WE OUGHT TO THANK GOD FOR OUR BRETHREN

2 Thess. 2:13-14

Morning Mediation 8/15/16

Verses 13-14 say, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The words “But we are bound” (opheilo) means “to owe, to owe money, be in debt for, that which is due.” The idea that is projected in the words “are bound” is that we owe a debt to “give thanks” for those who are identified by the words “brethren beloved of the Lord . . .” It is a present active indicative verb which means that this debt we owe is a continuing one in the present tense of our lives. Our KJV translators believed this debt was binding and was not an option. Do we feel that we are in debt to those Paul goes on to identify in this verse. I am afraid our love has boundaries that are not drawn along the lines of these verses. And it is a love that is conditioned upon performance and the performance is performed on the stage of our minds according to our rules.

Our text says, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you.” The words “to give thanks” translate eucharisteo and mean “to be grateful, to be thankful, to give thanks.” It is a present active infinitive. The present tense means to keep on being thankful. The active voice means that it is an action we must take, therefore, volitional. It is a choice. Paul is saying we have the choice but we are in debt to do it. This is an important truth especially in the context of our present religious situation in the world. It is common for Christians to feel as though they were in debt to be thankful for no one except their little circle of Christian friends. The word “alway” translates pantote and means “at all times, always, ever.” We do believe in the verbally inspired Word of God don’t we? The truth often hurts. You read this passage and you will not find that “always” is neutralized by another statement. In other words, the verse is teaching us that we cannot choose the times to give thanks for our brethren. God’s commands are never easy when applied practically. There must be a dying to self. There must be a mortification of the flesh. We must fall before the Lord and confess as in Mark 9:24: “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Again our text says, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you.” We are to be thankful “to God.” Our thanksgiving is to be God-ward. God has done a work in their lives. They belong to God. They are God’s children and that makes them brethren. The words “for you” translates peri which means “concerning you.” It has nothing to do with performance. It has to do with who they are. Who are we in debt to God to give thanks for?

The word “brethren” answers that question. Is this Church brethren or family brethren? The word translated brethren is adelphos and means “having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman.” So if the person is in God’s family, he is in the same family with us. Right? You say, “preacher, you are teaching ecumenicalism.” No, I’m explaining a verse of Scripture word by word. We must be thankful for people with whom we do not always agree doctrinally. We must not give up a doctrine if it is taught in the Scripture and this verse is not asking us to compromise with a fellow believer because he does not understand that doctrine. But what Paul is teaching here will temper our attitude toward those with whom we disagree.

The words “beloved of the Lord” is modifying the word “brethren.” The word “beloved” translates agapao. It is the verb form of the word agape and is the word used in John 3:16. It is a perfect passive participle. The perfect tense means that God loved them in the past and He still does. The passive voice means that this love was bestowed and not earned. Are you getting the picture? God loved these brethren in the past and He still loves them and it was not a love that came as a result of anything in them (passive voice) but it came to them because God is God and He bestowed His love on them because He is who He is. This is a grace love. If the “brethren” are “beloved of the Lord,” then they should be “beloved” of us, which gives us a reason for thanksgiving.

The words “because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation” give another reason for thanksgiving. The first reason was because we have the same Father and are in the same family. Here, he gives as a reason “God hath chosen you to salvation.” Salvation, first of all, is God’s choice. We tell people that they ought to choose Jesus. And that is true. But we ought also to tell them that God made the first choice. John 6:65 says, “And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” I am not talking about “Calvinism.” I am saying that if you are saved it was God’s choice first of all. You have been invited to come to Him for salvation because God decided to let you. We are very privileged. God is not the one that is getting a bargain. We are the ones who are getting the bargain and we need to be on our face worshiping Him because He made the choice to allow us as sinners to come to Him for salvation. The words “from the beginning” mean that God started out with a plan and this marks where that plan began. Don’t ask me to explain it. I can’t. I can tell you this. It does not contradict “And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

Then he says. “Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This is how God has chosen from the beginning to save the lost. The word translated “through” is the Greek preposition en. Strong says “en” is “a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e., a relation of rest.” Romans 8:9 explains this: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” The preposition en in Romans 8:9 is the same one as is used in our text.

This is talking about positional sanctification. Everyone who is saved has this sanctification. For a study of this read Hebrews 10:10, 14. The holiness in which we stand before the Lord is the holiness of Jesus and His holiness will stand before a Holy and Righteous God.

The words “and belief of the truth” are qualified and explained by the words of the next verse, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There is no way to comment further without this meditation becoming a book instead of a simple meditation. So I will end there.

God bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White