2 Thessalonians 2:13–17

2:13 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy commence this statement of thanksgiving with the same language they used in the epistle’s opening thanksgiving (cf. 1:3). The earlier thanksgiving focused on the church’s response to the gospel message amid their growing faith and increasing love. This thanksgiving is directed entirely toward God’s saving and electing call.

The word “beloved” encourages further confidence among these Thessalonian believers in their relationship to the Lord. This designation also provides a basis for their election and calling, for it is out of the Lord’s love and grace that he has called them to himself.

God “chose” them. This particular verb is rare in the NT (Gk. haireō; cf. Phil. 1:22; Heb. 11:25), referring to the selection of someone for a specific purpose. Other synonymous terms (e.g., Gk. hairetizō, eklektos, eklegomai) elsewhere speak of God’s choosing people for various purposes, especially his electing them for salvation (e.g., Matt. 22:14; John 15:16; Acts 13:17; Rev. 17:14). Paul himself employs such election language for God’s gracious choice of believers unto salvation (e.g., Rom. 11:5; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:27; 3:12; cf. comment on 1 Thess. 1:4).

In this context, God chose these Thessalonians “as the firstfruits to be saved.” The word “firstfruits” (Gk. aparchē) refers to the early produce of a harvest (e.g., Ex. 23:19; Lev. 2:12; 23:10). These Thessalonians were among the first believers to experience salvation in their region. Paul celebrates this, assuring them that God has granted them salvation and implying that others will be added to the church as additional fruit.

The means God has employed in their salvation include “sanctification by the Spirit” and “belief in the truth.” The word “sanctification” refers to being rendered holy—that is, set apart from unrighteousness unto purity and blamelessness. The Holy Spirit works such sanctification in these believers (e.g., Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; cf. 1 Thess. 5:23).

2:14 Paul further remarks, “To this he called you through our gospel.” To what were they called? Notably, the Greek word “this” in “to this” (eis ho) is neuter in gender, while the immediately preceding nouns are all either feminine or masculine. Thus it is unlikely that Paul is singling out any particular term from verse 13 (whether “firstfruits,” “saved,” “sanctification,” “belief,” or “truth”). Rather, the whole salvific content of verse 13 is in view. The believers are called to be the firstfruits of salvation through sanctification and faith.

The “calling” of God indicates his summoning his people unto salvation and sanctification through his own purpose and grace (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; and comments on 1 Thess. 1:4; 2:11–12; 4:7; 5:23–24). Conceptually, such “calling” follows logically from the election described by “God chose you” (2 Thess. 2:13). God used the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, as preached by Paul and his colleagues, to summon them to the salvation for which he had already chosen them from before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The purpose of God’s electing call here is “so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “obtain” is a noun in Greek (peripoiēsis), referring to their “possession” of glory. This provides a stark contrast with “those who are perishing” a few verses earlier (2 Thess. 2:10–12).

The Thessalonian church can be confident that the God who loves them has enacted his election and calling, drawing them to his salvation through the Spirit’s sanctifying work and their belief in the truth of the gospel. The ultimate outcome of this salvation will be glory for the believers at the appearance of Christ.

2:15 In light of the wonderful truths in 2:13–14, Paul again exhorts the Thessalonians to “stand firm” and endure (cf. comments on 1:4–5; 1 Thess. 3:8). Paul directs them to hold fast to what he and his colleagues have taught them. Their foundational instruction in the Christian faith, though cut short when Paul and his team were forced to leave Thessalonica (Acts 17:5–10), continues to provide the Thessalonians with the needed teaching for living as Christians. This early personal instruction was supplemented by Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Thus the original “spoken word” from Paul’s time in Thessalonica (and Timothy’s subsequent visit; cf. 1 Thess. 3:1–6) was accompanied by “our letter,” i.e., 1 Thessalonians.

2:16 As in the earlier letter (1 Thess. 3:11–13), Paul and his colleagues close the first major portion of this letter with a benediction, invoking God’s blessing on the church. In both cases, these benedictions are aligned with the specific concerns of the letter. Here Paul beseeches God to “comfort” and “establish” the Thessalonians, connecting well with the need for this afflicted church to experience solace and to continue to stand fast.

Paul presents these requests to both God the Father and the Lord Jesus (cf. comment on 1 Thess. 3:11). In offering prayer to Jesus alongside God the Father, Paul clearly acknowledges their distinct persons while also asserting that Jesus possesses the parallel authority and attributes of deity that permit him to receive prayer and to be named in the same terms as the Father. While in many places Paul asserts the full deity of Christ overtly (e.g., Rom. 1:3–4; 9:5; Phil. 2:5–11; Col. 1:15–20; 2:8–10; Titus 2:13), we also witness Paul’s high Christology in these more indirect moments of prayer.

Two particular descriptors are applied to God: he is the one who “loved us” and who “gave us” both comfort and hope. The mention of love emphasizes further the status of the Thessalonian believers as “beloved by the Lord” (2 Thess. 2:13). Similarly, God has already given these believers “eternal comfort,” which anticipates the petition Paul presents in verse 17 for God to “comfort your hearts.” God has also already granted these believers “good hope through grace.” Such “hope” will be needed as the Thessalonians endure affliction in this life.

2:17 Although God has already given the Thessalonians comfort and hope (v. 16), Paul petitions God to continue to encourage and console them. In modern idiom, the “heart” is the seat of human emotions; in Paul’s day, however, the heart was the seat of the entire person (especially the intellect). Paul asks for their anxieties to be calmed and their hurts to be consoled.

Additionally, Paul prays for these believers’ hearts to be established “in every good work and word.” Similarly, Paul’s benediction in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 petitioned God to “establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father.” The verb “to establish” connects with Paul’s earlier admonition to “stand firm” (2 Thess. 2:15). Hence Paul prays for God to grant the church the very endurance he had earlier directed the believers to live out.

More specifically, this endurance is to be evidenced by spiritual fruit. The performance of good works, while by no means earning meritorious favor unto salvation, flows from the fruit of the Spirit’s work in the life of the already saved believer (cf. comment on 1:11). Paul also knows it is important for believers not only to act rightly but also to speak words of grace and love (e.g., Col. 4:6; 1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7–8). This prayer provides a fitting transition to the next chapter, with its concluding admonitions.