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1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Before we begin with Pauls first letter to the assembly at Thessalonica, I want you to consider something.
This is the first letter that we have to this assembly. We have two letters; there may very well have been
more.
Paul sent many letters to the assemblies he established, and there is internal evidence that they sent letters
to him (eg 1 Cor 7:1). In fact, its very unlikely that we have all the letters that Paul wrote to them; but
these are the ones that have been preserved throughout time, and have become part of our Scriptures.
Do you think that this was happenstance? Of course not; the Lord, in His sovereignty, oversaw what
writings became part of the Bible; in fact, the Lord is the author of those writings; men were just the
scribes. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3, to a very familiar passage.
[2 Tim 3:16-17] All Scripture is inspired by God literally, it is God-breathed. You could say that God
breathed His thoughts into men, and they breathed them out in written form. Because the writings were
God-breathed, all Scripture is profitable for believers helpful, useful to them for as they read those
words, they can know what God thinks; and as they meditate on His thoughts, theyll begin to learn Gods
ways.
How does Scripture help them? By teaching them thats doctrine; by convicting them of error reproof;
by showing us the truth correction; and by continuing to train us up in the way we should go instruction
in righteousness. Then the man of God is competent, because he had been equipped. Gods word gives us
the necessary skills and tools to be capable in performing every good work to which He calls us.
The letters of Paul that we find in Scripture and all the other letters to the churches in Scripture all have
a basis in history. They were written to specific assemblies, at specific times, and address specific
problems, and needs, and issues.
But because in His sovereignty, God has seen to it that these particular letters have become part of His
Word, we understand that these letters are also for us to teach us, convict us, correct us, and instruct us in
righteousness so that we are equipped to do the good works that God had prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them (Eph 2:10).
This is how we will consider the letters as we read and study them: looking at the historical church to
whom they were written, as well as looking at how they speak to the Body of Christ throughout the church
age and to its members individually. We will be trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (Jn
16:13).
Now with that, were ready to begin our first of Pauls letters to the churches his first letter to the
assembly at Thessalonica.
[Return to 1 Thessalonians]
This letter is thought to have been written about 51 AD thats about twenty years after Jesus was
resurrected from the dead, and had returned to heaven. It may very well be the first preserved letter that
Paul wrote to one of the assemblies he established; some think his letter to the Galatians was first, but I
personally believe that this letter, and Pauls second to the assembly at Thessalonica, preceded his letter to
the Galatians.

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I think the writers of old had a better letter format than we have today. They list the writers name first, and
immediately after, the name of the one to whom the letter is written. With our letters, you have to go to the
end to find out who wrote them (unless its an email). Since this is a fairly short letter, were going to read
the whole thing together first for of course, Paul didnt have chapter and verse breaks in his letter. Then
well go back to the beginning, to the first part of it.
[Read 1 Thessalonians]
Lets return to the beginning.
v. 1 Weve already looked at the background of those in whose name this letter was sent Paul, Silvanus
(the Romanized name of Silas) and Timothy; and weve learned about the culture of the people to whom
the letter was sent the Thessalonians; and we read in Acts about those who came to believe into Jesus in
this city. Notice that the letter was sent in the name of all three of the missionaries who brought the gospel
to Thessalonica.
Remember that Paul, Silas and Timothy had left Philippi, and when they came to Thessalonica, Paul
presented the gospel truths in the synagogue there for three consecutive Sabbaths a three week period.
Some of the Jews who heard Paul were persuaded as well as a great multitude of the Gentile proselytes
and God-fearers, who attended the synagogue service as well.
Paul, Silas and Timothy spent additional time in this city probably several months during which time
many of the pagan Gentiles also came to believe in Jesus. Then opposition from the unbelieving Jews
became so strong that the men were forced to abruptly leave the city (Acts 17:1-10).
After preaching in Berea for a time, 60 miles to the southwest, the missionaries again came under attack,
and Paul had to be quickly escorted out of that city, too. Some of the Bereans accompanied Paul to Athens,
300 miles to the south probably by ship.
Paul sent back word for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him there, but because there was such a poor response
to the gospel in Athens, Paul then turned them around and sent them back to Macedonia, for Paul was
concerned about the persecution by the Jews there.
Silas and Timothy revisited the assemblies in Macedonia and at least Timothy spent some time in
Thessalonica (1 Thes 3:1-7). They then caught up with Paul, who had moved on to Corinth. When Paul
heard Timothys encouraging report about the Thessalonian believers, he immediately wrote them this
letter. You can see that the believers in Thessalonica would have known all three of the missionaries very
well. So Paul, who has just been reunited with Silas and Timothy, reflects his unity and like-mindedness
with them by including the other two as authors of the letter although the letter clearly reflects Paul as the
author.
You may notice that Paul does not name himself as an apostle, as he does in some of his other letters. This
may be because there was no challenge or doubt concerning his authority in Thessalonica; for this assembly
was receptive to Paul, to the gospel he preached, and to the doctrine he taught.

