In his exhortation, Paul first challenged the Thessalonians to lead holy lives, especially as it concerned sexual purity. Then he reminded them that Christian holiness is never a cold formalism but is always joined to the virtue of Christian love. To chastity, he wrote, they must add charity. Regarding the teaching on Christian love, Paul wrote: “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love on another” (v. 9).

Seeing the priority that Paul places on love should prompt us to consider our own hearts. Have our hearts been “framed for love” by God? Have we felt God’s love poured into us as we believed the gospel? If not, we might still be seeking to approach God by our own works instead of relying on the finished work of Jesus Christ, God’s chief gift of love. If we think little of the cross of Christ, we are likely to feel little love from God and have little love for Him and others. But if we stand before the atoning sacrifice of God’s perfect Son, seeing how Jesus gave Himself in love so that we might be saved, it is simply impossible that we would be inmoved and unchanged by love. This is why Paul does not need to say that God taught Christians “concerning” love but has taught us “to love one another” (v. 9).

Paul is comforted to know not only that his readers have been taught to love by God, but also that they have a strong track record of brotherly love: “for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia” (v. 10). Since theirs was the leading city of a highly populated region, the Thessalonian Christians had frequent contact with merchants, farmers, and traders. They had taken advantage of opportunities to spread the gospel and had prayed for friends and acquaintances. As the gospel advanced, they had shown hospitality to fellow believers and helped to provide for their needs as they became known. In this way, God had used their fervor for Jesus Christ to set an example for other new converts and to cause the gospel message to sound forth throughout their region.

When studying Paul’s letters, we are frequently reminded that they were written to actual people with real problems. Therefore, while Paul’s teaching is grounded on universal truths about God and salvation, the letters apply the gospel in particular ways that fit the local needs of Paul’s readers. His exhortations in 1 and 2 Thessalonians are prime examples of this principle. In the final chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul highlights a concern about some who were “walking in idleness.” Either such persons had entered into the church community or else some members of the church had fallen into this vice. It is possible that this happened as a self-serving response to the generosity of Christians who possessed means, so that the very love that Paul commended was being taken advantage of.

Anticipating this problem, Paul amplifies his teaching on Christian love by urging his readers “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs” (1 Thess. 4:11). Paul sees Christian love as a quiet love that avoids meddling in and disturbing the lives of others. Christians should have a great ambition to lead steady, sober, useful lives that call attention not to themselves but to the grace of God in Christ. To be sure, there is an important place for ambition in the Christian life! We are to have “ambition to preach the gospel” (Rom. 15:20) and be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). We should be eager in service (Phil. 2:28) and in spiritual attainments (1 Cor. 14:12). Yet we can do all this within a quiet life that avoids making difficulties for others.

In calling Christians to brotherly love, Paul envisions a quiet love that is also a busy love. In addition to living quietly and minding their own affairs, the Thessalonians should “work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (vv. 11-12). This verse has played an important role in developing a Christian view of work. Most Greeks thought that manual labor was unworthy of a cultivated person. Physical work was what slaves were for! In contrast, the Bible endorses the nobility of honest work of all kinds. Paul’s example as a tentmaker underscores this point, since the hands that held the apostolic pen were calloused with the daily hard work by which Paul met his own needs.

Paul cites two reasons why it is important for Christians to work hard. The first is “so that you may walk properly before outsiders” (v. 12). For Christians to be lazy or wrongly depend on others only disgraces the gospel that we proclaim to the world. This is why Christians who run businesses should make a special point of providing high-quality goods and services and treating customers with honesty and care. By contrast, able-bodied men who are not working hard to provide for themselves and their families are a disgrace to God’s people.

Paul’s second reason for Christians to work hard is so that they can “be dependent on no one” (v. 12). Believers should provide for themselves so as not to burden other believers. This exhortation does not apply to those who are unable to work because of illness, injury, or honest unemployment. The New Testament makes it plain that Christians are to provide for fellow Christians in legitimate need. But because there will often be many such needs, Christians should do their best not to burden the church and to contribute to the assistance of others. Love does not take advantage of Christian generosity but works hard so as to contribute to those with true needs.

