Keep Doing What You Know to be Right
(2 Thessalonians )

You who are not unruly, keep doing what you know to be right (2 Th )

• But you = direct contrast emphasizes how the Church is to respond (in contrast to the unruly ones Paul has just addressed).
• Do not grow weary = to lose courage, to wilt, to faint
• Of doing good (kalopoieo) = to do well, act uprightly, do the fair or honorable thing. In this context the good relates to "doing one's own business" (see 2 Th ). This is the only occurrence of this word in the NT.

Paul elaborates on his previous command to the Church (2 Th )

A reminder of the command (2 Th )

• If anyone does not obey = literally, “to hear under” (as a subordinate), or to listen attentively so as to hear and conform to the wishes of an authority.
• Take special note (semeioo)= to distinguish by marking, to affix an identification tag.
• Do not associate = to mix together with; to have contact with.
• So that he might be shamed (entrepo) = to turn about; (passive) to be made to turn and look into himself, and therefore to be put to shame.

A caution about implementing the command (2 Th )

• Do not regard (hegeomai) = literally, “to declare with official authority” -- by implication to reckon or consider.
• As an enemy = with hatred or hostility.
• Admonish (noutheteo) him as a brother = literally, “to put in mind,” that is to caution or reprove gently. The Church is not to shun him in complete silence, but they are to tell him why he is being avoided.

Paul’s closing wishes (2 Th )

• Lord of peace = similar to 1 Th . Paul calls for peace, especially in the midst of unruliness within the Church.
• Grant you peace = a gift or fresh supply of God’s peace.
• The Lord be with you all = Paul prays that the presence of the Lord Himself will be especially felt as the members of the Thessalonian church work through these issues.
• Paul takes the pen in his own hand and writes the closing lines of this letter. He usually employed an amanuensis or recording secretary to legibly write the other parts of his letters.
• Distinguishing mark (semeion) = a sign (either natural or supernatural). In the context (as in 2 Th ) it refers to Paul’s signature and the distinctive proof that he includes at the end of each epistle he writes. Unfortunately, there were already forged letters that were circulating within the Church.
• The way I write = this refers to some method that Paul used for closing his letters which would be easily recognized by them and not easily counterfeited.
• Grace = just as in 1 Th (except that he adds “with you all”). Paul had already verbalized his wish that the Lord Himself would be with them, and here he uses his normal closing sentence that God’s grace would be evident among them.

Points of Application:

• It is easy to grow weary in doing what we know to be right. But (along with the Thessalonians) we too need to take heart and continue to do what we know to be right.
• We also need to keep in mind Paul’s gracious process of Church discipline. We are always to treat the unruly as brothers in Christ whom we are seeking to restore, rather than treating them as enemies whom we are seeking to destroy.
• Ultimately relationships within the Church should be characterized by peace and grace. God help us to take full advantage of the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that IS with us all.”