Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
July 13, 2014
Dayton, Texas
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• I. The Evidence of the Focus.
  • A. For the ninth time, Paul casts the issues in terms of "being made to become".
    • 1. This is as forceful as a concept can be (six of the eleven uses are found in 2:1-14).
    • 2. The automatic issue of the term is the answer to the question: what/Who made this reality?
  • B. For the second time, the "becoming" is focused upon the issue of "imitation": an earlier example that becomes a later standard for what is expected (1:6; 2:14).
  • C. For the second time, the issue of what it means to be a "church" comes into play (1:1; 2:14).
    • 1. The "church" of the Thessalonians has become an "imitation" of the "churches" of Judea.
      • a. The concept of "church" is rooted in what Paul has made a central concept in what God has done in Thessalonica: the issue of "calling" ( ek + kalew ).
        • 1) The basic message, called The Gospel, is cast in the form of The Summons (2:3).
        • 2) This idea of "summons" is then reinforced by the use of the characterization of a "father" who "summons" (2:11) as a mirror of the God Who yet "summons" (2:12).
        • 3) Then Paul summarizes the idea with the return to the concept of "church" (those "summoned" out of a former group and setting into a new group and setting).
      • b. This concept of "church" also has, as its most necessary attendant characteristic, the response of the "summoned".
        • 1) Paul's says the only legitimate response to The Summons is "faith".
        • 2) By pulling "faith" into the mix, he introduces a certain element of "inevitability": what a person "believes" becomes the "ground" for future attitudes, choices, and actions.
          • a) The weak link exists at the level of whether "believing" is considered an aoristic notion, or a present tense notion.
          • b) In 2:13 the issue is "active believing", making the essence of The Summons a call to Faith, and making the case that all of the future working of the Word within us is dependent upon a "faith" response.
    • 2. This leads immediately into what happens when people in this world, time, and setting, "believe" The Summons: inevitable conflict that will eventually lead to persecution.
      • a. The process is semi-automatic: faith sponsors choices and actions that run counter to this world's values and beliefs and, thus, actions so that there is inevitable conflict.
      • b. Paul said in Galatians that those of the flesh persecute those of the Spirit as an automatic continuum (Galatians 4:29).
• II. The Impact of the Focus.
  • A. The "churches" are said to be "of the God".
    • 1. Thus, it is "the God" who is doing the on-going "calling".
    • 2. That He is "the God" completely eliminates every other competitor for the idea of the availability and applicability of "power" so that dependence upon any other becomes idolatry.
    • 3. That the "faith" is that "the God" has actually spoken in true words that form The Word (The Message, The Gospel, The Summons) means that the "believer" addresses his/her situations in life through the lens of "the truth of The God".
  • B. The "churches" are said to exist in the same context: persecution.
    • 1. The inevitable result of being a believing member of "a church of The God" is "suffering the same things" (categorically the "same" as 1 John 2 declares though the particulars may vary).
    • 2. The text makes the "suffering" a consequence of proximity.
      • a. The closer a "believer" is to an "unbeliever", the more likely he/she is to suffer from that close associate (even as Cain slew his brother): thus, countrymen (the only time this term is used in the New Testament) become the persecutors.
      • b. This cuts in multiple ways, beginning with the reality that one's closest associates should not be the ones who do the persecuting and, because they are, the soul's "safety" becomes a huge matter of interest and the danger is "unbelief" in the promises of The Summons as they impact the "soul".
• III. The Question of Applicability Within the Context of the Illegality of Persecution.
  • A. Paul's declaration is that persecution is inevitable (2 Timothy 3:12).
  • B. This "inevitability" factor is complicated by historical developments wherein certain cultures have outlawed persecution because of religious beliefs.
    • 1. Believers are somewhat spared the intensity that illegality holds in check.
    • 2. But there is no way that all "suffering" can be controlled by "law".