authenticating signature

2 Thessalonians 3:16-18 (JDV)

2 Thessalonians 3:16 May the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
2 Thessalonians 3:17 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand, which is an authenticating mark in every letter; this is how I write.
2 Thessalonians 3:18 The favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

authenticating signature

Paul had warned the Thessalonians that someone might write a deceiving letter, claiming to be him, so he concludes this letter with some writing in his own hand. Paul usually dictated his letters to an amanuensis, but he wanted to authenticate this one.

Many of the books of the Bible are under attack today. Some attack the words as being outdated or otherwise harmful, others doubt the authenticity of many books long held as scripture.

We do not have any of the original scripture texts, including this one. We have to trust God that he has preserved the text so that we can have a sure word from him.

Test these words, and the words in the other 65 books of the Old and New Testaments. You will see that God has left his authenticating signature in them.