Verse 3. But the Lord is faithful, Who will strengthen you and preserve you from evil.

In the midst of the oppositions encountered in Corinth, it was so gratifying and comforting for him to remember the speedy and willing acceptance of the Gospel by many in Thessalonica. But since everything on earth is changeable, and Christianity is always threatened by the age-old enemy of all truth, the Apostle wishes that the good state of the Thessalonians in the faith not only continues, but also becomes stronger and stronger, without being subjected to evil, — he wishes and hopes that this will be the case because of the unshakable faith in God's faithfulness to His promises, and that it will not be from the efforts and means of the Thessalonians themselves. but from God, who chose them and called them. In the first verses, the Apostle expresses the thought: "You are better than the Corinthians," continuing to assert that they serve as a model for all Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Now he says, "The Lord will grant that you will be the same in the future."

The Lord is faithful; Did he promise? "He promised by the very fact that he called him. The act of calling means that the Lord directs all His good promises to them. And He promised to be with the faithful to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20), and sent down the Spirit of the Comforter, that He might be with them forever (John 14:16), and in general He said that those who remain faithful to Him will not be taken away from His hand (John 10:28). St. Paul always remained in the confidence that He who had begun would accomplish it (Phil. 1:6). Of course, this is not unconditional, but it is implied: if you do not cease to surrender yourself to Him, if you always seek His help, if you remain faithful to His holy will. This condition is directly expressed by the holy Apostle in the next 4th verse. St. Chrysostom writes: "Praying for them, St. Paul also presents the basis for the certainty of success in the fact that promises were given, and says: the Lord is faithful: for if He has chosen you for salvation, He will not lie, nor will He allow you to perish completely."

Who will establish you, but in what it is not said. But this can be considered obvious even without explanation. In that which the Apostle is all concerned, that they, having believed and been renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, should live as renewed. "He will strengthen you as we prayed, so that you will no longer be shaken" (Theophylact). And the Apostle prayed, that the Lord might confirm them in every word and deed (2:17). Thus the Apostle hopes that the Lord will heal in them the natural unsteadiness of the will in good, will support their already aroused moral energy, and will kindle the inextinguishable fire of zeal for pleasing God, in which all life lies.

And He will preserve them from the evil one, or from all evil, in words, deeds, thoughts, and feelings, or from the devil, who teaches all evil and incites the unwary to it. The latter is more direct, as in the Lord's Prayer: deliver us from evil, from which the Apostle probably took the very words. Believers deny the devil in baptism itself and from that moment they enter into a struggle with him. And he fights them all tirelessly, both himself and through evil people. It will preserve, does not mean that you will not be touched by the arrows of the evil one, but that it will give you the strength to repel them and bring you to the point where they will be insensible to you. How is that? — Kindling the energy of the spirit, the heat of zeal for a perfect Christian life. This heat scorches the demons and makes the zealot inviolable. In him is hidden the power of God, terrible for the evil one. Why it can be said: He will preserve by that which He affirms. He will establish you, and you will be like a cliff, unharmed from the waves. Ecumenius writes: "Since He has chosen you for salvation, as stated above, I am confident that He will truly establish you as wavering, and preserve you, so that Satan may not be able to oppose you." St. Damascene thus: "For what he asked to pray for himself, he himself prays for them. He asked me to pray that he might be delivered from evil people, enemies of the faith; this he himself asks them in prayer, that they may be preserved from the evil one."

Verse 4. We trust in the Lord for you, as we command you, and do and do.

That which comes from the Lord in the matter of salvation will undoubtedly always be done by Him in you, only on the condition: if you also always do His holy will, which has been communicated to you through us. "As it were: God is faithful, and, of course, He will accomplish what He began in you (the work of salvation), but if you also act" (Theophylact). As I am sure that God will do His own, so I trust that you will also do your own. But even this hope is based on the Lord, who is always ready to work everywhere for salvation, as soon as He meets the hearts that are open to Him with faith and devotion to Him. As if it remained unspoken: I beseech you, do faithfully all that we have commanded you. And your salvation will no longer be subject to any doubt. The Lord saves the seeker and the jealous, and not the careless and negligent. "In order that they should not think that all things will be from God, Who called them and chose them for salvation, and thereby do not become negligent and careless, requires their own activity. As if to say: true is God, who has chosen you for salvation. But things are also necessary on your part" (Ecumenios).

