Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Thessalonian 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep [you] from evil.
3. But the Lord is faithful ] In the Greek order, But faithful is the Lord. Man’s want of faith suggests by contrast the faithfulness of our Divine Lord (Faith and Faithfulness are alike denoted by pistis in Greek; as Believing and Faithful Trusting and Trusty alike by pistos). Comp., for this contrast, Rom 3:3; 2Ti 2:13.
“The Lord” appears to be throughout these Epistles the Lord Christ, Ruler and Defender of His people. Comp. 2Ti 4:17, “The Lord stood by me The Lord shall save me into His heavenly kingdom.” So he continues: who will establish you, and guard you from the Evil One.
On “stablish,” see notes to 1Th 3:2 ; 1Th 3:13, and ch. 2Th 2:17 above. It denotes the settled, steady confidence which this young Church required, assailed by persecution from without and alarms from within.
While the unbelief of men made the Apostle think of the faith-keeping Lord, behind these “evil men” (2Th 3:2) he saw another and mightier enemy, “the Evil One” (R.V.). The Greek adjective may be read either in the neuter ( the evil, evil in general), as by A.V. and R.V. margin; or in the masculine, as by the R.V. text. There is the same ambiguity in the words of the Lord’s Prayer, and in the Sacramental Prayer of Jesus (Mat 6:13; Joh 17:15); in which instances also the Revisers, rightly as we think, prefer the personal rendering. Both our Lord and the Apostle John, in passages where the termination of the adjective is unequivocal Mat 13:19; 1Jn 2:13-14; 1Jn 5:18 point out the Evil One as the enemy of Christ and His people and injurer of their work; and in Eph 6:16, while the grammatical form is ambiguous, it is “the Evil One ” who shoots “the fire-tipped darts.” So, surely, here; and in the two prayers of Jesus, echoed seemingly in this passage. The conflict of the Church and of the Christian life is not a matter of principles alone and abstract forces; it is a personal encounter, and behind all forces there are living wills. This is the plain teaching of Christ and the New Testament. The Evil One is “the Satan” of ch. 2Th 2:9; 1Th 2:18; and “the Tempter” of 1Th 3:5.
“The Lord will guard you;” comp. the words of Jesus in Joh 17:12, “I guarded them (the disciples), and not one of them perished, except the son of perdition.” Like rescue (2Th 3:2), guard is a military word, implying conflict and armed protection: Vulgate, custodiet. Though St Paul began by asking the Thessalonians to pray for him, yet “it is plain that he was more anxious for them than for himself” (Calvin).
Their safety is ensured by the Lord’s fidelity: but it requires their own obedience; and this the Apostle counts upon:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But the Lord is faithful – – Though human beings cannot be trusted, God is faithful to his promises and his purposes. He may always be confided in; and when people are unbelieving, perverse, unkind, and disposed to do us wrong, we may go to him, and we shall always find in him one in whom we may confide. This is an exceedingly interesting declaration, and is a beautiful illustration of the resource which a truly pious mind will feel that it has. We often have occasion to know, to our sorrow, that all men have not faith. We witness their infidelity. We see how they turn away from the truth. We see many who once gave some evidence that they had faith, abandon it all; and we see many in the church who seem to have no true faith, and who refuse to lend their aid in promoting the cause of religion. In such circumstances, the heart is disposed to despond, and to ask whether religion can be advanced in the midst of so much indifference and opposition? At such times, how consoling is it to be able to turn, as Paul did, to one who is faithful; who never fails us; and who will certainly accomplish his benevolent purposes. Men may be faithless and false, but God never is. They may refuse to embrace the gospel, and set themselves against it, but God will not abandon His great purposes. Many who are in the church may forget their solemn and sacred vows, and may show no fidelity to the cause of their Saviour, but God himself will never abandon that cause. To a pious mind it affords unspeakably more consolation to reflect that a faithful God is the friend of the cause which we love, than it would were all men, in and out of the church, its friends.
Who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil – see the notes on Joh 17:5; compare the notes on Eph 6:16. The allusion is to the Evil One, or Satan, and the meaning is, that God would keep them from his wiles.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Th 3:3
The Lord is faithful
The faithfulness Of God
No apostle insisted more strongly on the liberty of God than St.
Paul. This is understood when we remember that he wrote to churches largely composed of Jews whose inveterate inclination was to believe that God had bound Himself to them by an inviolable and exclusive covenant. To uproot this he teaches that the covenant with Israel did not prevent God being the God of the Gentiles. But that teaching may raise a formidable objection. The freedom of God; is not that arbitrariness? No; Paul the great defender of Divine liberty is also the one who insists with most force on the Divine faithfulness, that attribute which affirms that God is without shadow of turning. The two truths thus balance each other.
I. The Lord is faithful–has not God written that thought in all His works? Do we not each spring read it in the renewed nature?
1. Alas I we can count on that faithfulness and not recognize its source. The peasant who, perhaps, has never bent his knee to God, turns up the ground, confides the grain to its furrows, and awaits the future with confidence. The atheist who denies the sovereign ordainer believes in universal order in nature. The scientist counts so on the exactitude of the laws of nature that a thousand years beforehand he announces the minute when two stars will meet in space. Everything in our plans for the future rests on the confidence that what God has done until now, He will do again. Yet the carnal man stays himself in this very fidelity in order to dispense with God, and because everything happens as it did in the time of his fathers, he infers the uselessness of prayer. The very faithfulness which ought to fill him with gratitude serves as an excuse for his unthankfulness.
2. What then is necessary that Gods action may be manifested? That He interrupts the course of His benefits? This He does sometimes, and with what results? Man says Chance alone governs us. Thus whatever God does, man succeeds in eluding Him. If order reigns, the sinner says I can dispense with God; if disorder occurs, There is no God.
