In today’s world many people laugh at the idea of a literal Satan. In their mind, he’s a myth, a holdover from a superstitious and prescientific era. They feel that good and bad are simply the random consequences of cause and effect; or, in some people’s minds, good and bad are only culturally constructed concepts … Continue reading –>
The language of this section recalls the prayer at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians. It is almost as if Paul is returning to the place where he began, creating a natural conclusion to this pair of letters. Paul here expresses his concern that the believers in Thessalonica not deviate from the path on which he … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Thess. 2:13-3:18, Acts 17:11, Luke 10:25-28, Matt. 7:24-27, 18:15-17. Memory Text: “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15, ESV). Key Thought: Even with all the grand and glorious promises for the future, we have to deal … Continue reading –>
“The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. ‘That day shall not come,’ he says, ‘except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the … Continue reading –>
My name is Christian, and I live in Denmark. My family has no real relationship with Christ; but when I was a child, my grandmother had taught me to pray and to trust in God. My faith in God wasn’t popular with my classmates, and often they teased and tormented me. So when I was … Continue reading –>
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. Why does God allow so many to be deceived? According to this passage, what have the wicked rejected? Verse 11 is a text that many people find extremely challenging. Paul states very directly, “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thess. 2:11, NIV). The knee-jerk response to … Continue reading –>
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10. How do we understand these events? What’s especially important in all this about the phrase, “they received not the love of the truth”? The man of sin was introduced in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4. Through much of Christian history he has operated to undermine God’s law (particularly the Sabbath) and to usurp powers that … Continue reading –>
According to Paul, what two things characterized the world situation at the time he wrote? How do we see the great controversy revealed in these verses? 2 Thess. 2:6–7. Combining these verses with the previous ones, we can see that Paul is outlining three stages of history from his time until the end. The final stage begins at … Continue reading –>
In the short interval between 1 and 2 Thessalonians, the Thessalonian church members became confused about the meaning of what Paul wrote in the first letter. They drew the conclusion that the Second Coming was either at hand or had already come in some secret way (2 Thess. 2:2). Paul’s short answer to this problem? “That can’t … Continue reading –>
What is the topic addressed by Paul in the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians? How are these words relevant to us today? In what way do we face similar challenges within our church regarding end-time events (date-setting, conspiracy theories, and the like), however different our context? What similar principle do we find here that we also constantly confronted? 2 … Continue reading –>
