All Christians know that Christ forgives our sin so that when we die, we go to heaven. But fewer Christians realize that “going to heaven when we die” isn’t our final blessing. For after believers have gone to heaven, the day will come when Christ returns to earth and His people will be raised in the glory of the final resurrection. According to Paul, this is the hope that sustains God’s people in the trials of this life. “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” he writes. We wait now with hope for “the redemption of our bodies,” when we will finally “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:18-23).

The resurrection is absolutely necessary for our salvation. Without the resurrection of the body, Christians may be forgiven of our sins, but we are not delivered from the futility of our present mortal existence. If the dead are not raised, then despite our justification through faith in Christ, our sanctification will never be complete and we will remain eternally unfit for the glories of Christ’s kingdom. “I tell you this, brothers,” Paul wrote: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). This is why he was so determined to inform his readers of the resurrection, the knowledge of which brings hope to our present lives of faith: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).

Paul’s teaching on Christ’s return in 1 Thessalonians 4 is an eschatological treasure trove. While addressing the salvation of believers who have died, Paul gives straightforward teaching about Christ’s return, life after death, the rapture, and the resurrection of the dead. Each of these topics is worthy of study from this vital passage. In considering the resurrection, we will ask a number of questions, receiving answers that will not leave us uninformed (v. 4:13), but will encourage us with the apostle’s words (v. 18).

The first question to ask is: What is the resurrection of the dead? The Greek word for resurrection is anastasis, which comes from a verb that means “to raise up.” The resurrection, then, is the raising of our bodies after we have died. It is important to note the bodily nature of the resurrection, because this truth has often been neglected or assailed. The Bible values the body as God’s good creation, and Christian salvation positively affects our bodies, both now and forever. Christians are not to be radical ascetics who harmfully deny the body (1 Tim. 4:3-5) or libertines who sinfully misuse the body. Paul reasons: “Do you not know that your body in a temple of the Holy Spirit…So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). In the future resurrection, our same bodies that lived and died will be raised. The body is not simply replaced with a new body but is changed into a glorified body suitable for the new heavens and new earth in which Christ will reign forever in glory.

Realizing that our bodies will be raised and glorified should transform how Christians think about our present lives. The resurrection conveys dignity to the most humble Christian soul and body, both of which are destined to “shine like the brightness of the sky above” (Dan. 12:3). Our bodies are holy to the Lord. Reminding us that our bodies are united with Christ “in the resurrection like his,” Paul urged, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:5, 12). The next time you are tempted to use your body to sin, remember that it is intended by God to be transformed for a holy eternal existence.

A second question asks: Who will be raised from the dead? The Bible’s answer is that everyone who has ever lived will be raised in the body on the last day when Jesus returns. Paul speaks of the “dead in Christ” as rising when Jesus returns (v. 16), but the Bible elsewhere informs us that all will be resurrected to stand in their bodies before the final judgment, receiving either eternal punishment or reward. The angel spoke of this to Daniel in the Old Testament: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). Jesus was even more emphatic, teaching that “an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).

It is clear in these statements that while believers and unbelievers will alike be raised, they will experience radically different results. Jesus taught that on the day of judgment He will “separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:32). This indicates that there will be a tangible difference between the resurrection of the godly and ungodly. To His justified people, on His right hand, Jesus will declare, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). It will be exactly the opposite for the ungodly: “Then he will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matt. 25:41).

If Paul tells us what the resurrection is and who will be raised, the third question we wonder about is when the dead will be raised. His clear answer is that the resurrection of the dead will occur when Jesus returns from heaven to earth in all His glory: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16).

Passage after passage in the Bible tells us that the resurrection will take place when Christ returns, as the immediate precursor to the final judgment of all mankind. Jesus combines these three events – return, resurrection, and judgment – in Matthew 25:31-32: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations.” Jesus said that “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out” (John 5:28-29), a description echoed in Paul’s statement that Christ will return “with a cry of command” (1 Thess. 4:16).