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Lets look at the terms Paul used to describe this assembly in Thessalonica. They are the church of the
Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Although we usually pass right over the word
church it means called-out assembly Id like to share with you the technical use for that word in that
day.
The church, ekklesia, was a term in common use, simply describing a congregation of the called people
ekkletoi. The ekkletoi were those who were called-out, or assembled, in the public affairs of a free state; the
body of free citizens called together by a herald; these constitute an ekklesia a called-out assembly.
You can see how well this term describes the true church the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is
composed of people who have been called out of this world system into the kingdom of the Son of Gods
love (Col 1:13). They are a Body whose members have their citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20), and they are
free citizens; having been justified by the blood of Christ (Rm 5:9), they are free of all charges of sin and
guilt.
And who was the herald who called them together, out of this world, to become members of Christs Body?
The Holy Spirit. It is little wonder that this term, ekklesia, came to describe the community of believers in
Christ.
Now, when the members of the assembly in Thessalonica heard this letter read to them, how would they
have understood that word, ekklesia? Well, those who were former Jews might have thought of a Jewish
assembly for that term was also used to designate a Jewish community, although the term sunagoge,
synagogue began to replace it.
And the Gentiles might have thought of one of their assemblies for they were known by that term, also.
Both groups might have thought this, except for one thing. Paul wrote that this assembly, the church of the
Thessalonians, was in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a unique and remarkable
assembly, indeed.
All of those in Thessalonica who had believed into Jesus became part of a new creation, in Christ (2 Cor
5:17). Those who place their faith in Jesus receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, by which they are
baptized into Christs death; buried with Christ; and have been raised to walk in newness of life (Rm 6:3-4)
His glorious Life, which fits them for heaven.
God, who is unlimited by time, sees them as already complete in Christ. In Christ, through the Holy Spirit,
believers are also in the Father, as Father and Son are One.
Turn to John chapter 17. Jesus spoke these words to the Father in the presence of His disciples shortly
before His death. He spoke of the Oneness of believers with Himself and the Father.
[John 17:20-23] Jesus was not praying for His immediate disciples alone, but was including all believers
down through the church age in His petition to the Father. He prayed that those who believe in Him would
be One in Him and in the Father, as they are One. And the Father, of course, answered the prayer of Jesus,
which was in perfect accordance with His will.
So the believers at Thessalonica and all believers are in Christ by the Spirit, and therefore have this
Oneness in the Father and the Son they are in the believers, and the believers are in them. This is how
believers experience the life and the light and the love of God and through which God reveals Himself to
other men, that they may know Him, as well.

