2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 - Oxymoronic Punishment
- Chad Werkhoven
- Apr 29
- 6 min read
Hell is a paradox. By God's grace you don’t need to figure it out.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 (NIV)
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Canons of Dordt
Point 2 - Limited Atonement
Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People
Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion
Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation
Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern
Article 2: The Manifestation of God’s Love
Zephaniah 3:14-17 - The Mighty Warrior Who Saves
Lamentations 3:19-23 - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel
1 Timothy 2:1-7 - God Our Savior
Rom 10:14-17 - The Power of Preaching
1 Cor 1.23-24 - God's Foolishness
Psalm 93 - Mightier Than Chaos
Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel
John 6:37-40 - Tensegral Theology
John 12:42-50 - Buffet Theology
Article 5: The Sources of Unbelief and of Faith
James 1:13-18 - The Devil (didn't) Make You Do It
Ecclesiastes 7:25-29 - Many Schemes
Ephesians 2:8 - The Gift of God
Psalm 95 - The LORD is OUR God
Article 6: God’s Eternal Decree
Ezekiel 36:24-27 - A Whole New Reality
Romans 9:15-21 - God's Mercy, Not Your Effort
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - Love The Truth
Article 7: Election
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Before the Foundation
Deuteronomy 7:1-10 - Set Apart
John 17:1-5 - Sovereign Submission
Psalm 115 - God Does What He Pleases
Article 8: A Single Decree of Election
Romans 4:1-8 - One and the Same
Romans 4:9-17 - Chicken or Egg?
Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts
Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept
Psalm 33 - God's Control, Authority & Presence
Article 9: Election Not Based on Foreseen Faith
2 Timothy 1:7-10 - Passive & Powered
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 - You're Not That Awesome
Psalm 91 - The Shelter of the Most High
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
Luke 2:13-14 - Christmas in March
Galatians 4:1-7 - From Slave to Son
1 Peter 2:9-10 - You're The Best Thing God Has!
Article 11: God’s election is unalterable.
Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor
Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchangeable Blessing
Article 12: The Assurance of election
Hebrews 11:1-6 - Confident Assurance
Malachi 3:14-18 - Childlike Fear
2 Corinthians 7:8-11 - Godly Sorrow
Psalm 65 - The Hearer of Prayers
Article 13/14: The Fruit of our assurance
Isaiah 57:14-21 - God's Second Residence
2 Peter 1:3-10 - Make Every Effort
Isaiah 42:1-9 - The Sovereign & His Servant
Article 1: The Punishment Which God’s Justice Requires
God is not only
supremely merciful,
but also supremely just.
This justice requires
(as God has revealed in the Word)
that the sins we have committed against his infinite majesty
be punished with both temporal and eternal punishments,
of soul as well as body.
We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is given to God’s justice.
Summary
Things were going well for this young Thessalonian church. Paul writes that their faith is growing more and more, and because of this the love they had for one another is increasing. It's interesting here how Paul makes a direct link between growing faith and increasing love! Ironically, the best way to increase love isn't by focusing on love itself, but rather by focusing on building faith so that love is generated as a byproduct.
But despite their faith and love, the Thessalonians were enduring all sorts of persecutions and trials. This doesn't seem to make sense; the Thessalonians are doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing - growing in faith and love - but rather than getting the blessings one might expect for their obedience, all they had to show for it were persecutions and trials.
Yet it's this seemingly flipped situation that Paul points to as evidence that God's judgment is right! What Paul is teaching them (and us) here is that present circumstances are not necessarily indicative of eternal results. In other words, blessings now may or may not point to blessings in eternity, but godly perseverance in the midst of suffering indicates worthiness of the Kingdom of God.
God will payback troublers with trouble and give relief to the troubled for sure, and by His grace many of us may experience this relief here and now. But even if you don't, you can be absolutely certain that this will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven!
Dig Deeper
It's Paul's inspired description of Christ's return that grabs our attention today. Too many people think only of Jesus' kindness, empathy and tenderness. They see Him as a friend when they need one and a shining example of how people ought to live. And of course Jesus is all of those things! Praise God!
But He's more than those things. He'll be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels, and one of His top priorities will be to punish those who do not know God and who do not obey His gospel. Do you see why it is that doing the hard work of studying and learning about God is so critical, and why demonstrating your belief in the gospel message is so important?
And it's not just a slap on the wrist that Jesus will dole out to those who've stubbornly clung to their ignorance; They will be punished with everlasting destruction. That's an oxymoron (two words that seem incompatible, like 'jumbo shrimp' or 'act naturally'). How can something be both everlasting and destroyed? Yet that's exactly what those who've rejected Christ will face. Worse yet, such people will be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might for all of eternity.
The Canons remind us that this is the treatment that all people deserve, but they also point us to a way to escape: satisfaction must be given to God’s justice. In other words, your sins must be atoned for. This is the wonderful doctrine we'll be exploring here in Point Two of the Canons of Dordt as we learn that God's grace is stronger than we are.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is just and whose judgment is right;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for an eagerness and desire to know God and to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 17
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