Stand Firm And Keep A Strong Grip

November 11, 2016

Stand Firm And Keep A Strong Grip

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

My my! What a powerful benediction Paul offers at the conclusion of chapter two. There is a wonderful symmetry to this passage. (2 Thessalonians 2: 13-17) Paul began by thanking God for their salvation that came through the Spirit who made them holy and through their belief in the truth. (2:13b) Next, Paul encourages the church to stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching he passed on to them. (2:15) Then in his closing benediction, Paul prays God’s blessing on them as they stand firm in every good thing they do and say. (2:17)

As I consider Paul’s counsel to the Thessalonians, I am reminded of God’s word to the Old Testament prophet, Micah: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good;   and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,    and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NRSV). On its surface, this does not seem like a difficult word from God to put into practice in our daily lives. However, God’s standard for doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with Him differs dramatically from today’s cultural standards. At least one national politician has stated that deep-seated religious beliefs have to be changed. Maybe, if our desire is to accommodate our church doctrines to the prevailing cultural sentiments, but I believe the Apostle Paul would take a dim view of that perspective.

Paul’s counsel is quite clear: “With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter”  (2 Thessalonians 2:15 Emphasis mine). As we stand firm with a strong grip on the teachings of scripture, we can rest assured that our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, will comfort us and strengthen us in every good thing we do and say. Amen!

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.