2 Thessalonians 2:14 14for which also he called you through our gospel, so that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 14 continues the thought of verse 13 and expresses the goal of our salvation. The verse begins with a repeated prepositional phrase with a pronoun for which, referring back to the “salvation” of verse 13. Paul prayed for them in 1:11 that they may be found worthy of their calling. This calling is to glory Christ Jesus and live in his loving and holy likeness (1:12). Salvation is the call of the gospel. This salvation is experience through sanctification by the Holy Spirit and acceptance of the truth of the gospel.
The goal of grace is to experience the glory (doxēs) of Christ. Grace verses our problem of sin. Paul described to the Romans the core human problem that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). God’s glory represents God’s image and presence. God gave Adam and Eve glory by creating them in his image (Genesis 1:27). Their rebellion against God’s simple command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil caused them to fall from God’s presence and distance themselves from God’s glory.
Through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can restored to this glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18). The open door to this restoration is faith. The offer is available, but we must accept it in faith. Our ultimate goal is to gain (peripoiēsin) Christ. Paul uses the same idea (though a different Greek word, kerdos) in Philippians 1:21; 3:7, 8. It is important always to keep our ultimate goal in mind. This will provide motivation and inspiration to be God’s holy and loving people.
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