About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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ch. 1:1     ch.1:2-10     ch. 2:1-17     ch. 2:17-3:6

My Commentary On 1 Thessalonians

Introduction

This commentary is based on the New International Version of the Bible, 1994 addition, and therefore all quotes will be taken from this version.  Chapter titles in this commentary correspond with section titles from the NIV which makes for easier reading and study.

Thessalonica was the  capital of the province of Macedonia .  Paul first visited this city in and around 50 or 51 AD.  The story is told in Acts 17:1 through 9. 

Paul’s first trip to this city was cut very short because some claimed he was teaching that there was another king, instead of the Emperor of Rome.  He therefore escaped from the city by night.  He proceeded on to Berea and then to Corinth.  Paul had great concern for these people, as he did for all of the people he won to the Lord.  His fear was that they might not be able to withstand the persecution that arose in the city due to his visit.  Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica to check up on them and they were doing very well under the circumstances.  Paul was most concerned with their faith, if they still trusted in Jesus.  The church was even growing in numbers despite the persecution.  Timothy met up with Paul at Corinth and told him the good news.   In Acts 18:5 you can read of this account.

We learn from 2 Corinthians  that the Macedonians, which would include Thessalonica were extremely poor yet very generous in their giving.  Paul hoped their example would encourage other churches in the area of giving as well.  

Paul wrote this first letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth near the end of 50 or 51 AD. 

Paul’s Introduction (ch. 1:1)

Paul opens this letter by telling us who the letter is written to, that is the “church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  Paul, in all of his letters makes a strong point by noting that God the Father and Jesus Christ the Lord are unseparatable. Paul, as well as those who claim to be Christians, believe in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For Christians there is no other God.  Christians do not believe in some generic god.

“Grace and peace to you”, Paul says to his readers something that they would surely need lots of due to the persecution they faced on a daily basis.  

The term "grace" has two uses in the New Testament.  One is well known, and that is "God's unmerited, or undeserved favour that He extends to us.  The other is "the ability that comes from God to do His will."   This second understanding of grace is less known.  It is this grace the Paul is most likely speaking of here.  These people were going through major trials, and they certainly needed God's grace, or his ability and strength to survive these trials.  

The term "peace" also has two aspects to it.  One is that we have peace "with" God, meaning, we are no longer enemies to God since Jesus has reconciled us to God.  The other aspect of peace is that we have peace "in" God, meaning, we have a measure of inner peace that can only come from God.    

We should note that both Silas and Timothy were with Paul at the time of this writing.  Both men often accompanied Paul on his trips.  Silas took Barnabas' place after Paul and Barnabas had a dispute that caused them to go separate directions, that is, separate geographical directions, not spiritual directions.  Paul considered Timothy a son in the Lord since he knew him from a youth.    

Thanksgiving For The Thessalonians (ch. 1:2 - 10)

In verse 2 Paul tells his readers that they, meaning Timothy and Silas, constantly remember them in their prayers. 

In verse 3 they thank God for them each time they pray for these people.  Paul says that they “remember before God and Father their work that was a result of their faith, and their labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Note here that Paul uses the words faith and love in the same sentence.  These two words Paul joins together many times in his letters.  You have faith in Jesus, that is to say, you trust him for your life, and as a result you love those God has placed you with. Love is an outworking, a product of the trust we have in Jesus.  To the degree we love, is the degree in which we trust Jesus for our lives. To love as Jesus wants us to love does require real faith, or true trust.  We cannot love on our own as Jesus would have us love.  Love is not a feeling.  Love is actions performed to both to the loving and the unloving.  

Paul also remembers these people’s endurance.  This endurance is in light of the persecution they were going through because of their faith in Jesus. They were enduring these hard times because of the “hope that they had found in Jesus”.  This hope, I believe, is the hope of the resurrection, something that continually drove and motivated Paul in all that he did.  Not all of us have suffered such times where we need to endure as these people did, but in this day and age, I believe the day is coming in the western world where we will suffer for our faith. 

I need to emphasize the phrase "works produced by faith".  This is important due to the fact that we should understand that good works don't, or can't save us.  It is true faith, or trust  in Jesus that saves us.  That being said, once we have true faith, that faith should motivate us to do good works.  Works that count, therefore follow faith.  They don't recede faith.  

