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2 Thessalonians 2:1 – Look Up

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Will

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,

Truth to Learn

In the midst of your suffering, look up! He is coming soon!

Behind the Words

The word translated “now” is de. This particle serves to introduce a new topic. It is most often translated as “and” or “but.”

“Concerning” is translated from the Greek preposition huper (hyper). This word generally means “over” or “above.” But, it can also mean “about,” “concerning,” or “with respect to.”

Parousia is the Greek noun translated “coming.” This word is derived from pareimi, meaning “to be present.” Parousia can refer either to the presence of something or it can refer to the coming of someone into one’s presence.

“Gathering together” is from the verb episunagōgē. This is a double compound word made up of epi, meaning “upon,” sun, meaning “with” or “together with,” and agō, meaning “to lead.” Putting these all together we see that episunagōgē literally means “to lead or bring together upon a place.” In other words, it means “a gathering together into one place.”

Meaning Explained

The Apostle Paul spent most of the first chapter of this letter talking about God’s righteous judgment: grace for believers and tortuous, blazing fire for unbelievers. This was necessary to reassure the Christians in Thessalonica that God is always righteous. Now he builds on that concept and proceeds to explain to them that God has not deserted them. The reason they needed this reassurance is that there were some false teachers in the church who were teaching that the rapture had already come and they had been left behind. Not only that, they were teaching that the Day of the Lord (the time of God’s judgment of mankind) had begun.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Therefore, Paul now will explain to them (and to us) some of the truths that he had previously taught them. We need to keep in mind that there is a difference between the Day of Christ (the rapture) and the Day of the Lord (the time of God’s judgment). By maintaining this critical distinction, we will be able to clearly see through some of the confusion that various teachers have taught concerning this second chapter of 2 Thessalonians.

Paul starts off this chapter talking about the rapture. He describes it as “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” This “coming of our Lord” is not a reference to the time of God’s judgment, but to the event that is the culmination of God’s grace. This is clear because he couples it with the “gathering together to Him.” The only future event spoken of in these terms is the rapture, when all Christians (those living as well as those who have previously died physically) “will be caught up together … to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Application

Throughout history, Christians have been persecuted and have suffered at the hands of non-believers. More Christians are suffering today than at any time in the past. But, don’t despair, my friends, God is coming soon. When He does, He will take us out of the world. Then, He will judge our persecutors.

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Thessalonians 4:15 – Any Day Now

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Will

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

Truth to Learn

The rapture could happen any day now!

Behind the Words

The word “alive” is from the verb dzaō, which means “to be alive” or “to have life.” It is expressed here as a present participle, so it could be translated as “the living.”

“Remain” is translated from perileipō. This word is made up of peri, meaning “around” and leipō, meaning “to leave” or “to have a lack of something.” Hence, perileipō means “to leave around” or “to leave behind.” This verb is also expressed as a present participle, so it could be translated as “the ones left behind” (when the others died).

Parousia is the Greek word translated “coming.” This word is derived from pareimi, meaning “to be present.” It can refer either to the presence of something or it can refer to the coming of someone into our presence.

“By no means” is the translation of the two Greek words ou mē. Ou represents the absolute negative and mē represents the relative negative. When the two words are used together it indicates the strongest form of a negative, meaning “absolutely not” or “no way.”

The word translated “precede” is phthanō, which means “to be beforehand” or “to precede.”

Meaning Explained

Paul is currently teaching about the rapture, indicating in verse thirteen that it is a future hope that belongs to all Christians. In yesterday’s verse we learned that when Jesus Christ comes back at the rapture, He will bring with him everyone who has died having a saving faith in his work on the cross.

He now makes a statement about why we should believe what he is telling us. He says, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord.” In other words, this is not just some hair brained idea that Paul came up with. This is teaching directly from the mouth of God, His Word.

When the King James Version of the Bible was by far the most frequently read translation, many people became confused about this verse. The reason is that the word phthanō was translated as “prevent.” At the time the KJV was translated, the word “prevent” meant “to come before,” not “to keep from happening” as it does today. Nearly all modern translations use the word “precede,” meaning “to happen before something else.”

Paul’s message here is that Christians who are alive at the time of the rapture will not receive their heavenly bodies before those who are asleep in Jesus (Christians who have died). Finally, notice that Paul said “we who remain.” He fully expected the rapture to occur within his lifetime!

Application

The rapture hasn’t happened yet, but we (like Paul) believe it could occur any day now. Christians should be serving God faithfully now, looking forward to Christ’s return when “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Thessalonians 3:13 – Blameless Saints

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Will

so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Truth to Learn

God will declare all genuine Christians to be blameless.

Behind the Words

“Establish” is translated from stēridzō, which is a derivative of histemi, meaning “to stand.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place.”

The word translated “blameless” is amemptos, which is composed of the privative a, meaning “without” and a form of the verb memphomai, meaning “to find fault.” Thus, amemptos means “without fault” or “blameless.”

Hagiosunē is the Greek word translated “holiness.” It is derived from the noun hagios, meaning “set apart” or “holy.” Holiness means to be completely set apart from sin and its consequence.

Back in verse nine we learned that the word translated “before” is emprosthen, which means “in the presence of” or “before.”

The word “coming” is from parousia. This word is derived from pareimi, meaning “to be present.” Parousia can refer either to the presence of something or it can refer to the coming of someone into our presence.

Meaning Explained

We are in the midst of a prayer by the Apostle Paul in behalf of the Christians in Thessalonica. In yesterday’s verse he prayed that God would increase the love that these Christians have for one another and for all people. The reason Paul gives for this growing and strengthening of their love for all is “so that He may establish (make firm) your hearts [as] without fault …”

Some people have used this as an indication that some may lose their salvation if they don’t properly show their love to others. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In the Apostle John’s first letter he said,

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7, 8)

In other words, John tells us that showing love for others is the evidence of salvation, not a condition of salvation. If you are saved, you will love others. If you don’t have a genuine love for others, you are not born of God.

Now Paul tells us that God will establish us blameless “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” This coming of the Lord may be a reference to the rapture or to His coming at the end of the Tribulation. It is more likely, however, that it refers to both events. Either way, it is when all believers will be judicially declared to have the righteousness of Christ. In God’s eyes (since He is not bound by time) this has already occurred, but for us (who are bound by time) it will occur at His coming.

Application

Periodically, each of us needs to calibrate our own salvation. One of the signs that we are genuinely a child of God is that we have love for the brethren and for all people. That doesn’t mean that we have to approve of the sinful actions of others. We are supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner. Do you regularly show love to others?

In God's service, for His glory,