1 Thessalonians 2:10-God and the Thessalonian Believers Could Testify that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy Conducted Themselves in a Godly Manner Lesson # 27

1 Thessalonians 2:10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe. (NET)

1 Thessalonians 2:10 solemnly asserts that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community as well as God the Father are witnesses to the fact that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy conducted themselves in a holy, righteous and blameless manner in the presence of and for the benefit of the Thessalonians.

This statement summarizes the assertions recorded in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:1-9 and the contents of 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:1-16 suggest that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were defending themselves against their critics and persecutors.

These individuals were composed of non-Christian Jews in the city of Thessalonica according to Acts 17:1-9 as well as non-Christian Gentiles according to 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

So therefore, the statements recorded in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:1-9 are summarized by the statement in 1 Thessalonians 2:10.

This verse asserts that the Thessalonians and God the Father are witnesses to the fact that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy conducted themselves in a holy, righteous and blameless manner in the presence of and for the benefit of the Thessalonians.

This is the second time in 1 Thessalonians in which God the Father and the Thessalonian Christian community are identified as witnesses to the godly behavior of these three men since they were identified as witnesses to their godly behavior in 1 Thessalonians 2:5.

This is skillfully done by Paul, Silvanus and Timothy since this assertion in 1 Thessalonians 2:10 makes clear that the Thessalonians have first-hand knowledge about the conduct of these men.

The implication is that the slanderous accusations made against them by the non-believers in Thessalonica were totally and completely false and without basis.

By presenting God the Father and each member of the Thessalonian Christian community as witnesses who can testify to the godly conduct of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when interacting with the Thessalonians, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are employing a principle taught in the Mosaic Law.

Namely, that the truth of a matter can only be confirmed on the basis of two or more witnesses (cf. Deut. 19:15-21; 17:6-11).

This law of multiple witnesses is alluded to in other passages in the New Testament (Matthew 18:19-20; 27:38; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:30, 32; 10:1; 24:13; John 20:12; Acts 1:10; Hebrews 6:18; Revelation 11:3-4).

The reason why Paul, Silvanus and Timothy assert that not only could the Thessalonian Christian community testify to their godly but also God the Father is that only the Father could know their true motives.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:10, “holy” indicates that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were exemplifying God’s holiness in their lives when interacting with the Thessalonians.

This is equivalent to experiencing their sanctification since experiencing one’s sanctification is equivalent to exemplifying or experiencing the holiness of God (cf. 1 Pet. 1:14-16).

“Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Perfective.

All three stages of sanctification refer to the process of conforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the Father’s plan from eternity past (Romans 8:28-30).

“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.

“Perfective sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Corinthians 15:53-54; Galatians 6:8; 1 Peter 5:10; John 6:40).

It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at salvation.

“Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life after justification through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Romans 6:19, 22; 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 7; 1 Timothy 2:15).

Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of conversion, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time.

“Righteous” in this verse refers to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy fulfilling their obligation to God to love Him with their heart, soul, mind and strength as well as fulfilling their obligation to the Thessalonians by operating in the love of God when interacting with them.

The righteousness of God refers to the Trinity’s perfect integrity in that their character is upright, honest, perfectly whole, undiminished, sound, unimpaired and in perfect condition.

It refers to the Trinity’s perfect virtue in that their character is perfect moral excellence, goodness, and their conduct is conformed perfectly to their own perfect standards and what they have promised to men.

God wants His righteousness manifested in the lives of His people and is produced in the life of the church age believer when they exercise faith in the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions communicated of the gospel and this results in obedience to these commands and prohibitions.

When a believer is living in the righteousness of God or manifesting it, they are fulfilling their obligation to God to love Him with their entire being and strength and fulfilling their obligation to their fellow human being to love them as themselves.

The church age believer experiences the righteousness of God in their life by appropriating by faith his union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session, which results in obedience to the various prohibitions and commands that appear in the gospel.

This obedience constitutes loving God with one’s entire being and strength and one’s neighbor as oneself.

Therefore, when the Christian is doing this, they are exemplifying God’s integrity and virtue and are in turn exemplifying Christ-like character which is perfectly sound.

They are also perfectly adhering to God’s perfect standards, which appear in the gospel and are thus doing all that God commands them in the gospel and all that He demands of them in the gospel as His child and all that He approves, and all that He provides for them through Christ.

The work of transforming the believer into the image of Christ involves the manifestation of the righteousness of God in the believer, which like the believer’s sanctification and salvation is accomplished in three stages.

The first stage is described as “positional” which means that when God imputed His righteousness to the sinner the moment He declared them justified through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, God now views them as righteous as Him (cf. 1 Cor. 1:30).

This in turn sets up the potential for the believer to experience this righteousness in time.

Therefore, the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as Savior, God the Father imputes the righteousness of Christ so that He becomes the believer’s righteousness.

The second stage can be described as “experiential” which means that after justification or conversion the believer experiences the righteousness of God by exercising faith in the gospel message that they have been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ.

After conversion, the believer is commanded to present the members of their physical body as instruments of righteousness, which is accomplished by appropriating by faith the imputed righteousness they received at justification (See Romans 6).

This faith is demonstrated by the believer through his obedience to the teaching that he has died with Christ and has been raised with Him (See Romans 6:11-13).

This “experiential” stage also means that the believer is fulfilling their obligations after justification to love God with their entire being and their fellow human being as they would themselves.

It also speaks of the believer obeying the Lord’s command in John 13:34 to love their fellow-believer as He loves them.

The third and final stage can be described as “perfective,” which speaks of the righteousness of God being perfected in the life of the believer when they receive their resurrection body at the rapture of the church (cf. Gal.5:5).

“Blameless” describes the conduct of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy as affording nothing that an adversary could use as the basis for an accusation against them.

It speaks of these men conducting themselves in a manner so that it was impossible to bring any charge of wrong doing against them such as could stand impartial examination.