2 Thessalonians: To Establish and to Guard.  

^” But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3 (ESV)

In contrast to the faithlessness of the unconverted (2 Thess. 3:2), The One, True Lord of heaven and earth is faithful. Faithfulness is one of God’s most familiar attributes. As previously noted, it is a predominant attribute of God throughout the Old and New Testaments. Faithfulness is God being trustworthy, dependable, committed and honorable, or worthy of worship.

It is because the LORD is faithful, believers in Christ can be confident of His consistent presence and purpose. Additionally, in the latter portion of today’s text there are two precious promises the Apostle Paul communicated to the Thessalonian church. On the basis of His faithfulness, God will not only establish believers but He will also guard them from the evil one.

To establish (στηρίξει; sterixei) is a future, active, indicative verb. It means to strengthen and make firm or steadfast. This is an activity the LORD promises to actively do regardless of what the future holds. This is because God faithfully sovereign over the future. 

To guard (φυλάξει; phylazei) means to watch over and observe. However, beyond just watching an observing believers the LORD actively protects His children. The Psalms poetically describe the LORD’s protection.

Psalm 3 (ESV) – “¹ O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; ² many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah ³ But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. ⁴ I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah ⁵ I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. ⁶ I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. ⁷ Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. ⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah

Psalm 27:1 (ESV) – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 121 (ESV) – “¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? ² My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵ The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. ⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷ The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. ⁸ The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

God’s faithful strength and protection for believers is because of the evil one (πονηροῦ; ponerou). This refers to one who is worthless, wicked, and criminal. This is a title for the Devil.

“Standing firm in the truth would give the Thessalonians a solid basis from which they could pray for the success of the gospel and the deliverance of Paul and his co-laborers from those who did not have faith in the gospel (3:1–2). But as we see in today’s passage, the failure of some to have faith in Christ should not discourage us. The faithlessness of men and women by no means negates the faithfulness of God to His promises and to His people. Paul makes this clear in today’s passage when he reminds us that the Lord will establish us and guard us against the evil one (v. 3),” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“Yes, we should pray to be delivered from the evil one (see Matt. 6:13), but we should never think that it is not God’s will to give us such deliverance. The Lord, in fact, delights to rescue us from Satan and his minions. We who trust in Christ alone will all experience ultimate deliverance from the devil, for we will live forever in a renewed creation while our enemy and his followers will suffer forever in the lake of fire (Rev. 20–21). Satan can have no lasting victory over the people of God.”

“One of the most precious truths about the Lord is that even if others are unfaithful, He is always faithful to us. We never need to doubt that He is working out His good purposes for us, and we must cling to this truth especially when we cannot understand what He is doing. In fact, we do not need to understand what He is doing; we need only to know that He is always perfectly faithful,” concludes Dr. Sproul.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Great is His faithfulness. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!