Picking up at the end of Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, he talks about specific actions the church is doing that is antithetical to Jesus’s teaching. He tells them to make a commitment to love and service for one another. And this hope in the kingdom should lead to faithfulness to Jesus’s teaching.

After Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he got a report that not only had the divisions in the church continued, they’d gotten worse. So, Paul pens his second letter. He clarifies his earlier teachings about Jesus’s future return and rebukes those who are disrupting the community. He encourages them that their persecution is evidence of their participation in the kingdom, and tells them that Jesus’s final return is the final justice against their persecutors.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth to address some big problems: division, sexual misconduct, confusion about food and worship practices, and controversy surrounding Jesus’s resurrection. Paul says these issues can be resolved because Jesus is alive. The fact that Jesus is alive proves that his selfless way is better—not even death can shut it down. Self-centered practices damage the community, but Jesus’s life gives people real reasons for unity, sexual integrity, and the power to love others.