2nd Thessalonians Chapter 1 verse 5 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - Which is a manifest token. A sentence in apposition, so that the words, "which is," printed in italics, ought to be omitted. By "token" is here meant pledge or proof. The reference is not simply to the Thessalonians, but to the whole clause - to the fact of the Thessalonians steadfastly enduring persecutions and affliction; in other words, to their sufferings for the sake of the gospel. Of the righteous - just - judgment of God. Not to be referred to the present state, and particularly to sufferings perfecting the Thessalonians and preparing them for the kingdom of God (Olshausen); but to the future judgment. These words imply that the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of their wicked persecutors was a clear proof that there shall be a future state of retribution, when the inequalities of the present state of things will be adjusted, when the apparent violations of justice will be rectified, and when matters will be completely reversed - when the persecutors will be punished and the persecuted rewarded (comp. Philippians 1:28, "And in nothing terrified by your adversaries; which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God"). That; in order that, indicating the purpose of God's dispensation. Ye may be counted worthy. Paul here finds, in the faith and patience of the Thessalonians amid persecution, an evidence of a state of reward, as well as in the cruelties of their persecutors an evidence of a state of punishment. The idea that man can merit salvation as a reward from God is not contained in this passage. As all men are sinners, salvation can only be obtained through the merits and mediation of Christ. But with this grace of God, justice is not abolished; the righteous will be rewarded for their faith and patience (comp. Hebrews 6:10; also Hebrews 11:6; Luke 6:35; 1 Corinthians 3:8; 2 John 1:8). Of the kingdom of God; namely, the Messianic kingdom which Christ will establish at the advent: here the heavenly state. For which; for the sake of which. Ye also suffer; or rather, are suffering; the sufferings being continued down to the time when the apostle wrote this Epistle.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Which is . . .--In the fervid eloquence of the original these connecting words are omitted, and the clause added in a kind of apposition to the words "in all your persecutions;" the effect is the same as when we in English put a dash: "which ye endure--a manifest token," &c. The indication of God's righteous judgment consisted not so much in the vitality and growth of the Thessalonians' faith and love as in the very fact of their being persecuted; such persecution was an actual indication how the fair judgment of God would go in the last day. No undue stress is to be laid upon the epithet "righteous," as if it were "a token of the righteousness of God's judgment;" the point is only to indicate already what a fair judge was likely to decide.That ye may be counted worthy.--This expresses the result, not of the future judgment of God, but of the patient sufferings which reveal what that judgment will be. The "counting worthy" (or rather, perhaps, the "declaring worthy") is, in fact, the "judgment" or sentence itself. "You suffer in such a manner that we can forecast the fair verdict of God: viz., so as to be then declared (the Greek tense points to a distinct moment of forming the estimate) fit to receive God's kingdom." The word "counted worthy" has in this place nothing to do with the theological question of merit.The kingdom of God.--Which had formed a prominent feature of the first preaching at Thessalonica. (See Introduction to the First Epistle to the Thessalonians.) Are the Thessalonian Christians, then, not yet in the kingdom of God? Yes; but only as its subjects: hereafter they are to be counted worthy not of admission into it, but of it itself--i.e., to inherit it, to become kings of it. (Comp. the parallel argument in 2Timothy 2:12.)For which ye also suffer.--St. Paul is very fond of this "also" in relative clauses; it tightens the coupling between the relative and antecedent clauses, and so brings out more clearly the vital connection between suffering and reigning. They suffer "for the kingdom," not merely for the sake of winning it, but on its behalf, in defence of it, in consequence of being its citizens, to extend its dominion.