ETB 1Thess 1:1-10

As the title indicates, this letter was the first of two epistles written by Paul to the Christians in Thessalonica. Located on the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, Thessalonica sat on the spot now occupied by the city of Thessaloniki. In Paul’s day, it was the largest city and capital of the Macedonian province. Its harbor and position along a major trade route (Via Egnatia) made it an important commercial hub. As a free Roman city, it represented a balance of Greek and Roman culture. [LifeWay Adults (2021). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Spring 2022]

As a free city, it part meant having no Roman garrison within its walls and maintained the privilege of minting its own coins. [Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary]

The first epistle to the Thessalonians was the first of all Paul’s epistles. It was in all probability written from Corinth, where he abode a “long time” (Acts 18:11, 18), early in the period of his residence there, about the end of 52. The occasion of its being written was the return of Timotheus from Macedonia, bearing tidings from Thessalonica regarding the state of the church there (Acts 18:1–5; 1 Thess. 3:6). [Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature ]

The letter is esp. important as a witness to the content of the earliest Gospel, on account of its date and its well-nigh unchallenged authenticity. According to Harnack it was written in the year 48 AD; according to Zahn, in the year 53. It is likely that these two dates represent the extreme limits. We are thus justified in saying with confidence that we have before us a document that could not have been written more than 24 years, and may very easily have been written but 19 years, after the ascension of Our Lord.[ The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia]

Unlike Paul’s other letters, there are no further titles attached to the senders, such as “apostle” (ἀπόστολος, apostolos) (compare Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Tim 1:1; 2 Tim 1:1; Tit 1:1) or “servant/slave” (δοῦλος, doulos) (compare Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1). This absence might indicate group authorship, as Paul does not appeal to apostolic authority but to the collective authority of the senders as founders of the church in Thessalonica. After some local disruptions because of their message and presence, the Thessalonian believers then sent Paul and Silas on to Berea (Acts 17:10–12) [The Lexham Bible Dictionary]

Now within a year or two of having hurriedly leaving them, the missionaries where writing back to the very young church.

Explore the Text

1 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

The three men send their greeting to the church with a typical opening of the day. Silvanus is a more formal version of the name Silas that we read in other accounts of Scripture. Based on the common beliefs that were shared while together the senders offer God and Christ’s “grace and peace.” When I got to this phrase in my studies, I realized that there were no actual verbs in the first verse. There are dative nouns indicating being the recipient, but the giving is all implied. The letter is “to” the church but there is no verb about giving. Here the giving of grace and peace again is implied or more accurately “expected” upon the Thessalonians. An “amplified” version may read “God’s grace and the peace of Christ are upon you”. This is similar to the translation of another introductory phrase to the Romans (Rom 1:7).

Paul’s greeting combined elements of a Greek greeting and a Hebrew greeting. Paul combined the distinctively Christian term charis (grace) in place of the typical Greek charein (“Greetings!”) and the term peace, the common Jewish greeting shalom (1Cor 1:1-3) [The Moody Bible Commentary]

The familiar opening format of letters from the apostle continues.

1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 ESV

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The wording in this opening phrase seems to be overtly redundant but I am unsure why at this time. Thanks is in the present tense meaning this is an ongoing action. Then Paul adds that the ongoing prayer of thanks is always happening for the believers. Then he uses yet another word to express the continued action with constantly mentioning them in prayer. Verse 3 starts with remembering which is another present active verb. One thought is that as a trained priest that Paul may have been alluding to the showbread, incense, and oil lamps that were to remain ‘before the Lord regularly’ in the tabernacle and temple (Lev 24:4,8). Although this is a standard format for an opening of a letter at the time, Paul mixes current practices of etiquette with memories of his heritage. (2 Tim 1:3)

The CSB & NIV translates these 2 Greek words as “work produced by faith”, the NLT uses “faithful work”. We have the beginning of the formation what Vincent calls the “great triad of Christian graces, corresponding to 1 Cor. 13 [Word Studies in the New Testament].

Faith looks back to Christ on the cross; love looks up to Christ at the Father’s right hand; hope looks forward to the coming of Christ for His own! [The Moody Bible Commentary]

Paul and his fellow senders are remembering and thanking God for all the faithful actions that they have witnessed and heard about being done by the Thessalonians. This is good prayer practice; Thanking God for those that He brings to our remembrance and for the work they do “unto the Lord” or that benefit others by God’s work through them. The work being done is not what makes it faithful but rather God working in us and through us as we are faithful to following His promptings and guidance (Gal 5:6).

These words are translated “your labor motivated by love” or “prompted by love” in the CSB and NIV, with NLT as “loving deeds”. This is usually the last of the “triad” in other epistles. Our list here being in possibly the first letter written are in the natural order of progression. As our faith motivates our work, the love we have for God and others grows, as this pattern forms into habit it creates the steadfastness and assured hope of God’s work in, through, and for us. In later letters love it listed last as it is the lynch pin for being able to accomplish anything in manner worthy of Christ’s name. (1 Cor 13:2, 13)

The CSB & NIV both translate the next phrase as “your endurance inspired by hope” with the NLT using “enduring hope”. This assurance is not in Paul or their works and labors but in the “Lord Jesus Christ”. This is the only place that hope can endure through trials and be appropriately “worked out” and motivate us with “loving labor”. This is the kind of “work” and “endurance” that the church in Thyatira was also praised for in the Revelation (Rev 2:19).

