Stand Fast!

Believers prepare for the Apostasy and the coming Man of Lawlessness by committing themselves to the traditions received from the Apostles.

After explaining the coming “Apostasy” and the “Man of Lawlessness,” Paul instructed believers on how to avoid the coming deception and thereby find themselves standing “blameless” before Jesus when he arrives on the Day of the Lord. We must “stand fast” by adhering to the teachings and “traditions” the Church has received from the Apostles.

The conclusion to Paul’s discussion on the “Lawless One” includes verbal links to his first letter to the Thessalonians. The second letter was written within a few weeks or months of 1 Thessalonians.

[Half Dome Photo by Pierre Le Vaillant on Unsplash]

In his second letter, Paul addresses additional issues concerning the future, including the “Day of the Lord.” This was necessitated by false information being spread in the Assembly about that day, the ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” of Jesus (παρουσια), and the gathering of the Elect – (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

• (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17) - “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning for salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth to which he called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, stand fast and hold the traditions that you were taught, whether by word or by letter of ours. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us everlasting comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”

After referring to the “times and seasons” in his first letter, the stress fell on right conduct and belief, not on knowing signs and prophetic timetables. Disciples who remain watchful and live as “sons of the light” will not be overtaken by the sudden arrival of the “Day of the Lord” – (1 Thessalonians 5:1-8).

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul instructs us further on how to avoid deception and apostasy by “standing firm” in the teachings the Church received from the Apostle and his coworkers. We must “stand fast and hold the traditions” to persevere through the coming onslaught by Satan’s forces.

The term “stand fast” translates a Greek verb that means to “remain stationary,” and so, “to persevere, endure.” Paul used the same verb in his first letter to the Assembly in a similar context.

• “But when Timothy came even now from you and brought us glad tidings of your faith and love <…> for this cause, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our distress and tribulation through your faith: for now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord” - (1 Thessalonians 3:6-8).

VERBAL LINKS

When the Apostle states, “Whether by word or by epistle of ours,” he reiterates his warning from the start of the chapter. The Church of Thessalonica must not be “shaken from mind nor be troubled, either by spirit or by discourse or by letters as from us.” Some of the false claims circulating in the congregation were attributed falsely to Paul and his coworkers.

The words to which Paul now refers represented by the Apostolic “Tradition” were received from him in person and by letter (“of ours”), unlike the false information being spread “as if from us.” The genuine words of the Apostles were and remain trustworthy.

The Greek clause translated as “comfort your hearts” parallels the two admonishments given at the close of Paul’s discussions in his first letter regarding the “dead in Christ,” and knowing the “signs and seasons.” At the end of both exhortations, the Thessalonians were told to “comfort one another with these words.”

Paul desired to see the Thessalonians “established in every good work and word.” This wish paralleled the one he gave at the close of the first half of First Thessalonians:

• “And the Lord make you increase and abound in love, one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you; to the end, he may establish your hearts blameless in sanctification before our God and Father, at the arrival of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” – (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

Paul will make practical applications of his exhortations in the closing verses of his Letter, instructions that are not unrelated to his comments about the coming “Apostasy” and the “Man of Lawlessness.”

For example, the Thessalonians must “withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly, and not after the tradition received from us.” Paul again stresses how we must follow the Apostolic Tradition if we hope to endure until the end. What marks an individual as “disorderly” is his refusal to abide by the teachings of the Apostles. Moreover, Paul summons the Thessalonians to “imitate” him and his companions – (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15).

Certain members of the Assembly were refusing to work for a living, which certainly qualifies as “walking in a disorderly” way (“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: If any will not work, neither let him eat”). Considering the heightened apocalyptic expectations of the congregation, some members had chosen not to work.

We must not become “weary in well-doing” between now and the final day. Whether the Lord comes today or centuries from now, we must “stand fast” in the teachings of the Apostles and conduct our daily lives properly; otherwise, we will be overcome by the “Mystery of Lawlessness” that even now is at work in the world preparing the way for the “Apostasy” and the unleashing of the “Man of Lawlessness.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Howling Imposters - (The New Testament warns repeatedly of coming deceivers and false prophets who will cause many to depart from the faith)

• The Antichrist Spirit - (The Spirit of the Antichrist works to destroy the church from within through deception propagated by false teachers and false prophets – 1 John 2:18-22)

• The Apostasy - (Paul warned the Thessalonians of a future apostasy and linked it to the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction)

• The Son of Destruction - (Many saints will apostatize when the Lawless One, the Son of Destruction, seats himself in the Sanctuary of God)