1 Thessalonians 1–3: Idols & The Living God

Adversity, Christian Life, Church, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Joy, Love, Perilous Times, Read the Bible in 2023, SufferingLeave a comment

Read the Bible in 2023 ◊ Week 30: Sunday

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,
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To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
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We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father, knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
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You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 LSB
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Sunday’s Bible reading is 1 Thessalonians 1–3. I don’t usually quote this much for the opening verses of a post, but the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians is so marvelous I wanted to give you a taste of the letter so that if you’ve never read it before you will dive into it.

In 1 Thessalonians you find a new church, a healthy church, a church that resonates with love for God and love for each other. Paul’s loving pastoral care runs through this letter. If any letter reminds me of my early days as a believer during the Jesus Movement, it’s this letter. I even remember the guy who shared the good news about Jesus with me, later teaching from 1 Thessalonians 2 on the discipling of new believers. I was blessed to experience the kind of nurturing of young Christians that Paul describes in that chapter.

For the women’s Bible study in a new church, I co-wrote and co-taught a study of 1 Thessalonians. There were new Christians present and some women who had been believers in Jesus for decades. We had a wonderful time slowly working our way through this letter discussing the Lord Jesus and our lives together as Christians.

In these opening verses of 1 Thessalonians, Paul mentions they received the Word in much tribulation. You can find the background of this church in Acts 17:1-15. As Paul, Silas and Timothy traveled through Macedonia, they came to Thessalonica. There Paul proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ, and Jews and many Gentiles became believers. This upset other Jews, and a mob gathered to riot. In the aftermath Paul and Silas were released, sent away, and left for Berea, where again, many became believers. However, when Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching in Berea, they went there and stirred up the people. The Bereans then sent Paul to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained. That gives you an idea of the atmosphere of the city this brand-new church was in. Yet they were not buckling under persecution, they were thriving!

This begs the question as to why were they thriving? The letter tells us.

For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 LSB
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Paul traces how the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God:

They received God’s Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1:6); they received God’s Word not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God (2:13). They turned to God from idols (1:9).

Paul’s triad of faith, hope, and love makes its entrance as he describes their transformed lives.

…remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father,
1 Thessalonians 1:3 LSB
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Their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope is witness to their true conversion. Their faith in Christ was proved authentic by their transformed life (1:6–7). Their love was proved authentic by their practice to their fellow believers in Macedonia (4:9–10). Their hope was proved authentic by their endurance under suffering (2:14–15b).

So Paul rejoiced and was comforted when Timothy brought him news of how the Thessalonian church was doing.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always remember us kindly, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 3:6–8 LSB
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Think for a moment about all that Paul had gone through as he bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Macedonia. He and Silas had been beaten and imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16). They had to leave Thessalonica by night because a mob attacked some of the new Christians there. Then, when they had a warm reception by the Bereans, Paul has to leave because some of the Thessalonicans came to stir up trouble in Berea (Acts 17). It’s no wonder Paul wrote for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord!

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
1 Thessalonians 1:8 LSB
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Paul later wrote to the church at Corinth:

But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 LSB
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The church at Thessalonica is a model and encouragement to us in our growth as Christians. Their example of faith, hope, and love is one to imitate.

Paul closes chapter 3 with this prayer for the believers in Thessalonica:

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you, and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you, so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 LSB
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His prayer is a wonderful model for us to pray for ourselves and others. May God cause us to increase and abound in love and strengthen our hearts blameless in holiness.

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Silvesterzug Laterne: Bk muc. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Cross, Anchor, Heart Intertwined: adapted from Cross, anchor, and heart for Faith, Hope and Charity(=Love) by Caritas1. Public Domain.

I’m using Michael Coley’s Bible reading plan (one page PDF to print) to read through the Bible in 2023. Each day my posts are on different books because he divides Bible readings into seven categories, one for each day of the week: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels. There’s more information on his plan and other ones at Read the Bible in 2023.

Copyright ©2011–2023 Iwana Carpenter

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