Paul says in verse 4 that God has chosen these people.  Is this speaking of predestination?  I don't believe so.  God chooses all to salvation, but not all accept His choice.  Once we do accept His choice, then we can say, God has chosen us.

When Paul first came to the city of Thessalonica he preached the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles, but first to the Jews, as was his practice.  He says here in verse 4 that this preaching was not “in word” alone, but in the power of God which comes from the Holy Spirit.  This only makes sense.  Paul preached Jesus, a man that he claimed to be God and a Messiah, who died and rose from the dead.  If Paul’s preaching was merely words, then his words would sound quite foolish.  But there was a demonstration of power that came with Paul’s preaching.  This power could be seen in miraculous signs and wonders, as well as the inner conviction of the Holy Spirit to those who heard the good news. 

Paul spoke with “deep conviction” which is very evident in all that we read in Paul’s writings.  The more you learn about Paul, who he was, how he lived his life, you see a man with very deep conviction. 

In verse 5 he says, “you know how we lived among you for your sake”. Paul’s way of living can be seen clearly in the second letter that he wrote to the Corinthians.  As he wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, he was in Corinth , a place where there were many problems to solve within the church.  The way he lived among people was a selfless way of life, taking nothing from them, but giving all he had to them.

In verse 6 Paul says that these people “became imitators of us  (Paul and his companions) and the Lord."  He goes on to say, “in spite of the severe sufferings they welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit".  Paul mentions these people to the Corinthian church in order to encourage the Corinthians.  He notes that they were extremely poor as well as having to endure great persecution.

I need to comment on the phrase where Paul says that these people imitated him and his companions.  Some Bible teachers make too much out of this.  They use this verse to prove that we are to submit to another man's authority in Christ, and we are to imitate another man as these people imitated Paul.  The question needs to be asked, "what does Paul mean by the word imitate?"  Without going into great detail here, Paul uses this word in other passages as well.  What Paul is really saying is to imitate his trust in Jesus, his good moral character, and things like that.  He is not saying that these people should imitate him in other ways, such as where he lives, things he likes and dislikes, and so on.  That becomes a dictatorship.  He is speaking of character issues.  Besides this, the phrase goes on to include Jesus as one to be imitated.  In the final analysis, we are to imitate the character of Jesus, not His ministry, or anything else, just His character.  If for some reason Paul did something outside of the character of Christ, I'm sure he would want no one to imitate that.        

We see in verse 7 that Paul really felt good about these people.  He says that these believers “became a model for all of the believers in Macedonia and Achaia”. He says that the “Lord’s message rang out from them,” as sated in verse 8  They were obviously very evangelical in their faith, spreading the good news to whom ever would listen.  But even more than the verbal message they preached, their lives backed up their message.  2 Corinthians 8 shows this to be true.  These people lived out what they believed.

In verses 9 and 10 we see that the reception of the gospel in Thessalonica was well known by everyone in the surrounding region.  Wherever Paul went, he said that he did not have to tell others about them, because the news of the Thessalonians becoming Christians spread quite fast in the region.  Part of what was spread across the countryside was that these people “turned to God from their idols”.  Along with turning from idol worship to Jesus, it is said of these people that they were “waiting for His Son from Heaven”.  They had a strong sense that Jesus would one day return to take them away.  This can be seen later, because one of Paul’s concerns for them had to do with the return of Christ and some bad teaching that was being taught among them.

The return of Jesus was important to these people, as it was to Paul, and as it should be to us.  Part of both letters to the Thessalonians contained teaching on the return of Jesus, something the text says that Paul spoke lots about to them in person.

We read the words, “who will rescue us from the coming wrath” in verse 10.  We see two things here.  One is that Paul, along with most Christians back then, viewed their salvation as a rescue.  They believed that they were rescued from their sins, from the world around them, and from God’s wrath, much like one being rescued from a house that is on fire.  Secondly, Paul is convinced that there is a day coming when God’s anger and wrath will be poured out on those who have rejected His salvation that came through Jesus.  Here Paul says that Christians will escape this day of wrath.  

One thing modern Christian should take more seriously is the idea that we need to escape from the grip of the world.  We don't think much in these terms because we are too much in love with this world.  The Bible clearly teaches that the devil is the god of this world.  It also teaches us not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world.  The first letter of John speaks much about this.  When speaking of the world, I am not talking about creation.  I am talking about the "world system". This is what the Bible means when it uses the word "world".    