It is obvious that Paul considered the love of God at work in His people to be an important witness to the world. We may therefore conclude that the apostle urged the Christians to increase in a love that not only was quiet and busy but also bore witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our love is thus to be a revealing love. According to church history, this is precisely what happened. Not only did the early Christians display love for one another, but as they were sprinkled throughout society in their various workplaces, they also spread the same love to the world. Our witness to Christ in the world requires a verbal testimony to His gospel and obedience to His command: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

The mark of the Christian is not worn on our lapels or hung on chains around our necks. The mark of the Christian before the world is the love that God has spread into our hearts, starting with our Christian brothers and sisters. We know that we can never be saved by our own loving works, but are forgiven only by the love of Christ, who died for our sins on the cross. But as we tell the world about God’s love for sinners in Christ, remembering the important testimony of Christ’s love working in and through us, what an incentive we have to take up Paul’s exhortation concerning brotherly love: “we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more” (v. 10).

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 Study Questions:

How does Paul say love or charitable concern is to be expressed within the church and outside of it?

How does Paul hold together love, which is expressed through financial giving, and responsibility within the family of the Thessalonians in verses 9-12?

Think about your Christian community. What are the outsiders seeing as they witness the lives of your community?

In what concrete and practical ways can you show your love through financial giving personally and corporately?

The famous first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” and answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” It is seldom appreciated that the point of the second part of that answer – “to enjoy him forever” – pertains to sanctification. In other words, we might say that our chief end is “to glorify God and to enjoy pleasing Him forever.” Paul made a similar point “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more” (v. 4:1). As Paul states it, sanctification is not aimed primarily toward our own well-being or glory. Rather, the first goal of our sanctification, as with all other things, is to give God pleasure and to manifest His glory.

Sanctification denotes the process of becoming holy. Sanctus, being the Latin word for holy, is joined to the Latin verb facare, which means “to make.” Therefore, sanctification is the process by which believers in Christ are made holy. Paul describes this process in verse 1 as a walk, by which he means an entire lifestyle: “how you ought to walk and to please God.”

God is holy in that He is utterly different from and higher than any other being. God’s holiness especially involves His moral purity. It is because of His holiness that we take pleasure in pleasing God by being holy. God’s holiness defines our method as well as our goal in sanctification. As God is separate from sin, we also separate ourselves from sin and sinfulness, having different values and desires from the nonbelieving world around us. Sanctification has not only a goal and a method, but also an attitude. Our attitude in pursuing holiness is to oppose sin and evil and to pursue godliness. The Bible describes sanctification as a process, a progressive work by which our lifestyle becomes more and more pleasing to God: “that you do so more and more” (v. 4:1).

Paul’s exhortation to purity provides an example of how sanctification involves both a negative abstention from sin and a positive exhibition of godliness. The apostle does not merely tell believers to abstain from sexual sin but also asserts that “each one of you [should] know how to control his own body in holiness and honor” (v. 4:4). This self-control extends to every area of life: our sexuality, our treatment of others, our use of money, our conduct in the workplace, and so forth. Not only are we not to fall into worldly patterns of sin, but we are also to honor God with conduct that will please and glorify Him in every aspect of life. Paul states this positive approach to sanctification in verse 7: “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.”

Finally, note that sanctification is expressed physically. Holiness is rooted in our hearts, but always expressed in our actions. Notice how concrete is Paul’s view of holiness and how bodily is its fulfillment. The problem with the pagans was their sensual outlook toward everything. By contrast, Christians are to live “not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (v. 4:5). In every way, the unbelievers’ lives were idolatrous, in service of debased passions and lusts. As Christians, knowing God, we are to use our bodies in honorable ways in accordance with God’s law, with self-control and purity.