Although it seems that the letter writers were praising the church for their “works”, the emphasis was not on who the Thessalonians were or what they had done, but on who God is and what He has done through Christ. [LifeWay Adults (2021). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Spring 2022]

1 Thessalonians 1:4–5a (ESV)

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

The believers in Thessalonian are brothers and sisters in Christ and loved by God just like the letter writers. They remember how affective their time was with the new converts and acknowledge that it was a divine appointment. Some use verse 4 as a prop for the “predestination” concept but as I read through verse 4 and 5 together this context does not seem to support it. Paul is using their “election” as example of how God’s word was “effective” within them, and His power resulted in their conviction. God knew how the men would react to His gospel but their labors and faithful works are a result of their choices to continue in the steadfast love of the Lord. The “choosing” seems to be only that they were next to hear the good news as the missionaries traveled down the Via Egnatia to the next cities. Vincent states his beliefs a little more strongly, with ‘neither here nor elsewhere in the N. T. is there any warrant for the revolting doctrine that God has predestined a definite number of mankind to eternal life, and the rest to eternal destruction. [Word Studies in the New Testament]. Hosea proclaimed to the “chosen people” of the time that they would not be the only ones to have salvation, but God would eventually call another people “my people”. (Hos 2:23). God knows all things, even those things that could happen but do not. He also has redeemed me before the foundation of the world and at the same time allows me to choose to willfully act against Him. I cannot at this time reconcile these opposing concepts, so I trust God’s word that they are equally true and equally of God. Maybe someday a few thousand years in the future after He explains it to me for the ten-millionth time I will grasp it a little better. I am glad He is perfectly patience with these imperfect minds.

The Good News was brought to them and notice how it came, in word, in power, in the Holy Spirit. The words prompted by and empowered through the Holy Spirit were more than eloquent speeches or persuasive arguments, they were powerful and convicting. Many more people heard these words but only these now believers accepted the spiritual truths they represented and accepted the gift of eternal life with Christ. Others who heard this “good news” were driven to evil intentions and the writers had to flee to Berea. (Acts 17:10)

The gospel not only came through the words the missionaries spoke but also with God’s power. We get our words “dynamite” and “dynamic” from the root of the word translated “power.” Although this word has been also translated as “miracles” at this time Paul is not using that connotation unless it is to emphasize the work that the Holy Spirit had done to convict and cause repentance unto salvation in these former idol worshipers. The same strength and energy that brought the believers into God’s kingdom now gives them the hopeful endurance to labor for Christ faithfully even in the midst of persecutions. This same power and strength are available through the same Spirit for believers today.

Our passage translates the word “plerophoria” as conviction but the other 3 times it is used the ESV translate it as assurance. God uses the Holy Spirit not only to convict us of our sins but to assures us of His work and will in our lives as well. Paul attributes it also to the Thessalonians being “assured” of the kind of men he and the others were and “proved” to be while with them.

God’s power, God’s Spirit, and God’s assurance provided sufficient evidence of the gospel’s validity and the Thessalonians’ relationship with Christ. God had given them proof of His work in their lives, and they were living proof to the world that salvation in Christ was real. [LifeWay Adults (2021). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Spring 2022]

This power and assurance also worked with the new church to change their lifestyles and patterns to become more like their new-to-them God and Savior.

1 Thessalonians 1:5b–6 (ESV)

5 You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

We get our English word “mimic” from the root of “imitator”. I like Mounce’s definition the best, “strive to resemble.”

In 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14, the accompanying verb is in the aorist tense, referring to the definite act of conversion in the past. These instances, coupled with the continuous tenses referred to, teach that what we became at conversion we must diligently continue to be thereafter. [Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words]

The danger of imitation comes with who you are imitating. If we imitate another fallen person we cannot become more like Christ, even if they are Christian. Best to imitate perfection. He will not berate you for failing but will help you strive all the more the next time. Paul is the only one that uses this word in the Bible, so it is fitting that he also places this qualifier on himself in 1Cor 11:1.

The affliction mentioned may have been a continuation of the animosity that began when they beat Jason for housing the missionaries when they came through. It is unclear from this letter or other accounts of the events if there were additional persecutions. Although these letters were during the time of Emperor Claudius and Nero, governmental restrictions on “Christians” did not become widespread until several years after these letters.

The writers continue to acknowledge God’s work being visible in the new believer’s lives as they display God’s joy even in the midst of their circumstances.

For the man of the world, it is impossible to experience joy and affliction simultaneously; to him, sorrow is the opposite of joy. The Christian has a joy of the Holy Spirit that is independent of circumstances; to him, the opposite of joy is sin. [Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments]

Being able to have joy in the midst of trial is a sign of a maturing faith. Many today in western cultures have not had their faith tested in this way. Those in predominantly Muslim or communist country have a different view of this as their knowledge is based on personal experience rather than my academic acknowledgement.