Paul’s Ministry In Thessalonica (ch. 2:1 - 16)

Paul opens chapter 2 by telling his readers that his “visit to them was not a failure”.  One might well think that his time spent in Thessalonica was a failure since he only spent three weeks there and had to sneak out at night and escape those who were after him.  Paul just wants these new Christians to know that he does not view his short stay in their city as a failure.

One interesting thing to note concerning this three week stay in Thessalonica is how much Paul spoke about the second coming of Jesus.  We will see in this letter and also in his second letter that Paul spoke much about the return of Christ during these three short weeks.  He clearly understood that Jesus' return was an important issue to teach and talk about. 

It did not really matter where Paul went, in most places he suffered persecution at the hands of those who opposed him.  In verse 2 he said that he suffered in Philippi , a city just north of Thessalonica, where he had visited as well.  So their city was no different than any other.  After being “insulted” in Philippi , “with the help of our God, we dared to tell you the gospel”.  Many would have given up, but not Paul.  This is why he says that he “dared to tell the gospel” to them.                                    

As in Corinth and many other cities, Paul’s opposition accused him of trickery and preaching for wrong motives.  In verse 3 he tells these new Christians that this is far from the truth. He said, “we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel”.  Paul felt that God had given him a trust.  That is , God trusted Paul to perform the job He wanted him to do, and Paul took this trust very seriously.  God approved Paul and gave him the job of preaching His message.  This is why he “appeals” to all that will hear.  The word “appeal” as used in the NIV suggests that Paul had many debates, maybe even arguments with some of those he spoke too.  Paul was forceful at times.  The word "appeal" points to this.  He knew the consequences for those who rejected his message.   

In verse 4 Paul says that he “is not trying to please men but God for it is God who tests our hearts”.  This reminds me of Gal. Chapter 1 where he says very clearly that no man taught him this gospel and that he is pleasing no man by preaching it.  He will stand before God his Father someday to give an account and therefore it is God who he wants to please.  Notice the phrase, "for it is God who tests our hearts."  Paul is speaking to his motives in preaching the gospel. Even in those early days, men had figured out how to make money from preaching.  That was not Paul.  He knew that some day God would test and judge every motive from his heart.   God doesn't just test our actions, but He also tests our motives in our hearts.  That is something we often don't think about, but should.  It is for this reason that Paul says he does not please man.  He does not please man out of rebellion, but out of a healthy fear of God.        

There is a difference between pleasing God and serving man.  Paul pleased God only.  He did not bow down and please man, that is do what they wanted him to do so he could make friends with them.  Yet he pleased God by serving man.  Serving man, is not the same as pleasing man.  We are to serve man.  We are not to please man.

In verse 5 Paul continues to defend his ministry.  He says that “he never uses flattery”,  and never wears a “mask to cover up greed”.  Paul speaks things as they are.  He does not beat around the bush.  He does not use nice words for his own gain, and he is definitely not a greedy man.  As he says, he “does not look for praise from men”. Paul looks for praise from God. When Jesus returns He will give Paul the recognition due him.  You can tell when a man is looking for praise from man.  He says and does things strictly for that reason.   

The phrase "putting on a mask" means that Paul does not make himself out to be someone he isn't.  If he did, he would be a hypocrite.  What you saw in Paul was the real Paul.

Unless you get the idea that Paul is a heartless, non feeling type of man, since he cares little for praise from man, that is not the case.  He may not want undue praise, but he does want people’s love, affection and trust, and it bothers him greatly when he loses this in his friends and fellow believers.   If you read his second letter to the  Corinthians, you'll clearly see this to be true.  

In verse 6 Paul tells his readers “that as an apostle he could have been a burden” to the Thessalonians.  That is, he could have asked for financial support from them.  This is a right of an apostle, yet Paul refused to take any money from these people, as he did with many of the churches.  He felt like “a mother with children”, he says.  He would rather give to these new Christians than to take anything from them.  I'd suggest that all pastors memorize this verse.   

In verse 7 Paul compares himself to a mother, one who treats her children with gentleness. He told the Thessalonians that he treated them with gentleness, as a mother would her children.  This stood out to me because of late I've heard people talking about "spiritual fathers in the Lord."  This is a doctrine that says that Christians should find a "spiritual father" to submit their lives to, something I do not believe the Bible teaches. Paul does state that he was like a father to the Corinthians, just like he says he is like a mother to the Thessalonians, but beyond that, he says nothing about submitting to spiritual fathers, or spiritual mothers.  He is like a father, or, like a mother.  He isn't a father, or a mother.      

