Standing Firm

Date: March 23, 2025

Title: Standing Firm

Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

INTRODUCTION

Many years ago, my hockey coached training us how to brace ourselves for impact. 

How to position ourselves in such a way that when we get hit, we won’t be knocked over. 

The placement of our body was critically important to maintain stability. 

This isn’t only true in hockey.

There are many spheres of life in which, stability, is not only needed but is also a high ranking quality coveted by many. John Stott, “Governments talk about stabilizing the economy. Builders endeavour to construct stable houses, and carpenters stable furniture.  Aircraft and ships have ‘stabilizers’, to counteract turbulence and the ocean swell.  And we admire people who have a stable personality, character and convictions.”

Stability is something we cannot go without!

One of the central concerns of Paul is that they stand firm.

V. 15 - “So then, brothers, stand firm…”

Standing firm = Maintaining a posture of stability.

Not reeds shaken by the wind.

Steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

The Bible admonishes to stand firm in various ways:

a) Israel was to stand firm in their place to watch God move on their behalf:

Exodus 14:13, “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.”

b) Stand firm in the truth:

1 Cor 16:13, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith…"

c) Stand firm in the gospel:

Gal 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

d) Stand firm in the armor of God so that we might withstand the spiritual attacks of the enemy:

Eph 6:13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

e) Stand firm in the grace of God:

1 Pet 5:12, “By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.”

We are to stand firm in so many aspects of the Christian life.

Here we are called to stand firm by holding to the traditions! (More on that)

Why was it so important for Paul to issue out this call to stand firm?

(Note) Coming off the heels of 2:1-12!

Demonic activity manifested in the man and mystery of lawlessness.

Before Paul tells them to stand firm, he first assures them of the love God has for them & the favour God has shown them.

V. 13 - “But” = Showing the contrast between unbelievers and believers.

In other words, Paul is seeking to demonstrate to the Thessalonians that they will not be among those are condemned; and such couldn’t possibly be the case, because they are the very people whom God has chosen to save.

So, yes, while they need to stand on guard; they do not need to grow anxious!

Why? They are the people upon whom God set His affections! The Thessalonians were the objects of God’s eternal, agapao-like love! He chose them (as the ESV says) “as the firstfruits to be saved.”

This is a wonderful truth, but…

There is a textual issue involved here.

Pertains to whether V. 13 should be translated as:

“Chose you as the firstfruits to be saved” (NIV, ESV, LSB).

“Chose you from the beginning to be saved” (NASB, NKJV, CSB).

What makes this a difficult decision is that the difference in the Greek is the difference between a couple of letters + early manuscripts are almost evenly divided.

Look at your footnotes!

I’ll have to do a lesson on textual criticism…

“From the beginning” is probably the correct rendering.

More consistent with Pauline theology.

When Paul speaks about election, it usually isn’t tied to the firstfruits of something but it’s tied to the eternal purposes of God in Christ, which is why

Paul would, in this case, be telling the Thessalonians that this divine and gracious choice of God was made from the beginning; it’s because it predated their own existence.

So, for it to be said that “God chose us from the beginning to be saved,” is to affirm the very same thing Paul affirmed in Ephesians 1:4 when he spoke about Christians being chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world.”

In other words, go as far back as you can possibly go (which would be eternity!) and that’s when God chose you. That’s when He made the decision to set you apart as His very own, which means before you were even born, Christian, God sovereignly chose to write your name in the Lamb’s book of life.

He chose to do this as an act of free grace. 

He chose to do this so that even in spite of your sin; indeed, even in spite of the fact that He knew every last one of us were nothing but dishonourable vessels of wrath, deserving of destruction, nevertheless, He still chose to lavish His grace upon us.

And this He did, in order to make known the riches of His glorious mercy.

So, the first thing Paul wants the Thessalonians to understand, then, is that 

before they were even born, God, out of His great love, was motivated to choose them, not just unto service but unto salvation!

In light of this, let me just say that as much as we might struggle with the doctrine of election; the biblical authors write about this reality with a great deal of freedom. They just don’t shy away from it… why? For them it was a source of comfort and encouragement. 

