First Thessalonians commends a young church for faith and endurance under persecution, instructs it in sexual purity and quiet industry, and answers its grief with the promise of the Lord's descent and the gathering of His own. Second Thessalonians corrects a confusion that had arisen about the timing of that day, setting out the restraint now at work, the revealing of the man of lawlessness, and the duty of continued labor in the meantime.

Each volume in the MacArthur New Testament Commentary works verse by verse through the Greek text, explains the passage in its context, and presents its theology with precision, in the service of expository preaching rather than academic debate. The series is written for pastors preparing sermons, teachers preparing lessons, and any believer willing to study carefully, and it is the fruit of more than five decades of pulpit ministry at Grace Community Church.