Having
thanked God for the Thessalonians’ steady progress, Paul turned to encourage
them to keep up with their progress. He knew the tremendous pressure from the
opposition that they were enduring. So he told them that their ability to
endure the hardship not only demonstrated the grace of God in their lives, but
also His righteous judgment (v.5). And their ability to endure the hardship
plainly revealed that they were fit for the kingdom of God.
In verse 6,
Paul enforced the fact that God is just. He asserted that there is coming a day
when God will vindicate and justify the Thessalonians. Those who persecuted
them will be brought to justice, whereas they (the persecuted including the
apostle) will find their relief in God. For on that day, the Lord will bring
their persecutors to justice.
A question
that would naturally come to mind will be: when exactly will God do this? Verse
7 indicates that this will take place “… when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire ….” The way Paul described
this scene also reveals that the Lord will return personally, visibly and
gloriously. Although, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ,
Paul said that the Lord “will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God,” here he described another
aspect of it. In verse 7, he said that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire. When we put all these together,
it will mean that His return will truly be a glorious one.
Paul tells
us that one of the purposes for His coming would be to deal out retribution (v.8).
This begs the question – to whom will he deal the retribution to? According to
the same verse, there will be two categories of people who will receive their
just retribution. They are those who do not know God, and those who do not obey
the Gospel.
The
punishment which they will receive will be eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Eternal destruction is
the opposite of eternal life but it does not suggest in any way the cessation
of existence. It is not saying that they will be annihilated. But what is clear
here is that they will be banished from the presence of the Lord and the glory
of His power. They will be excluded from heaven and the power of God
permanently. This separation will be irrevocable.
In verse 8,
we saw that one of His purposes for coming is to deal out retribution. Now in
verse 10, we will see two others. They are: to be glorified in His saints and
to be marveled at amongst believers. Paul then concluded by reminding the
Thessalonians that they would be among the company of people that the Lord will
reveal Himself to because of their belief.
In the light
of this coming of God’s judgment, there are two things that seem immediate: (1)
what are we doing with those whom we know are still outside the Kingdom of God?
(2) What must we do with our lives now? Like the Lord, we must seek and save
the lost. And while we are doing that, we must keep abiding and growing in Him!
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