Suffering and Justice

Suffering and Justice
A Study in 2 Thessalonians 1:1–12
(NASB 2020)

2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (NASB 2020)

The English word “church” is used to translate a Greek word (ekklesia) that means those called, typically to assembly for some purpose. This is the best way to understand what the Church is. Far from being something so benign as a building or an organization or institution, the Church is all those called out from the world to assemble in fellowship.

In this assembling, the people of God share life. They share their struggles and troubles. They share their hope and their love for God and for one another. They share their adoration for the Lord Jesus by discussing scripture and things He has done. This is the fellowship of believers we are advised in Hebrews 10:25 not to abandon.

That passage expresses the purpose of the assembly of believers clearly. Let’s read it. Hebrews 10:23–25 “Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (NASB 2020)

This mindset of considering how to encourage one another through love, through actions, and through gathering is the natural outflow of the desire of our spirit, because as Paul said, the Church is “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” All who are in Him can expect to find themselves being changed from the inside out.

Like Paul in his letters, we bless those around us, wishing for them grace and peace. Grace because it is in and by the grace of God that we live. His great grace teaches us that, denying ungodliness, we should live upright and holy lives in this world according to Titus 2:11-12.

Like grace, peace is a gift from God. In John 14:27, Jesus said, “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.” (NASB 2020) The peace the Lord has given us is not given only for a time, or in a way that can be taken back. It is not given only in return for a quid pro quo on our part, requiring of us performance of some duty by which we merit the payment of peace.

Rather, it is a peace that is beyond understanding. I take that to mean that I can expect to have deep inner peace in situations that those without Christ would find unsettling and upsetting. The peace of God is spiritual peace. It is the kind of peace that characterizes The Kingdom. Where God is, all is peaceful. Where God is, there is no cause for worry or concern. In Chapter Seven of their wonderful book, “The Rest of the Gospel”, Dan Stone and David Gregory speak of the swing we feel between good and bad circumstances, feelings, or behavior. They make the point that while this is our experience here, above the line, in The Kingdom, in the spiritual realm where God is, all is quiet and peaceful.

Things in this world are always going to be tumultuous, but we are not of this world. The Kingdom of which we are citizens is filled with peace. This is the reason we are told in Philippians 4:4–7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (NASB 2020)

Since the Lord is near (He lives in us and we live in Him) we have a gentle spirit and can safely allow it to be seen by everyone around us. We need not be anxious. Instead, we can turn all that over to our Father. We can remember that the Lord has given us peace, and we can live above earthly turmoil in the peace of The Kingdom.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater. As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.” (NASB 2020)

Life in Christ is a beautiful thing. Philippians 2:13 makes us mindful that, “it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.” (NASB 2020) He works in us through love poured all over our hearts. The effect is that we love Him. The Apostle John saw this and the Spirit in him inspired Him to write about it in 1 John 4:19

Where he said, “We love, because He first loved us.” (NASB 2020)

The endless supply of love with which the Lord is filling our hearts continually increases our love for others. As we continue to grow in grace and grow to know Him more intimately, our trust of Him increases. Our faith grows. We are more fully convinced that all He says is true, that He is faithful and trustworthy. We trust His heart even during difficulty, unsettling circumstances, trouble, and the evil and wickedness in the world around us.

Paul saw it in the people in Thessalonica and he spoke to the saints in other cities about it. He praised the perseverance and faith they displayed while enduring persecution and various afflictions.

It is easy for us to feel singled out when we face persecution or afflictions of various kinds. We may find that people think what we believe is heresy, that we are false teachers, that our faith is misplaced, even foolish. Though we are in Christ, we endure the same afflictions that come upon the people of the world.

Jesus knew this from personal experience, and He had encouragement for us. He said, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NASB 2020) Do you see it? In Him we can expect peace. He is the source of peace even in the face of persecution and affliction. Like the Thessalonians, in these things, our faith grows and our perseverance through them expresses the love of God to the world around us.

The next verse of our text, 2 Thessalonians 1:5, adds that it benefits us as well. It says, “This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering.” (NASB 2020)

The love the Lord pours into our hearts and the peace He gives us enables us to love one another with an ever-increasing love, to endure hardship, persecution, and affliction in a way that would be impossible apart from Him.

That this happens is compelling evidence that God has judged us righteous, and we know that He did that so that we could be made worthy of The Kingdom. He told us about this through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21 where Paul wrote that, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NASB 2020) In the verses preceding this amazing statement we learn that this is what God was doing in Christ through the work Jesus finished at the cross.

It's also notable that the Apostle points out here in verse 5 of 2 Thessalonians 1, that it is The Kingdom of God for which we endure all this suffering. We may find ourselves asking just how our suffering helps or benefits The Kingdom. A clue lies within the truth we have already discovered. It is our perseverance and the growth of our faith that results from knowing God as our source more fully by our endurance of such suffering. It is also the way His character is expressed as those in the world see us endure suffering with peace and even joy that they simply cannot fathom. In this, they see the reality of God and not just words about Him. They see how His life in us cures bitterness, offense, hatred, lust, and all the fleshly things that hold the world in bondage.

