2 Thessalonians 2:14

whereunto( to which end, including the whole salvation described in 2 Thessalonians 2:13) he called you by our gospel i.e., "through the good news we brought." On our gospelsee note to 1 Thessalonians 1:5; and on the callof God, 1 Thessalonians 2:12-13 (where mark its connection with the Divine glory), 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:24. The connection of 2 Thessalonians 2:13 resembles that of 1 Thessalonians 1:3 in 1 Thessalonians 1, and of Romans 8:29-30: "whom He foreordained, He also called." God's electionis the moving spring of human salvation; but His callcame to the Thessalonians, when the good tidings first sounded in their ears. That summons declared God's good will toward them, and His loving choice of each believing heart.

to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ More freely rendered, that you might win the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This defines more closely the "whereunto" just above, and brings to a climax the "salvation" contemplated in 2 Thessalonians 2:13: "To which end God sent yon through us the gospel message, that so you might have Christ's glory at last for your own."

In ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 (see note) the glory of Christ and that of His saints were declared to be mutual. Here they are identified. In the glory which the exalted and perfect "Lord Jesus Christ" receives, the Thessalonians were called each of them finally to share. This is the goal of their salvation, "the prize of their high calling" (Philippians 3:14).

" Obtainingof glory" is therefore synonymous with the "obtainingof salvation" of 1 Thessalonians 5:9, where the same rare verbal noun is used (see note). Christ's glory is already won in principle, in its ground and beginning, both for Himself and His people. So He said, leaving the world, "Now wasthe Son of Man glorified" (John 13:31); yet He prays further, "Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me;" while He says of His disciples, "The glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given them" (John 17:5; John 17:22). His glory is ever advancing and, as it unfolds itself, ever anew imparting itself to men, till it is consummatedin "the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven" (ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; comp. Titus 2:13; Matthew 24:30, &c.). Then the glory of His saints will be complete and secure, in the completeness of His: "with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:4; comp. Philippians 3:20-21; and His own words in John 17:24). "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 2:2).