As I mentioned previously in an earlier study of Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul’s letters aren’t arranged according to chronology, but, rather, according to their length, Romans, being the longest epistle, comes first. With this in mind, it is very possible that Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, which is the smaller of the two, may have been his first letter to them, and what we label as his first letter was actually his second. This seems more plausible when we consider that Paul defends his work among them in 1Thessalonians 2, indicating he had knowledge of it being attacked by his enemies. Paul’s first letter was written after a visit made by Timothy and his return to Paul at Athens (1Thessalonians 3:1-7), so he seems to have more knowledge of the condition of the believers in his first letter and may even be responding to believers’ questions in 1Thessalonians 4:13. His second epistle on the other hand, merely draws upon what he has heard about them (2Thessalonians 1:3-4), indicating someone from Thessalonica probably came to visit Paul at Athens with news of trouble there.
Paul wrote what we call his second epistle to the Thessalonians, but he also had input from both Timothy and Silas, mentioned here as Silvanus (2Thessalonians 1:1). The fact that both Timothy and Silas had input in Paul’s letter shows it was written, while all were in Athens and not while one or both were visiting the Thessalonians (cp. Acts 17:15). Nevertheless, Paul and company were concerned over troubling news from Thessalonica (cp. 1Thessalonians 3:1-5), so Paul and Silas sent Timothy probably with the epistle we call 2Thessalonians to comfort them and to strengthen their faith. After Timothy returned (2Thessalonians 1:6), Paul found it necessary to send both Timothy and Silas back to Thessalonica, but when they returned again to Paul, he had by that time moved to Corinth (cp. Acts 18:5).
Paul began his epistle with the greeting “grace and peace,” which is the regular greeting he used in all of his epistles (cp. Romans 1:7; 1Corinthians 1:3; 1Thessalonians 1:1; etc.). He probably drew from the normal greetings used by both Jews and gentiles during the first century AD. Gentiles usually began their letters with grace, while Jews normally used shalom (meaning peace). Paul used both, no doubt to express his well wishes both to Jews and gentiles within the local body of believers (2Thessalonians 1:1-2).
Personally, I think Paul’s greeting, while being the normal greeting in letters written in the first century AD, goes beyond mere cordial etiquette. The Gospel, after all, is the good news about man’s relationship with God, according to grace as opposed to law. Paul mentions that the Thessalonian believers were **in** God (2Thessalonians 1:1), which is the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer, just after the last meal he took with his disciples (John 17:21, 23, 26).
In other words, the believers’ unity in the eyes of the world is completely dependent upon the believers being in a right and intimate relationship with God, meaning the believer is no longer in rebellion against the Lord, but has made peace with him by returning to live in his Presence through the Gospel of grace. By grace, the believer is not required to **do** anything in order to establish a right relationship with God. Rather, we are received by God as we are, because Christ has made peace for us through the cross, for his death has reconciled all to God (Colossians 1:20, cp. 2Corinthians 5:17-19). Moreover, Jesus, himself, said that the one who has faith (in him) is already healed or made whole and is able to go in peace (Luke 8:48; cp. Mark 5:25-34), and there is nothing to do on our part, for it is the gift of God by grace (Romans 6:23).
Notice that Paul tells the believers at Thessalonica that he and those with him have the fitting responsibility to thank God constantly for the new believers, because of the fact their faith and love for one another grows so abundantly (2Thessalonians 1:3). Moreover, he brags about them in the churches that he raised up elsewhere on the peninsula, holding them up as examples of how a believer should act through trouble and persecution (2Thessalonians 1:4). If Paul knows this about the Thessalonian church, he received word of their activities from someone. In 1Thessalonians 3:6, it was Timothy who brought word to Paul how the believers there were getting along. However, 2Thessalonians never tells us how Paul knew of their trouble, so we are left to speculate that, perhaps, word came to Paul in Athens by one of the Thessalonians believers who traveled to Athens specifically to contact Paul.
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