The fourth question that we should ask about the resurrection is how the dead will be raised. This question may be approached in two ways: first, asking, “By what power does the resurrection take place?” Paul answers in verse 16 by pointing to emblems of divine authority and power: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of and archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Here, God’s sovereign power is symbolized in Christ’s return by the call of the archangel and the trumpet blast of God. Jesus said that “the Father raises the dead and gives them life” (John 5:21). Realizing this divine cause for the resurrection should relieve any concerns over how bodies long decayed or otherwise damaged can ever be raised. Just as God created all things out of nothing, no barriers can thwart the Almighty in raising our bodies to glory on the last day.

The second way to approach the how of the resurrection concerns the nature of our transformation: How will believers be changed when our bodies are raised? This matter is most fully addressed by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians: “Someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come’” (1 Cor. 15:35). The apostle answers by outlining four dimensions to the transformation of the believer’s body in the resurrection.

First, the resurrected body is imperishable so as to partake forever in the reign of Christ: “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:42). Our bodies are prone to disease and decay, our natural beauty fades over time, and ultimately the body gives way to death. But in the resurrection “the mortal puts on immortality,” so that “death is swallowed up in victory” (v. 54). Second, the resurrection body is glorious: “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43). The term dishonor is usually used by Paul with reference to the disgrace of sin, to which our bodies have been corrupted in their present desires. But in the resurrection, our bodies will shine in the glory of perfect holiness. Third, the resurrection body is mighty: it “is sown in weakness” but “raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43). Unlike our current condition that so often falls short of what we desire, the resurrection body serves God tirelessly and powerfully in the redeemed creation. Finally, whereas we presently inhabit “a natural body,” the resurrection body is spiritual in nature: “It is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44). This statement does not mean that the resurrection body lacks material substance, but rather that it is ideally designed for the spiritual life in the age of glory with Christ.

This study of Paul’s teaching on the resurrection leaves two vital questions unanswered. A fifth question is: Why will the dead be raised? The best answer for the why of salvation is always this: that God may be glorified in the mighty working of His grace. There is another reason why the dead are raised on the last day, a reason given by Paul at the end of 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “And so we will always be with the Lord.” The eternal age of glory is designed to fulfill the covenant purpose of God. God’s purpose in salvation is “to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Titus 2:14).

This leaves one last, vitally important question: How do we know that we will be raised? How can we be sure that there will be a resurrection of all the dead on the last day, the just into glory and the unjust into eternal death? Paul gives the answer in verse 4:15: “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord.” Paul does not seem to be referring to any statement of Christ’s that is known to us, so this is probably a revelation given directly by the risen Jesus to the apostle. Where else can we learn about life beyond the grave and the end to the history of the world than from the One who is the Alpha and Omega of all things? If the Bible is true, as it can be shown to be by its many proofs, then God’s Word is the message to which we must affix our hopes and commit our hearts in faith.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 Study Questions:

How are you glorifying God with your body? Are you a good steward of the temple (your body) of the Holy Spirit?

What is the purpose of the resurrection body?

What happens to the body of an unbeliever?

How does this study encourage you to share the gospel?

In writing to the Thessalonian Christians, Paul expressed concern that they did not possess full confidence in victory of death. He therefore wrote to them: “But we do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (v. 13). The problem the young church had was not fears regarding the joy of witnessing Christ’s return, the timing of the resurrection, or the sequence of the rapture, but rather the fear that only those who were alive when Christ returned would finally be saved. Being uniformed about the situation of Christians who have died, they were tempted to grieve for them without hope.

This problem shows that the early believers expected Christ’s return at moment. Perhaps Paul’s teaching on this and other subjects had been cut short by his hasty departure, so that there were still errors and doubts. In the meantime, some of their number had died, perhaps by violent persecution, and they feared that one had to be alive when Christ returned to experience the resurrection.