With this biblical introduction to sanctification – that its goal is to take pleasure in pleasing God, its method is to be separate from impurity and sin, its attitude is both negative toward sin and positive toward godliness, and its expression is concrete and physical – we may now consider Paul’s link between sanctification and the sovereignty of God. Some complain that a high view of God’s sovereignty stands in the way of holy living. Just as people wrongly complain that the doctrine of predestination discourages evangelism, they also argue that God’s sovereignty cuts off our motivation to holiness. “If God is sovereign and has chosen me to salvation,” they argue, “then why should I bother living a holy life?”

Verses 1-8 sets forth three responses, each of which shows that divine sovereignty in fact promotes rather than deters sanctification. The biblical view centers holiness on God’s sovereign will, which Paul explains in these words: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (v. 3). Because God has ordained our sanctification, Christians therefore know that we will and must be holy. A humble believer asks, “How can someone like me expect to be holy?” The Bible answers, “Because it is God’s sovereign will for you. In Christ, you have a new identity: you are a holy one.” Realizing God’s calling and God’s will, we are emboldened to a more active faith that is energetic in sanctification.

There is a second way in which a high view of God’s sovereignty aids in the pursuit of holiness. We tend to think of God’s sovereignty in terms of His ultimate control of all things. Yet we should also think of His complete reign as our Lord. God is sovereign over His kingdom, so that to be saved is to become His willing subject and to submit in everything to His rule. To know God as sovereign is to acknowledge His rights as King, including our duty to obey His Word. When we realize that Christ is sovereign, and that we are humble servants of His glorious kingdom, then the last thing we will seek is to transgress His royal laws. Obedience to God’s Word will then be the watchword of our ministries and our lives.

Paul’s third reason why God’s sovereignty promotes rather than deters sanctification is: “Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (v. 8). This mention of the Holy Spirit as a divine gift assures us that God’s sovereignty provides us with the resources we need for sanctification. It is because of God’s sovereign resource that Paul warns that to disregard God’s call to holiness is to disregard “not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (v. 8). Since God has made such rich provision for our sanctification, what an affront it is to Him when we refuse His mighty aid, relying on earthly techniques and continuing to serve our sinful desires.

Do we live with a commitment for God to be pleased through our holy lives? Have we committed ourselves to Christ’s sovereign reign, as our Master and Lord? Do we rely, with expectant faith, on the sovereign power of the Spirit of holiness? By regaining not mere doctrinal assent to God’s sovereignty but an actual vision of glorifying and pleasing our sovereign God, we may learn anew His will for our lives. For, as Paul declared, “this is the will of God, you sanctification” (v. 3).

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Study Questions:

Paul urges the Thessalonians to behave in a manner that pleases God. What kind of a life do verses 1-8 say is pleasing to God?

What is the connection in verses 1-8 between pleasing God and being sanctified or holy, which is mentioned three times?

The first practical area of a holy life that Paul discusses is sexual sin. In verses 3-8 what are the instructions that Paul gives to the Thessalonians regarding this area of life?

Any study of Paul’s letters will reveal his intense commitment to prayer. A Christian’s reliance on prayer – or lack of reliance – tells us much about his or her relationship with God. This is especially true for those engaged in Christian ministry. It also tells us much about a person to discover the contents of his or her prayers. Many of us pray primarily for ourselves and our material needs, Paul prayed almost exclusively for others and for spiritual priorities. Paul’s prayers in 1 Thessalonians condense his most fervent desires for the members of that beloved church, focusing on requests for God’s power to give strength to their faith and bring them to increasing maturity as Christians. Chapter 3 concludes its discussion of Paul’s approach to ministry by disclosing his prayer wishes in such a way as to display some of his key views, including the apostle’s view of God, ministry, and the Christian life.

What does Paul’s prayer tell us about his view of God? The first thing we should notice is Paul’s belief concerning the nature of God and the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ (v. 3:11). While not explicitly stating the doctrine of the trinity, Paul’s prayer contains the substance of the doctrine. He understands that the one God exists in multiple persons. Furthermore, it is clear that Paul prays to Jesus in just the same way that he prays to the Father, joining them together as the objects of his petition.

