¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

이러므로 형제들아 굳게 서서 말로나 우리 편지로 가르침을 받은 유전을 지키라

So then, therefore, because it is God who seals us from the beginning to the end as his children, sanctifies us through HS, and lets us have the glory of Christ, because of this reason the following conclusion is reached: ‘stand firm and hold fast’! Just as the Christian faith is not a blind faith, but what you have faith in more important than the faith itself;[1] similarly, standing firm and holding fast is a noble virtue on its own, but to what is much more important or even decisive. To the teachings of Paul that explain to us about God, the Son, and the Spirit and their work for us. In Greek and in ESV and NASB the word used is ‘tradition 유전’, probably to imply one that will replace the human tradition and that will be newly handed down from generation to generation.       

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,

우리 주 예수 그리스도와 우리를 사랑하시고 영원한 위로와 좋은 소망을 은혜로 주신 하나님 우리 아버지께

You might think a mention of the Holy Spirit is often missing and therefore He feels as if He is a lesser God. But instead of an explicit mention He is often denoted by the work He does, most representatively encouraging and/or comforting, parakaleo,[2] from where his nickname, the Paraclete 보혜사, comes (John 14:16, 26).

¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

너희 마음을 위로하시고 모든 선한 일과 말에 굳게 하시기를 원하노라

The Greek ‘and’ is often used to explain the former better, in the sense of ‘namely’, rather than just to list things one after another. It is a useful general practice to remember in reading the Bible. In this light, ‘encouraging’ or ‘comforting (ESV, NASB)’ work of the Spirit is not just a pat on the back or sympathetic words such as ‘It must be so hard for you’ or ‘I know what you are going through’, so sweet though they are. The Spirit’s comfort to our hearts are namely to ‘strengthen our hearts’, set them, and establish them in all good deeds and works that belong to God. The Spirit’s comfort, therefore, has a sure purpose and He applies it because He know it is the best comfort we can have. It is to hold fast and stand firm in the work of God.        

Lord! Thank you for your thinking of me! Thank you for tying me with the Holy Spirit for the things that are for my good but that I cannot do own my own. Let me pause from chasing after what I think is good for me and think of the thought you have for me, the vastness of your good intended for me. Let me re-set myself as to for what I should be steadfast and what I should be grasping firm. What I should inherit and pass down is surely not my own or the family’s ethos any more. Let me be melted into the new tradition you set for me. The tradition of knowing you and the best for me that you know. Let me entrust my spirit to you just as my Christ did and enabled me. My Lord have mercy.

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[1] Macleod, Donald. Compel Them to Come In, Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel. Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 2020, 81-82.

[2] παρακαλέω (parakaleō) ‘to plead/comfort’

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Image: the unpublished original version of Praise the Lord with Instrument by Saltiness (now published 🙂 ) https://www.saltiness.co.uk/