Paul’s response to this problem, as with other problems of Christian experience, is instructive. He expressed his desire that “we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers” (v. 13). The answer to questions of doubt, confusion, or distress is the plain teaching of God’s Word. So many problems in the experience of believers today likewise stem from ignorance of biblical truth, so that the great need of God’s people is the careful teaching of Scripture. The way for Christians to be strong in faith was given by Peter at the end of his second epistle: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

What are the biblical truths that give believers hope in the face of death? Paul provides these truths in verse 14: “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring him those who have fallen asleep.” Christ performs three great works – two of which have already happened, and one for which we await – that give hope to believers in the grief of death.

The first cause for our hope is the sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ: “We believe that Jesus died” (v. 14). The source of our chief fear in death – God’s just judgment of our sin and the eternal punishment it deserves – has already been removed by Jesus, who bore that punishment in the place of all who believe in Him. Jesus taught, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me…does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). The Bible teaches that the very Lord who will return to judge the living and the dead is the Savior who died on the cross for the sins of His people. Because “we believe that Jesus died,” we know that sinners are reconciled to God by the grace that sent Jesus to the grave on our behalf.

The second cause for the Christian hope in death is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again” (v. 14). Christ has conquered death by His own resurrection, and in this way has guaranteed the resurrection of all who confess their sins and trust in Him. The resurrection proves to believers that our Savior still lives and reigns with power to complete our salvation. Paul further stated in 1 Corinthians 15:20 that Christ’s resurrection is proof that all His people will likewise be raised from the dead: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” This means that the future resurrection of all believers is the continuation of Christ’s resurrection conquest of death. His resurrection was the firstfruits, and the resurrection of all Christians will be the full harvest.

Finally, and as the conclusion of his sequence, Paul asserts that Christ, having died and risen from the grave, will return with all the souls under His care: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (v. 14). Since the souls of sleeping believers are present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), it follows that His return includes their return to earth. Therefore, when a fellow believer dies, Christians should never say, “We will never see him again!” Instead, Christians should rejoice in the certain hope that we will see beloved Christians when Christ returns, when together with Jesus all the people of God in heaven will join those on earth for the resurrection glory of the Lord.

Paul’s main point is clearly made: believers who die in Christ through faith will return with Christ, by the Father’s will, to participate in His second coming and join their resurrected bodies in the glory of the Lord. Paul urges the believers to “encourage one another with these words” (v. 4:18). This encouragement rests on the solid foundation of what God has done and will yet do: “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (v. 14).

Since it is “through Jesus” that God brings souls back from heaven for a resurrection into glory, it is urgent that sinners come now to Jesus in faith to receive eternal life. To those who believe in Him – and to these only – Jesus spoke words of consolation and hope: “I am the resurrection and the life,” adding, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Paul anticipates this resurrection life when he concludes” “And so we will always be with the Lord” (v. 17). This is our hope as well, if only we come to Jesus for salvation now, humbling ourselves in faith and adoring Him as Lord, seeking the eternal life He grants to all who call on His name and believe in Him.

1Thessalonians 4:13-14 Study Questions:

Why do you think Paul was concerned about the Thessalonians possessing full confidence in victory of death?

What is the great need for believers today?

Why is it important to “encourage one another with these words” (v. 4:18)?

To be a Christian is to hold a particular understanding of history. This point was made by Augustine of Hippo in his great book The City of God. The Greco-Roman world in which Augustine lived viewed history as a circular process without end. Most non-Christians in the ancient world believed that the same things would happen over and over without any ultimate meaning. Augustine pointed out that the incarnation of God’s Son and His atoning death on the cross were nonrepeatable events showing that history moved forward according to God’s redemptive plan. Today, the secular humanist believes in “progress,” trusting man’s ingenuity to solve problems and open up new horizons of opportunity. Instead, the Bible-believer holds that history is racing toward the second coming of Jesus Christ, after which the Lord will judge the world and God’s eternal purposes of salvation will be fulfilled. These differing views of history produce different kinds of lives, a point that highlights the importance of biblical eschatology to the Christian.

