The Heart Of Paul’s Theology: Paul And The ThessaloniansSample

 Thanksgiving: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

In 1:2-10, Paul explained that he thanked God for the Thessalonians’ endurance through suffering. As we have seen, unbelieving Jews and Gentiles persecuted the believers in Thessalonica. But the believers did not waver in their commitment to Christ. Instead, their hope in him grew strong. Consider Paul’s praise for them in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7:

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the message with joy from the Holy Spirit, despite your severe suffering, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7).

The Thessalonians responded to persecution joyfully, and their faithfulness was exemplary.

In 2:1-12, Paul continued by expressing gratitude for the Thessalonians’ firsthand knowledge of him. This was important because false prophets had subsequently challenged Paul’s motives. In 1 Thessalonians 2:9-10 he wrote these words:

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil; working night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you, we preached the gospel of God to you. You and God are witnesses of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed (1 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

The false prophets had tried to discredit Paul by claiming that he had taken advantage of the Thessalonians and that he had misled them and abused his authority over them. Apparently, at least some of the believers had begun to believe these false rumors. For this reason, Paul told them how happy he was that they had seen him with their own eyes. And of course, he did so in order to remind the Thessalonians that they knew him well enough to reject the false accusations. 

In much the same way, in the third section of thanksgiving found in 2:13-16, Paul gave thanks that the Thessalonians had recognized his authority. Consider the way he put it in 1 Thessalonians 2:13:

We also thank God constantly because when you received the word of God, which you received from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, God’s word, which is working in you who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The Thessalonians had received Paul’s teaching as the very Word of God, giving him confidence that that they would remain faithful to his teaching and reject the false prophets.