“It should be clear, both from the commands and example of Christ and his apostles, that living quietly and minding our own business does not mean that the church is to tone down its proclamation of the gospel. On the contrary, Paul consistently encouraged boldness in this regard. The church was not to live so quietly that they failed to function as witnesses of Christ both in word and deed. It is, rather, (as we often say here) that the only offense should be the gospel. Christians were not to become social revolutionaries. In fact, the apostles denied such charges several times when they were leveled against them. It was not Paul’s intent that the church disrupt society or overthrow governments. Rather, he encouraged Christians to be good citizens and exemplary members of their families and of their society but to do so in a manner consistent with the teachings of Christ. Only in this sense was the Gospel intended to change society. It set out to change the individuals who made up society while awaiting that climactic event when the power of God would truly change the world forever…”

“It is God’s work among us that creates sanctification, that makes us obey. But at the same time, moral effort is in no way antithetical to faith. It is, rather, the outworking and expression of true faith. In response to God’s gift and initiative, believers have a responsibility to let the power of Grace come to expression in our lives. Full dependence on God is wholly compatible with human exertions. The Christian is not passive, but fully cooperates with God for achieving his divine purpose…this is how God has willed that it will take place: your sanctification will take place as you strive.”

“Today, there is a tendency to fall into one of two ditches when it comes to understanding the work of Satan: either we fail to recognize at all that we have an adversary who is constantly seeking to destroy us, or we give him far too much credit and assume he has far more power than is attributed to him in the Bible—as directly responsible for everything that goes wrong in our lives…The truth lies somewhere between these poles. Paul seldom attributes human fallenness to the work of Satan, while on the other hand, he is quite ready to see Satan at work in the kind of persecution that would thwart the furtherance of the gospel. The plain reality, which Paul knew well, was that the Thessalonian believers were being constantly harassed by their ‘fellow citizens’ (2:14). But from another perspective this harassment was being directed by Satan himself. Paul simply assumed that such ‘trials’ or affliction for the sake of Jesus and the gospel would be part of the common experience of Christians.”

“There are many ways to avoid persecution and suffering for the gospel. We can avoid confrontation and church discipline, compromise with those who call themselves Christians but are not. We can avoid teaching unpopular doctrines of Scripture, such as this one on suffering, so as to keep people comfortable. We can compromise our purity from the world, so we don’t stick out like a sore thumb and gain the ire of those around us. We can assimilate, refuse to confront sin in the church, and refuse to draw attention to ourselves. And we can avoid sharing the gospel with the condemned and dying world around us. We can become like the enemies of Christ and his people who were unwilling to suffer for the sake of others. Like the opponents Paul condemns here, we end up being the enemies of mankind; those who possess the saving message but fail to share it, which would become evidence of our own condemnation. But this, church, is not what God has in store for genuine disciples.”

“The expectation, once again, is that all genuine believers, those who should have confidence that they are brothers, loved and chosen by God, will be imitating the holy, righteous and blameless conduct of the apostles as the apostles themselves emulate Christ. Those who follow Christ will not only emulate the apostles and Christ himself in what they abstain from, but they will be seeking to imitate them in the sense of their service, labor and toil, and caring for the people of God as if they were their own family. They will be utilizing every opportunity to be on mission, working day and night for the Lord, integrating gospel labor with manual labor, never setting aside the ministry to which they have been called…”