Grace, peace, love, persecution; retribution- the whole truth

2 Thessalonians 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ² Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; ⁴ therefore, 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. ⁵ This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. ⁶ For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, ⁸ dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the first three verses of today’s text Paul speaks of God’s grace and peace. He speaks of the faith and love of the believers. Those are indeed some of the most critical elements of the gospel message. Jesus Himself focused on love. In fact it was God’s love which brought Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, to earth as a man.       “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God loved the world. How did He demonstrate that love?          But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)    The love of God came with a price. Jesus paid the price, dying for the sins of all man. Yet because of the love and the grace of God, there is no cost to us. Redemption from sin, reconciliation to God is His free gift, to us, whoever believe.  

In the text Paul says:    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.   So while God’s gift of salvation, the finished work of the cross is free to us from God, there is nothing more we need to do but believe and receive, there may be a price that believers pay, at the hands of men, for their faith in Christ. Jesus Himself says:   “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;  and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved...”  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. (Matthew 10:16-36)   Jesus says:   ^“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)    We cannot pay the price for our sins. Jesus did that for us. It is God’s free gift, His demonstration of love. There may though be a cost for our faith, a cost charged to us at the hands of men. The message of the gospel is love, grace, forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation and restoration. But the truth is there will be persecution. If we fail to tell the whole truth, we lie.

In the text Paul says this to the believers about the persecution and afflictions they face:   This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well 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. These 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 in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed        There is another side to the gospel, a much less pleasant and popular message, the future for those who reject God’s love, His mercy, for those who reject His Son, Jesus Christ. This is not Paul deviating from the truth, creating a harsh unloving doctrine of man. In Matthew 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30 Jesus Himself speaks of:    the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.   In Luke 16, Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in verses 22-26 He says:    the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’     Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came as a demonstration of God’s love and paid the price for our sins on the cross. But Jesus also told the whole truth. He warned of the fate of those who do not believe and receive. The message of the gospel is love, grace, forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation and restoration. But the truth is there is another fate for those who reject God’s grace and love. If we fail to tell the whole truth, we lie.

The message of the gospel, what Jesus calls and commissions His disciples to preach to all the world is a message of love, mercy and grace. It’s not a love though as the world loves. The love of God is demonstrated in the cross of Christ. Our love for the world must point them to Jesus Christ and the cross.   There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)     We need to tell the whole truth, as Jesus did. Salvation; redemption is a free gift from God. There is nothing we can do to pay the price or repay for the cost of our sin. Our faith in Christ, will however come with a cost, at the hands of men, not God. Finally, if we tell the whole truth, as Jesus did, we will warn of the fate of those who reject the love of God demonstrated not in the acceptance of sin, but in the cross of Christ. I don’t know what the ratio of these truths should be. Surly love and grace should precede and exceed the truth about persecution and God’s righteous judgment.  Jesus says:  “Do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”      He spoke that concerning testifying to the world on His behalf. The Holy Spirit will guide us in what to say. He will give us the perfect mix of the whole truth of the gospel.

By the power of the Holy Spirit may we be faithful to tell the whole truth of the gospel.    To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count 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, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.          Amen