1 Thessalonians 2:16

“forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost”

“Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved”: “Paul saw this policy as the appalling thing it was” (Stott p. 56) (Matthew 23:13). This is how the unbelieving Jews were contrary to all men, they were trying to prevent the spread of the gospel message. Therefore, anyone who stands opposed to the gospel message is an enemy of the human race. “Forbidding”: “Even had they refused to accept the message of Christ themselves, they might at least have allowed others to listen to it and to accept it” (Barclay p. 223). One cannot be saved without first hearing the gospel (Romans 10:17; Mark 16:16), and people are not saved by accident.

“To fill up their sins always”: “They are always piling up their sins to the limit” (Nor) (Genesis 15:16; Matthew 23:32). Notice where their stubbornness and unbelief were leading them. As if such people were seeing to it that nothing is left out of the catalog of their sins. Carefully note, that many devout, openhearted and faithful individuals of Jewish stock have always existed (Romans 11:5; Hebrews 11:1). Paul is speaking of unbelieving Jews, those that closed their minds and became violent against Jesus and His followers. Hence the same truth would apply to anyone today who opposes Christ and seeks to hinder the spread of the gospel. (1) Those in the denominational world who try to convince people that they don't need to be baptized, or that doctrine isn't important and that sincerity is enough. Such people are hindering people from being saved!

“But”: They will not get away with such opposition (Galatians 6:7). '”The wrath”: Of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10). “Is come upon them”: Can mean “has drawn near, even to the very point of contact” (Marshall p. 80). “To the uttermost”: “At last” (Robertson p. 22). Jesus spoke of the same thing. He warned His generation, the generation that was still alive when Paul wrote, that God's wrath was not merely on their heads, but that it was going to express itself in judgment (Matthew 21:43; Matthew 23:32; Luke 23:28). While God's wrath rests on the head of every unbeliever (John 3:36); God's judgment did fall when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans. Such an expression also infers that the physical nation of Israel is no longer to be viewed as God's people. Even John the Baptist spoke of this same truth (Matthew 3:7).

Why he had been unable to return

“It seems probable that one of their (the unbelieving Jews) accusations had been that the Apostle had never intended to revisit Thessalonica. His continued absence was further proof that he had no real regard for his converts” (Morris p. 93).