Commentary on 1 Thessalonians

Contents

In a few places the lemma printed in a passage belongs to a neighbouring verse (the digital text misnumbers verses); the passage keeps its staged number.

Reading pages: 0.1–4.14 · 5.1–5.28

1. 0.1The prologue explains that Paul praises the persecuted Thessalonians to spur others on, and the greeting names three bishops though the words are Paul’s alone.
2. 1.2Paul thanks God, the source of all good, for the Thessalonians’ faith, love, and hope, which have become known to other churches.
3. 1.4The gospel came to the Thessalonians not only in words but with signs and the Spirit’s fullness, making them equal heirs of Abraham’s promise with the Jewish churches.
4. 1.6By joyfully enduring persecution from their fellow citizens, the Thessalonians became like Christ and the apostles and a pattern for other believers.
5. 1.8The report of the Thessalonians’ faith, and of its works, has spread everywhere, as Paul also said of the Romans.
6. 1.9The Thessalonians’ conversion from idols to the living God and their waiting for the risen and ascended Christ, flesh and all, were known everywhere, to the shame of worldly wisdom.
7. 2.1Paul’s bold preaching at Thessalonica after his sufferings at Philippi shows the mark of a faithful preacher who does not yield to fear.
8. 2.3Unlike the unsent false apostles who preached for gain, Paul shows by his steadfastness, conduct, and signs that he was approved and sent by God.
9. 2.5Paul calls God to witness that he neither flattered nor sought gain, unlike the false apostles who wanted an excuse to exploit the simple.
10. 2.6Paul refused the support due to an apostle in order to shame the false apostles who sought honor for themselves.
11. 2.8Paul compares his care for the Thessalonians to a nurse’s and wants his affection proved by deeds rather than words.
12. 2.9Paul worked with his hands day and night to set a pattern for Christian life and to expose idle false apostles.
13. 2.10Paul reminds the Thessalonians of his blameless, fatherly conduct and his charge that they walk worthily of the God who called them.
14. 2.13Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians received his preaching as God’s own word.
15. 2.14The Thessalonians shared the sufferings of the Judean churches; Paul denounces the persecuting Jews, explains why he longs to see the Thessalonians in person though Satan hindered him, and calls them his crown.
16. 3.1Paul sent Timothy so that the Thessalonians would not be shaken by the apostles’ sufferings, which had been foretold and are willingly borne for the hope of reward.
17. 3.5Paul sent Timothy, a bishop he had ordained, out of concern for the weaker members whom Satan might seduce.
18. 3.6Timothy’s good report of the Thessalonians’ faith and love explains the joyful tone of Paul’s letter.
19. 3.9Paul longs to see the Thessalonians to teach them the deeper mysteries of the faith, such as the one substance and distinct persons of Father, Son, and Spirit.
20. 3.11Paul prays that the Father and the Son will open his way to the Thessalonians and make them abound in love, blameless at Christ’s coming.
21. 4.1Paul urges the Thessalonians to grow still more in the conduct he taught them.
22. 4.2Paul warns that God’s will is their holiness: to abstain from sexual immorality, to keep their bodies undefiled, and to deal honestly with their brothers.
23. 4.7Rejecting the call to holiness is rejecting God, who gives the Spirit, and Paul urges the Thessalonians, taught by God, to grow in brotherly love.
24. 4.11Paul urges quiet, industrious lives with their own hands so that their conduct may win the respect of unbelievers.
25. 4.12Christians who die in faith are not to be mourned like those without hope, since God will raise them with Jesus; only unbelievers are truly to be mourned.
26. 4.14Paul sets out the order of the Lord’s coming: Christ, the archangel who is God, descends to fight the Antichrist; the dead in Christ rise first, and the living, after a momentary death, are caught up to meet him.
27. 5.1Christ will come suddenly, like a thief, when the followers of the Antichrist feel secure after killing Enoch and Elijah, and will destroy them.
28. 5.4Christians, as children of the day, must stay watchful, armed with faith, hope, and love, since Christ died so that living or dead they may live with him.
29. 5.12Paul asks the church to honor and support its laboring leaders willingly and out of love, as in the double honor due to presbyters.
30. 5.14The strong are to bear with the restless, timid, and weak, repay no evil, and rejoice, pray, and give thanks always.
31. 5.18Prophetic speech should not be silenced but tested against the words of the Lord and the apostles, since the world’s spirit mixes truth with error, as with the Montanist prophets.
32. 5.23Christ, the God of peace, is asked to keep the believer’s spirit whole, which requires a clean soul and a blameless body, for sin estranges them from the Spirit given to us.
33. 5.24God is faithful to his promises, and Paul asks the prayers of those whose right living makes their prayers effective.
34. 5.26A holy kiss is the Christian greeting; anything done without Christ is merely fleshly.
35. 5.27Paul binds them to have the letter read to all, so all may hear his praise and his warnings.
36. 5.28Paul closes wishing the grace of Christ to remain with them for ever.