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Concluding Exhortations and Greeting. 2Th_3:1-18
The apostle asks his readers to intercede for him with the faithful Lord:
v. 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you,
v. 2. and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for all men have not faith.
v. 3. But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil,
v. 4. And we have confidence in the Lord, touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
v. 5. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ.
The points of doctrine concerning which the apostle had felt uneasiness with regard to the Thessalonian Christians the apostle had now touched upon. But there still remained the necessity of speaking also of the daily life and conduct of his readers, since their false ideas had reacted upon their entire manner of living. Paul introduces this section with fine pastoral tact: As for the rest, pray, brethren, in our behalf, that the Word of the Lord may run and be glorified, as also with you. After the leading instruction on the topic of the last things the apostle might have turned abruptly to the admonitions which must of necessity accompany all doctrinal teaching. But, instead, he pleads with the Christians of Thessalonica to make intercession for him before the Lord. Without a trace of selfishness, however, he asks that their prayer be made in the interest of the Word of God, since all his anxiety was for its rapid propagation. As he expresses it, he wants the Word of the Lord to run, to be spread, without hindrance, as quickly as possible, everywhere. And that his plan did not include a mere external Christianizing, a mere veneer of Christianity, which so many of the modern schemes have in view, is shown by the fact that he also desires the glorifying of the Gospel, that he wants the Word of the Lord glorified by its fruit, by the actual demonstration of its divine power and truth. So much had been accomplished in the case of the Thessalonians, and so much the apostle desired to see accomplished throughout the world, for such was his zeal for the Master whom he was serving with such whole-souled eagerness.
To this most important petition Paul now adds a second, whose connection with the first is obvious: And that we may be delivered from the perverse and wicked men, for not all have faith. Paul wishes that he and his fellow laborers might be delivered, literally, torn from the grasp of perverse, ill-disposed, and wicked men, whose one object is to resist and hinder all divine and human order. Whether these men are false brethren, heretics, or enemies outside of the Church, their influence is always for evil; the harm which they do to the cause of Christ cannot be readily computed. It is a sad fact, and one that often causes sincere Christians much anxiety, that not all men have faith, that a great many of them will deliberately resist the glorious message of their redemption through the blood of Jesus and prefer the way of everlasting damnation to that of eternal joy and happiness.
This sad thought, however, leads, by contrast, to that other: But faithful is the Lord, who shall certainly confirm you and protect you from the evil (or, from the Wicked One). The fate of the adversaries of Christ is a sad one indeed, but Christians cannot afford to spend any time in brooding over their perversity. So far as the believers are concerned, they know that theirs is a faithful God, whose promises concerning their salvation are sure. There cannot be the slightest doubt in their minds that He most surely shall confirm and establish them in their faith and holy life until the end. This includes also that He will keep and protect them from all evil, so that the devil, the world, and their own flesh may not seduce them, nor lead them into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice. This powerful and constant help and protection belongs to the Christians by virtue of God's promises and therefore cannot fail.
For that reason, Paul can write in all confidence: But we have confidence in the Lord about you that what we enjoin you are doing and will do. The apostle's confidence is in the Lord, since he knows that the Lord's strength is powerful enough to uphold His own at all times and to direct their feet into the paths of sanctification. He is sure that, with this power to inspire and to guide them, his readers will not only at the present time be found engaged in such works as are pleasing to the Lord, but will also in the future not disappoint the faithfulness of God and their great teacher's belief in them. To this end, then, he prays: But the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and toward the patience of Christ. Not only the beginning of a Christian's spiritual life, but also the progress and the end of it depends upon God's power in the Word. And one of the strongest motives that may be urged upon Christians is that they consider the wonderful love of God toward them, in order to be filled with a similar love, that they ponder upon the patience of Christ under provocations which no other man could have endured, in order to pattern their own lives after His example. The Thessalonians particularly needed this admonition, though presented in the form of a prayer, because of their impatient desire for the speedy coming of the last day. But the value of God's love and of Christ's patience as examples to stimulate the love and the patience of the believers is just as great today as it ever was, and should find a marked reflection in their entire life.