II. Gods faithfulness appears in the moral order.
1. What are moral laws? Not variable commands which God is able to change when He likes, but expressions of His very nature, Be ye holy for I am holy.
2. This being so, I can understand why God cannot contradict Himself, and that at all costs His law must be accomplished. You would regard him as a fool who would trifle with steam, but look without terror on the sinner who violates the Divine will. Yet which is the most certain. I can conceive of a world where the law of gravity does not exist, but not one where, by the will of God, evil would be good. I cannot believe, without tearing my conscience in two, that if the seed buried in the soil must appear, yet what a man sows he will not reap.
3. On what does the confidence of the greater part of men rest? On the idea that Gods justice is never vigorous. Who told us so? Sinners interested in believing it. But is a criminal to witness in his own cause and pronounce his own verdict? Let us not abase God by such an idea under the pretext that He is good. God is faithful to Himself, cannot give the lie to His holiness, and according to His immutable laws sin must entail suffering.
4. Though all sinners should agree in denying Gods judgment that will not hinder them from being carried each minute towards the judgment which awaits them. I can believe everything except that God ceases to be holy; and convicted of that, the only suitable prayer is God be merciful to me a sinner.
5. There is the admission the gospel wishes to draw from us. And when repentant men by faith throw themselves on the Divine mercy, they find in God a reconciled Father, and the thought of His faithfulness becomes the source of the firmest assurance, and the sweetest consolation.
6. Gods faithfulness, like the wilderness pillar, is at once dark and light: to the sinner it is justice, to the penitent mercy.
7. Not that God in pardoning sacrifices His righteousness; righteousness has received this sanction on the Cross.
8. But will not such a doctrine countenance presumption. Yes, just as if you take one of the elements out of air you can make it poison. But the perversity of man must not prevent us from preaching Gods mercy. For wherever that was believed it has produced obedience. Do you encounter the most lax lives among those who believe most in the love of a faithful God? The danger is in believing in it too little. At the time of the errors of your youth, did the pure and holy kiss of your mother make you indifferent and trifling? Inspire an army, weak and demoralized, with a steadfast confidence in its general, and they are already half-way to triumph; and the Christians cry of victory is The Lord is faithful.
III. What part does this faithfulness play in our lives?
1. Have you understood it? Is there anything below more beautiful than a faithful attachment? Ah, perhaps you enjoyed it yesterday. That happiness was only lent you for a few days. Sooner or later the strongest and tenderest ties must be broken; but if you have known them only for a single day, you have caught a glimpse of the faithfulness of God.
2. The Lord is faithful. Lay hold of that word and oppose it–
(1) to all the events of your life. It will help you to traverse the gloom. We must walk by faith, not by sight. When the sculptor attacks a block of marble, who could discern the noble image which one day will be disengaged? So let the Divine artist act, let all that ought to disappear fall under His faithful hand.
(2) To all the failings and variations of your heart. If we are unbelieving, He abideth faithful.
(3) To all the temptations which beset you. His faithfulness will provide a way out of it.
(4) To all the discouragements which would paralyze your activity. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
Divine faithfulness and Christian obedience
I. Encouragement to depend upon God.
1. The Divine Promiser. The Lord is faithful to His promises, and is the Lord who cannot lie (Num 23:19), who will not alter the thing that is gone out of His mouth. He is faithful to His relation to us, to His own truth, to His own character. Men may be faithless and false, but God never. They may refuse to embrace the gospel, and set themselves against it, but God will not abandon His great purpose on which He has set His heart, and on which He has pledged His word. Even many who are members of the Church may forget their sacred and solemn vows, and may show no fidelity to the cause of their Redeemer, but God Himself will never abandon that cause. To a pious mind it affords unspeakably more consolation to reflect that a faithful God is the friend of the cause which we love, than it would were all men, in and out of the Church, its friends.
2. The Divine Performer. When once the promise has been made, performance is sure and certain. There may be indifference in man on the one hand, and opposition on the other, but the Lord will work, and who shall let it? and the result will correspond both with the work and the Worker.
II. A further ground of encouragement.
1. Their obedience in the past. The Apostle had, in the Lords stead, commanded them to do certain things, and for the Lords sake they had done all they were commanded to do. They were not like Saul, the first king of Israel, who, tempted by Satan, preferred rather to do as he wished than as he was divinely directed, not knowing then that obedience was better than all the sacrifices ever offered to the Lord, and hearkening to Him than the fat of countless rams (1Sa 15:16-23).
2. Their obedience in the future. The experience the Apostle had of their obedience in the time past was firm ground for his confidence that they would do the things commanded them for the time to come, and it was also firm ground to hope that whatever they asked of God they should receive from Him, because they kept His commandments, and did those things that were pleasing in His sight (1Jn 3:22; 1Jn 5:14-15).
3. But chiefly the Apostles confidence in them was founded upon his confidence in God. Though they had done well in the past, they might, some time or other, weary in well-doing; but the Lord would remain faithful; and though heaven and earth might pass away, not one jot or tittle of His word would fail. The foundation of the Lord is sure. (D. Mayo.)