1 Thessalonians 1:7–8 ESV

7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

This new church was the “example” that the writer’s would like other new church plants to follow. The word comes from the idea of leaving a mark. Much like the coins that the city was able to produce on their own as a free city, they could imprint or “imitate” Caesar on their coins, they now showed the “marks” of Christ in their lives.

The faith, work, love, conviction, imitation, and joy were an encouragement to other believers in similar situations. This is the only place in the entire New Testament where a church is called an exemplary model for all other believers. [Cornerstone Biblical Commentary]

The “sounding forth” of God’s work has imagery of a horn being blow and many people hearing and responding. The phrase “word of the Lord” is not limited to a literal “presentation of the gospel” but appears to be a more general expression of all God’s work as written in His word and lived out in through the Thessalonians. Whether it was imitation or proclamation, the Thessalonians were spreading the good news of Christ and His grace, in word and deed.

Their example and the gospel were not just spreading in a localized area but seemed to be going “everywhere.” Dramatic changes seem to be talked about and spread faster than subtle ones. The change in the Thessalonians lives was being talked about everywhere that writers were going. So much so that they did not have to tell people about what they had witnessed and heard.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He challenged His followers to make a difference in their hometown (Jerusalem), the surrounding regions (Judea/Samaria), and, ultimately, the entire globe (Acts 1:8). Despite the relative youth of the congregation, the Thessalonians were fulfilling this call in their own context. [LifeWay Adults (2021). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Spring 2022]

1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

The letter writers were hearing about the way God had worked in the lives of the new church from “everywhere” and it matched what they had witnessed themselves. Although there may have been some Jews that came to Christ, the news that was spreading was about former gentile pagans having changed their religious ways. “The word Paul chose for serve (douleuein) means to serve as a [slave], which is the most demanding form of servitude” (MacArthur, Thessalonians, 27). No longer worshipping immaterial objects representing dead false gods they now gladly worship, work, and proclaim devotion to a living and true God and His Son.

Notice that they turned to God from idols, not from idols to God. It wasn’t that they had become fed up with their idols and then decided to give God a chance. No, they turned to God and found Him so satisfying that they dropped their idols. [Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments]

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This is sitting in the “waiting” room at the doctor’s office or in line at the theater before the doors open where you are actively anticipating something to happen so that you can end the “waiting”.

Warren Wiersbe writes, “The word translated ‘wait’ (found only here in the NT ) in 1:10 means ‘to await someone with patience and confidence, expectantly.’ Waiting involves activity and endurance” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Ready, BSC [Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010])

The Thessalonians had turned away from their idols “to God” in order “to serve” Him and “to wait” for the Son’s return that will deliver them from the wrath “to come.” They were not sitting and waiting but were actively working out their faith while they watched expectantly for Christ’s return. It is similar to the imagery of the workers building the wall in Ezra. Working with one hand to build the wall while watching the horizon for the enemy with a weapon at the ready in the other hand. This church firmly believed He was coming again but were also redeeming the time until then to spread the gospel that had changed their lives.

The Thessalonians’ experience provides a fundamental outline of the gospel’s impact. They had turned from their old life of idols and had focused on a new life based in the resurrection of Christ. They understood the promise of Christ’s return and the consequences of rejecting Him. This was the message of salvation spreading out from Thessalonica. Paul’s affirmation of their faithfulness must have encouraged the Thessalonians to press on in their faith walk. [LifeWay Adults (2021). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Spring 2022]

Apply the Text

The Thessalonian believers have set the bar high for all those that came after them. When the gospel is at work in our lives it produces evidence of God’s transformative power. This should make us wonder and search our hearts when that evidence is not apparent.

The Applied New Testament Commentary Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians (1:1–10)

What kind of example do we ourselves give to new believers? Can any of us say to another person, “If you imitate me, you’ll be imitating Christ”? We ought to be able to say that! Yes, the witness of our lips is very important; but the witness of our lives is even more important.

AMG Bible Illustrations Christian Influence

Too often, we as Christians fail to realize how influential our lives can be on the lives of other people, including other Christians. We should live our lives with a daily goal of producing faith in others. John Bunyan, the renowned author of Pilgrims Progress conveys the idea of influence quite beautifully with this quote: “Christians are like the several flowers in a garden that have each of them the dews of heaven, which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other’s roots, whereby they are jointly nourished and become nourishers of each other.” Christians should remember that our spiritual growth and strength not only comes from regular bible study and prayer, but also from using the talents and spiritual gifts that God gives us to encourage and equip others.

I like the last application questions in the Personal Study Guide for this week:

Who are you influencing for the cause of Christ? How are you influencing them? What needs to change in your life to increase your influence for Christ?

For better or worse, we are all influencing someone. Let’s be like the Thessalonians and point them to Christ and His eternally transformative power and be the “example” of the best influencer they will ever meet.

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