*** Now, I’m sure it perplexed their minds at times as well—none of us are immune to that, but at the same time, this doctrine was also a real comfort to the hearts. *** 

And lest you fail to see why that is, perhaps Spurgeon will be able to help you out with that: “I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I would have never chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterward.”

Now, Spurgeon is speaking somewhat humorously here, but you can see the point he’s making, right? Unless God initiates, unless God chooses, unless God intervenes, unless God regenerates, unless God manifests His marvellous grace, then who among us, in all our sin and depravity, would ever take a step towards Him?

Now to be clear, it also needs to be said that the way by which God brings 

His decree of election to fulfillment in history is something that will never be divorced from specific means.

God always uses means to accomplish His ends.

You’ll notice in V. 13 that Paul specifies the particular means through which the elect are brought into a state of salvation in space and time.

According to V. 13, it is “through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”

Emphasizes the divine side and the human side of conversion.

“Sanctification by the Spirit” = God’s work of sanctification.

“Belief in the truth” = Our response to the Spirit’s work in our lives: Faith!

The ultimate end of election is a journey marked by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the individual’s trust in the gospel, which in the end, will result in the finished product for which God originally chose to save us in the first place, namely, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

Indeed, that we would share in the glory of Christ itself, for as Paul says in V. 14: “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The purpose for which God effectually drew us to Himself through the preaching of the gospel, was so that we, as Christians, might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Which is to say, the design of God in saving a particular people for Himself is so that, ultimately, the perfection of glory with which Christ is clothed will one day engulf all those who belong to Him, so that we, too, will be granted the privilege of having a share in the very glory of our blessed mediator.

And like all the other benefits of salvation, this, too, will be an act of God’s free grace, because from beginning to end, salvation is from grace to grace.

Does that mean it doesn’t matter how I live? Absolutely not!

Just because salvation is a direct result of the work of God doesn’t mean there’s nothing left for us to do in terms of making an effort to live out the will of God in our lives, otherwise the call to stand firm in V. 15 would be a needless imperative.

But the fact that it’s not, suggests that this is a responsibility we are called to fulfill… and what exactly is that responsibility? Well Paul spells it out for us:

Read V. 15

But what traditions? (Note) I would imagine we all have certain traditions that are part of our lives…

Christmas traditions - Summer traditions - Family traditions… 

Maybe it’s Saturday morning pancakes; Thursday night wings; who knows… all I’m saying is that we all have certain things we do that have become part of the customary way of doing things…

But when Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to hold to the traditions, is that the type of thing he has in mind?

No! That couldn’t possibly be the case because as far as Paul is concerned, so long as these traditions are held onto, it will actually have the effect of stabilizing the Thessalonians so that they won’t be deceived. And I dare say, I don’t think Saturday morning pancakes will help with that.

So, what then, are the traditions? Well, they are the inspired teachings of the apostles and prophets, which were handed down to the early churches in the form of oral communication and written letters.

You see, the Bible distinguishes between man-made traditions and traditions that actually have a divine source.

That’s why sometimes, in the Bible, “traditions,” can be viewed in both a negative way and a positive way.

When made-made traditions are passed down to others and than elevated on the same par with scripture, they nullify the Word of God, and that is bad! That was the problem with the Pharisees!

But when traditions are passed down to others and they actually reflect the true teachings of Jesus, they are good and must be received. That’s why Paul told the Thessalonians to hold onto them! 

This wasn’t an optional command here; they had to obey this injunction! They had to holdfast to the traditions that were delivered to them.

So, in a certain sense, there actually is such a thing as “Holy Tradition;” the issue, however, is that such traditions in our context today have only been preserved for us in the written Word of God, whereas as for them, at that time in history, before the completion of the Canon, those early Christians had it in two forms because they had apostles and prophets in their midst.

(Note) But it’s not like they had something special that we don’t have today because the content contained in those early traditions have been preserved for us in all the letters of the New Testament.

So, to translate this for you in our context today & hopefully simplify what Paul means… this is what it means: when Paul says to “hold to the traditions,” in effect he’s basically saying, ‘hold to the Bible.’ All the inspired teachings that’s been passed down to you in the Bible, hold onto them because insofar as you believe what it says and obey what it says, it will enable you to stand firm in the faith and keep you from being deceived!