The certainty of final salvation
I. The faithfulness of God.
1. God is faithful to His covenant engagements (Heb 10:23).
2. Faithful to His Son Jesus Christ (Heb 7:21-22; Heb 8:6).
3. Faithful to His redeemed people (Isa 49:15).
4. Christ is faithful as a Mediator (Heb 2:17).
5. The Spirit is faithful in His administration (1Co 1:9).
II. The establishment of the Church.
1. To fix and settle our faith in Christ (Col 2:7).
2. To confirm the understandings of His people in His truth (Col 2:2).
3. Establishing them in the fulfilment of His promises (2Co 1:20).
4. To bring to a good issue all that concerns us (Psa 73:24).
5. To give fixation to our love in Him (2Co 1:21).
This establishment is–
1. By the written Word.
2. By the preached Word.
3. By the sacraments.
4. By Divine ordinances.
5. But always by His Holy Spirit.
III. The Divine preservation of His people.
1. From the torments of the damned (Job 33:24).
2. From the condemnation of the law (Rom 8:1).
3. From the anger of God (Isa 12:1),
4. From the injury done by persecutions (Mic 4:10),
5. From sin and overcoming temptations (2Pe 2:9).
He will keep them–
1. In sickness (Psa 41:3),
2. In health (1Co 3:21-22),
3. In fear (1Co 2:8),
4. In peace (Isa 26:12),
5. In war (Rom 8:37).
6. In their bodies (Rom 8:13),
7. In their souls (1Co 3:16).
8. In ordinances (Exo 20:24).
9. In providences (Rom 8:28).
10. In life and death (1Co 15:57),
11. And forever (Joh 6:51). (T. B. Baker.)
Who shall stablish you—
The established Christian character
I. The Christian is to be established. Consider what this means–
1. Progress. The foundation is laid; now the superstructure must be built upon it.
2. Fixity. The progress is not that of a flowing river, but that of a building in the course of erection. We are to hold fast what we have attained. A periodic unsettlement, pulling down to day what we built up yesterday, will have a poor result.
3. Strength. The building is to be no mere bower of branches, no tent of the wilderness, for temporary occupation, but a permanent, solid house in the eternal city of God. It will have to stand the stress of wind and weather.
4. Order. That which is established is not heaped together in a rude formation, like the cyclopean walls seen in granite mountains. The true building follows the designers plan. The Christian life must be built on the pattern of its great Architect.
5. Elevation. The house is built up. We raise the structure tier after tier. So in Christian life we should rise nearer heaven. Like the soaring pinnacles of a Gothic cathedral, the latest aspirations of the Christian experience should rise far above the earth and point to the sky.
6. Room for contents. The house has its inhabitants and furniture. The established Christian should have room for Divine stores of truth and holy thought, and for thief and fire proof safes which can keep his treasures in security. The complete building is not to be a solid pyramid for the sole purpose of hiding the mummy of its owner, but a glorious temple in which God may dwell.
II. The Christian is to be established by God. Men tried to raise the tower of Babel up to heaven, but failed in their pride and self-will. We cannot build up our own characters. God is the great Builder, and He is raising the structure of the Christian life by all the discipline of daily experience.
1. Truth. Solid character must be built of solid materials–realities, facts, truths. By His revelations in nature, the Bible, Christ, God brings the stones of truth with which to establish our characters.
2. Work. The human building, unlike the material, is not inactive. Character is built up by means of service. God sets us this, and raises us from childish pettishness to manly largeness of soul by the discipline of duty.
3. Trial. Trouble and temptation help to wedge the character into place, as the arch is strengthened by the very weight laid upon it, driving its stones more closely together.
4. Spiritual grace. We are built up from precious stones hewn in the quarries of the everlasting hills of God, not from the clay bricks of earth. The great Builder brings His own heavenly materials.
III. The establishment of the Christian is assured by the faithfulness of God.
1. It is not yet accomplished. It took forty years to build Herods temple. It takes well nigh twice forty years to establish the characters of some of Gods children. Nay, who shall say that the process is completed when brief life is done? Christian people die in all stages of imperfection and partial progress. Are they to be fixed forever in these initial conditions, half a column here, a wall commenced there, arches not yet locked with their key stones? There must be a continued establishing in the future life, till the last golden spire gleams aloft in the cloudless blue of heaven.
2. How do we know that this will ever be realized? We are often tempted to despair at our own slow progress. Now it is much to be assured that it is all assured by the faithfulness of God. Of course, this implies our continued faithfulness. The whole tenor of Gods Word implies that He will not abandon the good work He has commenced. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.)
The souls establishment and safety secured by the faithfulness of God
I. The promise.
1. Establishment.
(1) The Bible lays great stress on this (Rom 1:11; 2Co 1:21; Col 2:6; 1Th 3:12; Heb 13:9; 1Pe 5:9; Jud 1:24).
(2) Unsettledness is the attribute of the unregenerate man. He is compared to–
(a) A wave of the sea.
(b) A house built on the sand.
(c) A plant that has no root.
(3) Establishment is needful to the true Christian. He has root, he is in Christ, but He needs to be daily established in grace. This applies to some especially, but to all more or less, and especially at some times, and in some particular graces, i.e. in faith, hope, and love.
2. Preservation.
(1) This is needed moment by moment, because of the multiplicity of our snares, and the power and vigilance of our great adversary.
(2) But a man who is established in the life of faith and a holy walk–where is there room in him for Satans access?
(3) The establisher and defender is God. Except the Lord build the house, etc.
II. The foundation of the promise.
1. There are several ways of denying God–grossly by atheism, practically by ungodliness, mentally by want of trust in His faithfulness.
2. Faithfulness is the glory of Deity.
(1) It is the effect of Gods veracity. He has pledged His word and will faithfully execute it, because He is a true God.
(2) It stands connected with His omniscience; for if God knows all things, what inducement can there be to deny His word.
(3) It stands intimately bound up with His holiness; to break His word would be a breach of His holiness.
(4) It stands involved in His immutability: it would show that He was of various minds.
(5) It would be a breach upon His perfect love; for how could that be perfect love which promises good and fails to perform (Psa 89:1; Psa 89:5; Psa 89:8; Psa 89:14; Psa 89:35).
