1 & 2 Thessalonians (The College Press NIV Commentary)
Overview
Paul met furious and violent opposition from the Jewish community at Thessalonica in his attempts to spread the Good News. With disregard for their own safety a small group from the Jewish community pledged their faith to Jesus. They were joined by Gentile converts and formed the Thessalonian Church. These bold converts found a special place in Paul's heart. The letters to the Thessalonian church are among the most personal of all of Paul's letters for this very reason. The main points revolve around personal reminiscences, commendations, counseling, exhortations and the Second Coming of Christ. Paul strongly emphasizes the hope we have in the return of the risen Christ. Following quickly on the heels of this exhortation to be ready, are instructions on the duties involved in the Christian life. These two letters merit close examination for their application to our lives today. Upon study we learn that the Thessalonian church made several errors in their understanding of what Paul meant about the imminent return of our Lord. Even today many have claimed an exact date and time when Jesus did not return! Secondly, we must diligently look at 1 & 2 Thessalonians for the hope of the resurrection found in Jesus' Second Coming that Paul preaches. It is this hope that will comfort us when our loved ones "go home" to be with the Lord. Thessalonians, written long ago, is for us today!
College Press NIV Commentary Series is formatted with a verse-by-verse explanation of the text. It was developed for both the scholar and the average Bible student. The College Press NIV Commentary Series is the only full commentary set in print from the Restoration Movement. Each volume (41 volumes for the Old & New Testament) contains the following helpful features:
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Top Highlights
“Confidence in salvation, then, should not lead to indifference about how one lives but should motivate the watchful, sober, faithful obedience which Paul encourages here.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
“Paul’s reminder is that as long as evil is active in the world—claiming God’s place, appearing to prevail in everyday life, deceiving the spiritually gullible and so denying them salvation—God’s work in Christ is not complete. But because God’s promise is faithful and his power supreme, Christ will indeed return to destroy all evil and the one who stands behind it, establishing the fullness of his righteous kingdom for which his people yearn.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–12)
“These will converge on a single point, that Paul sees the activity of the man of lawlessness not as something which lies in the future but as something already present, something which already dominates this age but which will come to its outright end when Christ returns.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–12)
“Paul’s point probably includes the idea that by engaging in sexual immorality, motivated by the self-centered desire for gratification, one violates the sacred boundaries of the partner’s integrity and wrongfully takes from the partner something for selfish gain. Also cheated are the present or future spouses of both persons engaged in immorality because by the immoral act the exclusive bond of marriage is violated.” (1 Thessalonians 4:6)
“If the word has similar impact here, then Paul refers not to a point when the man of lawlessness becomes fully active in history but the point when he is revealed for who he is.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
- Title: 1&2 Thessalonians
- Author: Jon A. Weatherly
- Series: College Press NIV Commentary
- Publisher: College Press
- Print Publication Date: 1996
- Logos Release Date: 2001
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. 1 Thessalonians › Commentaries; Bible. N.T. 2 Thessalonians › Commentaries
- Resource ID: LLS:29.57.1
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-26T02:10:38Z
