glory of the Lover of mankind is that as many as possible should be saved. Great therefore is our Lord, if He desires our salvation to such a degree. Great also is the Holy Spirit, who accomplishes our sanctification.” Oecumenius: “The glory of Christ is that many shall be saved through faith in Him, as he also said above: ‘He shall be glorified in His saints’ (2 Thess. 1:10). See how highly man is esteemed, when Christ counts our salvation as His own glory.” Theophylact speaks in the words of St. Chrysostom and adds: “Who would not love such a Lord? And who would not be zealous for His glory—that is, for his own salvation?” Theodoret only alluded to the future glorification of believers, and at once invited them to glorify the Lord: “This will be in due time (that is, the obtaining of glory), but let us now glorify the Giver of good things, because He has accounted us worthy of salvation and bestowed upon us the Holy Spirit, so that all glorify Him on our behalf.”

Those who accept this ancient interpretation must bear in mind that in that case one ought to understand here not only that the Lord is glorified through the salvation of believers, but that believers must count it their duty to glorify the Lord and to do everything so that His name may be glorified in them, and not blasphemed—as the Apostle also enjoins elsewhere: “You are bought with a price. Glorify God therefore in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). This last reminder is very fitting for us, who are called to salvation not by a special act of preaching, but by the very fact of our birth; because we often forget what a great mercy of God is thereby shown to us, and not only do we not glorify the Lord, but we do not even honour our own faith as we ought.