2 Thessalonians 3:4

And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will dothe things which we command you "The Lord" is not, as the English phrase may suggest, the objectof this confidence 2 Thessalonians 3:3 declared the Apostle's trust in Him but the ground on which rests his confidence in the Thessalonian Church. His relations with them and feelings towards them have the common relationship of both to Christ for their foundation and background, their vital underlying bond; comp. 1Th 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12 and 2 Thessalonians 3:12 below. No idiom is more frequent or characteristic of St Paul than this in the Lord, in Christ. But it is "to you" that his confidence is now directed; the construction of the Greek is identical with that of 2 Corinthians 2:3, "having confidence in you all." Let us accordingly read here, in the Lord we have confidence in you. Such is the trust that all true Christians should give to each other.

For commandread charge, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:2 ‚ 11 (see notes). The word is taken up again in 2 Thessalonians 3:6. The Apostle seems to have an eye already to the "charge" that he is about to give, which will put to the test his readers" obedience. The like satisfaction he has repeatedly expressed (ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2Th 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1Th 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:11).