The Greek word eschatos means “last,” so eschatology is simply the study of the last things. According to the Bible, believers need to know where history is going, in terms of both our personal histories beyond the grave and God’s plan for the future of the world. Christians are pulled forward, Paul said, by “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The importance of understanding Christ’s return is seen in the example of the apostle Paul. It is evident that Paul highlighted teaching about Christ’s return during his short stay in Thessalonica. When news reached Paul that the new believers were confused on this subject, he provided extensive information in both of his letters to them. “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers” (v. 4:13), Paul wrote. Likewise, there is no reason for believers today to be uninformed about Christ’s second coming.

At the heart of Paul’s eschatology are his statements regarding the “coming of the Lord” (v. 15). Focusing on the event itself, Paul highlights three features of the second coming. The first feature is the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. Paul writes, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven” (v. 16). The Bible teaches a literal, bodily return of the same Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave, and then ascended into heaven. Acts 1:9 relates that two angels appeared to the disciples who had watched Jesus ascend. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,” they said, “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Paul tells us that this promise will be fulfilled when Jesus physically returns on the clouds to the very world He departed.

Paul’s second emphasis regarding Christ’s return is the visible manifestation of His glory. He writes: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (v. 16). This description rules out any idea of a hidden or invisible return of Christ. In Paul’s clearest teaching of what is often called the rapture – a word that describes God’s people as being “caught up” – Christ’s return is anything but secret: “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (vv. 16-17). This visible nature of this event is amplified in related descriptions of Christ’s return. Revelation 1:7 explains, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” And Jesus taught: They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).

Paul’s description in verse 16 emphasizes not only the visible but also the audible nature of Christ’s coming: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” It is clear in Paul’s description that when Christ comes to take His people forever (he concludes: “so we will always be with the Lord,” v. 17), this event involves the visible, audible display of Christ’s glory to all the earth. Jesus taught, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:27).

It is clear from Paul’s teaching that Christ’s return will conclude and culminate all of history. In addition to being a personal, visibly glorious return, the second coming will be Christ’s history-concluding return. We should note that the coming and appearing of Christ in glory is not an event that precedes the final episode of God’s plan for history but is rather an event that brings about the end of history. This rules out, again, an idea of the rapture in which Christ returns only to depart so that more history can be played out, since the return that Paul describes actually ends history. It also rules out the premillennial view of eschatology, the view that there will be a thousand-year period after Christ returns, during which God fulfills His purpose for the people of Israel, and after which occurs the final crisis of history. Instead, the return of Christ is the final crises of history and the last day of which Scripture so frequently speaks. The return of Christ does not usher in additional phases of history, but is simultaneously the end of this present age and the consummation of the eternal age that is to come.

What are the final results of history that are brought about by the coming of the Lord? The first is the judgment of all people who have ever lived. Paul’s description of Christ’s return includes a summons to this judgment, as the Lord descends “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” as Christ appears “in the clouds” (vv. 16-17).

The second result of Christ’s return may be regarded as the reverse side of the final judgment, namely, the deliverance and vindication of those made righteous in Christ. The blowing of trumpets in the Bible signals not only God’s judgment but also the gathering of God’s people for salvation. Just as Leviticus 25 called for the sounding of trumpets on the Day of Jubilee, signaling release from bondage and liberty for God’s people, so also this final trumpet-blast, the signal for the dead to arise, for the living to be changed, and for all the elect to be gathered from the four winds (Matt. 24:31) to meet the Lord…, proclaims liberty throughout the universe for all the children of God.

Third, Christ’s return culminates history by fulfilling God’s sovereign purpose in the eternal kingdom of Christ. This purpose was revealed to Daniel when he saw Christ as “a son of man” who came “with the clouds of heaven” to the “Ancient of Days” in order to receive “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” The angel told Daniel that this begins and eternal reign: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13-14).