In verse 8 Paul says that he “was delighted to share not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well”.  Once again, this was Paul’s lifestyle.  This is the way he lived wherever he went.  This was not true only in Thessalonica.  You can read Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians and see these very same words.

Sharing the gospel and sharing one's life are two different things.  It's easy to preach behind the pulpit, but to get down from the platform and live among those you preach to and serve them is another thing altogether.  We have too many pulpit preachers these days and not enough serving pastors.

In verse 9 Paul reminds these people “that they worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone”.  The word "they" refers to Paul and those working with him. This was over and beyond the call of duty for Paul.  Most Christian workers receive an income for their work, and in today’s world some receive a very good income, yet Paul worked himself night and day and preached the gospel as well, all for the sake of those he ministered to.

Verses 10 through 12 continue the theme of Paul’s defense of his ministry and the godly lifestyle that he lived.  He says that he lived righteously among them and he treated these new believers as if they were his own children, “encouraging, comforting them, and urging them to live lives as worthy of God who calls you into His Kingdom and glory.”  When we become Christians, we enter into God’s Kingdom here on earth.  This Kingdom differs from the future Kingdom of God in that it is spiritual and in part, yet very much a real Kingdom.   As Christians we need to think in terms of  living in 2 kingdoms, or 2 worlds, that is the earthly world around us and the Kingdom of God that is invisible at the moment.  We are in fact representatives of this spiritual and invisible kingdom to the visible kingdoms of men.

In verse 11 Paul compares himself to a father, something I spoke about in verse 7 where he compared himself to a mother.  I believe, just because he compared himself to a father or a mother, does not mean he viewed himself as a father or mother. 

In verse 13 Paul thanks God that these people received and accepted the Word of God into their hearts.  They did not simply view what Paul said as his words.  They viewed these words to be from God and therefore responded accordingly.  We should take the Bible, the Word of God, more seriously than we do.  We should be like the Thessalonians.  If we really believed the Bible to be the real words of God, I believe we'd sure treat the Bible with more respect than we do.  I also believe we would do as the Bible says more than we do as well.   

Notice that Paul says that the Word of God “works” in the believer.  That is to say, the Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit is one real way that God is involved in changing our lives.  I would go as far to say that without  an active participation in the Scriptures, a Christian cannot grow into maturity, and is on dangerous ground, making it easy to slip back into unbelief.  The problem today is that post-modern thinking is infiltrating the church with its de-emphases on the Bible.  This is a tragedy.  

In verse 14 Paul compares the Thessalonians church to the churches in Judea .  They were both “imitators” of God despite the persecution from their own countrymen.  The Jewish church in Judea suffered at the hands of the Jews and the Thessalonians suffered at the hands of the Romans.

Paul says that the Jews who persecute the Judea church were the very ones that killed Jesus in the first place along with the prophets of old. 

Notice the word "imitate" in verse 14.  The Thessalonian church wasn't imitating the Judean church in every respect, only in the respect of how they responded to suffering  This is important because in some circles, some churches try to copy other churches in other localities.  In the process they loose their local flavour.  In other places, some churches try to make other churches be like them.  Both are not Biblical.    

In verses 15 BS 16 we see these people who persecute Christians “are hostile to God and to all men” for what they do.  They also “heap up their sins to the limit”.  These Jewish persecutors were trying to prevent Paul not only from preaching to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles whom they had no authority over.  Paul says that the “wrath of God is now on them at last”. There has been some speculation to just what Paul meant by the idea that these Jews had already entered into God’s wrath.  Some suggest that this may be an allusion to the judgment to come at the end of the age.  Others might suggest that this might even be prophetic, speaking of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the disbursement of the Jews which in fact was a demonstration of God's wrath as seen in His judgment. Yet in another sense of the word, if one is in unbelief, he has already entered into God's'’ wrath, even though the wrath is still to come.  On the other hand, if we enter into faith, we enter into God’s peace.  Jesus, in John 3:18 says that “whosoever does not believe stands condemned already”.  Even though the judgment is in the future, you are presently condemned to God’s wrath, unless you come to faith.  The reverse is also true. 