In addition, Paul believed not only that the Father and Son are one in nature as God but also that they are unified in purpose and will. The Father is every bit as loving toward believers as Jesus is, and the two are working in concert for the salvation of the church. That Paul should so clearly express a unity of nature and purpose between the Father and Christ at such and early point in his ministry shows that the deity of Christ was basic and foundational to Christian dogma from the very beginning.

Paul’s prayer shows not only his belief in the deity of Christ but also his certainty about the sovereignty of God. His first request if for God to “direct our way to you,” which suggests that the apostle was counting on God to intervene sovereignly in human affairs so as to permit Paul’s return to Thessalonica.

Finally, Paul understood that believers have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. “Now may our God…direct our way to you” (v. 3:11), he writes, indicating his access to the Father as a dearly beloved child. God is Father in his nature, but only those who believe on Jesus gain the right to be considered his children (see John 1:12). Thus, in Paul’s prayer we see a basic theology that is essential to Christian faith and life. There is one God in three persons (in a moment, we will see how the Spirit also figures into this prayer), God is the Sovereign to whom we may pray, and God receives believers in Jesus as dearly beloved children who may refer to Him as “our God.”

Paul’s prayer wishes reveal not only his understanding of God but also his views regarding Christian ministry and service. Paul believed in God’s sovereignty, and he knew that God’s sovereign grace was necessary for the successful ministry of the gospel.

We earlier learned that, concerned about his readers’ faith, Paul had greatly wanted to return to Thessalonica but was hindered by Satan (v. 2:18). In other words, Paul’s human attempts to serve God were overthrown by stronger spiritual opposition. Anyone who seeks to serve Christ as a pastor or a witness will find that this still happens today. So how did Paul expect to overcome obstacles and accomplish important things for the Lord? The answer is that he called on the Lord to make provision for his ministry needs. His prayer asks God to “direct our way” back to the believers (v. 3:11), essentially praying for the Lord to open up a pathway that did not then exist.

Servants of God today need to learn this same lesson. Christians who are effective in evangelism have learned to pray for God to provide them with opportunities to speak about Jesus along with the words to speak when the opportunities arrive. Churches that dynamically serve the gospel have learned to pray for the needed provision to expand their ministry. On a personal level, marriages and families who enjoy a close spiritual bond are those who pray for God to grant this very thing. Christ’s promise is above all found true of those who apply it in their service to the Lord and His gospel: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9).

Paul not only prayed for openings to his own ministry, but also petitioned God to intervene directly in the lives of His people. He dearly sought to return to minister in Thessalonica, but in the meantime, he asked God to minister personally to them: “and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love” (v. 3:12). Paul full realized that their spiritual growth was not in his hands but in God’s. This is how his prayer incorporates the person of the Holy Spirit, since Paul knows that it is the Holy Spirit who will cause love to abound in God’s people.

In addition to showing the apostle’s view of God and of ministry. Paul’s prayer requests show his understanding of the Christian life. As the apostle sees it, Christians live with a focus on the future in Christ. Thus, he prays that God will “establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (v. 3:13). Notice the way that Paul anchors the Christian life in the future, so that our present experience is pulled in the direction of Christ’s second coming.

Paul establishes a link between love and holiness that seasoned believers will recognize from their own experience. He prays for God’s love to fortify our hearts so that we are stimulated toward a changed life, desiring to please the Lord as a way of showing gratitude. Moreover, our love for others causes us to become serious about repenting of our sins. For this reason, one of the best ways to advance your sanctification – your progress in holiness – is to become involved in ministry toward others.

Paul prays for God to establish our hearts “blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (v. 3:13). When he says that we are to be blameless, this does not mean that we can attain a perfect state of sinlessness, since that is impossible in this life (see Phil. 3:12; 1 John 1:8). He means, rather, that our record of conduct should be that of a godly life. In 1 Thessalonians 2:10, Paul described himself and his associates as “holy and righteous and blameless” in their “conduct toward you believers.” In saying this, he did not mean that he had never sinned, but rather that his behavior had been consistent with godliness. Holiness pertains to our inward character and purity before the Lord. Christians have been made holy by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit; in an objective sense, we have been set apart for the service of God. This is why Paul would so often address the readers of his letters as “saints,” that is, “holy ones.” Having been set apart as holy, we are called to holiness in character and conduct.

