Bible Study

Bible Study

October 7, 2025 (CSB)

2 Thessalonians 1:3 – 4 (CSB)

“Thanksgiving”

“We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring.”

There is this term pastors and others use to dig into the scriptures to determine the meaning of a verse. That term is “exegesis: which means “critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture.” What would the understanding of a believer look like if they did the same thing? Let’s look at today’s scripture with that in mind.

Paul wrote this book somewhere around 51 or 52 AD. 2025 it should mean the same today but how are we applying it? “We ought always to give thanks” is something that has not changed. But do we “count our blessings” as they say or do we take all we have for granted? Are we thankful for our faith that we have because Jesus died on the cross for our sin? Are we thankful for our friends, family, the goods that are borrowed while on this earth after all we have what we have because we are blessed?

We should feel an obligation to thank God for all He has done when things are accomplished in our lives. Paul is writing to tell them they had accomplished growth inn faith and love in his first letter to them. What three things can you be thankful for today? Express them to God.

The early church faced much persecution as is the church of today. We have false teachers in the church, we have politicians questioning religious liberty, we have false religions coming forth. The Thessalonica churched faced the same thing and Paul says they are growing in faith and love and doing it “abundantly.” How would your church feel if Paul said that to us? Is your church growing in faith? When is the last time Mark 16:14 – 18 was evidence in your (my) life, my church?

How steadfast and faithful are we to the scriptures? Tomorrow I am going to post in this Bible study ten things I heard a pastor was afraid to say from the pulpit in our churches of today. Are we thankful for pastors bold enough to speak the truth?

Be thankful, God Bless.