The purpose of this study has been to introduce Paul’s teaching on Christ’s second coming in his letters to the Thessalonians, which we will examine in greater detail as we continue working through the apostle’s text. Paul will make his own applications to the particular situation of his readers, starting with their need to understand the death of believers in light of Christ’s coming. In concluding this introductory study, however, we can make a few applications that flow generally from Paul’s teaching on the second coming of Christ.

The first application is that we should receive and teach the second coming as a message of comfort for all who have trusted in Jesus for salvation. It is true that when our Lord returns, there will be a final judgment of all sin. But having trusted in Christ for our forgiveness and justification, we rejoice that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Christ’s return should not be taught to frighten Christians but to comfort us regarding the glorious salvation that will soon arrive in the coming of the One who loves us. It is true that the New Testament warns believers to be awake and ready, but Paul asserts that by trusting in Christ, all believers can be confident in the day of His coming (1 Thess 5:9-10).

Second, since the coming of Christ will bring us into His presence in order to share His glory, Christians should begin glorying in Jesus now. One of the chief problems with so much end-times fervor today is that attention is devoted to practically everything except to Christ Himself. Paul sums up his message of Christ’s return with these words: “and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (vv. 17-18). Encouraged with the thought of being with Christ, let us treasure our present communion with Him, the One who is near to His people in His Word, in the secret place of prayer, and at the communion table of His covenant meal. Let Christ’s presence through the Holy Spirit be the glory of our church and our dearest treasure while we await the greater glory of His coming with the clouds.

Third, the return of Christ calls Christians to readiness in the midst of this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Hebrews 4:3 warns us that there is no salvation apart from following Christ, since only “we who believed [will] enter that rest.” Meanwhile, believers who might be tempted to despair because of persecution, or led astray by the temptations of sin, or distracted by the siren songs of this world, “are encouraged by the prospect of Christ’s return, when He will grant them relief from their present distress and victory over their enemies, who are also His enemies.

Finally, the coming of the Lord presents a fearful prospect of judgment and condemnation for all whose sins have not been forgiven through the blood of Christ. The Lord will return, Paul warns, “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).

Knowing this, Christ’s people urgently pray and tell others the good news of salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. We declare the return of the great Judge, whose sword is sharp and whose books document every deed. We hold forth the grace and mercy of Christ for all who repent and believe, declaring His own words that “whoever…believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Therefore, we appeal to all who have not believed and thus face the prospect of eternal judgment in the coming of the Lord. Paul wrote: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation…We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 5:19-6:2).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Study Questions:

Along with sex and money, the third practical issue that Paul discusses with the young Thessalonian church is this chapter of death. What are the issues that the Thessalonians are concerned about in verses 13-18?

How is the grief of Christians still truly grief but grief with hope instead of hopelessness?

Verse 14 repeats one of the earliest Christian creeds, “Jesus died and rose.” Because we know He has defeated death and now has a new, resurrected body, we can have the same hope. How should this knowledge of the future make a difference in the way we live now?

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?

The Thessalonian church was a remarkable body of believers making a striking impact on their world for Jesus Christ, despite their weakness and persecution. Seeing this causes us to ask, “What made the Thessalonians such dynamic Christians?” The same answer is repeatedly given by Paul: the Thessalonians “received the word” (1:6), the gospel’s having come to them “not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1:5). These believers had been brought to life through the mighty working of God’s Word! And what was their chief conviction regarding the message they received? Paul states: “You received the word of God, … not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God” (2:13). This same question – is the Bible the word of man or of God? – will largely determine the vigor and fidelity of Christians today.

The first part of this question is much disputed today. Is the Bible merely the word of men? In answering this question, we must admit that in a number of important ways, the answer is Yes. This is why Paul refers to the Word “which you heard from us” (v. 13).

The sixty-six books of the Bible were written down by real men, with all their limitations and peculiarities. The Bible did not fall down from heaven completely written, leather-bound, with maps and concordance appended! Instead, the Bible came together through a process that took place over a thousand years. The human writers of Scripture possessed a wide variety of experience, personality, and character. Moreover, the full range of human characteristics is evident in the biblical materials. Using 1 Thessalonians as just one example, this letter was written because of the human circumstances described in it, with the personal experiences of Paul and his readers on full display, including joy, thanksgiving, anxiety, and relief. It is a letter written by a man to other men and women, with its humanity integrally woven into every verse.