We trust in the Lord for you. The Greek text also allows for the following translation: we hope in you in the Lord; but the idea is the same. Theophylact writes: "In the Lord, that is, we believe in God's love for mankind, that He will fill you with power; to show them that everything depends on God. And again He did not simply say, "In the Lord," but, "Concerning you, what do you do, and so forth, lest they, relating all things to God, become lazy." We must entrust everything to God, but in such a way that we ourselves act."

As we command you, we do not understand only the present instructions, but we embrace all the commandments, decrees, and institutions that come from the Apostles, all the will of God, whatever we may say to you. In the determination to act in this way consists of conversion; on it stands the baptism itself, before the performance of which it is asked: you have denied Satan and all his works... and, "Be united to Christ, in readiness to do all His will."

And create and create. "There is no need," he says, "to exhort you much. You have already shown obedience by your deeds. And you are not satisfied with what has already been done, but are ready to add other things after this" (Damascene). Not only that: do the command already, and whatever we command, you will do; but in general he sees in them a submissiveness, ready, as long as they live, to faithfully fulfill whatever they are commanded. Because in the beginning they decided to obey the will of God, which alone the Apostles proclaimed to them. "He was not content to say: create, but added: create, showing that we must be zealous for virtue until our last breath" (Theophylact). And here he exposes their perfect obedience, in order to dispose them to do what he had to command after that. The path leads to a moral correctional lesson. "He said this as an inducement to them, so that, having learned what the Apostle thought of them, they would confirm it by deed" (Theodoret).

We consider it not superfluous to cite a quite lengthy exposition of the thoughts of the Apostle hidden in this text, made by St. Chrysostom. "See to it that the Apostle does not lead them to inactivity, and that they themselves, believing that everything depends on God, do not fall asleep, and demand cooperation on their part, when he says to them: We trust in the Lord for you, for we command you, and do and do. He says, as it were: True, God is faithful, and having given the promise to save you, He will surely save you, but (He will save you) as He promised. And how did He promise? "If we ourselves desire this, if we obey Him, if we ourselves do not remain inactive, like trees and stones, not unconditionally. The Apostle also correctly used this expression: we trust in the Lord, that is, we trust in His love for mankind. Again he brings them down (pride), showing that everything depends on God. For if he were to say that we believe you, then although this would be a great praise for them, he would not show that they make everything dependent on God; on the contrary, if he had said, "We trust in the Lord that He will preserve you," and did not add that expression about you, and the other, "As we command you, and do and do," then, placing all his hope in the power of God alone, he would have made them more devoted to sloth. For although we must rely on God in everything, nevertheless we ourselves must be active, we must resolve to work and feats. Here the Apostle also shows that our virtue must reach the proper degree and perfection and remain with us until our last breath."

Verse 5. May the Lord correct your hearts in the love of God and in the patience of Christ.

What the Thessalonians hoped for from the Lord, and what he expected from them in the Lord, he now prays to the Lord. He hoped that the Lord would keep them firm in faith and virtue and steadfast against the evil one, and he prayed to grant them patience; he expected from the Thessalonians in the Lord that they had fulfilled and would continue to fulfill every will of God revealed to them through the Apostles, and he prayed to give them love, in which the fulfillment of the law and the strength of patience itself, prayed to direct their hearts to both of them, so that they would not only be in good order and steadfast, but inwardly, in the very depths of their souls. Thus, hope does not remove the need for prayer, but, on the contrary, it gives birth to prayer, warms it up and makes it tireless.

May He correct, from the Greek, may He direct, "may He create that you go straight to true love, without deviating into the highways" (Theodoret). May He correct the hearts. How? — Of course, by the action of grace in the depths of the soul. And yet, it seems that grace does not produce everything, but only directs. The procession is made by the soul itself, seeking and straining, although always with the help of God's grace. Theodoret writes in this passage: "We need both, and a good intention, and assistance from above. The prophet also beseeches us to obtain it: "Perfect my steps in Thy paths, that my feet may not be moved" (Psalm 16:5).