3. This perfection makes all His threatenings certain as to their accomplishment. Look at the flood, Sodom, Babylon, Jerusalem! Was He not faithful to His threatenings in these, instances?
4. But it is the foundation of all His promises. He cannot deny Himself.
Conclusion:
1. What a sweetness there is in this truth! We may be weak and in danger, but here is the promise. And remember who gives it; Jehovah Himself. In Gods dealings there is always something that exhibits His own grandeur. He establishes and defends just like Himself.
2. Seek these blessings, and remember the means of securing them. God gives them, but we must pray and watch.
3. These blessings come in Gods way, not yours. The unlikeliest ways may be the best. (J. H. Evans.)
And keep you from evil—
An effectual guard
The expression imports an effectual guard. We know what the garrison of a city is; to keep watch by night and by day, summer and winter, in the brightest sunshine and the thickest midnight, foul weather and fair, from the beginning of the year to the end. The protection of the city is its guard. We know the comfort, peace and well-being of the inhabitants of that city stand most intimately connected with their indoor arrangements; but if you ask what is the security of the city, it is not their domestic arrangements–it is the guard of the city. Thus is it with the people of God. How much there stands connected with the watchfulness of Gods saints, as to their peace and well-being and holy walking, no language of mine can ever describe. Keep thy heart with all diligence, says the wise man. What I say unto you I say unto all, says our blessed Lord; watch. And by His apostle–Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication. But if you ask who is the Guardian of the city, he gives but a blind answer who will say anything short of a covenant God. Let me just refer you to the hundred and twenty-seventh Psalm. Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. I would pray that yours might be that state of watchfulness, that the outgoings of thought might be watched over, the first elements of evil and the first mark of spiritual declension: but I would have you live upon this as a cardinal truth never to be lost sight of–that the Guard of the city is Jehovah Himself–Father, Son, and Holy Ghost–the covenant God of Israel. The expression is most blessedly extensive: The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you and keep you from evil. Is it evil men? He will keep you. Is it Satan, the evil one? Is it sin, the evil thing? He
will keep you; for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. From its reigning power He will keep you and that, by the power of His love shed abroad in your heart through the Holy Ghost. And He will keep you from its in being, in that happy world, where you shall have to sing the praises of this triune God throughout an endless eternity. (J. H. Evans.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. From evil.] may be translated, from the devil or from the evil one. They had disorderly men, wicked men, and the evil one or the devil, to contend with; God alone could support and give them the victory; he had promised to do it, and he might ever be confided in as being invariably faithful.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These words are added by way of consolation:
1. With respect to their establishment, which the apostle had before prayed for, 2Th 2:17, and here he assures them of it. What God hath promised, yet we may and ought to pray for; and ministers should exhort people to seek that grace which they may be sure beforehand God will give. And this establishment respects either their mind, in the belief of the gospel against false doctrine; or their hearts, against inordinate fears of men; or their practice, against departing from the way of holiness. The apostle well knew the tenure of the new covenant, which contains promises of perseverance and establishment, as well as of pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace, Jer 32:40; and he grounds his confidence of their establishment upon Gods faithfulness, as upon the same account he comforts the Corinthians, 1Co 10:13, and these Thessalonians, 1Th 5:24, and it may be the apostle hath here reference to what he had said before; Though we shall meet with wicked and unreasonable men, yet fear not, God will establish you, for he is faithful. As Gods promises are according to his purposes, so his performances will be according to his promises, which is his faithfulness.
2. As God would establish them, so keep them from evil. There is moral and penal evil, of sin and suffering; the Greek word imports the former; never used but for sinful evil, or sometimes for the devil, with respect to the sin that dwells in him, and occasioned by him, Eph 6:16; 1Jo 5:18. And it is true, that God will keep his people from the devil, as some read the word. But I suppose the apostle means here by evil, evil work; as he speaks, 2Ti 4:18; The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work. But whether the evil work of others, or their own? The latter I incline to, for he could not well assure them of the former. But how could he assure them of the latter? Did he think God would keep them from all sin? The apostle doth not mean so, nor say so; God keeps his people from much evil and sin which others fall into, though not from all. And he keeps them from falling under the power of it. Though they may be tempted by Satan, the world, or their own hearts, yet not so as finally to be overcome. However, the more God doth establish his people, the more will they be kept from evil. And the apostle doth also comfort them in this from the consideration of Gods faithfulness. But these promises of Gods keeping us do not exclude our endeavours of keeping ourselves: He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not, 1Jo 5:18. Hence those exhortations: Keep thy heart with all diligence, Pro 4:23, and Keep yourselves in the love of God, Jud 1:21, &c. And our keeping is ascribed to our own faith with the power of God, 1Pe 1:5.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. faithfulalluding to”faith” (2Th 3:2):though many will not believe, the Lord (other very old manuscriptsread “God”) is still to be believed in as faithful to Hispromises (1Th 5:24; 2Ti 2:13).Faith on the part of man answers to faithfulness on the partof God.
stablish youas he hadprayed (2Th 2:17). Though itwas on himself that wicked men were making their onset, he turns awayfrom asking the Thessalonians’ prayers for HISdeliverance (2Th 3:2: sounselfish was he, even in religion), to express his assurance ofTHEIR establishment in thefaith, and preservation from evil. This assurance thus exactlyanswers to his prayer for them (2Th2:17), “Our Lord . . . stablish you in every goodword and work.” He has before his mind the Lord’s Prayer, “Leadus not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”; where, ashere, the translation may be, “from the evil one”; thegreat hinderer of “every good word and work.” Compare Mt13:19, “the wicked one.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But the Lord is faithful,…. Or “God” as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, as do also the Alexandrian and Claromontane copies. This is said for the comfort of the saints, lest they should be discouraged upon hearing that all professors of faith in Christ had it not, who might be ready to take it to themselves, and fear, that either they had it not, or if they had, that they might lose it, and fall from it. Wherefore the apostle observes to them the comfortable attribute of God’s faithfulness, which he will not suffer to fail. He has promised many things, and he is faithful that has promised, who also will do them, nor will any good thing he has promised ever fail.