We sure know that God is holy. We know and trust that He is loving, gracious, and kind. But we also read that He is just. So, what are we to make of God’s justice?

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 provides the answer. It reads, “For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (NASB 2020)

A day is coming. On that day, the Lord Jesus will be revealed to everyone. He will not come as a weak and helpless baby. In Acts 2:34–36 the Apostle Peter quotes Psalm 110:1 saying, “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” (NASB 2020) When He comes, “EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10–11 (NASB 2020)

In that great day, holy one, you will find relief. In that great day, you will be vindicated. In that great day, affliction and persecution will cease forever. Peace and joy will reign and forever you will live in the way Father built you to live.

But repayment and retribution is only right and just. Those who have rejected Jesus, do not know God, and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, have hardened their hearts and will not believe Him and receive eternal life. Father is patient, however. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” (NASB 2020)

He allows the world to continue to give time for all who will to come to Him. He wants all to come, but He will not force Himself upon anyone—that would be evil and unjust. It would also be evil and unjust for Him to let the wickedness of those who persecute His children and who deny Him, causing the earth to be cursed, to go unpunished.

In Jesus Christ, that punishment was delivered for all who will choose to accept it. The sentence for sin is death. Jesus died and served that sentence on our behalf. He was punished for our wickedness. For God to punish those who accept what Jesus has done on their behalf would also be evil and unjust. It would be a form of double-jeopardy in which punishment was exacted twice for the same offence. Such a thing is ungodly and the true God cannot have a part in any such thing.

Those who do not accept the sentence Jesus served must serve the sentence themselves. That’s only justice. 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 tells us, “These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified among His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our testimony to you was believed.” (NASB 2020)

The death sentence will be carried out for those who decline Father’s offer of forgiveness and Life. As far back as Deuteronomy 30:19 when Father said, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” (NASB 2020)

Our passage in 2 Thessalonians tells us that the sentence is “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord.” The Lord is the source of Life. To be separated from Him is death. It is eternal destruction.

I do not want us to misunderstand this concept. We live in a temporal terrarium, the planet earth where time defines our existence. Because of this, we may be tempted to understand this verse as saying that those who have rejected God destroyed for a never-ending period of time. That would be an idea unsupported by the text, however. The text reads “eternal destruction.” What is eternal is outside the confines of time. This means permanent destruction, not destruction that takes forever.

Revelation 21:8 calls it the second death. It says, “But for the cowardly [or fearful—not daring to trust God], and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (NASB 2020)

Remember from 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 that, “the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (NASB 2020) In Deuteronomy 4:24 we are told, “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Again in Hebrews 12:29 we read that, “our God is a consuming fire.” (NASB 2020)

Just a side note: There are many who understand the end of those who are not in Christ differently. I urge you to consider their views and study this for yourself. My own (current) view is well expressed here. Should further study reveal that my thinking on this is in error, that could change. It is not necessary for everyone to agree about this.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will consider you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (NASB 2020)

The Apostle prays for the Thessalonian saints to persevere and grow in faith. He prays that God would consider, or as many translations have it, “make”, them worthy of their calling. Their calling, like ours, is to be ambassadors of The Kingdom here in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We read that in 2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (NASB 2020)

The glorious good news in this passage is that as we carry out this work—which we do by simply living the dependent life as we endure persecutions and afflictions—we benefit greatly.

First, living by faith fulfills our desires. Father has been at work by His Spirit causing our desires to be for godliness and to work with Him at accomplishing the goals He has for the world—that everyone would come to know Him. Living by faith expresses the power of God more tangibly than any amount of talking or writing ever could. Without Him working in us, we would lack the grace and peace in affliction that shows Him to the world.

Second, living by faith glorifies the name of our Lord Jesus. When the world sees how we love one another, they notice that something is different. When they see that we are not easily offended, that we are not easily alarmed, they find it curiously attractive. They are drawn to the aroma of Christ being spread everywhere by us as we simply live our everyday lives and He is glorified in us.

Third, and perhaps most incredibly, living by faith glorifies us in Him. When God is glorified in us, we are also glorified in Him. This can be hard for us to accept. Many of us have been trained from youth to “give all the glory to God.” In fact it is very common in some churches that after asking God for anything the prayer is ended with a phrase like, “and we’ll give you all the glory.”

But Jesus had something else in mind for His sisters and brothers. Listen to what He said in John 17:22–23 “The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.” (NASB 2020)

Do you see it!? Jesus has given us the glory given to Him by the Father!

But wait; there’s more!

Don’t miss the symbiotic nature of this glory sharing. It results in unity in the body of Christ of the same kind as the unity in the Trinity and the result of this is that the world comes to know that the Father sent Jesus and loved them like He loved Jesus—the same way He loves us.

So just as Jesus is glorified, so we are glorified, and the world is drawn to know our Lord Jesus and have fellowship with us.