So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
– 2 Thessalonians 2:15
What a great, simple, needed exhortation command that we all need to hear regularly from God’s Word. Stand firm, hold fast, Paul says, to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Commands Us to Hold Fast to the Teaching of the Word
And when Paul talks about traditions here, he’s not just talking about just the kind of things that you could or could not pass down from one generation to the next that are not that important. He’s talking about bedrock truths of God’s Word. It’s funny. In the context right before this, he says, Brothers, beloved by the Lord, God has chosen you to be safe through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this, he has called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
That’s what he’s talking about here, the truth, the gospel. So then, brothers, stand firm, hold fast to the tradition, the truth, the gospel that’s been passed down to you. And I think about when we were praying according to Ephesians 6, spiritual warfare and spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realms, and the exhortation, the command over and over again in Ephesians 6 is to stand, to stand firm. So there are temptations you and I will face today to not stand firm, to not hold fast to the gospel in certain moments, in moments when we’re alone and moments when we’re around others, in moments where we could compromise, in moments where we could think or desire or say things that are not pleasing to God or in line with the gospel. In moments we’ll have opportunities to share the gospel, stand firm and share the gospel.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Encourages Us to Fight Temptation
That’s the exhortation in this verse, to not give in to temptation, to not give in to the adversary’s attempts today, and he will attempt, today, pull you away from Jesus to distract you, to deceive you, to destroy your life, your relationships, your faith. So on a daily basis, to hear God saying in his word, stand firm. And not in your own power, but in his grace and in his power at work within you, in the power of his Holy Spirit in you.
That’s the context again, verse 13 in 2 Thessalonians, to sanctification by your Spirit. Sanctification by the Spirit. So God, I pray over every single person listening to this right now, even as I pray over my own life, help us all to stand firm today when we are tempted to sin against you, when we are tempted to doubt your goodness, to doubt your power, to question your wisdom.
This Verse Encourages Us to Depend on God’s Grace
When we are tempted to do things our own way, when we are tempted to not hold fast to the truth that has been passed down to us, we pray that you would help us today to stand firm and tomorrow to stand firm. And if we continue to have breath 10 years from now, to be standing firm all the way until we take our last breath. God, may our last breath be taken standing firm in the gospel. By the power of your Spirit in us, by the power of the gospel and the hold, the grasp you have on our hearts, help us, God, to stand firm all day long, every day.
And if, oh God, at any point, we don’t stand firm and we give into temptation, we begin to question, to doubt you in different ways, God, we pray you to help us to be quick to confess our need for your grace and to repent, and by your grace and the power of your Spirit to stand back up and to stand firm and hold fast in a deeper way than we did before, even. Oh God, may it be so in my life and our lives.
Prayer for the Arasu People
And God, we pray for the Arasu people of India, Southern India, this Hindu people group of 56,000 people, no known followers of Jesus. God, we pray for the Arasu to be able to stand in the gospel. Lord, we pray that the gospel would spread to them, that you would bless your church in India, people from outside India, to go and spread the gospel to the Arasu people so that they can stand.
God, we think about all these unreached people that we pray for who can’t stand firm in the gospel because they’ve never heard the gospel. They can’t hold fast to something they’ve never even heard. God, please, please, please use our lives, our prayers, right now, our resources, our churches, to get the gospel to all of them so that the nations can stand firm in you and hold fast to you. God, may it be so. We pray all this according to your word in 2 Thessalonians 2:15. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
