But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given [us] eternal consolation and good hope by grace,
The chapter has just described a coming deception and the ruin of those who refuse the truth. Paul turns from that dark scene to prayer, naming two Persons and what they have already given — love, comfort that never runs out, and a hope that rests on grace.
Paul has told the Thessalonians to stand firm and hold fast. He does not leave the command alone. A prayer follows it, addressed to the Lord and to the Father.
Paul gives thanks for the assured blessing of the Thessalonians. He sets it against the everlasting ruin of those who abandon Christ and Christianity. Then comes not only an exhortation to stand firm in the truth of God given to them, but a prayer suited to their need. Christ came out from God to sinful people on earth, and went to God in heaven after He accomplished redemption. He revealed God as our Father, while He Himself remains our Lord.
The reason lies in what the believers were up against.
The Apostle has brought before us the salvation and calling of God, and he has urged us to "stand firm" and to "hold fast." But he realises that this is not possible in our own strength. We cannot enter into the calling, or stand firm in the presence of all the power of the enemy, on our own. So he turns to prayer.
Every title in the verse carries weight. One writer walks through them one at a time.
When you have "our," you have what appeals to the affections… and "Himself" is the beautiful addition in Luke 24. "Jesus Himself drew near and went with them." "Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, Peace to you!"… The apostle adds, "God, even our Father." In "God" we have all power. "My God will supply every need of yours." In "our Father," we remember how He spoke when He rose from the dead on that first day of the week, putting that relationship first: "My Father and your Father."
The verse joins the Son and the Father as one source of the comfort asked for. Kelly draws a conclusion from that.
Here again the gift of everlasting encouragement does not silence the prayer that He may encourage His children's hearts. It draws that prayer out and strengthens it. Our Lord, and God our Father, are remarkably identified in cheering and strengthening us now, as in 1 Thessalonians 3:11. It is a special way of speaking. It can only be explained by the eternal relation of the Father and the Son, and their unity of nature in the Godhead.
The verbs "loved" and "gave" look back at something settled. Grant links that finished work to what is asked for next.
Paul uses the entire title "our Lord Jesus Christ" here, and "God, even our Father." It is as though to press upon us the blessed fullness of supply that is ours in communion with the Father and the Son. For he first speaks of the eternal provision made for us — His love and everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. And the certainty of this is the basis of their practical comfort. It also establishes them in every good word and work.
The comfort is eternal for a reason. It has to last the whole journey.
There may be many sorrows to meet on the road, but there is "everlasting consolation" at the end of the journey. We may have to pass through difficult times, but we are passing on to the fulfilment of the "good hope." False teachers may seek to distress and distract the saints, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, can give comfort.
Kelly sets the verse against the dark scene before it.
The hardening that comes as judgement, the powerful working of the enemy, and the day of the Lord were to fall only on those who despised Christ and renounced the gospel. Everlasting comfort and good hope through grace belonged to those who believed. So the apostle asked that they might be established now in every good work and word.
- Loved. The verse starts with what God has already done, not with what we must achieve. He is the One who loved us.
- Given. Out of that love came an eternal provision: comfort and hope, given through grace. That certainty is the basis of everything practical that follows.
- Lasting. Everlasting means it covers the whole journey — sorrows on the road, difficult times, false teachers.
- Sourced. One prayer names the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father together as its source. That way of speaking rests on the eternal relation of Father and Son.
- Steadying. No one can stand firm in his own strength, so Paul does not only command. He prays. The gift already given makes the prayer bolder, not needless.
encourage your hearts, and establish you in every good work and word.
Paul has just told the Thessalonians to stand firm and hold fast. He then stops giving orders and starts praying, because he knows what he is asking of them.
The Apostle has brought before us the salvation and calling of God. He has urged us to "stand firm" and to "hold fast." But he realises this: if we are to enter into the calling, and stand firm against all the power of the enemy, it will not be possible in our own strength. So he turns to prayer. He turns to our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, the One who is going to deal with all evil and put an end to every opposing power when He appears at His coming.
Paul prays to the Lord Jesus Christ and to God our Father in one breath. One writer sees in this a closeness that only the eternal relationship of Father and Son can explain.
Our Lord, and God our Father, are remarkably identified in thus cheering and strengthening us now, as in 1 Thess. 3:11: a special way of speaking, inexplicable unless it is grounded on the eternal relation of the Father and the Son, and their unity of nature in the Godhead.
Each title carries its own weight, and the little word "our" runs through them all.
When you have "our," you have what appeals to the affections… Coming back to our verse (2:16) the apostle adds, "God, even our Father." In "God" we have all power. In "our Father," we remember how He spoke when He rose from the dead on that first day of the week, putting that relationship first, "My Father and your Father." He has loved us — how deeply, who can tell? He has given us a consolation that never passes but lasts for ever, and good hope through grace. Then comes "comfort (or encourage) your hearts, and establish you in every good work and word" — for such is the order.
Verse 16 lists gifts already in hand; verse 17 asks for something present and daily. The order matters, and it stands in deliberate contrast to the doom of those described earlier in the chapter.
The hardening in judgement, the strong work of the enemy and the day of the Lord were to fall only on those who despised Christ and rejected the gospel. Everlasting comfort and good hope through grace belonged to those who believed. So he asked, on their behalf, for present establishing in every good work and word.
The permanent supply is what makes the daily strengthening possible.
He first speaks of the eternal provision made for us — His love and everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. And the certainty of this is the basis of their practical comfort and establishment in every good word and work. Valuing these eternal, unchangeable blessings would surely have a powerful effect on this practical fellowship and progress, in both word and work.
These believers were suffering for their faith. Paul points them to God, who has already given consolation that lasts.
So, when writing to the Thessalonian saints, who were suffering "persecution and tribulation," he can commit them to God "Who has given us everlasting consolation," to "comfort" their hearts.
The second half of the prayer reaches into everyday actions and everyday words. It asks for more than we can manage on our own.
The apostle desires that grace may cover all the path that lies between, with that divine encouragement. It suits both His past goodness and His people's exposure to suffering and sorrow. It suits them all the more because God calls them to bear a steady testimony to Christ, inside and out, in every good work and word. A wonderful call, when we think of God and His Son on the one hand, and of ourselves on the other! Who is equal to such a task? Our sufficiency comes from God.
Comfort alone would have left a real problem untouched. Some had stopped working, and the cause may have been a twisted view of the Lord's return.
He had to admonish as well as comfort, and to pray not only that their hearts might be comforted, but established in every good word and work. For some of them had stopped working with their hands. This may have been the fruit of a corrupt view of the truth they were best known for — the coming of the Lord. For it is Satan's way, if he cannot rob us of truth, to corrupt it while it is still in our hand.
- Given. The prayer rests on gifts God has already given: love, everlasting consolation, good hope. All of it comes by grace. None of it fades.
- Asked. Standing firm is beyond our own strength. So Paul stops giving orders and prays, to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and to God our Father.
- Comforted. The first thing Paul asks for is comfort for hearts under persecution. The consolation God has already given is what steadies them.
- Established. The second thing he asks for is daily and practical: a steady witness to Christ, inside and out, in a life we cannot manage alone.
- Work and word. Together they meet the real problem at Thessalonica. A twisted view of the Lord's coming had led some to stop working with their hands.