12 So that they all may be judged, who had no faith in what is true, but took pleasure in evil.
Who, though they have knowledge of the law of God, that the fate of those who do these things is death, not only go on doing these things themselves, but give approval to those who do them.
But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath,
And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil. The light is hated by everyone whose acts are evil and he does not come to the light for fear that his acts will be seen. But he whose life is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his acts have been done by the help of God.
For certain men have come among you secretly, marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate, men without the fear of God, turning his grace into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now it is my purpose to put you in mind, though you once had knowledge of all these things, of how the Lord, having taken a people safely out of Egypt, later sent destruction on those who had no faith;
For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with you in joy; Having eyes full of evil desire, never having enough of sin; turning feeble souls out of the true way; they are children of cursing, whose hearts are well used to bitter envy; Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;
For God's purpose for us is not wrath, but salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Let love be without deceit. Be haters of what is evil; keep your minds fixed on what is good.
He who has faith in the Son has eternal life; but he who has not faith in the Son will not see life; God's wrath is resting on him.
He who has faith and is given baptism will get salvation; but he who has not faith will be judged.
You who are haters of good and lovers of evil, pulling off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones;
In their sin they make a king for themselves, and rulers in their deceit.
But to the sinner, God says, What are you doing, talking of my laws, or taking the words of my agreement in your mouth? Seeing that you have no desire for my teaching, turning your back on my words. When you saw a thief, you were in agreement with him, and you were joined with those who took other men's wives. You have given your mouth to evil, your tongue to words of deceit. You say evil of your brother; you make false statements against your mother's son. These things have you done, and I said nothing; it seemed to you that I was such a one as yourself; but I will make a protest against you, and put them in order before your eyes.
The Lord puts the upright and the sinner to the test, but he has hate in his soul for the lover of violent acts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2
Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
The apostle is very careful to hinder the spreading of an error into which some among them had fallen concerning the coming of Christ, as being very near (v. 1-3). Then he proceeds to confute the error he cautioned them against, by telling them of two great events that were antecedent to the coming of Christ-a general apostasy, and the revelation of antichrist, concerning whom the apostle tells them many remarkable things, about his name, his character, his rise, his fall, his reign, and the sin and ruin of his subjects (v. 4-12). He then comforts them against the terror of this apostasy, and exhorts them to stedfastness (v. 13-15). And concludes with a prayer for them (v. 16, 17).
2Th 2:1-3
From these words it appears that some among the Thessalonians had mistaken the apostle's meaning, in what he had written in his former epistle about the coming of Christ, by thinking that it was near at hand,-that Christ was just ready to appear and come to judgment. Or, it may be, some among them pretended that they had the knowledge of this by particular revelation from the Spirit, or from some words they had heard from the apostle, when he was with them, or some letter he had written or they pretended he had written to them or some other person: and hereupon the apostle is careful to rectify this mistake, and to prevent the spreading of this error. Observe, If errors and mistakes arise among Christians, we should take the first opportunity to rectify them, and hinder the spreading thereof; and good men will be especially careful to suppress errors that may arise from a mistake of their words and actions, though that which was spoken or done was ever so innocent or well. We have a subtle adversary, who watches all opportunities to do mischief, and will sometimes promote errors even by means of the words of scripture. Observe,
2Th 2:3-12
In these words the apostle confutes the error against which he had cautioned them, and gives the reasons why they should not expect the coming of Christ as just at hand. There were several events previous to the second coming of Christ; in particular, he tells them there would be,
2Th 2:13-15
Here observe,
2Th 2:16-17
In these words we have the apostle's earnest prayer for them, in which observe,