1 Thessalonians 5.27-28-The Public Reading of Scripture and Final Benediction (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday February 16, 2025

First Thessalonians Series: 1 Thessalonians 5:27-28-The Public Reading of Scripture and Final Benediction

Lesson # 94

1 Thessalonians 5:27 I adjure each and every one of you at this particular time by the authority of the one and only Lord to have this letter read to each and every one of your brothers and sisters. (Pastor’s translation)

The apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 solemnly puts under oath each of the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community to read the contents of First Thessalonians to each member of their congregation.

The implication is that if these pastor-teachers did not perform this task, then they would be disciplined by the Lord (Heb. 12:1-13) through church discipline (Matt. 18:15-17).

Paul is using strong language which some have interpreted as indicating that there was a problem among the members of the Thessalonian Christian community and that tensions existed among them.

However, there is nothing in the contents of First Thessalonians which would indicate that there were tensions among the members of the Thessalonian Christian community.

In fact, quite to the contrary since Paul affirms that the Thessalonians were making it their habit of obeying the Lord’s command in John 13:34 to love one another as He loves them (cf. 1 Thess. 1:3; 4:9-12).

Therefore, the reason for the strong language here in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 is that Paul simply wanted the contents of First Thessalonians to be read to each and every member of the Thessalonian Christian community because it revealed the will of God for their lives.

Consequently, the application of the contents of this epistle would result in greater spiritual growth among the members of this community.

Thus, it was imperative that the contents of First Thessalonians were read to everyone in the Thessalonian Christian community because it was the Word of God.

Furthermore, the public reading of the contents of this epistle to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community took the place of the personal presence of Paul and expressed his apostolic authority over this community.

Since Paul could not be present with the Thessalonians, the contents of First Thessalonians would to a certain extent take the place of his personal presence among the Thessalonians.

Lastly, Paul was adamant about the contents of First Thessalonians being read publicly to the entire Christian community in Thessalonica because it also answered their questions and concerns about the dead in Christ in relation to the rapture (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

This exhortation is solemn for two reasons.

First, Paul is employing the figure of asyndeton to emphasize the solemn nature and importance of the contents of 1 Thessalonians 5:27 and secondly, the verb enorkizō (ἐνορκίζω) means “to adjure” since the word pertains to commanding solemnly under or as if under oath or penalty of a curse.

The contents of First Thessalonians were extremely important for the spiritual growth of the Thessalonian Christian community since it communicated the will of the Father for them.

The referent of the accusative second person plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ) in this verse is the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community.

This interpretation is indicated by the fact that Paul asserted in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 that the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community exercised authority over each member of this community which was in agreement with the will of God.

Also, he then defines what he means by this by asserting that they make it their habit of providing instruction for each member of this community and he also asserts in this verse that they worked hard when doing this.

Therefore, the referent of the personal pronoun su (σύ) refers to the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community since Paul asserts that they exercised authority over of each member of the Thessalonian community by providing them instruction and the contents of First Thessalonians provided them with instruction.

So therefore, here in 1 Thessalonians 5:27, Paul directs the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community to publicly read the contents of First Thessalonian and then, they were to make a copy of this epistle and send it to other Christian communities in their geographical area like Philippi which was close by.

This is indicated by Paul’s statement in Colossians 4:16.

Colossians 4:16 Now, after this epistle has been read in the presence of each one of you, I solemnly charge all of you to have it read in the Laodicean assembly. Likewise, I solemnly charge all of you to have the one from Laodicea read publicly by each one of you. (Pastor’s translation)

Notice that in both 1 Thessalonians 5:27 and Colossians 4:16, Paul wants these epistles to be publicly read in both the Thessalonian and Colossian Christian communities respectively, which corresponds to what Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13.

1 Timothy 4:13 Until I do arrive, continue making it your habit of being occupied with the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (Pastor’s translation)

1 Thessalonians 5:28 May the grace originating from our Lord, namely, Jesus, who is the Christ cause itself to be manifested among each and every one of you. (Pastor’s translation)

1 Thessalonians 5:28 contains the final benediction of First Thessalonians and is nearly identical to the ones found in Romans 16:20 and 1 Corinthians 16:23.

This benediction is a Spirit inspired desire that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would cause itself to be manifested among each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

The final benediction in First Thessalonians solemnly expresses Paul, Silvanus and Timothy’s Spirit inspired desire that the grace originating from the Lord Jesus Christ would cause itself to be manifested among each and every member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

The reference to “grace” refers to the means by which grace might be received, namely through the mind and thinking of Christ, the Word of God, which is inspired by the Spirit of God.

It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community through Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who communicates in this epistle the will of the Father’s will for their lives.

“The grace” contains the figure of speech called metonymy meaning the effect is put for the cause or in other words, the thing effected for the instrument which effects it and here grace is put for the Word of God which effects grace.

Therefore, here in 1 Thessalonians 5:28 Paul is not speaking of grace at justification but rather the grace or God’s provision for after justification.

So Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are revealing their Spirit inspired desire which is in agreement with the will of the Father that the Word of God would cause itself to be manifested among the individual members of the Thessalonian congregation as a result of applying its contents of First Thessalonians in their lives.

The objectives for fulfilling this Spirit inspired desire is that it would enable the Thessalonians to continue to appropriate by faith their union and identification with Jesus Christ.

This in turn would enable them to continue to experience their deliverance over sin, Satan and his cosmic system and would also enable them to be unified and give them encouragement as they endured persecution in anticipation of the rapture (1 Timothy 2:17-3:6).

It would enable them to continue to experience their deliverance over sin and Satan and his cosmic system and correspondingly, it would enable them to continue to experience their sanctification (1 Thess. 4:1-8).

It would also enable the Thessalonians to endure undeserved suffering as they await the Lord’s return at the rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18) and to persevere in light of the fact that they will be delivered from the Lord’s wrath during the eschatological day of the Lord.

Obedience to these requests, commands and prohibitions in First Thessalonians would thus enable the Thessalonians to be become more conformed into the image of Christ.

They would enable them to maintain their fellowship with the Trinity which would result that they would be unified experientially.

This Spirit inspired desire in 1 Thessalonians 5:28 that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would cause itself to be manifested among each member of the Thessalonian Christian community is inextricably tied to the solemn command Paul issued this community in 1 Thessalonians 5:27.

This is indicated by the fact that the latter solemnly puts under oath each of the pastor-teachers in the Thessalonian Christian community to read the contents of First Thessalonians to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

Therefore, the Spirit inspired desire in 1 Thessalonians 5:28 that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would cause itself to be a manifested among each member of the Thessalonian Christian community is solemn for the same reasons since the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is manifested through the contents of First Thessalonians.

Also, this Spirit inspired desire in 1 Thessalonians 5:28 that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would cause itself to be manifested among the members of the Thessalonian Christian community corresponds to the “grace” mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:1.

Therefore, First Thessalonians is bookended by Spirit inspired desires which contained references to grace which originates from the Lord Jesus Christ.