Having assured the church that they are secure in their faith and have not been left behind by Jesus, Paul feels the need to bolster their confidence even more:
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thess 2:13).
At first glance, Paul’s choice of the word “ought” leaves us thinking of some doubt – we ought to give thanks, but maybe we haven’t. But once again, the Greek is slightly different. As used here, “ought” means “Is obligated,” in the sense of saying a murderer ought to be executed. Paul is saying to the Thessalonians that he is obligated to give thanks to God for them.
Why? Because God chose the Thessalonians for a very high honor – to be the firstfruits of Gentiles accepting Christ as Lord and Savior! And this was not by blood relationship, but rather by inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit and their ability to recognize truth and believe it.
To a greater extent, this represents our position with God as well:
“To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 Thess 2:14-15).
Here we arrive at an opportunity to ask about the perfect unity Jesus prayed for the entire church over all locations and centuries. Simply put:
Has the church of Jesus stood firm in unity, holding to the traditions that Paul and his colleagues taught in those early days of persecution? And how do those days compare to what we have been through during the pandemic of 2020-2021 regarding the strict limits placed on public worship?
I suggest that we have stood firm to some extent. It was the outcry of the whole church that caused governments to back off under the freedom of religion granted by the U. S. Constitution. Yet, we remain divided in many ways. Perhaps this is what Jesus is watching to determine when he returns?
The underlying principle of behaviors brought forward from the Bible by the Cycle of Perfect Unity offers a way to stand firm at last, and to at least begin to move forward toward each other before it is too late.
While we await the breath of God to take down the man of lawlessness, we can be moving toward each other by sharing the behaviors of perfect unity drawn straight from the Word of God and developed in these pages.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess 2:16-17).
Even so, come Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20).
Stand firm, brothers and sisters!