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[Return to 1 Thessalonians]
The church of the Thessalonians is in God the Father this especially points to God as the creator,
preserver, and governor of all men and things, watching over them with a fathers love and care. Those
who are His children are His heirs, who will succeed to the Fathers inheritance.
This church is also in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Pauls letters, there is significance to the way in which he
refers to Jesus. Here Jesus is referred to by His name and two titles. Jesus is His personal name, reflecting
His humanity and His mission, for His name means Yahweh is salvation.
The Greek title Christ (Messiah in the Hebrew) means Anointed One, for this is the One chosen of God
to fulfill His purposes of redeeming mankind. Lord points to His supreme position: He is master, owner,
ruler. He is the one who made us; who bought us; who rules over us; and to whom we owe full allegiance.
One tiny last thing: notice that little preposition in is used only once, and embraces both Father and Son.
Paul was intent on showing the equality between the Father and the Son; for God has highly exalted Jesus,
and given Him the name which is above every name as Paul will later write (Phil 2:9). Jesus proclaimed,
I and the Father are One (Jn 10:30); He is God.
The next phrase is found in all of Pauls letters to the churches: Grace and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Letters of that day routinely contained a similar greeting, but Paul has taken the
routine, and introduced a new thought into it.
Grace is that undeserved, unmerited favor that God gives to the sinner complete forgiveness of sin and
the granting of eternal life. The Greek word for grace comes from a root which means rejoice. Grace
is that which causes joy. Is there any greater joy than in the realization that God has washed all your sins
away, and is bringing you to live with Him in His heavenly home forever?
Such joy brings peace. Now, our English word for peace is a negative concept it means the absence of
war. But this Greek word is the equivalent of the Hebrew shalom which carries the meaning of prosperity
spiritual prosperity, for the whole man.
Because of the great favor God has done us in Christ, we prosper we are blessed. We have been freed
from the penalty of sin; death is no longer an issue for us.
We have the Holy Spirit renewed to our spirit, enlightening us to the mind of Christ. We can choose to let
that mind be in us, and to have power over sin in our lives.
And one day, these bodies will be changed into glorious bodies like that of our Lord, and we will be freed
from the presence of sin forever.
We prosper in every respect spirit, soul and body (1 Thes 5:23). Grace and peace, to you and me, who
have chosen to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.
After greeting this assembly, Paul then begins the body of his letter.
v. 2-4 Pauls greeting is his standard in all of his church letters, but his thanks for this particular assembly
is not; you will find no such thanks written to the Galatian assembly! And Paul told the Thessalonians that

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they thanked God always for them therefore, the Thessalonians must have been consistently obedient to
the truth; and they thanked God for all of them so the Thessalonians must also have been like-minded.
Are you getting the picture, with this assembly? This assembly, which had come into existence only a few
short months before this time, was already demonstrating consistency and like-mindedness they were
living and walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:25). Now, how did Paul know this about them? Because Timothy
had come to Corinth after his visit to Thessalonica, bearing his report concerning these believers; and in
general, they were to be highly commended.
Paul mentioned to these believers that he and his companions kept them in prayer, both in thanking God for
them, and also certainly in praying for their needs. This assembly was a real encouragement to Paul.
Paul then mentioned two reasons why they were so grateful for this assembly at Thessalonica: because of
what they remember about this assembly; and what is it they remember? V. 3 Their response to God
faith, love, hope, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul and his companions are also grateful for what they know about this assembly this speaks of a
perception of theirs. What do they know about this assembly? V. 4 - Their election by God. When Paul
and the others remembered this assemblys response to God, they realized it proved that the Thessalonican
believers were Gods elect.
Paul remembered their work of faith. Paul was not speaking of doing works here; he is saying that he
remembered how the Thessalonians put their faith to work; that is, they exercised their faith, in believing
the truth that was preached to them, about Jesus.
Once a crowd of Jews asked Jesus, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus
answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. (Jn 6:28-29). This is
the only work that a man can do to become righteous the work of faith.
Paul also remembered the Thessalonians labor of love. Labor here is a completely different word than
work; work focuses on the deed itself in this case, faith. The Greek word for labor speaks of toil; a
wearisome effort. This is unceasing hardship, borne for loves sake; expending all of ones energies, out of
love.
What kind of love, would labor like that? Agape. It is notable that agape was a Greek word that was not
used much, until Christians adopted it to describe the love that now flowed in and through them. It wasnt a
new word, but it did carry with it a new idea.
For contrast, consider a common Greek word for love, eros. Eros has two characteristics: its a love of the
worthy, and love that desires to possess. Agape stands in stark contrast to that. It is not a love of the
worthy, but of the unworthy; not a love that desires to possess, but a love that seeks to give. Agape is Gods
love; men are not worthy of it, yet He gives it, simply because He is love (1 Jn 4:8).
This is the love that flowed in and through the community of believers in Thessalonica, because of their
relationship with God; they were in Him, who is Love. It was a love that gave and gave, expending its all
for the sake of others. Consider Jesus.
Paul also remembered the Thessalonians patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. This speaks of
endurance under pressure. How could hope make them endure? Because it was a know-so hope; knowing

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that the Lord would return for them, knowing that they would receive an eternal inheritance from Him.
They kept their eyes on the prize (Phil 3:14).
And Paul said that all was done in the sight of God; Him knowing and approving, for the Thessalonian
believers had proven themselves, by their response to Him, to be Gods elect.
Remember that election is the same thing as being chosen. God election is motivated by His grace (Rm
11:5), by which He chooses men for the purpose of salvation. I want to review this idea of election here,
for in Scripture, there are different groups referred to as Gods elect.
God is the sovereign of the universe. As such, God is the One who does the planning and purposing. He is
the Creator, and has the right to have the say over His creation; to choose its destiny, as He will. Our God
is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Ps 115:3).
It pleased God to make a creation of mankind that could be adopted into His family as full sons, sons of
glory (Eph 1:5), based on believing into the One who God sent, in whom and through whom they would be
accepted as sons (Eph 1:6); placed into the family of God. This is what God purposed for mankind: life
everlasting.
From the time when mankind first sinned in the garden, and brought death into the world, the LORD God
extended His offer to all men life and immortality (2 Tim 1:10), as a son of God in a body of glory to
any and all who would believe in the Coming Christ, and be saved.
The Coming Christ was revealed to men through types and pictures, such as the coats of skin for the first
man and woman (Gen 3:21), and the gospel in the stars (Ps 19:1-6). In this way, God called men to come
to Him through faith in His Christ; those individuals who responded to His call were the elect elected by
God, in His grace, to salvation; to life everlasting. These are the old testament saints, who will have an
inheritance in the earthly kingdom.
When the nations of the earth rebelled against God at the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), it pleased God to
make a nation for Himself. God called one man Abraham out of the idolatry and rebellion of the
nations (Gen 12:1-3), and Abraham responded to God, believing Him for the Christ to come (Gen 15:1-6).
Of Abraham, God made a nation, Israel, through whom God preserved the truth and brought forth His
Christ. Israel was Gods first called-out assembly (Acts 7:38).
The nation was called out of this world, to be His elect, chosen nation; but the nation is still in the world;
they have not yet responded to the call. As a nation, they have not yet believed God for His Christ. They
will become that elect nation in the latter days, when they recognize Jesus as their Messiah (Zech 12:10),
and receive Him as their King. Then Israel will enter into their inheritance in the earthly kingdom.
Meanwhile, in this present age, it pleased God to call out a second assembly. The Coming One had come;
Jesus had completed His work of redeeming mankind. Through the finished work of His Christ, God
extends reconciliation to all mankind, calling them out of the world to Himself through the gospel.
Those who respond to Gods call are elected by Him to life everlasting in the heavenly realm; they are
placed by faith in Christ, as members of His Body, the church of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15) for so it
pleased God, to have a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17).

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Gods election is based on His sovereign right to have the say, as to what to do with His creation. He had
the right to determine its end; and He has the wisdom and power to bring His purposes to pass; but He does
not impose His purposes upon His creation of mankind.
Men are free to choose whether they believe God or not; to decide to submit themselves to Him, and
become a son of God, or not. If they do, they become one of His elect all of whom are foreknown to Him
before the foundation of the world (2 Tim 1:9).

