1 Thessalonians 3:8-Paul and Silvanus Were No Longer Anxious But Joyful Because the Thessalonians Were Remaining in Fellowship with the Lord # 45

1 Thessalonians 3:1 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. 3:2 We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, 3:3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 3:4 For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know. 3:5 So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless. 6 But now Timothy has come to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection and long to see us just as we also long to see you! 7 So in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, through your faith. 8 For now we are alive again, if you stand firm in the Lord. (NET)

1 Thessalonians 3:8 is composed of a fifth class condition, which serves to affirm that the Thessalonians were remaining faithful to the gospel after their justification.

However, it also serves as a warning to them that they must continue to exercise faith in the gospel so that Paul and Silvanus could continue being free of anxiety regarding their spiritual status.

This fifth class conditional statement is presenting a hypothetical situation and the effect this hypothetical situation will have on Paul and Silvanus.

They will have not be anxious about the Thessalonians’ spiritual state but rather joyful if they continue to stand firm in fellowship with the Lord.

Now, the apodosis of this fifth class condition serves to explain or clarify the assertion in 1 Thessalonians 3:7 that Paul and Silvanus were encouraged by means of the Thessalonians’ post-justification faith in the gospel.

A comparison of 1 Thessalonians 3:6 and 7 indicates that this faith was also the reason why they were encouraged as well.

Specifically, the apodosis of this fifth class condition identifies the implication of the Thessalonians continuing to exercise faith in the gospel after their justification.

It asserts that Paul and Silvanus were living, which we noted means that they were no longer experiencing anxiety with regards to the Thessalonians but rather joy after hearing the good news about them from Timothy.

1 Thessalonians 3:8 is epexegetical because it explains the previous assertion in 1 Thessalonians 3:7 that Paul and Silvanus were encouraged by means of the Thessalonians’ post-justification faith in the gospel.

Specifically, it explains the result or implication of this assertion in verse 7.

Therefore, this would be expressing the idea that Paul and Silvanus were encouraged by the Thessalonians’ post-justification faith in the gospel “to the effect that” or “with the result that” they were living.

Thus, verse 8 is explaining that experiencing fellowship with the Lord is the inevitable consequence of the child of God exercising faith in the gospel after their justification.

Specifically, this epexegetical clause is explaining the implication or the result of the Thessalonians continuing to remain faithful to the gospel after their justification, which is that Paul and Silvanus were no longer were experiencing anxiety about the Thessalonians but rather joy.

This stands in direct contrast to the period prior to these two men receiving the good news from Timothy that they were remaining faithful.

The protasis of this fifth class condition asserts that this lack of anxiety would continue if the Thessalonians continued to remain in fellowship with the Lord.

This fellowship would be the result of continuing to appropriate by faith their union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.

Therefore, 1 Thessalonians 3:8 is revealing that Paul and Silvanus were no longer experiencing anxiety with regards to the spiritual state of the Thessalonians as a result of hearing this good news from Timothy.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:8, the verb zaō means “to live” and is employed in a figurative hyperbolic sense of experiencing the removal of anxiety and experience of joy (BDAG 425.1.γ).

Therefore, this verb means “to live” in the sense that Paul and Silvanus no longer were experiencing anxiety but rather joy because of not knowing the status of the Thessalonians’ post-justification faith in the gospel.

It does not speak of experiencing eternal life since both men were experiencing eternal life and thus fellowship with God because of their own obedience to the gospel.

This word zaō is hyperbole, “which can be defined as conscious exaggeration for the sake of effect.

Often (but not always) the effect aimed at is the expression of strong feeling.”[1]

Hyperbole “is a type of overstatement in order to increase the effect of what is being said.[2]

A hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration, in which more is said than is literally meant, in order to add emphasis.[3]

Therefore, this word zaō is a deliberate exaggeration designed to emphasize with the Thessalonians, Paul and Silvanus’ great love and concern for them.

It is an overstatement in order to increase the effect of saying they were no longer experiencing anxiety but rather joy as a result of hearing the good news about the Thessalonians remaining faithful to the gospel despite experiencing persecution.

Therefore, this verb expresses the idea that they were breathing a sigh of relief after hearing the good news from Timothy that the Thessalonians were remaining faithful to the gospel despite experiencing persecution.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:8, the verb stēkō (“stand”) pertains to the Thessalonians continuing to remain in the state of experiencing fellowship with the Lord which is the result of appropriating faith their union and identification with Jesus Christ.

This interpretation is indicated by the fact this verb pertains to continuing in a particular state and does not pertain to a particular activity.

Faith in the gospel after justification is not a state but rather a volitional activity on the part of the believer which results in the state of experiencing fellowship with God.

Further supporting this interpretation is that Paul employs this verb in 1 Corinthians 16:13 and modifies it with the prepositional phrase en tē pistei (ἐν τῇ πίστει), which means “by means of your faith.”

1 Corinthians 16:13 Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. (NET)

This verse makes clear that Paul views this verb stēkō as a state which is brought about by the child of God’s faith in the gospel after their justification since he uses the prepositional phrase en tē pistei (ἐν τῇ πίστει) to identify the means by which the Corinthians were to stand firm.

This prepositional phrase could also be interpreted as the Christian faith, i.e. the body of doctrine the church believes and teaches as the means by which the Corinthians were to stand firm.

Now, this verb stēkō and the prepositional phrase en kyriō (ἐν κυρίῳ) which modifies it express the concept of perseverance.

In fact, Paul mentions the Thessalonians’ perseverance in 1 Thessalonians 1:3.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, “perseverance” is the noun hupomonē which is used with regards to the Thessalonian Christian community practicing this godly virtue so as to exemplify it.

It speaks of them continuing to make it their habit of practicing godly perseverance which is produced by the Holy Spirit so as to exemplify this godly virtue.

It refers to them remaining faithful to the Lord by being obedient to the Word of God despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan.

It refers to them bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God and depicts them as enduring undeserved suffering on behalf of the communication of the gospel.

Now, in 1 Thessalonians 1:3, the elpis noun means “confident expectation” of blessing in the form of receiving a resurrection body from the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church as well as rewards for faithful service from Him at the Bema Seat.

This confident expectation empowered the Thessalonians to remain faithful and to persevere in serving God, each other and the non-Christian community.

The noun elpis also functions as a genitive of production meaning that it produces the noun hupomonē to which it stands related.

This would indicate that the Thessalonians’ perseverance was produced by their confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body at the rapture of the church from the Lord Jesus Christ as well as rewards from Him for faithful service at the Bema Seat.

In the New Testament, hupomonē it used primarily to denote perseverance, which is steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, and a state and suggests activity maintained in spite of intense pressure, difficulties, steadfast and long continued application.

For the Christian, “perseverance” is remaining faithful by being obedient to the Word of God despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature, self, the cosmic system of Satan and is bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God.

BDAG A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, by W. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)

[1] Ryken, L. (2015). Sweeter than Honey, Richer than Gold: A Guided Study of Biblical Poetry (p. 50). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[2] Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (2007). “My Heart Is Stirred by a Noble Theme”: The Meaning of Poetry and Wisdom. In W. C. Kaiser Jr. & M. Silva (Eds.), Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning (p. 146). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] Campbell, D. K. (1991). Foreword. In C. Bubeck Sr. (Ed.), Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth (p. 154). Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook.