“And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you“
A further basis for confidence is that God will enable them to do what Paul commanded them.
And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you,
The word “confidence” shows Paul had complete trust in and reliance upon God’s ability to work in their lives. Paul in the previous verse lauded the faithfulness of God; now he demonstrates his trust in God’s faithfulness in working in the lives of the Thessalonians.
Note that Paul does not say, “I have confidence in you, Thessalonians.” He has confidence in what God will do through the Thessalonians. Paul did not put his confidence in people. If we do, we will be terribly disillusioned.
“It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes” (Psalm 118:8-9).
both that you do and will do the things we command you
The basis for Paul’s confidence in the Thessalonians is in the previous phrase, “in the Lord.” He described the nature of the Lord in verse three as “faithful.”
The Thessalonians “do,” that is, were in the process of doing the things that the gospel team taught them about the Christian life (1 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 3:11).
“Will do” indicates the gospel team’s confidence that the Thessalonians will continue with their discipleship.
Principle:
We do what we do because of God’s work in our lives.
Application:
The church is God’s church; we can rest in what God is doing with His church. What God begins, He finishes.
“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 1:6).
Our faithlessness does not nullify God’s faithfulness to us. God’s faithfulness does not depend on our faithfulness to Him.
“If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
God cannot go back on His Word no matter how unfaithful we might be to Him. He cannot change His character. That is why we can place our trust in Him. We cannot place that kind of trust in our doctor or preacher. We need to trust them but not with the kind of trust we place in God.
Sometimes those we love the most let us down. Your loved one will let you down. Key people in your congregation will let you down. Your best friends will let you down. God will never let us down. You will never be disappointed in Him.
Have you been wounded by fellow Christians? You will never live long enough to straighten them out. We think everyone else needs straightening out, except us, of course. If we designate ourselves as experts, we set ourselves up for correction.
