According to Paul, it is by receiving God’s Word in true faith that we become the Christians that God wants us to be. In 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Paul sketches three movements of the gospel as it progressed in northern Greece. In verse 5, he says that “our gospel came to you.” Then in verse 6, “you received the word.” Finally, Paul states in verse 8 that “the word of the Lord sounded forth from you.” This is the gospel progression that has continued throughout the church age, as the gospel has come to people who received it by faith and became in turn heralds who bore God’s Word to others. This is the progression that God intends for the gospel to follow in our lives as well.

Verses 5-7 center on the Thessalonians’ receiving God’s Word in saving faith. This stage is the key to our salvation, for when we believe the gospel in faith, we enter into Christ’s salvation and become His servants for the spread of the gospel in the world. Paul notes four characteristics of these early believers’ receiving of God’s Word: (1) they received it through human agents; (2) they received it from God; (3) they received it in great affliction; and (4) having received God’s Word, they became a model for other believers to follow.

A word received through men: Paul refers to the message about Jesus Christ as “our gospel” (v. 5). This does not mean that the apostle claimed to be the originator of the doctrines he taught. Nor did he think that the gospel’s success depended on his own strength or ability. He will refer to it in this letter as “the gospel of God” (2:2, 8-9) and “the gospel of Christ” (3:2). Paul’s gospel was not about himself but about God and His Son, Jesus, and the salvation they offer by grace and through faith. It was Paul’s gospel, however, in the sense that Paul had embraced it for his own salvation. He was relying on this gospel for his own soul’s destiny. It was also a message that had been entrusted to him. When Christ converted Paul on the Damascus Road, Jesus identified him as “a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Christians today have not received the apostolic office, but we have all been inducted as participants in Jesus’ Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). The gospel has thus been committed to us in a way similar to how it was entrusted to the apostles. We will be effective in spreading the gospel to the extent that we embrace this calling and rely in the good news of Jesus for our own salvation blessing.

Paul makes it clear that the gospel message requires an authentic messenger to the world. He writes: “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake” (v. 5). It’s obvious that Paul became personally involved in the lives of the Thessalonians, since he can state that they have personal knowledge of his character and spirit. He had ministered “among” them, so that they could assess in his life the credibility of his message.

Today, increasing percentages of Christians attend churches that are so large that few attendees have personal contact with their preachers. Many other Christians depend on media personalities whom they may never meet in the flesh. When such preachers are faithfully proclaiming God’s Word, some real good will be done. But the biblical model involves heralds of the gospel whose lives are personally known by those to whom they preach. Such men are never going to be perfect, of course, but there should be a strong correspondence between their message and the pattern of their lives.

It should be obvious that true ministers of the gospel are motivated not by personal gain but, as Paul writes, “for your sake” (v. 5). Some people are reluctant to receive God’s Word from a minister’s lips until experience demonstrates his love and sincerity in ministry, after which people will receive even hard teachings from his trusted lips. Paul’s emphasis on the credibility of the human witnesses applies not only to pastors and elders but also to every other Christian. The evidence of the gospel in our lives provides an important commendation of our witness to the gospel. Hypocrisy is perhaps the single greatest deterrent to a Christian’s effectiveness as a witness, while the evidence of the gospel’s power provides a compelling testimony to the gospel’s truth.

A word received from God: Together with Silas and Timothy, Paul was a vital agent in bringing the gospel to the Thessalonians. It was not his word, however, but God’s Word that they received in faith. In his many letters, Paul insists that a divine message was committed to him directly by the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches that the prophets and apostles received God’s Word by means of inspiration. Inspiration refers to the process by which the Holy Spirit conveyed God’s Word to His chosen messengers. Paul’s classic statement on inspiration says: “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). As a result of divine inspiration, the apostles’ message is the very Word of God, written to the first Christians and faithfully preserved for us. When Paul says to the Thessalonains, “You received the word” (v. 6), urging them to welcome it gladly in the way that a treasured guest is received into the home, Paul might have said, “You embraced the Word to your heart” by receiving it gladly with faith.

Since Paul’s gospel was not a human but a divine message, we truly receive the Scriptures only when we receive them as a word from God. To receive the Bible as God’s Word is to bow before its sovereign authority, just because it is the Word of God. Some people complain that evangelical Christians worship the book instead of God. This is a false charge once we recognize that God wrote the book in order to aid us in living before Him in faith. If a king leaves instructions before he goes away, it is hardly rebellion for his servants to pay careful attention to what he has written, and when the king returns, he will surely reward those who have kept his word.