Who shall stablish you: in the doctrines of the Gospel, so as not to be moved away from them, or be finally and totally seduced by those unreasonable and wicked men; and also in the grace of faith, which though it may be weakened, and there may be a falling from a degree of the steadfastness of it, as to its act and exercise, yet it shall never finally and totally fail, he who is the author will be the finisher of it; and likewise in the profession both of the doctrine and grace of faith, which true believers shall hold fast unto the end; for God will not suffer the righteous to be moved, or to depart from him; he has promised them perseverance, and he is faithful to give it to them.
And keep you from evil: from the evil of sin; not from the being and commission of it entirely, which is not to be expected in this life; but from the dominion of it, at least from its reigning unto death, and from the damning power of it: and also from that evil one Satan; from his snares and temptations, so as to be entangled and overcome by them; for God is faithful, who will not suffer his to be tempted beyond their strength, but will enable them to bear it, and make way for their escape, and deliver out of it; and likewise from evil men, unreasonable and wicked men, so as not to be drawn aside by them, by their principles and practices, by their frowns or flatteries.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But the Lord is faithful ( ).
But faithful is the Lord (correct rendition), with a play (paronomasia) on by as in Ro 3:3 we have a word-play on and . The Lord can be counted on, however perverse men may be.
From the evil one ( ). Apparently a reminiscence of the Lord’s Prayer in Mt 6:13 . But here as there it is not certain whether is neuter (evil) like to in Ro 12:9 or masculine (the evil one). But we have (the evil one) in 1Jo 5:18 and is clearly masculine in Eph 6:16. If masculine here, as is probable, is it “the Evil One” (Ellicott) or merely the evil man like those mentioned in verse 2? Perhaps Paul has in mind the representative of Satan, the man of sin, pictured in 2:1-12, by the phrase here without trying to be too definite.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
From evil [ ] . Possibly, from the evil one. To ponhron evil is found Rom 12:9; Mt 5:39; but general N. T. usage favors the masculine, personal sense. See Mt 13:19, 38; Eph 6:16; 1 F. ii. 13, 14; iii. 12; 5 18. In LXX, to ponhron evil is very common : oJ ponhrov a few times, but always of men. See Deu 24:7; Est 7:6; Job 21:30. In Job. iii. 8, 17, to ponhron daimonion the wicked demon. The masculine is favored by the Jewish formularies, of which traces appear in the Lord ‘s prayer; by the unanimous tradition of Greek interpreters; by the interpretations of Tertullian and Cyprian, and by the evidence of the Syriac and Sahidic Versions. 36
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But the Lord is faithful” (pistos de estin ho kurios) “But faithful is the Lord”. ; His yeas and yea and nays are nay. There is no instability with or changeableness in Him. He is not dashed to and fro by environment, or circumstances, or limited in foresight, knowledge, or power; Jas 1:17; Heb 13:8; Mal 3:6; Rom 11:29.
2) “Who shall stablish you” (hos steriksei humos) “Who will confirm you all”; strengthen or enable in every labor; 2Pe 1:12; Php_1:6 reads: “He will perform it”, the good work begun in you”, until the day of Jesus Christ.
3) “And keep you from evil” (kai phulaksei apo tou ponerou) “and will guard you from the wicked one”; 1Co 10:13; 1Jn 4:4 reads: “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the World”; 1Jn 4:13; Joh 10:27-29; 1Jn 5:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3 But God is faithful. As it was possible that their minds, influenced by unfavorable reports, might come to entertain some doubts as to Paul’s ministry, having taught them that faith is not always found in men, he now calls them back to God, and says that he is faithful, so as to confirm them against all contrivances of men, by which they will endeavor to shake them. “They, indeed, are treacherous, but there is in God a support that is abundantly secure, so as to keep you from giving way.” He calls the Lord faithful, inasmuch as he adheres to his purpose to the end in maintaining the salvation of his people, seasonably aids them, and never forsakes them in dangers, as in 1Co 10:13,
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tried above that ye are able to bear.
These words, however, themselves shew that Paul was more anxious as to others than as to himself. Malicious men directed against him the stings of their malignity; the whole violence (697) of it fell upon him. In the mean time, he directs all his anxieties towards the Thessalonians, lest this temptation should do them any injury.
The term evil may refer as well to the thing, that is, malice, as to the persons of the wicked. I prefer, however, to interpret it of Satan, the head of all the wicked. For it were a small thing to be delivered from the cunning or violence of men, if the Lord did not protect us from all spiritual injury.
(697) “ Toute la violence et impetuosite;” — “The whole violence and impetuosity.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
2Th. 3:3. And keep you from evil.Keep here is a military word reminding of the psalmists name for his GodShield. The Revisers add one after evil, as in the Lords Prayer.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.2Th. 3:3-4
The Faithfulness of God.
From the want of faith in man, referred to in the preceding verse, the writer, as if to show the contrast, naturally glides into the subject of the divine faithfulness. Unbelief may abound, but God can be relied on; man may be fickle and unreasonable, but the fidelity of God is inviolate.
