2 Thessalonians - Intro
It is generally thought that the 2nd letter to the church at Thessalonica was written a few months after the first. While Paul had been unable to visit them again to bring his message personally, he felt it necessary to communicate some important points to this church.
Paul was generally pleased with the state of the devotion of the believers to the gospel. He also had received some reports of further issues that seemed to need clarification so it seemed a second letter was in order. In the second epistle, Paul addresses three main points:
The persecution, which had begun while Paul was there, was still ongoing. In the first chapter Paul encourages the believers to stand firm and remain faithful to the Lord despite their suffering.
Paul had written to the church concerning the end times in the first letter, developing strong but comforting thoughts for them on both the Rapture and the Day of the Lord. Now false teachers had come to the church and were teaching that the Day of the Lord had arrived. These lying teachers even produced a false letter, said to be from Paul, Timothy, and Silas, confirming the Day was here. Paul writes to calm the fears of the church assuring the church that the Day of the Lord had not arrived.
Paul writes also concerning the matter of idleness among the members. He had written on this issue in the first letter as well (1 Thess 4:11-12). Some members, believing the Day of the Lord was upon them, had stopped all work. Now Paul takes a stern stance against this falsely based idleness and also writes concerning church discipline in chapter 3.
The second letter was written from Corinth and was widely accepted in the early church as a genuine work of Paul. Polycarp (the scribe for John), Justin Martyr, and Ignatius all wrote in their early church writings concerning this letter as true and accepted.
Greetings (1:1-2)
Comfort in Persecution (1:3-12)
Correct of Errors in Prophecy (2:1-17)
Practical Encouragement (3:1-15)
Closing (3:16-18)