Paul emphasizes that it is only God’s work in us that enables us to make progress in holiness. This is why he prays for God to “establish your hearts blameless in holiness (v. 3:13). At the same time, we are responsible to respond to God’s work in striving after holiness. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” the apostle says elsewhere, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).

Looking forward to the coming of Christ, Paul states that only holiness can give us a confident expectation of salvation on the great day when Christ returns. He prays that the Lord “may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (v. 3:13). This blameless and holy life does not procure our salvation, but rather proves it.

When Paul speaks of “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints,” he is perhaps suggesting a further motivation for holiness. The context – in which Paul so often uses the idea of holiness to describe believers, and in which he will later state that Christ “will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (v. 4:14) – strongly suggests that Paul at least includes the spirits of believers in heaven. If so, then he motivates his readers to increasing holiness by reminding them that in Christ they are destined for perfect holiness when they are glorified together with other Christians in the final resurrection. That resurrection will consummate our holiness, but only if there is a holiness in us to be brought to perfection! This is why the author of Hebrews frankly states the vital necessity of our possessing holiness in some real measure, referring to “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 Study Questions:

What are the elements of Paul’s beautiful prayer for the Thessalonians in verses 11-13?

In what ways is Paul’s prayer a reflection of Paul’s desire for the Thessalonians both in the present and in the future?

Paul understands how important it is to strengthen one another in the midst of suffering so that all believers can stand firm in their faith. What specific steps can you or your Christian community take to help strengthen someone who is in the midst of suffering or difficulty?

Pray the three aspects of Paul’s prayer found in verses 11-13: that you might be able to be present with them, that their love would increase and that they would be strengthened.

This long section from 1 Thessalonians 2:1 to 3:10 is exceedingly valuable in developing a biblical approach to gospel ministry. The final section of this material, 3:6-10, is especially valuable as Paul sums up his thoughts about a true ministry as he has sought to offer it to his dearly loved friends in Thessalonica. In these verses, we see what according to the apostle are the true goals and biblical methods of gospel ministry, as well as the causes of rejoicing for those ministering in Christ’s name.

The background for this material is the report recently given to Paul by his young protégé Timothy. Paul had sent him to Thessalonica to check on the believers whom they had been forced to leave behind (vv. 3:1-2). In verse 6, Paul added that now “Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you.” It seems that Timothy had just arrived and delivered his news to Paul, and the apostle was so excited that he fired off this letter to express his joy and thanksgiving.

A Study of Paul’s letters will show that the graces of faith and love were not just his desire for this particular church, but also his consistent goal in all the other places where he ministered. We know this because of the frequency with which Paul wrote of faith and love in his other letters.

According to Paul, then, what should we aim for in the Christian nurture of our children? The answer: growth in faith in God and love for others. What should our goal in the discipleship of new believers? According to Paul, it is faith and love. How should we evaluate our own growth in grace? These two graces – faith and love – are the two issues on which my entire life depends. What is my life about? Is my life as a Christian defined by outward achievements, success in ministry, or the opinion of others about me? All these goals involve factors largely outside my control. Instead, my life is about faith and love: the goal of my growth in Christ is to learn to trust God more fully and to love others more genuinely. This is the true measure of a Christian man or woman: his or her faith toward Christ and love toward others. The same dynamics provide the apostolic measure of a healthy church.

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul has repeatedly stressed the priority of God’s Word, having rejoiced that “you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (v. 1:6). In verse 3:10, Paul relates his intense desire to “see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith,” by which he evidently means that he longs to resume his teaching of God’s Word so as to bring the Thessalonians into a sounder grasp of saving faith. Since Paul was hindered from going to Thessalonica, one purpose of this letter was to give an advance installment of his teaching, much of which focused on the biblical doctrine of the return of Christ and the day of the Lord. It is obvious that believers today need instruction from the Bible on these and all other doctrinal topics.

