Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. (3:16–18)

This brief letter has been filled with high drama. Its three short chapters have described God’s retribution on the wicked rejecters of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their eternal destruction in hell (1:6–10). It has discussed God’s judgment of the sinful world in the Day of the Lord (2:1–2). It has also predicted the coming of the final Antichrist, the blasphemous abomination of desolation he will commit, and his ultimate destruction at the return of Jesus Christ (2:3–12). It has warned of deceiving wolves in sheep’s clothing (2:2–3) and rebuked lazy Christians (3:6–15). In short, it has up to this point been a tempestuous letter. But this concluding passage is like the calm sea after a violent storm.

The Thessalonian church, so strong in many ways, had been tormented by persecution, false doctrine, fear, and sin. In the main body of this letter, Paul gave them detailed instructions for dealing with those issues. But he knew that no matter how well they understood the information he had given them, they could not implement it in their own strength. Therefore, he periodically punctuated this letter’s instruction with pleas that God would enable believers to conform to it. After instructing them about the coming of Christ in judgment, bringing eternal destruction on the wicked (1:5–10), Paul wrote:

After his discussion of the Day of the Lord and the rise and fall of the final Antichrist (2:1–15), Paul once again closed a section of exhortation with a prayer: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word” (2:16–17).

In chapter 3, Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray for his effective ministry and for protection from his enemies (vv. 1–2). He then instructed them about God’s faithfulness and urged them to continue to obey what he had taught them (vv. 3–4). That section closed with the prayer, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ” (v. 5).

Verses 6–15 discussed the problem of those who refused to work and detailed the church’s responsibility to discipline them. Then, for the fourth time in this epistle, the apostle expressed the desire of his heart in a prayerful benediction to God for them (vv. 16–18) that He would energize their spiritual maturity.

De (Now) marks a transition, as Paul moves from command and exhortation (vv.6–15) to benediction and prayer (vv. 16–18). This passage does not record an actual prayer, but rather expresses the desire of his heart that constantly rises as a cry for God’s blessing. He calls upon God to grant four blessings that are essential for spiritual maturity: peace, strength, truth, and grace.

PEACE

Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. (3:16a)

Paul’s first request here, as in his other letters (cf. 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 6:23), is for that highly prized, yet elusive reality, peace. The world defines peace as the sense of calm, tranquility, quietness, contentment, and well-being that comes when everything is going well. But that definition, frankly, is shallow. A calm, tranquil feeling can be produced by lies, self-deception, unexpected good fortune, the absence of conflict and trouble, biofeedback, drugs, alcohol, even a good night’s sleep. Such peace is fleeting and easily destroyed. It can be shattered by the arrival of conflict and trouble, as well as by failure, doubt, fear, bitterness, anger, pride, difficulty, guilt, regret, sorrow, anxiety over circumstances beyond one’s control, being disappointed or mistreated by others, making bad decisions—in short, by any perceived threat to one’s security.

But true spiritual peace is completely different from the superficial, ephemeral, fragile human peace. It is the deep, settled confidence that all is well between the soul and God because of His loving, sovereign control of one’s life both in time and eternity. That calm assurance is based on the knowledge that sins are forgiven, blessing is present, good is abundant even in trouble, and heaven is ahead. The peace that God gives His beloved children as their possession and privilege has nothing to do with the circumstances of life.

That peace has several characteristics. First, it is divine, deriving from the Lord of peace Himself. The pronoun autos (Himself) stands in the emphatic first position in the Greek text. The God who is peace grants peace to believers. It is the very essence of His nature, one of His attributes. God is at all times at perfect peace, without any discord within Himself. He is never under stress, worried, anxious, fearful, unsure, or threatened. He is always perfectly calm, tranquil, and content. There are no surprises for His omniscience, no changes for His immutability, no threats to His sovereignty, no doubts to cloud His wisdom, no sin to stain His holiness. Even His wrath is clear, controlled, calm, and confident.

Scripture makes it clear that peace characterizes and flows from every member of the Trinity. “God of peace” is a common title for the Father (e.g., Judg. 6:24; Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20). First Thessalonians 5:23 calls the Father “the God of Peace”; Jesus Christ is here called the Lord of peace. Taken together, the two passages reveal Christ’s deity and equality with the Father, since both are the source of peace. Isaiah 9:6 gives Him the title “Prince of Peace”; speaking of Christ, Ephesians 2:14 says, “He Himself is our peace.” The Holy Spirit is also the source of peace. Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), while Paul wrote in Romans 14:17, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

In the perfectly harmonious working of the Trinity, the Father decreed peace, the Son purchased it (cf. Acts 10:36; Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20), and the Holy Spirit brings it.