I. The faithfulness of God is a fact established by abundant testimonies.But the Lord is faithful (2Th. 3:3). He is faithful to His own nature. He cannot deny Himself. He is faithful to His purpose, to His word, to every promise, and every threatening too. The whole history of Gods dealings with the Jewish people is a suggestive and impressive commentary on His inflexible faithfulness. The fact that the Church of God exists to-day, notwithstanding defection within and persecution without, is an unanswerable testimony to His fidelity. You may be faint and weary, but my God cannot. I may fluctuate and alter as to my frames and feelings; but my Redeemer is unchangeably the same. I might utterly fail and come to nothing, if left to myself. But I cannot be so left to myself. He is rich to relieve and succour me in all my wants. He is faithful to perform and perfect all His promises (Ambrose Serle).
II. The faithfulness of God is practically manifested in establishing His people in all good and in keeping them safe from all evil.Who shall stablish you and keep you from evil (2Th. 3:3). The people of God do not perpetuate themselves. He perpetuates. His faithful guardianship gives persistency to His people, so that in every age and in the darkest times there has been a bright succession of living witnesses of His unchanging character. He preserves them, not because of any inherent grace or self-deserving, but because He is faithful. Janet, said a Scottish minister to a Christian woman of great faith, whom he was visiting, suppose, after all, God were to let you drop into hell! Even as He will, was her reply; but if He does, He will lose mair than Ill do. A single flaw in the divine fidelity would shatter the faith of the universe.
III. The faithfulness of God inspires confidence in the fidelity of the obedient.And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do, and will do the things which we command you (2Th. 3:4). Because God is faithful, we know that you can be kept faithful, if you are willing and seeking to be so kept. Moreover, you will assuredly be kept faithful, while you observe in the future, as you have done in the past, the things which we command you, and in commanding which we have the divine authority. Consider these things, let them sink into your hearts; then act accordingly. Let obedience follow conviction, and we have no fear about the result. Von Moltke, the great German strategist and general, chose for his motto, Erst wagen, dann wagenFirst weigh, then venture; and it was to this he owed his great victories and successes. Slow, cautious, careful in planning, but bold, daring, even seemingly reckless in execution, the moment his resolve was made. Vows thus ripen into deeds, decision must go on to performance. The final perseverance of the saint depends on the divine perseverance; his faithfulness on the divine faithfulness. If we had no living Saviour to pilot our ship, no promise on which to rely, we might have cause to fear. The divine faithfulness is unquestionable; our faithfulness is maintained only by obedience.
Lessons.
1. The faithfulness of God is the guarantee of the believers safety.
2. The faithfulness of God should encourage the exercise of implicit faith in Him.
3. The faithfulness of God demands undeviating obedience to His laws.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Th. 3:3. The Divine Faithfulness
I. An incontrovertible fact.
II. A guarantee of personal establishment in the truth.
III. An invulnerable protection from evil and all its works.
2Th. 3:4. Christian Obedience
I. Is a voluntary and constant activity.
II. Is based on well-understood and authoritative precepts.
III. Is the pathway of blessing.
IV. Inspires confidence in others.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text (2Th. 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 (2Th. 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. 1Jn. 4:4.
2.
Paul prayed in 2Th. 2:17 that God would stablish them. Now in this verse he expresses confidence that God would do that very thing. (See notes on 2Th. 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.
Jud. 1:24 : Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling.
b.
1Pe. 1:5 : You who are kept by the power of God.
c.
2Pe. 2:9 : The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.
Joh. 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 1Co. 10:13.
4.
However, many verses also warn us that we can refuse to avail ourselves of Gods keeping power and thus we can fall away.
a.
Gal. 5:4 : Ye are fallen from grace.
b.
Heb. 3:12 : Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
c.
Heb. 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. Gods faithfulness inspires confidence in the faithfulness of Gods 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. 2Th. 2:15.
8.
Pauls 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 2Co. 7:16 : I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(3) But the Lord is faithful.It must not be thought from this that the word faith in the previous verse meant fidelity. St. Paul, after his favourite manner, is playing upon two meanings of the word: But whether men have faith or not, the Lord is faithful. There is the same play of words in Rom. 3:3. The Lord seems here to be used, as was said on 1Th. 3:12, without distinct reference to one Person of the Holy Trinity rather than another. This characteristic of God is named because God stands pledged to all who believe in Him.
Who shall stablish you.How soon St. Paul reverts from his own needs to theirs! He does not continue, as we should expect, with who will preserve us
Keep you from evil.Rather (probably), from the Evil One, as in the Lords Prayer. Possibly, the word is used not without a reference to the word rendered wicked in 2Th. 3:2, with which in the Greek it is identical.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the Evil One (or ‘evil’).
The faithfulness to His own of God and the Lord is Paul’s constant theme ( 1Co 1:9 ; 1Co 10:13; 1Th 5:24; 2Ti 2:13 compare also Heb 2:17; Heb 10:23 ; 1Pe 4:19; 1Jn 1:9). Behind all uncertainty we find the faithfulness of God. It is He Who watches over the Christian’s life and will establish and protect us. To establish is to firmly found, to strengthen (compare 1Co 3:10-15). To build on the rock (Mat 7:24-27).
Guarding from the ‘Evil One’, and in view of chapter 2 this is the most likely emphasis rather than ‘evil’ (compare the cry for deliverance in the Lord’s prayer in Mat 6:13), reminds us that God is over all and He protects His own from the machinations of Satan ( Joh 17:15 ; 1Jn 5:18; Rom 16:20). They are sealed by God (Rev 7:3-4 with Rev 9:4). Thus the evil men of 2Th 3:3 are now seen as spurred on by the Evil One of 2Th 3:4. Compare how in Revelation John can speak of persecuting Jews as ‘the synagogue of Satan’ (Rev 2:9; Rev 3:9), and Pergamos, with its persecuting authorities, as the place of Satan’s throne and where Satan dwells (Rev 2:13). But the fact that we are guarded does not mean that we can be careless about the matter (Eph 6:10-19; 2Co 2:11). We must take heed to put on the armour of God.