In verses 3:9-10 Paul also shows his typical commitment to the ministry of prayer. He asks, “What thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day…?” Responding to Timothy’s good news by giving thanks to God in prayer, Paul shows that he credits God for the Thessalonians’ growing faith and love, relying not on any earthly device but on the power of God through the Word and prayer. In order to fulfill his ministry, Paul needs God’s help; here he asks God to remove obstacles in the way of his return to the Thessalonians, “that we may see you face to face” (v. 9).

Moreover, Paul’s expression “and supply what is lacking in your faith” may apply as much to his ministry of prayer as to his ministry of the Word. Paul’s point was simply that he was aware that as new believers in a difficult situation, the Thessalonians had weaknesses to be shored up, vulnerabilities to be protected, and areas of ignorance that needed instruction. Unable at present to meet these needs personally, Paul did the best thing possible: he prayed for his Christian friends with respect to their spiritual needs. We should likewise pray for the church and for our Christian comrades, asking God to supply what is lacking for growth in faith and love.

Paul speaks throughout this passage about the value of Christian fellowship. Indeed, the reason he had sent Timothy to Thessalonica was to ensure that fellowship was not broken between Paul’s band of ministers and the congregation that they had left behind. Part of the normal fellowship that Christians should enjoy is shared communion in the Lord’s Supper. Paul saw this sacrament as fostering and protecting the fellowship of the church.

If we possess an approach to ministry that aims for the proper biblical goals of faith and love and employs the biblical methods of God’s Word, prayer, and stimulating Christian fellowship, it is very likely that we will be blessed with reasons to rejoice, despite the many inevitable hardships. In this, Paul is our example as he followed the example of Christ. His ministry in Corinth endured great “distress and affliction,” to such an extent that Acts 18:9-10 records that the exalted Jesus encouraged Paul with a special vision. Yet in the midst of these loses, Paul was compensated in ministry by the joy of the Lord’s blessing. Paul is able to rejoice, exclaiming, “For now we live” because of what the Lord had done and was continuing to do through his ministry (v. 3:8).

The first and primary blessing that Paul mentions is the joy of learning that fellow believers are persevering in faith toward salvation. Paul’s concern over this reminds us that any professing believer’s continuance in faith is far from automatic. Today’s practice of assuring a new convert that he or she possess the certainty of eternal life, without stressing the need for a costly perseverance in following Jesus, is totally at odds with the biblical pattern.

A second cause for rejoicing takes place whenever the bonds of Christian love and fellowship are kept strong. It is obvious how important this was to the apostle. Along with his great relief over the continuing faith of the Thessalonians was the report that “you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you” (v. 3:6).

Third, Paul rejoices at the inestimable privilege of his access in the presence of God for worship and prayer. He writes of “all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God” (v. 3:9). Do you realize the enormous blessing of having access to the presence of God? When you come to worship, do you thank God that He receives you, together with all the church, into His holy and loving presence, where a fountain of eternal life is found, so that you might praise and commune with Him? Do you realize, as Paul did, what an overwhelming privilege it is to be able to come before the throne of grace with petitions that will be received into the loving hands of God Himself? How foolish we are to take this privilege lightly – a privilege secured for us by the pains of God’s Son on the cross. And we are equally foolish if we neglect the gathering of God’s people for worship and the blessing of corporate and private prayer, through which God’s mighty power is secured for our salvation and the salvation of those we love!

There are fellow Christians who need your ministry, encouragement, and prayers, and in the lost multitudes of unbelievers who perish without a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Will you offer yourself to be used by Christ for the blessing and salvation of others? If you do, you will really live, both in this world and in the age to come when the glory of a true Christian ministry will be fully seen.

1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 Study Questions:

In the face of the difficulties of the world today, what might compromise look like for the church?