In saying that God’s Word is not the word of men, therefore, Paul does not mean to deny the genuinely human process involved in its composition. Rather, his particular concern has to do with the origin of the Bible and its teaching. Does the Bible present ideas, convictions, doctrines, promises, commands, and precepts that merely reflect what man – the human author – has to say, or is it instead the Word of God, so that ultimately it is God who speaks to us through the very words of Holy Scripture? On this Paul is insistent: the Bible presents to us, through human means, the very Word of God.

When Christians are challenged to defend the assertion that the Bible is God’s Word, there are two main ways to do so. The first is to point out the Bible’s self-attestation, that is, what the Bible says about itself. Does the Bible present the ideas of fallible men, so that however well-meaning the human authors were, their ideas were limited, historically and culturally, and at least occasionally wrong? According to its own testimony concerning itself, the Bible is God’s revealed Word to mankind and not the word of man about God. It was God who providentially created, guided, and through the Holy Spirit inspired each biblical writer to give exactly the message that God had designed. Therefore, as Hebrews 1:1 teaches, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.”

The second and even more potent way of demonstrating the divine nature of Scripture is simply to read it and have the Holy Spirit press upon our hearts the awareness that God is speaking through His Word. The most compelling reason on which our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority of the bible rests is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts. Paul wrote of this inward testimony to the Corinthians: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12).

The Thessalonian Christians became strong in the Lord not only because they received Paul’s teaching as the Word of God but also because of the mighty working of God’s Word in and among them. It is “the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (v. 13). The Thessalonians grew strong in grace not merely because they received God’s Word but also because of what God’s Word did in them as they believed it. Paul rejoices that God’s Word works “in you believers”, which reminds us that God’s Word calls us to a faith that believes and receives. Thankfully, it is God’s Word itself that produces the faith by which it works. As Paul wrote, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Having believed God’s Word, we must further open our hearts and minds to the Scriptures, which not only are “breathed out by God,” but are also “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:1`6-17).

One result of God’s Word in every true believer’s life is the strengthening of faith that enables the Christian to persevere under hardship. Paul emphasizes this work in the Thessalonians: “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews” (v. 14). Paul knew all about the persecution that the original believers had suffered in Jerusalem, since he himself had been their chief persecutor. After he was brought to faith by the resurrected Jesus. Paul himself shared in the suffering of the church. The unbelieving Jews, he said, “killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out” (v. 15).

Are you willing to endure persecution for your faith? Are you willing to remain faithful to Christ and live according to His Word even if it means being shunned, ridiculed, or wickedly injured? The only true faith is that which is willing to suffer with Jesus. He said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it? (Luke 9:24). Are you willing to miss out on worldly pleasures in order to live boldly for Jesus and offer your life for his gospel? True faith answers yes, because the Word has worked mightily through faith. This is how Christians today stand boldly next to Martin Luther, holding fast to the Word of God before the world, declaring, “Here I stand, I can do no other!”

Paul’s description of the persecution suffered by the Thessalonians contains a final word of warning that challenges anyone who hears God’s Word but does not combine hearing with faith. Paul said that unbelieving Jews “killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved – so as always to fill up the measure of their sins” (vv. 15-16).

These verses describe what the unbelieving world has always done: having crucified Jesus under Pontius Pilate, the world continues to crucify Him in mocking unbelief, despising the cross on which Jesus died to save sinners. As unbelieving Israel so frequently slew the prophets who spoke God’s Word, Israel also refused to tolerate the apostles and the early Christians who preached the gospel of God’s grace through faith. Today, secular humanism devotes its energies to removing a witness to Christ from every public sphere and place. Since the gospel is God’s good news of salvation through Jesus, God is displeased by the persecution of His Word. Such persecution opposes the true well-being of all mankind “by hindering us from speaking…that they might be saved” (v. 16).

