The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1-2 Thessalonians

Top Highlights

“The main interpretive idea and theological emphases of the entire first epistle can be formulated as follows: Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians’ salvation, gives them further instruction to complete their faith and prays for this in order that they might please God by being holy and thus pass through the end-time judgment.” (Page 25)

“The word church, however, must also be understood against the background of the Greek Old Testament, where the word repeatedly refers to the gathered congregation of Israel (see Schmidt 1972). In this light, the Thessalonian church was part of the true Israelite congregation of God’s people who had been established by Messiah Jesus’ latter-day redemptive work.” (Page 42)

“A better, though not ultimately sufficient, response in favor of the pretribulational rapture view is that the Spirit’s work of restraining through the church would end and then continue through the ministry of the ‘two [individual] witnesses’ of Revelation 11.” (Page 215)

“The restraining force is the proclamation of the gospel, above all, by Paul’s preaching. The strength of this identification is its compatibility with Mark 13:10, which says that ‘the gospel must first be preached to all nations’ before Christ’s coming and, apparently, before the appearance of ‘ ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong [i.e., in the temple]’ (Mk 13:14).” (Page 215)

“Whether in the ancient world or today, the chief end of humanity has often been to take pleasure in this life. In contrast, our passage begins by affirming the opposite: humanity’s chief goal ought to be to take pleasure in pleasing God.” (Page 114)