Second, divine peace is a gift from God. It is His good pleasure to graciously grant it to those who belong to Him. The priestly blessing of Israel reads in part, “The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace” (Num. 6:26). In Psalm 29:11 David declared, “The Lord will bless His people with peace,” while Psalm 85:8 adds that “God the Lord … will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones.” In Isaiah 57:19 God Himself promises “Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near” (cf. Isa. 26:3, 12). Paul prayed, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Rom. 15:13). Peace also comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14:27; cf. 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26). Peace is such an integral part of the New Testament that it appears in the greetings of all of Paul’s epistles, as well as in 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

God does not give true spiritual peace to unbelievers, for it is a feature of salvation (Rom. 15:13). Isaiah 48:22 bluntly states, “‘There is no peace for the wicked,’ says the Lord” (cf. 57:21; Jer. 6:14; 8:11; Ezek. 13:10, 16). The peace the wicked experience is the false peace of delusion. The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson wrote:

The false peace of the unregenerate also has several components. It is the peace of presumption. It is based on pride, not truth, stemming from thinking oneself to be worthy before God. Those who have it are under the mistaken notion that God will accept them because they are good people. It lulls those headed for hell into a false sense that all will be well.

In addition, the false peace of those who are enemies of God separates peace and holiness—two realities that God has joined. Psalm 85:10 affirms that true peace is inseparably linked with holiness when it declares, “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Isaiah 32:17 adds, “The work of righteousness will be peace.” Only a foolish, deceived man could boast, “I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” (Deut. 29:19). Watson notes, “You may as well suck health out of poison, as peace out of sin” (Body of Divinity, 183).

Furthermore, unlike true peace, which grows stronger through trials, false peace cannot survive the tests of life. Trouble severely shakes it and leaves it in despair. The false peace enjoyed by unbelievers will be of no comfort when the Day of the Lord comes: “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).

A third element of the divine peace that God gives to believers is that it is continually available. Why then does Paul pray for believers to experience it? Because though true peace is always available it can be interrupted. Weak or disobedient Christians may find their peace disturbed by the same sins, doubts, fears, and anxieties that destroy the false peace of the unredeemed.

How may a believer’s interrupted peace be restored? First, by trusting God. In Psalm 42:11 the psalmist asked himself, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (cf. v. 5; 43:5).

Second, peace that is forfeited by sin can be restored by repentant obedience. God promised Israel, “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out … I shall also grant peace in the land” (Lev. 26:3, 6). To the Romans Paul wrote that there will be “glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good” (Rom. 2:10). “If you would have peace,” counseled Thomas Watson, “make war with sin” (Body of Divinity, 185).

Third, peace may be restored by accepting God’s chastening:

Fourth, peace may be restored by walking in the Spirit, since peace is an element of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

Fifth, peace may be restored by loving God from the heart and avoiding legalism. In Galatians 6:16 Paul wrote, “And those who will walk by this rule [by faith in the power of the Spirit], peace and mercy be upon them.”

Sixth, those whose peace has been interrupted need to pray that the God of peace and the Prince of Peace will restore it.

A fourth element of the divine peace that God continually gives the redeemed is that it exists in every circumstance. It is unaffected by anything in the worldly realm because it is based on the promise of eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) made by the God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is anchored in the reality that “He who began a good work in [believers] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). This unbreakable, unassailable, transcendent peace, so utterly unlike worldly peace (John 14:27), stabilizes the Christian in every situation (cf. Phil. 4:7).

Paul longed for God to grant the Thessalonians peace so that no matter what their circumstances were, they would experience settled confidence and unshakable joy amid the storms of life.

STRENGTH

The Lord be with you all! (3:16b)

At first glance, this seems like a puzzling statement; since God is omnipresent (cf. Ps. 139:7–12), how could He not be with them all? But Paul did not have some benign sense of God’s presence in mind, but rather His presence to empower believers to live for His glory. The psalmist rejoiced over that strengthening presence in Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” It was His enabling presence that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of in Matthew 28:20 when He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He promised the Twelve, shocked and saddened by the revelation that He would soon be leaving them,

Believers need God’s strengthening presence for several reasons. First, it enables them to resist temptation. First Corinthians 10:13 promises, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Christ’s strength will open up the path for believers to flee temptation.

Second, believers need God’s strength to face Satan and his demon hordes. In Ephesians 6:10–13 Paul instructed Christians how to prepare for spiritual warfare:

Third, believers need God’s strength to effectively serve Him. “I was made a minister,” wrote Paul, “according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power” (Eph. 3:7). To the Colossians he added, “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29). He praised “Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service” (1 Tim. 1:12). The writer of Hebrews expressed his wish for his readers that “the God of peace, … equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight” (Heb. 13:20–21).