Paul did not hesitate to point out that for those who refuse the salvation offered in God’s Word and provided at such cost by God’s Son, there can be only divine wrath in the final judgment. God’s wrath equates to the just and violent punishment that will be inflicted from heaven on all who persist in sin and unbelief.

Yet Paul knew that God has saving grace even for persecutors who are living out the curse of God’s wrath against their sins. The apostle described himself as the chief of sinners (1 Cor. 15:9). Yet Paul had a testimony of saving grace that came to him through hearing the gospel. That grace came to him through the Bible’s message, which is not of men but of God. God’s Word declares God’s holy wrath on sin, especially for those who wickedly oppress Christ and His gospel. But that same Bible offers salvation to anyone who believes the Word of salvation that Paul loved to preach.

1 Thessalonians 2:13-17 Study Questions:

Suffering is a reality in our world today for believers. How does the church today react to suffering?

Believing passionately that God’s salvation was for them (Jews) only, these Jews regarded as blasphemous the message of a crucified Messiah who offered salvation on equal terms to Gentiles as well. What reasons do people have today for not wanting this message promoted?

We are often uncomfortable discussing God’s wrath. How do different churches or different people in the church today respond to the idea of God’s wrath?

In today’s world, it is not typical for sons to follow in the occupations of their fathers. Throughout most of human history, however, virtually all sons followed in the steps of their fathers. In that world, fatherhood involved training your sons to enter into your work. Along these lines, Paul writes to the Thessalonians that he ministered to them “like a father with his children” (v. 11). A father obligates himself to prepare his sons for life in the world, and likewise Paul sought to raise his converts to maturity in faith and godliness.

Together with verse 7, in which Paul compared himself to “a nursing mother taking care of her own children,” verse 11 provides a balanced parental picture of spiritual leadership. As Paul continues to defend his ministry from the accusations of those who opposed the gospel, he not only sets a standard for pastors and other spiritual leaders today, but also tells us how any of us can be used by God to make a decisive difference in the lives of other believers.

As Paul exhorts his spiritual children in Thessalonica, his motto for the family of believers might be “Worthy of the Calling.” This was the theme, at least, to which Paul directed his fatherly leadership: “walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (v. 12). As other fathers trained their sons to follow in the work of blacksmiths, farmers, or soldiers, Paul was training his spiritual sons and daughters to consecrate their lives in service to God and Christ’s kingdom.

According to Paul, these believers should think of themselves as those call by God “into his own kingdom and glory” (v. 12). They were saved not because they had sought God but because God had sought and called them to Himself. Salvation results from God’s sovereign summons, which, in tandem with the ministry of His Word, brings about the new birth and saving faith. These Christians had been born again to faith in Christ, and now they were to live as those who had been called by God to enter into His kingdom and glory.

When Paul speaks of “walking” in a worthy manner, he refers to the lifestyle that believers are to embrace. We may understand this from a secular example. When a solder is called into an elite special-forces unit, he is expected to display a standard of valor, fitness, and skill that is a cut above that of the average fighter. Likewise, when a sinner has been called into salvation through Jesus Christ, entering God’s kingdom and becoming an heir of glory, he or she is obligated to leave behind former ways of sin and embrace a new life of practical godliness and service to the Lord.

Are you pursuing a walk that is worthy of your calling? Or are you living a life of halfhearted obedience to God’s Word? Do you sincerely trust in Jesus Christ, yet are portions of your life governed by the world’s rules instead of His? While giving your worship to Jesus, are you withholding your time, your money, or some sinful habit from Him? According to Paul, this is no way for a Christian to live. Nor should you think that Christ will settle for a lukewarm devotion and halfhearted service. For a Christian to be worldly is to walk in a manner unworthy of his or her calling. Since Paul insists that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6), you should expect Him to intervene in your life so as to motivate you to embrace the high calling that you have received.

