2 Thessalonians

This is the ninth in a series of twenty-one summaries of the New Testament letters.  The ninth is 2 Thessalonians, and the outline comes from Robert Arthur Bailey:

a   Address, grace, peace, blessings, 1:1-2
     b   Thanksgiving, God's justice and prayer, 1:3-12
           c   Encouragement and prayer for strength and endurance in the face of the
                lawless one, 2:1-17
           c'  Prayer for deliverance from the evil one, 3:1-5
     b'   Commands to work helpfully and to shun brothers who don't, 3:6-15
a'  Greeting, prayers, grace, blessings, 3:16-18

The 'a' pattern links the introduction and the conclusion of the letter.

The 'b' pattern characterizes the kind of perseverance Paul, Silas, and Timothy would like to see in the Thessalonians.  In the first section, they say they "boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring." (1:4)  They pray for God to "bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith." (1:11).  In the second section, Paul warns them about believers who are idle and disruptive and don't live according to their teaching.  They offer their own work as an example: "...we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you." (3:8)

The 'c' pattern links Paul's reassurance about the day of the Lord in the first section to prayers for protection from the evil one in the second section.  In the first section, God will overthrow the lawless one (who is from Satan).  In the second section, Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for their protection from evil people and encourages the Thessalonians that God will protect his people from the evil one leading up to the day of the Lord.