In verses 6-10, Paul expresses great joy and thankfulness because of the Thessalonians. What has Timothy reported about the church that has given Paul this deep joy?

What expressions of faith and love within your own life or the life of your Christian community today would prompt the same kind of joy and thankfulness that Paul felt?

In verse 10, Paul does not say that there is anything wrong with the Thessalonians’ faith at present; he only implies that faith needs to grow with every day, with each new trial or test, and that maybe his own further teaching and encouragement will be needed to help that to happen. In what ways can the content, passion and pattern of Paul’s prayer be a model for us?

You would be hard pressed to find someone more strategically involved in spreading the gospel than Paul, yet we find him deeply and personally involved with congregations and people. So, why was Paul so concerned, not only to preach the gospel, but to spend time personally with new converts and to disciple them in their new faith? The answer is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5, where Paul writes of his “desire to see you face to face,” because of the love that knit the church together, the danger to the church through afflictions, and the need for the church to be strengthened in faith. Paul was moved by the Thessalonians’ afflictions out of a passionate concern that they not be moved from their faith.

It is obvious from Paul’s statements that he sees the church as a community knit together by love. We see this, first, in the nature of the relationships of love that he describes. “But since we were torn away from you brothers,” he writes (v. 2:17), using a family model for the bonds between believers, involving deep affection and loyalty. Earlier in this letter, Paul used a parental metaphor to describe his relationship to the fledgling church. He loved the Thessalonians with the tender devotion of a mother for a nursing child (2:7), and like a father he took an encouraging interest in their spiritual growth (2:11). Now in verse 17 Paul uses the word for torn away that means “to be orphaned.” Being separated from the believers makes him feel like a doting parent who has lost a child.

The separation had been only geographical, not spiritual or emotional, since they remained close to Paul’s heart. He had a “great desire” to be rejoined to them but had been hindered by Satan. Paul was so anxious for them, being unable to bear a lack of news, that he was willing to be separated from Timothy, sending the younger minister to check on the Thessalonians’ progress.

The most significant comment that Paul makes about his attitude toward the Thessalonian believers is found in verses 2:19-20. Paul saw himself as bound up with his converts not only in terms of the service that he offered to Christ, but also in terms of his own salvation. They were fruits of his labor and of Christ’s grace in his life, and Paul looked forward to presenting them firm and steadfast in the faith when Christ returned.

In keeping with his loving feelings, Paul engaged in actions of love toward his beloved converts. Being separated at a time when they were afflicted, he writes, “We endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you – I, Paul, again and again – but Satan hindered us” (vv. 2:18-19). This shows that Paul had made a determined effort to return and minister to the Thessalonians. He had been frustrated by Satan, however, in a manner that is not known to us. We do know that when Paul could not personally come to them, he sent help that could arrive and he performed perhaps the most vital ministry by laboring in prayer on their behalf (v. 1:2).

This passage presents a compelling picture of the church as a community knit together by love: loving relationships, loving feelings, and loving actions. Paul provides the example that every Christian should follow, as he himself followed the example of Christ, who calls believers to loving servanthood. John’s gospel begins its account of Jesus’ crucifixion this way: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). We are likewise to love one another to the end of our resources, in Christ’s behalf.

One reason why God called early believers to love one another is that the world did not love them. They were a community tried by afflictions, not only in the ordinary sense in which everyone faces trials, but also in the special sense that God Himself has ordained trials for every believer. Paul had made this clear earlier, and he was taking pains to teach it again: “For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know” (vv. 3:3-4).

The primary reason why Christians are tried by afflictions is that God apportions them to us. Since God has proved His love and faithfulness to His people by sending His Son to die for our sins, we may be certain that these troubles are necessary for our salvation. So powerful is the presence of sin in our lives and so ingrained are the habits of unbelief that the troubles of this life play a vital role in motivating us to be rid of them. Moreover, trials play a vital role in shaping the qualities of Christian character that are needed in the church. Whenever you are helped by a more seasoned believer whose presence has been a vital aid in your need, the gracious character and wisdom of that Christian have likely been forged in the furnace of affliction, without which you would not have been helped.