Note the phrase "heap up their sins to the limit,"  This might simply mean that sins are piled on top of other sins and are noted by God.  Yet some believe, as I do, because of certain Bible passages, that the number of sins committed by people or by nations are numbered, and God knows the final count.  When the final count comes, then judgment comes.  Those who believe this see the final count finally came around 70 AD for the Jews.   

Paul’s Longing To See The Thessalonians (ch. 2:17 – 3:5)

In verses 17 and 18 Paul says that he and his fellow workers were “torn away” from the Thessalonians, yet this tearing away “was in person, not in thought”.   He goes on to say that “out of intense longing” they tried to go back to Thessalonica, but “satan stopped us”.  Now this is interesting.  Here is the great apostle Paul being “stopped by satan”.  Paul believed the opposition that he experienced was directly from satan, and at this juncture he could not do what he wanted to do because satan was in the way.  It seemed that in this instance satan was stronger that Paul.  Or, it might possibly be that God was using satan in order for Paul not to go to Thessalonica at that particular moment.  This is conjecture only.  We really don’t know.   Suffice to say, satan stopped Paul, so if this is the case, he could most likely stop us from doing things as well, unless we are no threat to him and then he would have nothing to do with us, which is probably the case more times than not.  The one thing we learn here is that satan is a powerful enemy and we should take him seriously.  I've often thought concerning some Christian songs we sing, that we make light of satan.  I don't think we should.

Concerning God using satan; God does use him.  He will use the anti-Christ at the end of this age to bring this age to a conclusion.  

In verses 19 and 20 Paul asked the question, “what is our hope, our glory, our crown in the presence of our Lord Jesus?”   Paul answers his own question by saying the Thessalonians themselves were his hope, glory and crown.  Paul’s feeling is that on the day of judgment, the day Christ returns for His people, he will present all those he had responsibility for to Jesus.  This would be the crowning event in Paul’s ministry, to see his people accepted into the presence of the Lord.  This is the joy of his life that he lived for.  Paul would rather have this joy than any joy from earthly possessions.

In chapter 3 verse 1 Paul decided to stay where they were.  In verse 2 he that “when they could stand it no more, they sent Timothy” to Thessalonica.  For some reason Paul could not go himself.  Satan got in his way.  Whether this was because of persecution, an illness, a messenger from satan, thorn in his flesh, we really don’t know.  All that we know is that since Paul could not visit these people, Timothy could, so he sent him “to strengthen and encourage them in their faith.

Note that Paul calls Timothy a fellow worker in the Lord.  In one sense of the word, Paul viewed Timothy as a son, but here he viewed him as a co-worker, one who worked along side of him.  We need to understand that even though Paul considered Timothy as son, he was also a co-worker.  This says something about their relationship.   It was not a heavy handed father/son, submission and authority based relationship. 

In verse 3 Paul mentions the trials these people were going through.  He was deeply concerned about these people, and so he wanted to encourage them, thus the reason for sending Timothy.  Paul tells these people that both him, his co-workers, and the Thessalonians "were destined" to these trials, that is, they were meant to be.  I would imagine that when Paul spoke the gospel to these people he told them that if they gave their lives to Jesus, they would experience troubles.  As a matter of fact, verse 4 tells us just this.  Paul told these people in the three short weeks he was with them, that they would suffer persecution.   They were destined to trouble in those days.  It was to be expected.  I wonder how we would do under such persecution today.     

In verse 5 Paul says that "he could no longer stand it."  He couldn't bare not knowing how these people were doing. He was  especially worried about how their faith was holding up.  Here we see how concerned he was for these people.  He had great love and compassion for those Jesus had led him to.  This is a mark of a great leader in the Lord. 

Paul was concerned about their faith, that is, their trust in Jesus.   Faith is fundamental in being a Christian.  We are saved by faith, that is our trust in Jesus.  We live our lives by faith.  Once again that is our trust in Jesus.  Paul did not want them to give up on this trust they had in Jesus, because losing your faith means losing your salvation.

In verse 5 we the great apostle Paul expresses a fear.  Yes, the great apostle Paul did have fears.  His fear was that “the tempter (satan) might have tempted them and that his efforts might have been useless”.  Paul was afraid that they would give into satan’s temptation to give up.  If this was the case, Paul’s ministry and all the effort he put into it, would be in vain, would be useless.  This would disturb Paul more than anything.  He being a driven man, hated to do anything for nothing, that is, do something and have someone else destroy what he has done.