Exposition on 2 Thessalonians

Contents

1. 0Pelagius's argument: Paul praises the Thessalonians' growth and warns them against those who claim Christ's coming is imminent.
2. 1.1Lemma of 2 Thess 1:1.
3. 1.3Paul gives thanks for their growing faith and love.
4. 1.4Their patient faith under persecution makes them a model for all.
5. 1.5Their endurance shows faith in God's just judgment and makes them worthy of his kingdom.
6. 1.6God will surely repay persecutors and give rest to the persecuted.
7. 1.7Rest awaits the afflicted at Christ's coming with his angels.
8. 1.8Hell's fire is real and can punish in degrees, against those who reduce it to remorse of conscience.
9. 1.9The punished will exist to suffer punishment and will be condemned before the Lord.
10. 1.10Christ will be glorified in his shining saints, and the wicked will marvel at their salvation.
11. 1.11God asks of us what we can do and grants by his grace what we cannot.
12. 2.1Paul appeals to them by Christ's coming and the gathering of the elect.
13. 2.2The man of lawlessness will set himself above God, try to restore the temple and its law, and be received by the Jews in place of Christ.
14. 2.5The Antichrist will be revealed when the present empire is removed, and Christ will destroy him at his coming.
15. 2.9Lemma of 2 Thess 2:9.
16. 2.10The Antichrist's false signs deceive those who do not love the truth; God permits rather than sends the error.
17. 2.12Those who believe the Antichrist's tricks will have no excuse for having rejected Christ's works.
18. 2.13God chose them because he foresaw their readiness to believe, as with the Macedonian vision.
19. 2.14Believers must hold the apostles' traditions, not add others; apostolic tradition is what the whole world keeps.
20. 2.16Naming the Son before the Father here refutes Arius; God loved us before we deserved it.
21. 2.17God strengthens believers in deed first, then in word.
22. 3.1Paul asks prayer for the gospel's spread, setting an example of humility.
23. 3.2Paul asks deliverance from evil men who do not believe.
24. 3.3God abandons only those who abandon him and strengthens believers by teaching and grace.
25. 3.4Paul trusts their obedience and prays that the Lord lead them into love and patience.
26. 3.6The holy must separate from disorderly brothers who will not amend.
27. 3.7The apostles are the pattern for believers.
28. 3.8Lemma of 2 Thess 3:8, bracketed by Souter.
29. 3.9Paul gave up his right to support as an example against greed and idleness.
30. 3.10Those who will not work should not eat; this both punishes and corrects idleness.
31. 3.11The command applies to the restless busybodies, not to those who sit quietly.
32. 3.12The idle must work quietly and eat their own bread.
33. 3.13Paul forbids giving only to the idle, not the practice of charity.
34. 3.14Lemma of 2 Thess 3:14, cut off in the text.