Life and Living. Part Forty-Six
Life and Living
Part Forty-Six
In 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, Paul thanks God for a special gift of encouragement he had been given.
In the same sentence, he also thanks God for God’s gift to the Christians there in Thessalonica.
We will see this as we divide Paul's long sentences into the parts of the sentence.
Follow me. I will divide the long sentence into the two little sentences he wants his readers to see.
These are the verses we are talking about.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us (Paul and his helpers) eternal encouragement and good hope,
17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
These are the two sentences he means.
1. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace, gave us (Paul and his helpers) eternal encouragement and good hope.
That one should be clear so the next one follows.
2. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
It is the “every good deed and word” that I want us to think about. Paul had taught these Christians how to live a "Christian Life." Now he is praying that their Lord Jesus Christ himself and God their Father who loved them would encourage their hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. Their persecution may have hindered their Christian Living, so Paul wanted God to bless them at this time with the encouragement they needed.
Can we ask each other for God's blessing so that our hearts will be encouraged and we will be strengthened in our good deeds and words?
That is what Life and Living is all about.
7/31/2020 Larry E. Whittington
As you study Paul’s letters, you may find doing the same with his long sentences helpful.
After loving God, our command from Jesus is to love each other...which can take many forms but all related actions are for the benefit of the "each other" part, not ourselves. Thank you!