Fourth, believers need God’s strength to persevere. Paul wrote confidently to Timothy, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim. 4:18). Jude reminded his readers that God “is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).

Fifth, believers need God’s strength to endure trials. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10:

Sixth, believers need God’s strength to effectively evangelize the lost world. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy

Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (cf. Matt. 28:18–20). After his conversion Paul “kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:22; cf. 18:9–10; 2 Tim. 4:17).

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16–19 summarizes believers’ need for God’s power in every aspect of life. He prayed that God

Philippians 4:13 succinctly states, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” God provides all the strength necessary to serve and glorify Him to those who trust Him, obey Him, accept His chastening, walk in the Spirit, love Him from the heart, live by the Word, and faithfully pray.

TRUTH

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. (3:17)

Paul interrupts his benediction for the church, which resumes in verse 18, to deal with another vital issue. He was deeply concerned that they have God’s truth. Since he was the agent of that truth, he did not want them confused about which were his authentic writings; therefore, he decided to write this closing greeting with his own hand.

As noted in the discussion of 2:2 in chapter 23 of this volume, false teachers had come to Thessalonica claiming that the Day of the Lord had arrived. They produced a forged letter supposedly from Paul to support their lies. They may also have denied the authenticity of his first epistle, since it contradicted their false teaching. Paul normally dictated his letters to an amanuensis (cf. Rom. 16:22), much like a modern business executive dictating a letter to his secretary. But to prevent forgery and affirm their authenticity, he apparently personally signed each of them (cf. 1 Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11; Col. 4:18; Philem. 19); his distinctive signature became the distinguishing mark in every letter he wrote.

As was the apostle John (2 John 4; 3 John 4), Paul was deeply concerned about truth. In 2 Corinthians 4:2 he wrote, “We have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (cf. 7:14; 12:6; 13:8). Because his many enemies often branded him a liar, Paul repeatedly affirmed that he spoke the truth: “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 9:1); “As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia” (2 Cor. 11:10); “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:7).

Just as God is the God of peace and strength, so also is He the God of truth (Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16; cf. 2 Chron. 15:3; Jer. 10:10; John 7:28; 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 6:10). His words are truth (2 Sam. 7:28), He is abundant in truth (Ps. 86:15), He is true even if all men are liars (Rom. 3:4), and He cannot lie (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18).

The Lord Jesus Christ, being God, is also the truth. John 1:14 describes Him as “full of grace and truth”; verse 17 says, “grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ”; in John 7:18 He referred to Himself as “He who is … true”; in the familiar words of John 14:6, He is “the way, and the truth, and the life”; Ephesians 4:21 declares that “truth is in Jesus”; Revelation 3:7 describes Him as “He who is holy, who is true”; verse 14 as “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness”; and Revelation 19:11 says that He “is called Faithful and True.”

The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, is also truth. John three times calls Him “the Spirit of truth” (14:17; 15:26; 16:13), while 1 John 5:6 affirms that “the Spirit is the truth.”

Paul wanted the church to be the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). But to do so, it must be able to distinguish between “the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6). The only benchmark for doing so is the “word of truth” (Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18), which is why Paul was so deeply concerned to guard, protect, and assure the authenticity of the revelation God gave him.

GRACE

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. (3:18)

Paul concludes his prayer wish and the epistle by expressing his desire that all those who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ continue to experience grace. Grace is God’s undeserved goodness and benevolence granted to those who in no way deserve it. Saving grace was decreed by God (Ps. 84:11) and given through our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:17; Rom. 5:15; 1 Cor. 1:4; Titus 2:11). Grace is essential, not only for salvation (Acts 15:11; 18:27; 20:24; Rom. 3:24; Gal. 1:6, 15; Eph. 1:7; 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:7), but also for endurance (2 Cor. 12:9; cf. Prov. 3:34), service (Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7; 1 Tim. 1:12–14; 1 Peter 4:10), growth (Acts 20:32; Heb. 13:9; 2 Peter 3:18), and giving (2 Cor. 8:1). Believers experience God’s enabling, sanctifying grace by trusting Him, obeying His Word, enduring chastening, doing good, walking in the Spirit, and praying.

There is a wonderful mystery to living the Christian life to the glory of God. To do so requires all the understanding, obedience, commitment, dedication, and effort that the redeemed can give. But all of that would be futile were it not for the peace, strength, truth, and grace that only God can supply. Paul had the balance when he wrote, “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29).