Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
"Why did the Thessalonian Christians believe in the imminent coming of Christ? It must have been because they had been taught the imminent coming of Christ by a person whose authority they trusted. It would appear that Paul is the one who taught them the imminent coming of Christ. His negative reaction to their actions, however, implies that their wrong conduct was the result of a perversion of his teaching (cp. 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). Contrary to them, Paul did not equate ’imminent’ with ’soon’ and think, therefore, that work was unnecessary." [Note: Showers, Maranatha . . ., p. 134. See also Stanton’s discussion of imminency, pp. 108-37.] 