Concluding Requests and Good Wishes (2 Thessalonians 3:1–3)

The corrective address of St Paul begins at verse 6. The preceding words, from verse 1 to verse 5, form a preface to it. And yet in both form and content they resemble more a conclusion to the entire Epistle. For “Finally”—with which this section opens, meaning “at last,” “in the end of everything,” as if to say: there remains only one more thing to tell you—points directly to a closing address. The thoughts expressed here: pray for me—I hope you will carry out my instructions—may the Lord direct your hearts—are appropriate only to a conclusion, so much so that if verses 16–18 followed immediately after, no break or disturbance of the order of the discourse would be apparent. It is evident that the strict lesson concerning the correction of the fault that had crept in among the Thessalonians was inserted here, as it were, by chance. And yet it is equally evident that it was necessary, and that St Paul could not pass it over. Why, then, was it arranged this way? One cannot suppose that the Apostle, having already reached the end of the Epistle, remembered that he ought to give such a lesson and appended it as an afterthought. On the contrary, one should rather conclude that St Paul acted so deliberately. From the very beginning he had intended to give them corrective instruction; but in order to soften the impression of a rebuke—always somewhat unpleasant—he arranged his discourse so that it would seem as though he were touching on the matter almost by accident. The rebuke, moreover, did not apply to all, and to state it sharply was not fitting; it was better to place it as a passing remark. And so the Apostle began his address as though hastening to finish the Epistle, and immediately inserted his lesson. Thus what appears to be the conclusion of the Epistle became the preface to its final corrective part. And yet, in these few words of verses 1–5, the Apostle found room for such admonitions as prepared the way for the gracious reception of the reproof and gave promise of success in amendment. This is how St Chrysostom understands all of this, when he says: “Since he intended afterwards to proceed to rebuke them, he first softens their hearts—both by saying: I am confident of your obedience, and by asking their prayers for himself—and again by praying himself for the bestowal upon them of countless blessings.”

a) Concluding: petition, hopes, and benedictions (2 Thess. 3:1–5)

2 Thess. 3:1, 2. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men; for not all have faith.

He asks them to pray for him. “He requests an equal return, as it were” (Damascus). “Previously he had prayed for them, that they might be established in faith. Now he turns to them with a request, asking that they pray for him” (Chrysostom). “At the same time he both encourages and inspires them, counting them worthy to pray for their teacher” (Oecumenius), or presenting them as possessing such boldness before God that their prayer can advance the success of their teacher’s own preaching (Theophylact).

He asks them to pray for him, yet not about anything temporal, but about the success of the word—the proclamation of which he regarded as the task of his life, a work dearer to him than life itself. The Apostle’s love for the Gospel and his zeal for its spread extended to the point of self-forgetfulness. For this purpose he had from the first given himself over to death, and so reckoned himself as one appointed to die (1 Cor. 4:9). There was therefore no need to concern himself with anything required for life’s sake, or with life itself—only let the word prosper. “He asks for nothing that is properly his own, but all that belongs to God” (Theophylact); he asks not to be spared from dangers, for to this he has consecrated himself, “to this end he is appointed,” as it is written in the First Epistle (1 Thess. 3:3), but “that the word” of God “may run” (Chrysostom), “that the preaching of the Gospel may run its course and be received by all with faith” (Oecumenius).

“The word of the Lord”—“the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13), that which the Lord Himself imparted to the Apostles, commanding them to teach it to all nations—the same as the Gospel: you are under the wrath of God because of your forefathers’ transgression and your own sins; behold, we bring you glad tidings of joy: the Son of God died for us and turned away from us the wrath of God. Believe, and you shall be received into the mercy of God and His grace for the doing of what is pleasing to Him.

“May run”—spread freely and swiftly, meeting no obstacle, hindered and stopped by nothing (2 Tim. 2:9). As some great and majestic river flows in a broad stream, so may the preaching of the Gospel flow through the lips of the Apostles and water all the earth.

“Be glorified”—may it manifest its glorious and beneficial effects upon minds, hearts, and morals, and may it be honoured as something great, wondrous, and divine—first by you, and then through you by all. An unearthly glory accompanied the word of God everywhere, “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word through the signs that followed” (Mk. 16:20). But this is outward glory. More glorious still was it when those who believed the word received grace and were renewed. Since in this lies the purpose of the word, and the path to it is faith, in asking their prayers for the glory of the word the Apostle asks them to pray that all hearts would be opened to receive the word “in faith,” and thereby attract the wondrous overshadowings of grace. This is the true glory of the word—less brilliant to outward appearance, but rich in its working. Those who were granted this experience themselves marvelled, saying: see what the word has wrought in me! And others, marvelling too, would say: look at what the word has made of them!