Note the change from ‘us’ to ‘you’. The memory of what he and his companions had to face also reminded him of the tribulation and persecution the Thessalonians were facing, so as he asked for their prayers, he also prayed for them. They were in partnership together and were to share each other’s burdens.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Th 3:3. From evil. ‘ ; from the evil one. The Hebrews commonly speak of the devil, as the source and author of all evil; and of God, as the author of all good: and when they would describe any great evil in a most emphatical manner, they mention the apostate himself. See 1Th 2:18. Mat 6:13. Joh 17:15. 1Jn 5:18-19.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Th 3:3 . A contrast to , with a play upon the word , and a return to the statement in 2Th 2:16-17 .
] not a designation of God (Schott, Schrader, Olshausen, and Hilgenfeld, Ztschr. f. wiss. Theol. , Halle 1862, p. 261), but of Christ . His faithfulness consists in this, that He, as Protector of the church, watches over the continuance of the faith, and effects its diffusion in spite of all and . Strikingly, Calvin: “Ceterum de aliis magis quam de se anxium fuisse Paulum, ostendunt haec ipsa verba. In eum maligni homines improbitatis suae aculeos dirigebant, in eum totus impetus irruebat: curam interea suam ad Thessalonicenses convertit.”
] is, by Calvin, Musculus, Estius, Piscator, Menochius, Nat. Alexander, Benson, Bengel, Baumgarten, Moldenhauer, Macknight, Olshausen, Hofmann, also Cornelius a Lapide, Er. Schmid, and Beza, though not decidedly held by the latter, understood as masculine , accordingly as a designation of the devil . In itself nothing can be objected against this interpretation, as in Mat 13:19 and elsewhere frequently in the N. T., also with Paul in Eph 6:16 , is found in this sense. But here this interpretation is untenable, because evidently resumes , 2Th 2:17 , and only arranges it positively and negatively. But if corresponds to the negation of the position , it must be neuter , and denote moral evil generally. But it would be arbitrary to make this neuter equivalent to , to which Koppe and Flatt give their countenance.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
Ver. 3. But God is faithful ] Though men be faithless; and though they be evil, as 2Th 3:2 , yet he shall keep you from evil, from whatsoever adverse power either of men or devils. Thus the saints may find and fetch comfort from God under whatsoever disasters. They go always under a double guard, the peace of God within them, Phi 4:7 , , and the power of God without them, 1Pe 1:5 , . How then can they possibly miscarry?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3 .] Calvin says, “Ceterum de aliis magis quam do se anxium fuisse Paulum, ostendunt hc ipsa verba. In eum maligni homines improbitatis su aculeos dirigebant, in eum totus impetus irruebat: curam interea suam ad Thessalonicenses convertit, nequid hc illis tentatio noceat.”
seems to be chosen in allusion to which has just preceded; but the allusion cannot be more than that of sound, as the things spoken of are wholly different.
is our Lord: see ch. 2Th 2:16 , and 2Th 3:5 .
, in contrast with the men just mentioned.
] in reference to his wish, ch. 2Th 2:17 .
may mean ‘the evil one,’ as in Mat 13:19 ; Eph 4:16 , al.: and so Ellic. But here the assurance seems, as before said, to correspond to the wish ch. 2Th 2:17 ; and thus . = . : in which case . . is neuter . We may observe that the words are nearly a citation from the Lord’s prayer.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
faithful. App-150. Compare 1Co 1:9.
stablish. See 2Th 2:17.
keep = guard.
evil = the wicked one. App-128. Compare 1Jn 5:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3.] Calvin says, Ceterum de aliis magis quam do se anxium fuisse Paulum, ostendunt hc ipsa verba. In eum maligni homines improbitatis su aculeos dirigebant, in eum totus impetus irruebat: curam interea suam ad Thessalonicenses convertit, nequid hc illis tentatio noceat.
seems to be chosen in allusion to which has just preceded; but the allusion cannot be more than that of sound, as the things spoken of are wholly different.
is our Lord: see ch. 2Th 2:16, and 2Th 3:5.
, in contrast with the men just mentioned.
] in reference to his wish, ch. 2Th 2:17.
may mean the evil one, as in Mat 13:19; Eph 4:16, al.: and so Ellic. But here the assurance seems, as before said, to correspond to the wish ch. 2Th 2:17; and thus . = . : in which case . . is neuter. We may observe that the words are nearly a citation from the Lords prayer.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Th 3:3. , but faithful) After stating a very distressing fact, he immediately subjoins what may serve as a consolation; so ch. 2Th 2:13. In opposition to the unbelief [want of faith on the part] of men, he praises the faithfulness of the Lord. So 2Ti 2:13.- , will establish you) although all others may not even receive faith.- ) from the wicked one [Engl. Vers. from evil], from Satan; not merely from wicked men, by whom he assails faith.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Th 3:3
But the Lord is faithful,-While we cannot trust men, God is faithful to his promises and purposes. We can always trust in him; and when men are unbelieving and perverse and disposed to do wrong, we can always go to him and always find in him one in whom we may confide. [We often come to know, to our deep sorrow and disappointment, that all have not faith. We see how they turn away from the truth. Many who once gave promise of faith and zeal in the cause of Christ abandon it. At such times how consoling it is to be able to turn to the Lord who is faithful, and who never fails his devoted followers.]
who shall establish you,-He will make you firm and steadfast.
