2 Thessalonians 2:13

Text (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Translation and Paraphrase

13.

But we are obligated to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because (you have received the love of the truth and escaped the strong delusions, and) God has chosen you (from the beginning to be) firstfruits unto salvation, by means of the sanctification of (our) spirit (which is done by the Holy Spirit), and (by) belief of the truth.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

1.

This verse is much consolation to us. In the preceding paragraph we considered the terrors of the man of sin, and the strong delusions that are sent to those who will not believe the truth, Now Paul reassures the Thessalonians, and all other true Christians, that they are beloved of the Lord, and that God has chosen them unto salvation. They are not deceived by delusions. They are beloved by the Lord.

2.

In our outline we have called this brief paragraph Thanksgiving for God's choosing the Thessalonians. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15).

3.

From the beginning God has chosen and foreordained that some of the Gentiles should be saved. God chose the Gentiles who accepted Christ as his people. See Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 3:5-6; Romans 9:24-26. See also the notes on 1 Thessalonians 1:4.

4.

This verse begins much like 2 Thessalonians 1:3: We are bound (that is, obligated or indebted) to give thanks always to God for you. See notes on 2 Thessalonians 1:3 for further comment.

5.

Note that we are chosen unto salvation. Oh, the joy of that word. It means safety, deliverance, and security.

6.

Two means are set forth as being the cause of our being chosen:

(1)

Sanctification of spirit.

(2)

Belief of the truth.

7.

There is a bit of uncertainty about the Greek text of this verse. The phrase, from the beginning (Gr., ap-' arches), is given as firstfruits (Gr., aparchen) in Nestle's Gr. text. Westcott and Hort's Gr. text has from the beginning in the text and first- fruits in the margin. As you can tell, there is only one letter of difference in the two renderings. The division between the words proves nothing, as in the old Greek manuscripts there were no breaks between any of the words.

I find no English version (except Moffatt) inserting the word firstfruits into the text, although several have it in the margin. On the whole I think we are justified in saying that the King James version is as accurate as any in rendering it from the beginning.

8.

What is sanctification of the Spirit?

This phrase is also used in 1 Peter 1:2: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

The word sanctification itself means a making holy, consecration, purification. See notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:3.

Let us note first of all that the Greek text does not say, Sanctification of the Spirit. The word the is not included. However, by common consent of scholars the omission of the the does not rule out the possibility that the spirit referred to is the Holy Spirit. But the absence of the article does make it possible that the spirit may not be the Holy Spirit.

Thus there are two possible interpretations of the phrase sanctification of the Spirit:

(1)

A sanctification wrought by the Holy Spirit. (Subjective genitive). This is the view of Thayer and A. T. Robertson.

(2)

A sanctification of our human spirit. (Objective genitive). This view is favored by Moffatt and Lenski. Moffatt translates the phrase, By the consecration of your spirit.

Lenski objects to the idea of the subjective genitive (sanctification by the Holy Spirit) and says that the fact that God, i.e. his Spirit, does the sanctifying work need not be stated, for this lies in the word sanctification, which is in itself a term that expresses action. It is our spirit that God sanctifies, just as it is truth that our faith trusts.

According to either interpretation, it is the Holy Spirit that does the sanctifying. But we personally favor the view that it is our spirit that is sanctified (the objective genitive). 2 Corinthians 7:1 lends support to this view. Let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Obviously the human spirit is meant there. So also 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where Paul prayed that our whole spirit and soul and body would be Sanctified.