READING TIME: 3-6 MINUTES
Dave, I’ve heard you say that “salvation” has various meanings in the Bible. What type of salvation is in 2 Thess 2:13?
2 Thess 2:13: “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (NASB).
My good friend Pastor/Dr./Professor Tom Stegall has an excellent answer to this question. Tom is one of the pastors at Duluth Bible Church (https://www.duluthbible.org/). He’s the director of Grace Gospel Press (https://www.gracegospelpress.org/). He’s also the author of the following books, which I very highly recommend: That You May Believe: The Evangelistic Purpose and Message of John’s Gospel in Relation to Free Grace Theology, Must Faith Endure for Salvation to Be Sure? A Biblical Study of the Perseverance Versus Preservation of the Saints, and The Gospel of the Christ: A Biblical Response to the Crossless Gospel Regarding the Contents of Saving Faith.
Here’s Tom’s answer: “I interpret “salvation” in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 to be broader than just deliverance from the Tribulation but also from eternal condemnation. The Tribulation is certainly in the immediately preceding context of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, but here are four reasons why I believe the “salvation” of 2:13 is broader than that:
(1) Paul had just taught the Thessalonians in the preceding chapter about deliverance from “everlasting destruction” (1:9) for those who have believed the gospel (1:8-10). Paul connects salvation to believing the gospel in both 1:8-10 and 2:13-14. In chapter 1, he says unbelievers will go through the Tribulation and be eternally judged when Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation (1:7-8). Although it is certainly true that the preceding context of 2 Thessalonians 2:13 includes “salvation” from God’s wrath in the Tribulation, the Thessalonian readers would have understood the “salvation” of 2:13 to also include the aforementioned deliverance from eternal condemnation in 1:9.
(2) Paul also taught these same believers previously in 1 Thessalonians that Jesus would deliver them from “the wrath to come” (1:10). Virtually all agree this refers to the Tribulation. But Paul went beyond this point a few chapters later in 5:9-10 where he says believers are exempt from all of God’s wrath: “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us…” First Thessalonians 5:9 is anarthrous (“wrath”) while 1:10 is articular (“the wrath to come”). Some Free Grace people who believe in a punitive judgment seat interpret 5:9 as deliverance only from God’s wrath in the Tribulation. But this interpretation does not fit the pattern of an anaphoric article or article of previous reference. If this were the case, we would expect “wrath” in 1:10 to be anarthrous and then “wrath” in 5:9 to be articular, but the opposite occurs. Richard Young says, “The article can function to direct the reader’s attention to a previous mention of the noun. This is sometimes called the anaphoric article. The initial occurrence of a noun is often anarthrous (does not have an article), and subsequent occurrences that refer to the same thing are articular (have an article). This is often exegetically significant” (Intermediate New Testament Greek, 57-58). Consequently, in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, Paul’s point is that the Thessalonian believers could be certain they would be delivered from coming tribulation wrath because God has not appointed believers to any of His wrath since Christ died for us and we are positionally in Him. Therefore, Paul is arguing from the broader point to the narrower point. He is saying in essence, “If God has already promised us deliverance from all wrath, how can we possibly face His wrath in the coming Tribulation?” Thomas Constable agrees, writing on 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “Deliverance from the judgments of the day of the Lord (i.e., the outpouring of God’s wrath in the Tribulation) is certain for Christians. It is certain because “God has not appointed [destined]” His children “to [for] wrath”—in any form or at any time (cf. 1:10)” (Dr. Constable’s Notes on 1 Thessalonians, 2020 Edition, p. 70).
(3) The immediate context of 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 refers to a broader scope of salvation than just the Tribulation. Specifically, verses 13-14 themselves say, “God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Note, these verses speak of a salvation that extends from beginning to end: “God has from the beginning . . . to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Regarding the reference to the Holy Spirit’s work in v. 13, there is no other place in Paul’s epistles (or the NT) that I am aware of where believers are said to be set apart by the Spirit for deliverance just from the Tribulation. Rather, the Spirit’s work always seems to encompass something much broader—salvation in all three tenses:
(a) regeneration/justification/baptism into Christ (1 Cor. 6:11; 12:12-13; Gal. 3:26-28; 4:29; Titus 3:5), (b) practical sanctification (Rom. 7:6; 8:1-13; 15:13; Gal. 3:3; 5:5, 16-22, 25; 6:8; Eph. 3:16; 5:18; 6:17-18; Phil. 1:19), and (c) glorification (Rom. 8:23-25; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30).
(4) After 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, just two verses later, Paul speaks of “everlasting consolation,” which again fits a broader, eternal salvation and not just Tribulation salvation: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace” (2 Thess. 2:16).
For these reasons, I believe it is too restrictive to limit the meaning of “salvation” in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 to just deliverance from God’s wrath in the Tribulation.”
Source Used
Stegall, Dr./Pastor Tom. March 27, 2020. E-mail correspondence.