So, what is this passage teaching the Thessalonians?
Contrary to what they had been told, let no one deceive you in any way, the Day of the Lord has not come yet and there are things yet to happen that will precede it. The believers in Thessalonica were living in a time that they didn’t fully understand and doing their very best to keep living their lives of faith through it (2 Thessalonians 1.3-4). What did they need to do about this latest challenge then?
They needed to be mindful of the world around them, they needed to be actively engaged in their own world, so to speak, but constantly be running everything through the revealed truth of Scripture (v.5). If their diligence dropped then they left themselves open to deception and misleading (vv.1-2).
The same is true for you and for me now.
No, we’re not the Thessalonians and we’re not facing the same problems, but, just like last week where our uncommon sense was to look back in order to take strength for today and a bright hope for tomorrow (1.1-12), what we need to do now is the same as what they needed to do then.
The uncommon sense is to see what is going on around you and look at the world through the lens of the Word. Sadly, that is uncommon, and, as Paul has said, it only going to get worse (vv.4-6) so our need to do so is going to become greater.
The Thessalonians’ past progress didn’t stop them from running into present error, did it, and we need to be watchful of the same, too. If we get too comfortable and routined and our diligence drops we leave ourselves open to deception and misleading. Then, we find ourselves taking in teaching and messages and ideas from places that we have no business paying attention to. For the Thessalonians, it was being told that Jesus had already returned, you’ve missed it, so you might as well just get back to your old ways.
For us, it can be all sorts of things:
Jesus? Sure, good guy, good teacher, not God, not able to save.
Did He really die, and are you sure that He rose, why is it important anyway?
I think it’s just one way of pursuing what we are all pursuing, one of many paths we can take. We’re all doing the same thing, really.
In fact, what do I even need saving from? I’m a pretty good person. I don’t think ‘sin’ is a big deal.
I’m not sure happens when I die, I guess I’ll just find out. You need to relax and think about life like I do.
Paul has opened and explained Scripture to the Thessalonians here (vv.3-12) and no doubt did so in person too (v.5). The uncommon sense he wants them to have, that they need to have as believers, and that we must have too is to run everything in our lives through the revealed truth of Scripture. It has to be the authoritative guide for our lives, it has to inform how we view the world around us, it has to be where we turn for encouragement, for answers, and for hope.
Jesus said in John 5 that all Scripture points to Him (v.39) and that by coming to Him we will have life (v.40). This is what Paul is saying here when he is urging the Thessalonians to make room in their hearts for the truths, and so be saved (v.10). If their hearts were full of the revealed truth of the Word of God, there would be no room for deception, false teaching, or error.
The same is true for you and for me now.
Everything that Paul has written about and explained is sure to come, but there is a way to be saved. There is a way to avoid the anguish that will come with condemnation. There is a way to have the consequences of your sin erased.
Accept the love of the truth (v.10). Accept who Jesus is, what He did, and what it means for you.
The uncommon sense we need to have is to accept the love of the truth and find salvation there.
James Travis 