This is the sixth entry in the Second Letter of Paul to the
Thessalonians Bible Junkies Commentary. You can find the first entry here. In the first entry I discussed
introductory matters, such as the origin of the Church in Thessalonica, its
early history with Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, and also introductory matters of
scholarship, including the structure of Paul’s letters, modeled on the
Hellenistic letter form, and noting such issues as whether the letter was
written by the Apostle Paul. In the second entry, I gave an overview of the
content in 2 Thessalonians. In the third entry, I started the
process of commenting on the text itself, discussing the salutation, based on
the New Revised Standard Version in English and the Greek text which underlies
all translations. The fourth entry commented on the
Thanksgiving and the apocalyptic themes found there. In the fifth entry, we began looking
at the claim that a letter purported to be from Paul is circulating in Thessalonica
and an involved description of the apocalyptic events which must take place
before the return of Jesus Christ. The sixth entry will complete the
examination of the apocalyptic themes in chapter two.
4. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians:
c) Body of the Letter (2:1-3:15): i) Theological
Teaching (2:9-17): Proper Understanding of the Second Coming. Second part.
9
The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all
power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for
those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be
saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading
them to believe what is false, 12 so that all who have not believed the
truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned. 13 But we
must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved
by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for
salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good
news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the
traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our
letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who
loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17
comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. (NRSV)
Paul, Silvanus and Timothy have stated in 2:7 that “the mystery of
lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it (ho
katechôn) is removed” (2:7). It
seems that since the “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work” the
revelation of the lawless one is a process and not simply an event,
though this revelation appears to be the culmination of the process. This
reading is borne out by 2:9-10 where the authors write that “the coming of the
lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs,
lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing,
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2:9-10). The mix of
present and past tenses (aorist) indicate that, indeed, lawlessness is at work
even now.
The “coming” of the lawless one is a powerful phrase because the word
used in Greek for “coming” is parousia, the same word used to designate the
return of Jesus Christ, by Christianity in general and by this letter in
particular (earlier in the chapter at 2:1). The word, apart from Christian use,
generally indicated the arrival of a King or Emperor. The “lawless one” was
clearly intended to point to a particular ruler figure, whether human, and
under the spirit or control of Satan, or some sort of spiritual being.
Even if the “lawless one” has not yet returned, or arrived, it seems
the spirit of the lawless one is present the activity of Satan (lies,
power, signs, though it is difficult to identify what these might indicate in
specific). More significantly, this activity is made manifest in “those who are
perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2:10). It
is not clear if these “who are perishing” are people who have troubled the
Church, those who have not responded to the Christian message, or all those
outside of the Church, but it seems likely that it refers to those who have in
some way rejected the Church’s teaching since “they refused to love the truth.”
It is at this point where a serious theological issue arises since “for
this reason (dia touto) God sends them a powerful delusion (energeian
planes), leading them to believe (eis to pisteusai) what is false,
so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in
unrighteousness will be condemned (krithōsin – will be judged)”
(2:11-12). The theological issue, which students always notice immediately, is
why would God “condemn” these people if a “powerful delusion” has been sent
upon them? Do they have a choice?
There are three ways to look at this. The first, God has sent a
powerful delusion and those who have rejected the Gospel are unable to resist
it; God is directly responsible for their rejection of the Gospel. The second way of reading it is to
look at 2:10 more carefully and see that
God has sent a powerful delusion “because they refused to love the truth and so
be saved,” that is, due to their own sinfulness (the phrase “for this reason,” dia
touto, is causal and could be translated “on account of this”). The third
way is to translate the Greek with a bit more nuance. The “powerful delusion”
might be seen more as an “active error,” which indicates that they have played
a part in bringing about this error through their own actions (as in the second
option above). When this is combined with translating krithōsin as
“judge” instead of “condemn,” it does not seem that the outcome is predestined.
The “judgment” of those who have rejected the truth might seem set in stone
now, but it is not as harsh or as foregone a conclusion as “condemned.” I opt
for the third way because I am not convinced the Greek is as strict as the NRSV
translation suggests. The lot of those who have rejected the Gospel is not, for
Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, a positive situation, but I am not certain their fate
is already sealed. There is certainly some sense of divine causality, however, due to God’s
active presence.
This divine causality becomes clear for the members of the Church as well. Paul,
Silvanus and Timothy offer a second thanksgiving in which the focus is on the “chosenness”
of the members of the Church. They write that they “always give thanks to God
for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose (eilato)
you as the first fruits (aparchên) for salvation through sanctification
by the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (2:13). As with those who have
been engaged in error, and rejected the Gospel through their own choice, those who have been chosen have
also responded to the Gospel through their own choice. That is, to be chosen is dependent as well upon
the choices which one makes for or against God’s Gospel. How these choices are
connected with the graces offered to the individual is a larger question which
this letter does not consider.
They have been chosen “through our proclamation of the good news, so
that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2:14). In the same way,
I would argue, that the condemnation of those who have rejected the Gospel is
not final, neither is the salvation of those who have been called and chosen:
it remains dependent upon their continued response to the “sanctification by
the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
This is why the final verses in this chapter focus on encouragement to “stand
firm and hold fast to the traditions (paradoseis) that you were taught
by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (2:15). This specifies that traditions
were handed on both through the oral tradition as well as the letters of Paul,
Silvanus and Timothy. The extent of these traditions seems impossible to
determine simply on the basis of this letter, though it will include practical
and not just theological dimensions, as we will see in chapter three. The maintenance
of these traditions is essential for the continuation of the Christian life. The
Thessalonians are not on their own, however, for the authors stress that “our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace
gave us eternal comfort and good hope” (2:16) will “comfort your hearts and
strengthen them in every good work and word” (2:17). God was not just active in
calling them to the Christian life, but in aiding them in maintaining and
growing in the Christian life.
It almost seems as if the second thanksgiving here is leading directly
to the end of the letter, but it is more that it is the climax or crescendo of
the comparison between those who have rejected the Gospel and those who have
grasped it: Paul, Silvanus and Timothy have stressed in chapters one and two that
however difficult life in Thessalonica might be now, God is with them and will
be with them until the end of time when they receive their just reward.
Next week, when we begin 2 Thessalonians 3, we will see the practical
implications of the Thessalonians fidelity to the Gospel . In this chapter,
Paul and his co-workers focus on instructions that emerge from their
willingness to “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions (paradoseis)
that you were taught by us” (2:15).
John W. Martens
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