2 Thessalonians 3:3b-The Lord Jesus Christ Will Strengthen the Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 3:1 Correspondingly, each one of you, brothers and sisters, please begin and continue to make it your habit of occupying yourselves with praying on behalf of each one of us that the message originating from and about the Lord would be propagated. Consequently, that it is honored just as it in fact is honored among all of you. 2 Likewise, that each one of us would be delivered from perverse, yes evil people because faith by no means is a characteristic which belongs to all. 3 But the Lord does inherently possess the characteristic of being faithful, who will strengthen each and every one of you. Consequently, He will protect each one of you from the evil one. (Lecturer’s translation)

2 Thessalonians 3:3 contains three declarative statements.

The first asserts that the Lord does inherently possess the characteristic of being faithful.

The second asserts that the Lord will strengthen each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

The third and final statement asserts that the Lord will protect each member of the Thessalonian Christian from the evil one.

Now, the first declarative statement in this verse presents a contrast with the perverse and evil people mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 3:2, who have not exercised faith in Jesus Christ as Savior so as to be declared justified by the Father.

Therefore, the contrast is between the Lord Jesus Christ who is faithful and those people who are unregenerate perverse, evil people because they have not been declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son.

In this first statement in 2 Thessalonians 3:3, we noted that the adjective pistos (πιστός), “faithful” emphatically describes the Lord Jesus Christ as firmly adhering to His promise to strengthen the post-justification faith of the Thessalonian Christian community so as to protect them from Satan.

Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the adjective “faithful,” “strict or thorough in the performance of duty; true to one’s word, promises, vows; steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; reliable, trusted, or believed; adhering or true to fact or an original.”

They also state, “faithful implies long-continued and steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound to by a pledge, duty or obligation.

If we paraphrase these definitions, we could say that the Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen the post-justification faith of the Thessalonians so that He will also protect them from the devil because He is true to His promise to do so.

Secondly, we could say that the Lord strengthen the post-justification faith of the Thessalonians so that He will also protect them from the devil because He is steady in allegiance to His promise to do this.

Furthermore, we could say that the Lord will strengthen the post-justification faith of the Thessalonians so that He will also protect them from the devil because He is true to His promise to enable them to experience their sanctification up to the moment He arrives at the rapture.

Secondly, we could say that the Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen the post-justification faith of the Thessalonians so that He will also protect them from the devil because He is steady in allegiance to His promise to enable them to experience their sanctification up to the moment He arrives at the rapture.

Now, as we noted, the second declarative statement in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 asserts that the Lord will strengthen each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

As was the case in 2 Thessalonians 2:17, the verb stērizō here in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 pertains to making a person more marked by firm determination or resolution.

It means “to cause someone to become stronger in the sense of more firm and unchanging in attitude or belief.”

It denotes being steadfast in one’s mental attitude reflecting a mental state that is settled and firmly rooted in the truth of the gospel.

Now, unlike 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:17 where the word appears, Paul does not identify specifically what he is using this verb in relation to here in 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

If you recall, in 1 Thessalonians 3:2, this verb stērizō is modified by the prepositional phrase hyper tēs pisteōs hymōn (ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν), “for the benefit of your faith.”

This speaks of the post-justification faith of the Thessalonians.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:13, the verb stērizō is modified by the en hagiōsynē (ἐν ἁγιωσύνῃ), “with respect to holiness,” which speaks of experiencing the holiness of God or sanctification as a result of practicing the love of God when interacting with each other and with the non-Christian.

Lastly, in 2 Thessalonians 2:17, this verb stērizō is used of strengthening the Thessalonians’ hearts with respect to every kind of action and oral communication, which are divine-good in quality and character.

Therefore, based upon a comparison of the use of this verb stērizō in 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:17, we can infer that when Paul uses this verb here in 2 Thessalonians 3:3, it is used of strengthening the post-justification faith of the Thessalonian Christian community with respect to them experiencing their sanctification and in relation to the practice of divine good with respect to their actions and oral communication with others.

The Thessalonians’ faith would be strengthened by Paul and Silvanus and Timothy communicating the gospel to them after their justification with regards to the person and work of Jesus Christ as well as their union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father (cf. Rom. 10:17).

This would cause the Thessalonians to become stronger in their faith and stabilized in their relationship with God.

Consequently, this would produce greater obedience and consequently, greater spiritual growth.

Furthermore, when Paul speaks of strengthening the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 3:3, 13, 2 Thessalonians 2:17 and now here in 2 Thessalonians 3:3, he is speaking of exhorting and encouraging them with regards to their faith since this is how he defines strengthening in 1 Thessalonians 3:2.

So therefore, when Paul speaks of strengthening the Thessalonians, he means strengthening them with regards to their post-justification in the gospel by encouraging them for the benefit of their faith.

He wanted to fill the Thessalonians with courage or strength of purpose suggesting he wanted to raise their confidence level with regards to their faith.

Therefore, when Paul speaks of strengthening the Thessalonians, he also means he wanted to strengthen them with regards to their post-justification faith in the gospel by exhorting them in the sense of authoritatively training them through instruction.

In other words, he wanted to communicate the gospel message to them so as to compel obedience in every area of their lives.

This authoritative training through instruction in the gospel would include teaching, conviction, correcting and training with regards to living out in one’s life the righteousness of God (2 Timothy 3:16).

In other words, Paul wanted to urge them to accept sound doctrine by faith which results in obedience to sound doctrine which produces godly conduct and character.

This authoritative training through instruction would also involve encouraging and warning of danger.