2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-end NRSV

The Man of Lawlessness

¹As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters,^{* 2}not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. ³Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one^* is revealed, the one destined for destruction.^{* 4}He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. ⁵Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

Chosen for Salvation

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. ¹⁴For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news,^* so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So 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, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Barclay describes this as one of the most difficult passages in all the New Testament, mostly because the imagery used here is so foreign to the modern reader. For those who heard (or read) it for the first time, they would have required no explanation, but to us, who do not have their local knowledge, it is obscure!

Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they must give up their hysterical waiting for the Second Coming. He denied that he had ever said that the ‘Day of the Lord’ had already come, because before this could happen much still needed to be fulfilled. The events were as follows: there would come an age of great rebellion against God; into this world there already was a secret evil power which would be behind this rebellion. There was something that was the incarnation of evil as Jesus had been the incarnation of God. In time, the power that was restraining this evil power would be removed and then the devil incarnate would come. When this happened, he would gather his followers around him just as Jesus had done. Those who had refused to accept Christ would accept him. What would follow would be a great battle in which the Christ would destroy the devil and his followers and then Christ’s people would be gathered and all evil would be destroyed.

This is where the context becomes important: All the eastern faiths shared a belief in the power of evil and in a battle between the powers of evil and good. So, Paul was using imagery that was commonly accepted at the time. Jews had the idea of a humanised devil as the antithesis of God and Christians took this over in the form of the Antichrist. They all believed in a final battle where all evil would be destroyed.

What is the containing force keeping the forces of evil at bay? Today we cannot answer this with any certainty. Most probably Paul was using code and was speaking of the Roman empire. Time and again he had personally been saved from mob violence by appealing to Roman justice. As Barclay explains, “Rome was the restraining power which kept the world from insane anarchy.” The day that this Roman power was removed, there would be chaos! But we cannot be sure that this is the case.

Barclay then draws all things together to discern the following truths that can be gleaned from this passage:

Firstly, that there is a force of evil in the world: We might find this difficult to verify empirically, but most people acknowledge that there is an evil power at work in the world.

Secondly, God is in control: In some strange way, good always triumphs over evil. We as a family watched the film Ghandi together over half-term and he too made this point that throughout history, the ways of love and goodness always prevail in the end.

Thirdly, the ultimate triumph of God is sure: In the end, nothing can stand against God.

Barclay concludes: “On what side are you? In the struggle which is at the heart of the universe are you for God – or Satan?”

This is a real question and not always an easy one to answer. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees would have claimed to be on God’s side and Jesus challenged them. The parable of the Pharisee and the sinner is telling, as it really searches out where we stand.

As the old hymn puts it: “Who is on the Lord’s side? ...” is in fact this is a deeply searching question.

Barclay reminds us that these verses are a synopsis of the Christian life.

Firstly, the Christian life begins with God’s call; being chosen by God. We could never have come to God by ourselves, unless God had begun the process. It is all God’s initiative, and at the source is His love for us ... for it was while we were still sinners that Jesus died for us.

Secondly, while it might have started with God, it develops as we respond (echoes of my earlier comment on justification and sanctification). Christians are not called to dream, but to do! And this often means a fight to ‘stand firm’ and ‘hold fast’.

Thirdly, our efforts are helped by two things: (a) by the teaching, the guidance and example of godly people as God speaks to us through those to whom he has spoken. “A saint is someone who makes it easier for others to believe in God.” There are many who help us not by what they say or write, but simply by being what they are, people, whom to meet is to meet God! (b) We are helped by God Himself. We are never left to struggle alone. ‘... he who gives us the task also gives us the strength to do it. He actually does it with us. ... They that are for us are always more than they that be against us ...’

Lastly, our efforts are designed to produce two things: (a) consecration – being set apart for God – so that we might be used for God’s service. Our lives are no longer ours to do with as we please, they are God’s to do with as He pleases; (b) Salvation in heaven – Our lives do not end with time; their goal is eternity. ‘Its end is the purity which will see God.’ I am reminded yet again of that excellent TV show “The Big Silence” where, under the guidance of Christopher Jameson, the Abbot at Worth Abbey, people came to Christ through silence. He reminded us that it is in the silence that we can confront ourselves, deal with that which needs to be dealt with and so be purified and then to remember the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Reese points us to the two essential conditions Paul adds for salvation.

Firstly, in verse 13(b) he speaks of ‘... the first fruits of salvation through sanctification by the Spirit ...’ Paul has already dealt with this issue in his first letter to the Thessalonians and so is brief but emphasises once more the need for believers to respond to their responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to operate in and through them for their transformation into children of God.

Secondly, he speaks of the importance of ‘... belief in the truth ...’ Reese reminds us that the Greek speaks more about ‘... faith in the truth ...’ and a few verses earlier, Paul has spoken of ‘... love of the truth ...’ which is necessary for salvation (verse 10 which the lectionary compilers had left out of our reading).

To be ‘saved’ means to share in glory of the Lord Jesus and being aware of this ought to make us grateful and act as a strong motivating force to persevere in our calling despite the obstacles and difficulties that so often cross our path.

And so Paul calls us to stand firm in the Gospel we have heard preached as well as read in his letters and ‘... traditions ...’ I want to pause for a moment and reflect on ‘... traditions ...’ This is not the only place where Paul refers to traditions (cf 1 Cor 11:2, Galatians 1:14, Colossians 2:8, 2 Thess 3:6). From all this it would appear that he is referring to liturgical as well as doctrinal guidance in addition to moral activity. But one must note the warning of Jesus against holding fast to mere human traditions (Mk 7:3,8). We always need to ask: “Are our traditions those of the Lord and the Early Church or have they become mere human institutions?”

Back in the 1960s people like J A T Robinson, Paul Tillich and others warned us against this (often echoing the profound earlier understanding of Bonhoeffer’s call for a ‘religionless Christianity’) but we have not taken heed. We have also not altered our worship styles (or times and this matters because there are so many other family distractions at between 10-11 am) and so some people come to Christ, but do not come to the Church. The sad thing is that there are many, many people out there who are stunted in their sanctification because they are not aware of the fact that who they have placed their faith in, is the risen Christ. Even more sadly, there are those who meet the risen Christ – are not nurtured – and so fade away. Silence, reflection and deep study need also to become part of what we do. In our schools, for too many young people, Confirmation signals the end of a process rather than the beginning (or continuing) of a journey.

A difficult passage, but a challenging one and I am grateful to Barclay and Reece for guiding me through it.