In his epistles, Paul regularly gives thanks to God for the people he is writing to.  In 2 Thessalonians 2.13-15, he gives reasons for thanksgiving and instructions for proceeding – the reasons for thanks are based on what God does, and the instructions are for what believers ought to do:

Reasons for Thanksgiving, because God

–          Loves you (his people) (vs 13)

–          Chose you as the firstfruits to be saved (13)

–          Sanctifies you by the Spirit and belief in the truth (13)

–          Called you through the gospel (preached by Paul) (14)

–          Allows you to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (14)

Instructions for believers:

–          Give thanks to God for fellow-believers (vs 13)

–          Stand firm (15)

–          Hold to the traditions you were taught (by Paul), either by our spoken word or by our letter (15)

God is due thanks for his miraculous work in loving, choosing, sanctifying and calling sinful men out of darkness and into His glorious light.  Believers are commanded to do two things hard for them: stand firm and hold to the traditions taught in scripture.

See tomorrow’s post for why the commands are hard and how our awesome god helps.