Bible Truth #358 - 2 Thessalonians 3:4

2 Thessalonians 3:4

We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.

What? Paul has confidence in the Lord that the Thessalonians are doing what they command? Think about that. Why would Paul have confidence in the Lord that they would be doing what he commanded?

Many Christians would simply read over that passage and not think twice about what Paul was actually writing - or what God had Paul write (2 Timothy 3:16). The reason Paul wrote that he had confidence in the Lord that the Thessalonians were doing what he commanded was because of what he knew about the sovereignty of God in human affairs. He was a lot more specific in what he wrote to the Philippians. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

So in this second letter, Paul had been telling the Thessalonians a number of different truths and prophesies and then he writes that he has confidence in the Lord that they are doing, and that they would continue to do, what he commanded. The Lord was working out His plan in the lives of the Thessalonians and Paul knew and understood that fact. This is not surprising as it reconciles perfectly with the rest of God’s Word:

- He orders the steps of the righteous (Psalm 37:23)

- He works out everything for His own ends (Proverbs 16:4)

- He directs a man’s steps (Proverbs 16:9, 20:24)

- He turns a King’s heart like a river of water (Proverbs 21:1)

- He works all things together for good (Romans 8:28)

- He works all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11)

There was nothing Paul could have more confidence in than in the Lord and that He is working His will in each and every situation and circumstance in the lives of the Thessalonians and in our lives.