Paul had a clear idea of what he was aiming to see in the new believers’ lives. He also knew that in order to serve as a good spiritual father, he must first set a worthy example for his children. He thus reminded the Thessalonians of their personal experience in watching how Paul lived. Not only should they realize that the slanderous accusations against the apostle were false, but they should also notice his example in order to imitate his lifestyle of faith.

First, Paul set an example of hard work: “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you” (v. 9). The apostle was careful not to give the impression that the purpose of his ministry was to enrich himself; rather, his motive was to bring salvation to his hearers. He therefore refused financial support from the new believers. Paul received financial aid from other, more established churches, but he also engaged in manual labor to support his needs.

Second, Paul set an example in faithfully witnessing the gospel: “while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (v. 9). Paul was a herald called to preach the gospel. It was not a message concerning which he had liberty to innovate or modify doctrines on his own, but rather he preached the “gospel of God,” a message fixed by God’s revelation.

Third, Paul set a clear example of personal holiness before his spiritual children: “You are witnesses, and God also, of how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers” (v. 10). By emphasizing “you believers,” Paul suggests that while the world might be slandering him, the believers knew the truth about Paul’s life. Paul knew that the new believers greatest need was his personal holiness. The same is true of every spiritual leader, whether a pastor, a father, or anyone else who desires his or her example to promote the spiritual well-being of other believers.

In addition to setting a godly example for his spiritual children through his labor, his witness, and his godliness, Paul also faithfully ministered to them: “We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (v. 12). Paul describes his ministry in three ways, the first of which focuses on exhortation: “We exhorted each one of you.” This means that Paul set before his people the clear biblical expectations for a believer. Later in this letter, Paul will give some pointed exhortations, commanding the Thessalonians to pursue sexual purity, brotherly love, and a quiet, useful life (1 Thess. 4:3-12).

Second, Paul ministered encouragement to the Thessalonians: “We…encourage you” (v. 12). Paul indicates that he engaged in extensive personal ministry to each of the believers in Thessalonica, saying that he exhorted and encouraged “each one of you.” We must also give personal attention to those who are discouraged or weak. We encourage one another by recalling God’s promises of salvation for all who trust in Jesus. One encouraging promise was spoken by Jesus in John 10:27-28: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Every Christian – not just those who are spiritual fathers – is called to encourage his or her brothers and sisters. This requires us to come alongside others with words and actions that will strengthen them in Christ. Encouragement may mean bearing the load for them; it may mean prayer, companionship, or sharing our conviction that God is faithful based on our experience of His loving care.

Third, Paul entreated the believers to press on in faith and godliness: “We…charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (v. 12). The idea here is bearing testimony so as to motivate those who may be growing weary in their lives of faith. Here the caring heart of a father comes alongside a child and reminds him that all his labors will be worthwhile in the end, that the cause is noble and true that the power to persevere will be given in answer to the prayer of faith. Paul would provide this ministry to his closest spiritual son, Timothy, in his final letter (2 Tim. 4:7-8). Just as Paul counseled Timothy, our spiritual encouragement in Christ is intended to keep us going on the path of faith, godliness, and Christian service.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 Study Questions:

In his dealings with the Thessalonians, Paul could afford to be gentle, caring and loving. He wasn’t secretly out to gain anything from them; he simply and genuinely wanted the love of God to embrace them, and as he worked among them, he found that his own love was drawn to them as well. In what specific and concrete ways mentioned in verses 9-12 did Paul and his companions minister to or disciple the Thessalonians?

The central thing that Paul wants the Thessalonains to do (v. 12) is, literally, to “walk worthy of God.” The word walk is a regular Pauline word for “behavior,” following the standard use of the equivalent Hebrew word. Behavior is seen as a matter of putting one foot in front of the another; good behavior is taking care of the direction and placing of those feet. How does the example and ministry of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy help to encourage the Thessalonians to behave “in the manner worthy of the God” who calls them?