and guard you from the evil one.-He will keep you from all the evil these unbelieving men wish to bring upon you. [Their safety is insured by the Lords fidelity, but it requires their own obedience.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the Lord: 1Co 1:9, 1Co 10:13, 1Th 5:24
stablish: 2Th 2:17
and: Gen 48:16, 1Ch 4:10, Psa 19:13, Psa 121:7, Mat 6:13, Luk 11:4, Joh 17:15, 2Ti 4:18, 2Pe 2:9, Jud 1:24
Reciprocal: Deu 7:9 – the faithful Deu 28:9 – establish Job 36:7 – he doth Pro 4:26 – let all thy ways be established Rom 1:11 – to the Rom 16:25 – to him 1Co 1:8 – confirm 2Co 1:21 – stablisheth 2Ti 2:13 – yet Heb 10:23 – for 1Pe 5:10 – stablish
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Th 3:3. Lord is faithful. We usually think of the term faithful as applying to one who is true and obedient to another to whom he is obligated. Yet it would not be appropriate to regard the Lord in that light; hence it means that He will make good all his promises. Among the things God has promised to do for his obedient servants is to stablish or make them firm. A means of doing so is to protect them from evil, by not suffering them to be tempted beyond endurance (1Co 10:13).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Th 3:3. But faithful is the Lord. The contrast between the mischievous opposition of wicked men and the protecting care of Christ, is sharpened by the slight and easy play on the word: men are faithless, but faithful is the Lord. Their faithlessness prompts them to hostility; but His faithfulness will alike prevent your faith from failing, and their efforts from being destructive.
Who shall stablish you and keep you from evil. Pauls thoughts do not long dwell on his own dangers, but quickly pass to those which threatened his friends in Thessalonica. These dangers were twofold, as in all persecution. There was the inward danger of their faith failing under persecution, and there was the outward danger of injury to life and property. Against the first of these the Lord would protect them by stablishing them; against the second, by keeping them from the evil.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our apostle had prayed for the Thessalonians’ establishment before, 2Th 2:17.
He assures them of it now; God will stablish you and keep you from evil, from all evil, and particularly from the evil of apostasy; and the argument for assurance is drawn from the fidelity of God, and his faithfulness in all his promises: The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you.
Learn hence, That the Christian’s establishment in grace, his perseverance in holiness, and preservation from sin, depends upon the power and faithfulness of God, in concurrence with their own united endeavours to establish and preserve themselves from falling; The Lord is faithful, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Paul’s Confidence in the Thessalonians
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from the evil one. [Evidently Paul, while at Corinth, met with some of the false brethren of whom he speaks (2Co 11:13; 2Co 11:26). These refused to be moved by argument or persuasion, and were evil and without faith; that is, faithless, insincere, as the word means at Mat 23:23; Tit 2:10 . These false brethren no doubt added greatly to Paul’s distress, though he was already suffering, or about to suffer, persecution at the hands of the Jews (Act 18:12). In asking prayers for deliverance from these, Paul joyfully pauses to contrast this his fellowship with false brethren, with the condition of the Thessalonians who were in the fellowship of that faithful God who would establish them and guard them from the evil one.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
ARGUMENT 7
COMPLETE DELIVERANCE FROM THE DEVIL
3. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and keep you from the evil one. Unfortunately, the E.V. translates this evil, giving the abstract; whereas the Greek gives the concrete. Instead of the prayer of Paul and Christ for all the Christians to be delivered from evil, the true rendering is the evil one; i.e., the devil himself. We have this petition in the Lords Prayer (Matthew 6), and in his valedictory prayer for the sanctification of all that should ever follow him in this world. So, here we see Paul and Jesus both praying that their followers shall be delivered from the devil, setting forth the glorious reality that it is the happy privilege of all true Christians to get rid of the devil altogether; not that we will be free from his temptations, for they can never hurt us, but are really in the victorious grace of God made a great source of blessing to us, in the discipline of our virtues, the trial of our faith, and the development of our gifts and graces, as the soldier who fights no battles wins no victories; but while Satan roars like a lion (and his roaring can never hurt us), he is not allowed to touch us. Truly, he can never get in gunshot of us. Though he shoots at us day and night, he only wastes his ammunition. Though he fishes all day in our pond, he will never catch anything, because entire sanctification has taken everything out of our hearts that wants the devils bait, so he toils all day, catches nothing, and goes home at evening with weary leg and hungry stomach. You must have faith in Christ for justification s a sinner, and faith for sanctification as a Christian. But you have an awful battle to fight, if you ever stand on the mount of victory. In this war with the devil, you have all the world against you. Hence, you are sure to fall and sink into hell, unless you turn the battle over to the Omnipotent Jesus, who is a million times stronger than the devil and all the world combined. You do this by faith after you have been sanctified. If you have faith in Jesus for victory every moment, you have victory every moment; if you have faith in Jesus to keep the devil from ever putting his black hand on you, he will never touch you. What a glorious privilege to get rid of the devil forever! Then his temptations will all be sanctified to your good, and turned into a blessing to you. The battlefield makes the hero, who wears the victors wreath forever.
4. I have confidence in the Lord, that you do and will do the things which we command. What a glorious experience had Paul at Thessalonica! You can be there, where Paul would thus command you if he were on the earth today.
5. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patience of Christ. Gods love sent his Son to die for us. We can have the same love, filling us with the spirit of martyrdom. Christ was perfectly patient amid the insults and tortures of a most cruel death. He died praying for his murderers. We can have the same patience.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep [you] from {b} evil.
(b) From Satan’s snares, or from evil.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Prayer for the Thessalonians 3:3-5
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul was confident that God would provide strength and protection for the Thessalonians in view of His promises to provide for His own.