2 Thessalonians 3:3,4

Text (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4)

3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command.

Translation and Paraphrase

3.

But (though there are many men who have no faith,) the Lord is (always) faithful. (It is he) who will strengthen (and make) you (firm in the faith) and (will) keep you from (Satan) the evil one.

4.

And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you (knowing that the Lord works within us all,) that you both (now) do and will (continue to) do the things which we command you.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4)

1.

Men may be naturally wicked and actively engaged in evil against us, but the Lord is faithful. He will keep us from evil (or from the evil one). He that is within us is greater than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4.

2.

Paul prayed in 2 Thessalonians 2:17 that God would stablish them. Now in this verse he expresses confidence that God would do that very thing. (See notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 for more about being stablished.)

3.

Many verses in the New Testament teach us that the Lord will keep Christians from evil. These are precious promises.

a.

Jude 1:24: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling.

b.

1 Peter 1:5: You who are kept by the power of God.

c.

2 Peter 2:9: The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.

John 17:15: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

e.

See also 1 Corinthians 10:13.

4.

However, many verses also warn us that we can refuse to avail ourselves of God's keeping power and thus we can fall away.

a.

Galatians 5:4: Ye are fallen from grace.

b.

Hebrews 3:12: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

c.

Hebrews 4:11: Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

5.

The power of God which can keep us from Satan is ours for the taking. But we ourselves have to do the taking, and when we have once taken it, we must hold it fast.

6.

The thing that made Paul confident about what the Thessalonians would do was his confidence in what God would do for them. God's faithfulness inspires confidence in the faithfulness of God's children.

7.

The things which Paul commanded the Thessalonians were undoubtedly those traditions which they had been taught, whether by word, or by this epistle. 2 Thessalonians 2:15.

8.

Paul's confidence in his converts was a real joy to him. He had no confidence in what evil men might do. But he had confidence in what his Christian brethren would do. Compare 2 Corinthians 7:16: I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.