“Even as it is with you”—“as it ran with you and was believed,” says he (Oecumenius); “that all might yield to it just as you have” (Theophylact). This is St Paul’s own testimony that among the Thessalonians his preaching spread rapidly, drew many, and produced glorious effects—so that he was glorified both by the Thessalonians themselves and by outsiders who observed their faith. Here is a commendation of the Thessalonians (Chrysostom) for their swift conversion and attachment to the faith. What high praise! Recalling how quickly and readily faith had taken root among them, and how, on the contrary, it was encountering many contradictions in Corinth, he lingers with delight on the former, longing to be freed from the latter. He speaks as it were: you are better than the Corinthians; God grant that the Corinthians and those round about, and indeed all everywhere, were as you are. Every reader can see how fitting this commendation is in the context of the Apostle’s purpose to dispose the disorderly to amendment. The thought is plain: so glorious are you—do not then allow those who are disorderly to remain among you, dishonouring the whole community by their unruly conduct.

“And that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.” “There appear to be (in connection with verse 1) two petitions here; but they form one; for when the wicked are overcome, then the word of preaching will also run unhindered” (Theodoret). So that the word of God might spread in Corinth and round about, the Apostle wishes to be delivered from the enemies of that word in general, who hinder its progress. He calls them “wicked” and “evil.” The word rendered “wicked” comes from the Greek ατοπων, meaning out of place—and as applied to persons, one who does not know how to conduct himself according to the circumstances of time, place, and persons: absurd, senseless. Here it may carry the sense of a stubborn troublemaker who, heeding no argument, merely contradicts and at times clamours without ceasing, producing confusion and preventing others from taking in the force of the word. “Evil” is from πονηρων, which implies craftiness and malicious intent. These may be those who said less but acted more, laying snares and placing obstacles in the way of the Apostle’s activity at every turn. St Chrysostom understands here the gainsayers and opponents: The Apostle speaks here of those who contradicted his preaching, rose up and were hostile to the articles of faith, of men who spoke against and acted against his preaching, such as Hymenaeus and Alexander the coppersmith. “For greatly,” he says, “do they withstand” “our words” (2 Tim. 4:15).

Some wished to define more precisely who these persons were, relying on the words that follow: “for not all have faith.” But since faith can carry more than one meaning, they diverged in their opinions. “Not all have faith” can be understood as: not all have the Christian faith—indicating those who do not believe at all. Or: not all have right faith—indicating those who, though they have accepted Christian teaching, do not hold it rightly but distort it with their own speculations. Or: not all have genuine faith—indicating those who, though they believe rightly, do not live according to faith; their faith is weak and lacks the vigour to order their morals according to its spirit. From this it follows that the persons of whom St Paul speaks may be understood as either unbelievers, or holders of false and corrupt beliefs, or those who bear merely the name of believers (perhaps the indifferent). Persons of the first sort may be taken as fanatical Jews, who, rising up against the Gospel everywhere themselves, not infrequently stirred up the Gentiles to do the same. Persons of the second sort may be taken as Judaizers, who, accepting the Gospel, were unwilling to depart from the Old Testament Law; or those who, accepting the apostolic preaching, refused to accept its chief article concerning the divinity of Jesus Christ the Son of God made flesh—such as the Ebionites; or those who attempted to mix their prior errors with Christian truth, like Simon Magus. These two sorts of wicked and evil men had already made themselves known by the time the Epistle was written. They could have appeared, or seemed to appear, in Corinth as well, and St Paul may have had them in mind. But whether he specifically had them in mind cannot be affirmed with any certainty, since there is not even the smallest indication of this. It is therefore safer to hold to the view of St Chrysostom and other ancient commentators, that the Apostle has in view simply the gainsayers and opponents in general, such as he had already encountered in Thessalonica and such as were openly rising against him in Corinth (Acts 18:12 and following). Persons of the third sort are unsuitable here, because they could easily have been dealt with either by a word of admonition or by the strictness of judgment—as was subsequently done in Corinth with the incestuous man, and as the Apostle here threatens to do if those who “do nothing but go about as busybodies” refuse to obey his command (2 Thess. 3:11).

