1 Thessalonians 1 - What A Good Church Looks Like?
Insight for Living Commentary on 1 Thessalonians
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
This is Paul's standard greeting and includes who he is writing to and with. Paul includes his two trusted colleagues, Silas and Timothy. Shortly thereafter, Paul would send young Timothy to pastor the church for a season.
Thessalonica was a major city in the Roman province of Macedonia, located in what is now northern Greece. (Google AI)
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul indicates the close relationship he had with the church, and as usual shows that he prays for all of the churches that he had started and knew about.
Do you pray for other churches near you and those abroad?
Paul affirms that their fruitfulness as a church which was based on their faith, love and hope. They had gone through hard times, but by clinging to these three essential qualities, they were still able to thrive. The same is true for any church today.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The Thessalonians showed their true faith not just by hearing the gospel, but receiving it with great power through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brought a deep conviction of their need for faith in Christ. It is always the Holy Spirit that is at work when we preach the gospel of Jesus to draw people to faith. The conviction is twofold. One, that we all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Two, Jesus died for our sin and if we believe in him we will receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Martin Luther highlighted the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing someone to salvation in his explanation to the Third Article of the Creed. He said,
"I cannot by my own understanding or effort come to know Jesus as Lord. By the Holy Spirit has called me, enlightened me, and sanctified me in the one true faith."
Salvation from start to finish is God's work in us, as we accept and receive his free offer of salvation through Jesus, His Son!
This was one of Paul's "star churches". Their faithfulness to not only receive the gospel, but to live it out in great power was a model for other churches. When Paul says, "Their message rang out", the word for "rang out" has a lot of meaning which we might not get.
“Sounded forth” means “a loud ringing sound, as of a trumpet blast.” The good work the Lord did among the Thessalonians became known all over the region, and everyone talked about the changes. In a cosmopolitan trading city like Thessalonica, the good news could sound forth in every place to all the earth." (Guzik)
Just like bad news spreads fast, so does good news. In the case many churches in the region heard about the faithfulness of the Thessalonians. Importantly, Paul says that they turned from worthless idols to serve the living and true God.
God is living. He is a real being, not just an imagined. God is true. There is nothing false about him. If there were anything false about Him, he would not be God. The other idols were not living and they were false. They could not deliver on any of their promises. The fact that the Thessalonians turned from idols showed that there was a fair amount of Gentiles in the church.
Finally, one of the great themes in this letter is the return of Christ and the rapture of His followers, both living and those who had already died. This is the clearest teaching on the rapture in the New Testament. The theology of the "rapture" has been a hotly debated topic throughout church history. I like Paul's teaching on the rapture, because it is so clear and concise.
One of the greatest motivators in our life of faith is the promise of Jesus' second coming. We do not know when this will happen, but the scripture tells us to be always ready. We will never know the day or hour of Jesus' return.
If Jesus were to return today, would you be ready? What do I mean by that? Are you living a life worthy of your calling? This doesn't mean you are perfect. None of us are. But is the fundamental trajectory of your life being guided by the Lord in the power of His Spirit?
The bible tells us that Jesus will come like a "thief in the night" 1 Thessalonians 5:2
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