God Has Been Faithful

2 Thessalonians 3:3 KJV

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

We so easily misinterpret the intent of the Word of God and thus misrepresent the promises that are found therein. We become disillusioned that what we expected from God does not transpire and we bear a false witness to the world as to what they may hope to gain from faith. This world so often views the faith of the Christian as a sham because they have come to believe that the faith of the Christian is one of unkept promises.

This passage is an instance where we might easily misread the promise. The Apostle declares confidently that God will faithfully keep us from evil. But it might be pointed out that Christians have suffered evil things for two thousand years (and some would also point out that Christianity has done evil things for those same two millennia.) To those charges I would remark first;

That there has been this entire two millennia, a class of Christians who have denied the Christianity of those in Christendom who have committed evil atrocities.

While they have called themselves Christians and the world has come to believe they are Christians, there have always been those who have insisted that what they claim as Christianity is not. This group who has refused to accept the larger crowd of Christianity as true to the faith of Christ has never, in two thousand years, committed such atrocities. True Christianity doesn't and never has.

As to the charge that God has not been faithful in keeping Christians from evil I remark; That is a matter of interpretation.

Taken as a whole the Bible never promises Christians protection from bad things on this earth. In fact it predicts just the opposite.

Those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Here is what has always been true;

• Those who are born of God have been faithfully kept from the dominion and curse of sin
• All who have been born again have been delivered from the ultimate consequence of sin which is enmity with God and separation from Him eternally
• Every born again believer has victory over the evil things that befalls him because his Heavenly Father works all of those things together for good

What the world, the flesh and the devil, meant for evil, God meant and used for good.