“For not all have faith.” The thought is not that faith is not for all, not intended for all—as though God did not will all to believe, having appointed some to unbelief and perdition. For the Lord is the Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world (Jn. 1:9); which is why, sending the Apostles to preach, He commanded them to enlighten all nations with faith “of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). The Apostle simply meant to say that not all believe. Not all believe because not all wish to believe. And why any person desires or does not desire something is not always possible to understand and explain, for the heart of man is deep. But with regard to faith in Christ one may say without error: they do not wish to believe because they have no care for the salvation of their soul. They have no care for salvation, and will not hear the word concerning that salvation. Their interests are elsewhere, their cast of mind and character is otherwise; and the word that cuts across this cast and demands their transformation is unwelcome to them. That they have become so disposed has its cause, of course, in their past life and present circumstances. But each man always forms himself, and always retains the power to conduct his affairs as he judges best. However much he is corrupted by the universal Fall and by his own personal evil deeds, there always remains in him a sound capacity—to bow before the evident force of truth. And the evidence of the divine truth of the Gospel was everywhere presented by the Apostles with irresistible and palpable clarity. Unbelievers are therefore without excuse. Certainly there is much that is incomprehensible in the fact that when the preaching is one and the same, and the persons preaching are the same, and the heavenly testimonies accompanying it are the same—yet of the multitude who hear, some believe, others do not believe, and others actively oppose and resist. But there is nothing fatalistic or unconditionally predetermined here; the cause of everything is human free choice. In the word of God we do indeed encounter expressions that suggest there are some who are destined for perdition and unbelief—who are accordingly called “those who are perishing”—and others who are appointed to faith and salvation, as those “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48), who are called “those who are being saved.” But in the same word of God it is also explained that this comes to pass “according to the foreknowledge” of God (1 Pet. 1:2) and “according to foreknowledge” (Rom. 8:28). God foreknows whither a man will incline, and so determines that it shall be. And He does this not passively, but arranges all things to lead the man to choose the good path; and when nothing avails, He leaves him to the hands of his own free will. All this is known to God from eternity and is decreed; and it is decreed because one has loved perdition and another salvation. God gave man freedom and does not violate its rights. We have a certain tendency to attribute much to fatalistic decrees and to resolve many things thereby for ourselves. But in reality everything is built by the free choice of man and by the strictest laws of divine righteousness and goodness. Thus in the present case, at the words “not all have faith,” one might say: not all are fit for faith, not all are capable and worthy of it—in the same way that of soldiers not all are admitted to serve in the royal palace, but only the capable and trustworthy, as Oecumenius and Theophylact say, following St Chrysostom. But the true truth is one: faith is not theirs because they did not wish to believe. This the same commentators express in many other places; and in the present place blessed Theodoret says: “To call—this is God’s work; to obey—this is ours. So also the Lord said in the sacred Gospel: ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and’ ‘drink’ (Jn. 7:37); and: ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’ (Lk. 9:23); for He does not compel by necessity, but seeks the free will.”

2 Thess. 3:3. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

In the midst of the opposition he was encountering in Corinth, it was so heartening and consoling to recall the swift and willing reception of the Gospel by so many in Thessalonica. But since all things on earth are changeable, and Christianity is ever threatened by dangers from the ancient enemy of every truth, the Apostle desires that the good state of the Thessalonians in faith should not merely continue, but grow ever stronger and stronger, without yielding to evil—he desires and trusts that it will be so, by reason of his unshakeable confidence in God’s faithfulness to His promises, and that it will come not from the Thessalonians’ own efforts and resources, but from God, who chose and called them. In the first verses the Apostle expressed the thought: you are better than the Corinthians—going on to affirm that they served as a pattern to all Achaia (1 Thess. 1:7). Now he says: God grant that you will be the same hereafter.

“The Lord is faithful”—but had He promised? He promised by the very fact of calling them. The act of calling signifies that the Lord turns all His gracious promises toward them. He promised to be with believers “to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20), and sent the Comforter Spirit, that He might abide with them forever (Jn. 14:16), and said in general that those who remain faithful to Him no one shall snatch out of His hand (Jn. 10:28). St Paul ever abided in the confidence that He who “has begun” “will also complete” (Phil. 1:6). This, of course, is not unconditional—it is understood: if you do not cease to give yourselves up to Him, if you always seek His help, if you remain faithful to His holy will. This condition the holy Apostle expresses plainly in the following, fourth verse. St Chrysostom writes: “In praying for them, St Paul sets forth also the ground of confidence in the success of his prayer—namely, that promises have been given—and says: ‘the Lord is faithful’: for since He has chosen you for salvation, He will not lie, nor will He allow you to perish utterly.”

“Who will establish you”—in what, he does not say. But this can be taken as self-evident without elaboration. In that which is the whole concern of the Apostle: that they, having believed and been renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, might live as those renewed. “He will establish you, as we have prayed, so that you will not be shaken” (Theophylact). And the Apostle had prayed that the Lord would establish them “in every good word and work” (2 Thess. 2:17). So the Apostle trusts that the Lord will heal the natural instability of their will in what is good, will sustain in them the moral energy already awakened, and will fan the flame of zeal for pleasing God—in which their whole life consists—into an undying fire.

“And guard you from the evil one”—either from every evil in words, deeds, thoughts, and feelings, or from the devil, who teaches every evil and incites the unwary to it. The latter is more direct—as in the Lord’s Prayer: “deliver us from the evil one” (Mt. 6:13)—from which the Apostle likely took these very words. It is from the devil that believers renounce at Baptism, and from that moment they enter into combat with him. And without ceasing he assails them all—himself, and through evil men. “He will guard”—this does not mean that the arrows of the evil one will not touch you, but that He will give you the strength to repel them and will bring you to the point where they are as nothing to you. How is this? By kindling the energy of the spirit, the fire of zeal for a perfect Christian life. This fire scorches the demons and renders the zealous one untouchable. In it the power of God is concealed—terrible to the evil one. Therefore one may say: He will guard by establishing. He will establish you, and you will be like a rock, unharmed by the waves. Oecumenius writes: “Since He has chosen you for salvation, as was said above, He is confident that He will truly establish you who are being shaken, and will guard you, that Satan may have no power against you.” St Damascus says: “That for which he had asked them to pray for himself, that same thing he now prays for them. He had asked them to pray that he might be delivered from evil men, enemies of the faith; and this same thing he now intercedes for them, that they may be guarded from the evil one.”