Another reason why the church is a community by afflictions is the presence of an active enemy who is maliciously committed to our destruction: Paul feared “that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain” (v. 3:5). The tempter here is Satan, the spiritual potentate who is chief among the evil powers in this world. When it comes to persecution, Satan desires to tempt new converts into unbelief. In the case of those who were never truly saved, Satan succeeds in thwarting the work of the gospel, so that it seems – this was Paul’s concern – that “our labor would be in vain.”

When we consider the dire threat to the Thessalonians, we understand why Paul was so determined to find out how they were doing while he was off ministering the gospel elsewhere in Greece. The whole purpose of this letter is to express his rejoicing upon learning that this church was not only tried by afflictions but also strengthened by faith as a community. This news gave Paul such confidence in their ultimate victory that he exulted, “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord” (v. 3:8).

Faith is so essential to enduring the trials of this world that the writer of Hebrews penned a long chapter (Hebrews 11) detailing how faith had enabled the earlier people of God to gain salvation. If the Thessalonians were to prevail over persecution and advance to salvation, it would also be by faith. For this reason, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica “to learn about your faith” (v. 3:5).

Paul’s urgency on this matter ought to persuade us to inquire about our own faith. Are we careful to guard and nurture our faith, without which we cannot be saved? Do we daily present our minds and hearts before God’s Word so that our faith might be protected from the assaults of Satan and the world and so that our faith may be increased? When we face trials, is our first concern for the brightness of our faith? If not, then we fail to see with Paul that on the issue of faith or unbelief our entire well-being depends. He sent Timothy not to inquire about the financial state of the Thessalonians or their physical stamina, but “to learn about your faith” (v. 5). We should follow his lead and make regular inquires not only about our own faith, but also about the faith of those who are close to us, especially Christian friends and family members.

What is our goal in tending to our own faith and that of others in the midst of affliction? The answer is implied by Paul’s concern that his labor would not “be in vain” through his readers’ fall into unbelief (v. 3:5). Paul is more explicit in verse 8 when he rejoices to learn that “you are standing fast in the Lord.” This tells us that our simple goal is to stand firm in our faith.

In the end, we can be certain that the devil will be destroyed. Crushing Satan is God’s job, not ours. Our job, set forth so clearly to the Thessalonians, is to be a community knit together by love and strengthened through faith so as to stand firm in victory. Our goal is not to root the devil and his minions out of this world – nor can we – although we should take advantage of every opportunity to thwart Satan’s influence, especially by proclaiming the gospel. Our ultimate goal as Christians is, by all the means of God’s appointment, simply to stand firm.

What does it take to stand firm? The angel told John in Revelation 7:14: “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The focus on the cross explains why, having so loved the Thessalonian converts, Paul was zealous to establish and encourage their faith in Jesus. The only way that anyone will triumph in the battle of this life is through faith in the blood of Christ to wash away our sins.

Have you trusted Christ? If not, you have no hope of standing in God’s grace now or in His glory in the age to come. But if you have trusted in Christ and continue to trust Him, then you should never serve the devil through sin, but stand against him in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, after all the toil and strife of this battle-scarred world, we will stand together in the glorious company of God’s redeemed, no longer wearing the armor but clothed only in white. We will be a garland crown to grace the head of the triumphant Jesus. Then the battle will be behind us and we will be safe amid the glories of God with great joy.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5 Study Questions:

Why does Paul refer to the Thessalonians as his hope, joy and crown (vv. 2:17-20)?

What aspect of the Christian life can you model well for those around you?

Each of us has our own work of love to perform, whether it be quiet and private or well-known and public. What do you think God has asked or might be asking you to do? Why?

In verses 3:1-5, what were the reasons that Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonians in the first place?

According to Paul in verses 3:1-5, how should believers approach suffering?

How can suffering sweep believers off track or lure them away from the proper path?