Well, hopefully that all makes sense.

Now, as we move to the final verses of our passage, this is where we see Paul transition from God’s word of command (stand firm!) to God’s word of assurance (He’s going to empower you by His grace).

V. 16-17, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”

You know, when God gives a command to His people, He also gives us the strength to obey it, and that’s what we see here.

God the Son and God the Father… the one who loves us with an everlasting love, comforts us with an eternal comfort, gives us good hope through the nourishing power of His grace; this is the one who will establish you in every good work and word.

That is, He will work in your life; He will cause you to walk in His statues and be careful to observe His rules; He will do what is necessary to redirect 

your gaze upon Him so that you might experience the nearness of His presence, be comforted by the surety of His promises, and be encouraged by the profundity of His love for you!

This is a work, Christian, that God will work in you and for you!

So, be encouraged by it… Do not lose hope… God is a gracious God who will grant you all the grace that is needed to hold onto the Word of God, even during the most turbulent times of your life.

Don’t lose sight of that.

Make it your aim to cling to the gospel and to stand firm in the truth of God’s Word…

CONCLUSION

… That’s Pauls’ main emphasis in this passage. Sandwiched in between these two wonderful truths, a) with unconditional election on the one side b) and God’s empowering grace on the other side—right there in the middle is this command to stand firm.

As I bring this message to a close, that’s what I want to leave you with today: a call to stand firm in the faith. Brothers and sisters, when you are met with trials of various kinds, STAND FIRM!

James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Maintain your position. Walk with conviction. STAND FIRM!

When you are confronted with false teaching, STAND FIRM!

When Satan seeks to deceive you through false signs and wonders, STAND FIRM!

When you are weary and at the point where you just feel like giving in, STAND FIRM!

But don’t build your life on sand; build your life on the rock-solid foundation of God’s Word. Build your life on the only sure anchor of your soul, which are the inspired traditions that’s been deposited for uyou in the written Word of God!

Stand upon it! Hold onto it. Don’t let go of it. Don’t replace it with anything else or anything less because the truth is, the Word of God is the chief means God uses to stabilize you in your walk with the Lord.

Jesus made this clear enough in the Sermon on the Mount, didn’t He?Matthew 7:24-27, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it

did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Well, given what Jesus says in this parable, church, I think it should motivate us to make sure we build our lives on the rock! He who is wise will do that!

If you put the wisdom of man over the wisdom of the Bible; you’re building your life on the sand.

If you elevate the traditions of man over the true teachings of God, you’re building your life on the sand.

If you neglect the message of scripture because it conflicts with the message you want to hear; you’re building your life on the sand.

And if you’re building your life on the sand, there’s no way you will be able to withstand the storms of life, let alone the judgment to come!

So… he who has ear to hear, let him hear!

(Note) And just as a matter of experience, I can tell you that for the most part, every Christian I’ve known that has had a true love of the Bible. Read it. Meditate on it. Love to learn more about it. Obey it. Believe it.  

It’s at the forefront of everything they do.

It’s not secondary; it’s primary.

Whenever I come across a person like that - they may go through all kinds of hardships, but when you find someone who is enamoured with the God of the Bible, there’s usually something about their spiritual stance that just seems immovable.

Come what may, but they aren’t budging!

Why is that?

Is it not due to the power of God, working through the power of His Word?

Psa 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

So, if you want to know how to stand firm in the faith (as we are instructed to do), then feast upon the Word of God. It doesn’t mean you need to be a scholar, but it does mean you need to be fed: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!”

So feast upon the Word, and then watch and see how God will use it to build you up in Christ, establish you in the faith, and spiritually stabilize you in your walk with the Lord!

Should you give your attention to the message of scripture, you will see that:

It’s warnings will protect you.

It’s encouragements will comfort you.

It’s teachings will profit you.

It’s wisdom will guide you.

It’s truthfulness will train you.

It’s promises will give you hope.

So, delight yourselves in it.

Cherish the redeemer it proclaims.

And plead the promises contained within it. 

Pray that our Lord Jesus Christ would write His eternal Word upon your hearts, and that He would even establish you in every good work and word, so that after having done all, we might stand firm in the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints.