PASSAGE · BSB

2 Thessalonians 2

6 positions in the corpus lean on this chapter. Cited verses are marked.

1Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,

2not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.

3Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

5Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you?

6And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.

8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,

10and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

11For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie,

12in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

13But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

14To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.

16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

Who leans on it

Calvin on indwelling of the holy spiritPRIMARY SOURCELEANS°Calvin opens Book III by insisting that everything Christ did stays outside us until the Spirit brings it in: 'so long as we are without Christ and separated from him, nothing which he suffered and did for the salvation …Chrysostom on authority of scriptureDISPUTED READINGCONTESTED°Preaching on 2 Thessalonians 2:15 he argues that the apostles delivered much unwritten as well as written, that the two are alike worthy of credit, and that a question is settled once it is shown to be a tradition of the…Chrysostom on continuation of spiritual giftsPRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°He says it twice, flatly, and in passing both times — which is what makes it good evidence. Preaching through 1 Corinthians 12 he explains that the chapter is obscure to his congregation because the things it describes h…Chrysostom on the millennium & christ's returnDISPUTED READINGNO FIT°Never framed in these terms. He left no commentary on Revelation — the book was still disputed in the Greek East of his day — so Revelation 20 has no exposition from him at all. What he does have is a single future comin…Westminster Confession on indwelling of the holy spiritPRIMARY SOURCELEANS°The Confession fixes the order rather than the moment. WCF 10.2 makes the person 'altogether passive' in effectual calling until quickened and renewed by the Spirit, and only then 'enabled to answer this call' - regenera…Westminster Confession on continuation of spiritual giftsDISPUTED READINGNOT FRAMEDThis is blank of the third kind - never framed in these terms - and the blank is worth more than a stance would be. WCF 1.1 says the former ways of God's revealing his will are 'now ceased', 1.6 forbids adding to Scriptu…