2 Thessalonians 1:5-The Thessalonians Will Be Rewarded for Persevering by Means of their Post-Justification Faith

2 Thessalonians 1:3 Each of us is under obligation to always make it our habit of always giving thanks to the one and only God on behalf of each one of you brothers and sisters because it is appropriate for your faith is growing to an extraordinary degree. Correspondingly, the divine-love of each and every one of you is increasing to a considerable degree for one another. 4 Consequently, each one of us, we ourselves regularly expressed great pride in all of you in the congregations belonging to this one and only God, specifically about your perseverance as well as faith in the midst of all your persecutions as well as your adversities, which each of you are regularly enduring. 5 This is evidence of the exercise of this God’s righteous judgment so that each of you become worthy of this God’s kingdom for the benefit of which, each of you are regularly experiencing suffering. (My translation)

The noun endeigma(ἔνδειγμα), “evidence” pertains to all the means by which any alleged matter of fact whose truth is investigated is established or disproved.

This word is pointing back to the statements in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, which presents the evidence for the exercise of God the Father’s righteous judgment in considering the Thessalonians worthy of reigning with His Son Jesus Christ during His millennial reign.

Therefore, in 2 Thessalonians 1:5, the noun endeigma (ἔνδειγμα) refers to the Thessalonian Christian community persevering in the midst of their persecutions and adversities, which they were regularly enduring, by means of their post-justification faith in the gospel.

Consequently, this would be evidence that the Thessalonian Christian community was worthy of the kingdom of God in the sense that it would make them worthy to rule with Jesus Christ during His millennial reign.

By rewarding them with the honor of ruling with His Son, the Father would be exercising a righteous judgment.

So therefore, a comparison of 2 Thessalonians 1:4 and 5 indicates that Paul is asserting that the perseverance of the Thessalonians in the midst of their persecutions and adversities by means of their post-justification faith in the gospel served as evidence.

Paul then identifies that the Thessalonians perseverance by means of faith in the midst of their persecutions and adversities is evidence of the exercise of God’s righteous judgment so that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community enters into the state of being considered worthy of God’s kingdom.

Therefore, a comparison of 2 Thessalonians 1:5 with 2 Thessalonians 1:4 indicates that the perseverance of the Thessalonians in the midst of their persecutions and adversities by means of their post-justification faith in the gospel served as evidence of the exercise of God the Father’s righteous judgment which will result in the Thessalonians becoming worthy of His kingdom.

They are worthy in the sense that this perseverance by means of their faith would make them worthy to rule with Jesus Christ during His millennial reign.

By rewarding them with the honor of ruling with His Son, the Father would be exercising a righteous judgment because the Thessalonians persevered in the midst of their persecutions and adversities by means of their faith in God’s Word.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:5, the adjective dikaios (δίκαιος), “righteous” refers to the character of God’s judgment and describes His judgment as possessing perfect integrity in the sense that this judgment adheres to God’s perfect, holy standards which are revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God.

Thus, this word also denotes that God’s judgment is upright and honest when treating the Thessalonians and describes God’s character as being virtuous in the sense that He always conforms to His holy, perfect standards.

Therefore, this adjective describes God’s judgment as possessing perfect integrity and virtue by conforming to His perfect, holy standards that He will give the Thessalonians’ justice and treat them the way that they should be treated for persevering by means of their faith in the midst of their persecutions and adversities.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:5, the noun krisis (κρίσις), “judgment” would be better translated with the word “evaluation” since it refers to the Bema Seat Judgment of the church which takes place immediately after the rapture.

The purpose of this judgment is to evaluate the service of the child of God to determine if they merit rewards or not for their service.

The English word “judgment” has a negative association attached to it because when people here this word in relation to God or Jesus Christ, they immediately think of being thrown into hell or the lake of fire.

The child of God has escaped experiencing God’s wrath in the lake of fire as a result of trusting in His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior.

This noun krisis(κρίσις) is used in relation to the Thessalonian Christian community and speaks of the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.

Therefore, this evaluation in relation to the Thessalonian Christian community will take place in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ who will conduct this evaluation at the Bema Seat according to 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Thus, when Paul asserts that God’s judgment is righteous for declaring the Thessalonians worthy of the kingdom of God because of their perseverance and faith in the midst of persecution, he is referring to Jesus Christ rewarding the Thessalonians.

They will be rewarded by the Lord at the Bema Seat when He declares them worthy to reign with Him on the earth for a thousand years.

Though Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that the Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church, Paul asserts in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 that God the Father is the one who judges in a manner which is characterized as righteous.

This assertion does not contradict 2 Corinthians 5:10 because John 5:22-23 also teaches that the Father has given His Son authority to conduct all the judgments related to both human beings and angels so that all people may honor the Son (cf. Rev. 20:11-14) or in other words, the Father judges people through His Son.

Thus, the Father evaluates each member of the Thessalonian Christian community and every Christian for that matter through His Son Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.

The noun basileia(βασιλεία), “kingdom” in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 refers to the kingdom of Jesus Christ which was given to Him by the Father.

Specifically, the word refers to the kingdom of God the Father and expresses the fact that the Father through His Son Jesus Christ exercises royal authority in a realm over which He has sovereign right to rule as God.

That realm is not only in the first heaven (abode of God, throne of God) and the second heaven (the stellar universe) but also on planet earth.

Thus, the noun basileia refers to an organized community of regenerate human beings and elect angels who reside in a major territorial unit who are under a monarchical form of government headed by God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

Consequently, this word basileia (βασιλεία), “kingdom” in 2 Thessalonians speaks of the millennial government of Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonians would be rewarded with a position in this millennial government because of their perseverance in the midst of their persecutions and adversities by means of their post-justification in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, we must remember that when Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 speaks of the Thessalonians becoming worthy of the kingdom of God, he is emphatically not saying that they are worthy to be saved or receive eternal life because of exercising faith in the gospel in the midst of their persecutions and adversities.

They were already saved or declared justified by the Father the moment they trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, thus, they received the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Spirit and eternal life.

Therefore, when Paul speaks of the Thessalonians becoming worthy of the kingdom of God, he is referring the Thessalonians being rewarded at the Bema Seat for their faithfulness in the face of persecution and great adversity.

They will be rewarded with a rulership position in Jesus Christ millennial kingdom on the earth.

Therefore, every believer becomes a member of the kingdom of God at the moment of justification.

However, only those believers who are overcomers are worthy of the kingdom of God and specifically are worthy of being rewarded a position in Jesus Christ’s millennial government.

They become worthy of the kingdom of God by overcoming their adversities such as persecutions by means of their post-justification faith in the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:5 ends with the statement that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was regularly experiencing suffering for the benefit of God’s kingdom, and which suffering of course was undeserved and came in the form of various persecutions.

The undeserved suffering which the Thessalonians were experiencing benefited the kingdom of God because it glorified God because it manifested the holy character of God, which was revealed through the godly behavior of the Thessalonians.

It also manifested the power of God for without it, the Thessalonians would not be able to endure their persecutions and adversities.

Their faith appropriated the omnipotence of God.

Thus, God was glorified because His power was manifested in the Thessalonians’ suffering and weakness (cf. 2 Cor. 12:10-12; Phil. 4:13).

The undeserved suffering the Thessalonians were experiencing also benefited the kingdom of God because it demonstrated the superiority of God’s kingdom in comparison to Satan’s kingdom.

The Thessalonians’ suffering also benefited the kingdom of God because it evangelized the members of Satan’s kingdom in that it communicated the gospel to them.

The Thessalonians’ godly behavior communicated the gospel to the unregenerate because it manifested the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.