If they choose not to become a son of God, they do not fulfill the purpose for which God created them. As
Creator, God has the right to determine a purpose for His creation, and the Creator has a right to destroy
that which does not fulfill His intended purpose. Men who do not choose God therefore, are by default
choosing for themselves destruction, as a creation of God that refuses to fulfill the destiny that it was
created for.
Returning to our passage, Paul said that he perceived those in the Thessalonian assembly were Gods elect
they were beloved brethren of Paul, Silas and Timothy, in the Lord. Paul was speaking of those elected to
life everlasting as a member of the Body of Christ.
Paul could tell that God had elected these Thessalonians to salvation because of the response they had
toward God (v. 3). Paul then gave further detail of what led to their response, and how it proved their
election by God.
v. 5 So Paul and his companions perceived that the Thessalonian brethren were part of the elect of God
based on how they received the gospel. The gospel was not received by them as a mere string of words, but
in terms of the power of its message.
The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, for everyone who believes (Rm 1:16). The
preaching of the gospel, then, is the operation of a power; the power of the Holy Spirit, to convict the soul,
and to bring about repentance. Turn to Pauls first letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote of when he first
preached the gospel in Corinth.
[1 Corinthians 2:1-5] Paul did not preach like a great orator, skilled in rhetoric because he wasnt. He
did not preach using cleverly worded arguments, or try to persuade through the emotions.
Paul simply preached Jesus Christ, and Him crucified in much weakness, fear and trembling, in fact
maybe because of the cool reception he had received in Athens. But through his simple preaching, those
who received the word were saved a demonstration of the work of the Holy Spirit to convict men, and to
regenerate them.
[Return to 1 Thessalonians]
In verse 5, Paul also writes that the gospel came to them in much assurance. The word assurance means
full conviction. Who was fully convicted, and of what? The next part of the verse gives us a clue as you
know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

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What kind of men were Paul, Silas and Timothy? They were men who lived holy lives; they lived in
submission to God, and so were filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Thessalonians saw what kind of men Paul, Silas and Timothy were they were men who shone forth
the light of God; whose lives bore the fruit of the Spirit, love; they lived what they preached. And that
convinced the Thessalonians that what these men preached was the truth; and they desired that truth for
themselves. The gospel came to them in full conviction that it was really the truth; that it had the power to
save. So they believed it.
Next, Paul recounts the effect of the gospel on these believers.

v. 6-8 The Greek word translated followers means imitators. This does not speak of disciples following
a teacher, but of one imitating the manner of life of another. Paul says that the believers in Thessalonica
imitated them Paul, Silas and Timothy who imitate their Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in
imitating the missionaries, the new believers were imitating the Lord.
Now, Paul did not mean that they were imitating the missionaries actions; trying to apply what they did, in
their own lives. This was not a case of What would Jesus do?, or, What would the missionaries do?
What the new believers were imitating was how the missionaries lived.
How did the missionaries live? By the Spirit. They went to the Lord for guidance, for help, for wisdom,
for patience, for love, for direction. They lived in complete dependence upon Him, yielding themselves to
Him, and their members to Him as instruments of righteousness. And this is what the new believers in
Thessalonica imitated. They had been saved by Grace; now they were learning to live by Grace.
We can know this is what was meant by imitation, because of what Paul stated next: the believers in
Thessalonica received the word in much affliction tribulation yet they had the joy of the Holy Spirit.
You cannot mimic joy, or figure out how to have it.
Joy is a state of being, through the Spirit, by which you transcend circumstances even tribulation. It is a
fruit of the Spirit, that can only be borne though yielding to the Spirit, in the circumstances which clearly,
these new believers had learned to do.
Jesus had said to His disciples, In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer why? I
have overcome the world (Jn 16:33).
These believers could be of good cheer they could have the joy of the Holy Spirit because they were in
Christ, and in Him, they could overcome the world, and the tribulation that comes with it for the believer.
In this, they were truly imitating the Lord, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross (Heb
12:2).
What was the specific tribulation that the believers in Thessalonica were experiencing? It is certain that the
fierce persecution that had been directed at Paul by the unbelieving Jews turned upon the new believers,
after he left the city (Acts 17:1-10). There is evidence later in this letter, and in Pauls second letter to these
believers that there was also a campaign of slander against Paul and his message. So the persecution was
both in word and in deed.

