2 Thessalonians 3:3

“But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from the evil one”

“But”: In contrast to those who oppose the gospel. “The Lord is faithful”: “The Lord can be counted on, however perverse men may be” (Robertson p. 56). “He turned from the depressing fact of man's faithlessness to the cheering truth that ‘the Lord is faithful' (2 Timothy 2:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24). Paul emphasized the faithfulness of Christ as an existing reality by inserting the verb ‘is'. It is not ‘the Lord was faithful', or ‘the Lord is generally faithful', but rather

‘the Lord is faithful'” (Denton Lectureship p. 277). “Establish”: “Give you strength” (Gpsd). “Fortify you” (NEB). Compare with 2 Thessalonians 2:17. “Guard”: “In the Greek, this is. military term for setting. guard around some valuable object or person that needs protection or surveillance” (Denton Lectureship p. 278). “You”: Even though Paul was experiencing his own set of difficult circumstances (2 Thessalonians 3:2), he was more concerned about the status of these Christians. “The evil one”: This can refer to either the evil "one", that is, the devil or evil in general. The fact that in other verses the believer is told to resist the devil (James 4:7), infers that the strengthening and guarding in this verse is not something that happens mysteriously or without the cooperation of ones own freewill.

Evil does exist, and the devil preys upon all (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore everyone does need the protection that God offers in the gospel. Barclay notes, “Once again we see the tremendous responsibility of freewill. We can use it to open our hearts and we can use it to shut them. Faith's appeal is not selective; it goes out to every man” (p. 250). It is comforting to know that there is Someone that we can absolutely depend upon (Hebrews 13:5). One of man's greatest needs is the need for security and stability.