1 Thessalonians 1 NIV
1 Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
Paul is the primary writer of this epistle. We can see this as the letter is written in Paul’s style when compared his other epistles. He is writing to the church of the Thessalonians; a church who knew him personally. Paul includes Silas and Timothy as they had come to him with an account of the prosperity of the churches in Macedonia. There is no indication as to whether Silas and Timothy wrote any part of the epistle, but it is assumed that they agreed upon the content.
Grace and Peace be with you is indicative, also, of Paul’s hand. It is the same as Paul’s “Grace be with you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” in substance.
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
Paul begins with thanksgiving to God, choosing to use this thanksgiving to praise the Thessalonians, as God is the author of all good things. He joins prayer and his praise, or thanksgiving.
Paul mentions the particulars for which he is thankful to God in the Thessalonian church in verse 3. Their work produced by faith. Their labor prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by their hope in Jesus.
Their faith, Paul tells them (1Thess. 1:8) was very famous and spread far and wide. Their faith was a true and living faith, because it was a working faith, having an influence on the heart and one’s life. This radical faith put them to work for God. (James 2:18)
Their love and labor of love. Faith works by love; it shows itself in the exercise of love to God and love to our neighbor. Love shows itself by labor.
Their hope and patience of hope. The Thessalonian’s hope was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well grounded hope will appear by the exercise of patience; in enduring troubles of the present and patiently waiting for God’s glory to be revealed.
Paul saw and was referring to the results of these things in the lives of the Thessalonians was evident in the changes in their way of living. Their trust faith, love and hope were in Christ and it showed in their works. Their work of faith, their labor of love, and their patient hope was sincere and done in the sight of God.
Paul not only mentions the three graces; faith, love and hope, but points out directly that they, the Thessalonians are loved and chosen by God.
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
Paul is praising the Thessalonians church for imitating the apostles and in turn the Lord by accepting the message that Paul had brought them. They had become true followers of Christ by following Paul’s example of Christ, even in the midst of their sufferings and persecution. They shared the gospel in spite of the afflictions that came upon them, following the sufferings of the apostles, with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,
9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Paul goes on to point out that they had made quite an impression on many others and extensively. In fact the Thessalonians impact was very extensive, reaching beyond Thessalonica to “all of” Macedonia and further into Achaia. The effects of the gospel on the Thessalonians was very famous and many others were edified and encouraged to follow it and when called to to suffer for it, as the apostles and the Thessalonians were doing.
The effects of their faith was famous because the turned to God. They gave up their idols and abandoned false worship. They gave themselves to God and devoted their lives to serving Him. And they set themselves to wait for the Son of God from heaven.
Footnotes:
a 1 Thessalonians 1:1 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
b 1 Thessalonians 1:4 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 2:1, 9, 14, 17; 3:7; 4:1, 10, 13; 5:1, 4, 12, 14, 25, 27.
Leave a Reply