Receiving the Bible as God’s Word also means accepting its inerrancy, receiving it as without error in all that it teaches and affirms. We believe the Bible’s inerrancy not because we can harmonize every apparent discrepancy (although they all have good explanations) but because it is the Word of God and therefore is perfect. God’s attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and sublime wisdom enable Him to declare perfect truth at all times, while His attributes of holiness and faithfulness oblige Him to speak only the truth.

We further rely on the Bible’s power as God’s Word. Paul proclaimed, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Because the Bible is inspired, authoritative, and true, the Christian is not on a quest seeking after truth. Instead, the Christian has found truth by receiving God’s Word, which he or she is faithfully to believe and boldly proclaim.

A word received in affliction: Paul notes that in receiving God’s Word, the Thessalonians “became imitators of us and of the Lord” (v. 6). Discipleship is learned by imitating the example of those who have gone before us. Paul does not hesitate to tell new believers, “Be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 11:1). If as mature Christians we can sincerely tell new believers, “Watch what I do and how I live,” then we will be greatly used by God in helping fellow believers to walk in faith.

In urging his readers to follow him, Paul is not claiming spiritual perfection. His example, rather, is in receiving God’s Word, as he has urged them to do as well. Those who teach the Bible should be the most eager students of the Bible. We should be able to urge others to believe all that is taught in Scripture by receiving ourselves the whole counsel of God in obedient faith. We should lead a life that is growing in the truth and delights in God’s Word so that others will do the same.

Paul emphasizes that his readers followed his example not only in receiving the Word but also in believing in the context of “much affliction” (v.6). Paul himself had suffered very great afflictions through his service to Christ (see 2 Cor. 11:23-30), and when he first arrived in Thessalonica, he was probably still bruised from the beating he had just taken in Philippi (see Acts 16:23). Now by imitating him, the Christians were suffering similar trials. Ultimately, our example in suffering is Jesus Himself.

The word that Paul uses for affliction (thlipsis) refers to severe pressure being applied to an object. Therefore, Paul is speaking of great trouble that results in serious and harmful difficulty. Christians in the West today are most likely to suffer social rejection, the loss of valued relationships, or the limiting of career prospects because of our discipleship to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the key to knowing joy in the midst of trials, which is why Paul observes that his readers exhibited the “joy of the Holy Spirit” (v. 6). This is not to say that Christians never grieve or walk in spiritual shadows. Instead, even with tears on our cheeks we can access a joy that comes from above. This happens when we take our griefs to the Lord and receive the peace and joy that only His Spirit can give. It is God’s design that our afflictions would bring out a spiritual joy from our lives as we draw close to Christ.

How did Paul and his friends have such a mighty impact despite their earthly weakness? By preaching the gospel in God’s power so that it was received in faith by those who heard. They further influenced the world through the joy of the Holy Spirit that shone through their afflictions. We now have the privilege of following their example in having this effect on our world. Paul’s formula for the gospel’s spread is that Christ’s people are to receive God’s Word in imitation of those who brought it and then to become bearers of the same gospel message so that others may follow their example. Paul reported this as happening in and through the Thessalonians, rejoicing “that you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (v. 7).

This calling to be an example to others is not given to only a few highly educated and gifted Christians but to all believers; it is the thrilling calling that will enable each of us to make an eternal difference, one believer and one church at a time, as we follow Christ and offer ourselves as an example to others.

Are you just now hearing God’s Word as it is preached to you? Then God calls you to welcome His gospel into your heart through faith, believing that Jesus died for your sins and offers you eternal life. Or have you long since received the gospel in faith? Then draw near to God for the joy in the midst of afflictions that will enable you to be an example to others. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21).

1 Thessalonians 1:5-7 Study Questions:

The events surrounding the arrival of Paul and his companions in Thessalonica made a remarkable impression upon not only the people who heard and believed the gospel, but on people of all sorts, all around Greece and the neighboring countries. Nobody had to say, “Have you heard about those peculiar Jews who are going around talking about someone called Jesus?” What was the story that people everywhere were telling about the Thessalonians?