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But the Thessalonians persevered through the tribulation; they withstood the intense pressure, and stood in
the truth; and in so doing, their faith was purified, and strengthened.
What does tribulation produce, in the believer? Tribulation produces perseverance; it causes the believer to
stay under the load. And what does that perseverance produce? Character; the proof of genuine faith. And
what does character produce? A know-so hope, that does not disappoint (Rm 5:3-5).
The genuineness of the Thessalonians faith, proven by severe persecution, rang out as a testimony through
their immediate province, Macedonia, and beyond that into Achaia, to the south. They went from imitating
to leading lives worthy of imitation.

Paul wrote that they were examples to the believers in those places. The word for examples here in the
Greek means model (singular); it originally denoted the mark left by a blow, then any stamped image, then
came to mean a pattern. It refers here to a pattern of conduct, and is speaking of the whole community.
The church at Thessalonica was a pattern, a model of what a community of believers in Christ should be
like. They had the stamp of the Master on them; they reflected Him.
Not only was the assembly in Thessalonica an example to the surrounding communities of believers;
members of the assembly also began to reach out into those communities, and beyond, to those who did not
yet believe, with the good news of Jesus Christ that had come to them. The word of the Lord sounded forth
from them; the verb form means it did so continuously, like a resounding trumpet. They shared the gospel
in Macedonia, and Achaia, and, Paul wrote every place.
Every place? Remember that Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia its largest city. It lay on the east
end of the Via Egnatia, which connected the eastern and western segments of the Roman empire. And
Thessalonica was a major seaport and commercial center.
So those in Thessalonica were carrying the gospel along those land-routes and sea-routes wherever the
Spirit led them. They had indeed become imitators of the missionaries! And their testimony was known
everywhere; Paul had no need to proclaim their faith toward God, because everybody already had heard
about it. Faith is the testimony.
v. 9-10 Instead of Paul telling others about the faith of the Thessalonians, others kept telling him about
how the Thessalonians had received the gospel from Paul and the other missionaries. Their conversion had
been stunning, for apparently, most of the believers there had been pagan Gentiles; they turned to God from
idols.
The pagan world was rooted in polytheism. Their many gods permeated their government, business,
religion and social structures. There was virtually a god to cover every need, and to allow every lust to be
satisfied. The only problem was, these gods werent real; and they never removed the fear of death. A
heathen inscription in Thessalonica read: After death no reviving, after the grave no meeting again.
When Paul came to Thessalonica, he did not preach against their idols, any more than he preached against
Judaism. Paul came to Thessalonica and simply preached Christ. And when these pagans heard the good
news offered to them in Christ, they turned to Him; and in so doing, they turned away from their idols,
forever leaving them behind.

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10

This was the work of faith that Paul wrote of back in verse three: they turned to God from idols. It looks
back on what the Thessalonians came out of; it is their past.
Now, in the present, these Thessalonians served the living and true God. He is alive, as opposed to all their
dead idols; He is genuine, compared to the false gods they worshiped before. He is worthy of their
worship; of their whole-hearted service.
That is their labor of love, from verse three: to serve the living and true God.
Look at the third thing Paul mentioned back in verse three: their patience of hope. In verse 10, we find
that explained: their patience of hope was to wait for Gods Son from heaven. Its the Son, whom God
resurrected from the dead Jesus. They were waiting for Him to return for that was their future.

The Thessalonians knew the good news: that Jesus had died in their stead, taking the penalty for their sin
upon Himself, and thus freeing them from sin. Then God raised Him out from among the dead,
resurrecting Him to new life in a glorious body life in which death has no part.
Jesus then ascended into heaven, where He sits even today at the right hand of the Father until such time
as He will return for those who are His, who remain alive on earth, to rescue them from the wrath that is to
come speaking of the judgment in the end times.
Every generation of believers has been waiting for Him to return, looking for Him with patient hope, as the
Thessalonians did. Thats when we will be with Him; when we will be like Him, in a body of glory; when
we will receive our heavenly reward.
We might be that generation that remains alive, and sees Him come in the clouds for us, His church. But
all believers will rise to meet Him and then we will ever be with the Lord. That is what we look forward
to, with patience and confidence our future, with Him.