DISCOVER
1 Thessalonians

The letters of 1–2 Thessalonians resound with the news that salvation—deliverance from God’s wrath through the blood of his Son—is available, for free, to all who will turn to, trust in, and treasure the Lord Jesus. These letters resound with the news that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the hearts of Christians, empowering us to walk in a manner worthy of God. And these letters resound with the news that this world is not the way it always will be. One day, King Jesus will split the skies and return for his people, establishing justice and renewing all things. 

—Matt Smethurst 

Source: Matt Smethurst, quoted from his article, “Don’t Underestimate 1-2 Thessalonians.” This article originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition. 

Interestingly, the title “Lord Jesus” appears 11 times throughout this five-chapter letter—more than in any other New Testament epistle except 2 Thessalonians (12 times) and 1 Corinthians (11 times). For all of Paul’s emphasis on other important matters, then, the letter’s ultimate focus is on the one who pervades its pages: the Lord Jesus Christ.

—Matt Smethurst

Source: Content taken from 1–2 Thessalonians: A 12-Week Study © 2017 by Matt Smethurst. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

What Paul and his companions especially remembered about the Thessalonians were the three most eminent Christian graces (faith, love, and hope) which characterized their lives… Two aspects of these Christian qualities need to be noted.

First, each is outgoing. Faith is directed towards God, love towards others (both within the Christian fellowship and beyond it), and hope towards the future, in particular the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ… Every Christian without exception is a believer, a lover, and a hoper (not necessarily an optimist, since ‘optimism’ is a matter of temperament, ‘hope’ of theology). Faith, hope, and love are thus sure evidences of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Together they completely reorient our lives, as we find ourselves being drawn up towards God in faith, out towards others in love and on towards the parousia [second coming of Jesus] in hope. The new birth means little or nothing if it does not pull us out of our fallen focus on ourselves and redirect us towards God, Christ, and our fellow human beings.

Second, each is productive. It is this that Paul emphasizes. Faith, hope, and love sound [like] rather abstract qualities, but they have concrete, practical results. Faith works, love labors, and hope endures. A true faith in God leads to good works, and without works faith is dead… A true love for people leads to labor for them; otherwise it degenerates into mere sentimentality… And a true hope, which looks expectantly for the Lord’s return, leads to endurance, which is patient determination in the face of opposition.

So comprehensive is the vision conjured up by your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ that Calvin did not exaggerate when he called it ‘a brief definition of true Christianity.’[20]

20. John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, translated by Ross Mackenzie (Oliver and Boyd, 1961), 335.

—John R. W. Stott 

Source: Stott, John. The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991.

Through the Thessalonians, the transforming gospel message of faith in Christ had greatly spread. And this came about through their daily work. The Thessalonian believers didn’t become a monastic community, nor did they pull up stakes and head out en masse as overseas missionaries. These first-century believers saw their gospel stewardship through the lens of their vocations and stations in life. Having embraced the gospel, they were honoring their King in the various stations of life they were in when they were called. 

—Tom Nelson

Source: Tom Nelson, quoted from his article, “Tent Making Is Not Second Class.” This article originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition. 

Paul also urges us not to live a life of idleness while waiting for Christ’s glorious appearing (see 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Looking for Christ never makes idle hands. If we were expecting a loved one to return home after a long absence, we would not just sit down as the day of his return approached. Rather, we would be busy getting everything ready, doing the things the loved one wanted done. Can you imagine a mother waiting for her son to come home from the service or from college just sitting down and letting everything go! She would be fixing up her son’s room, making his favorite cake and preparing his favorite food as she listened for his footsteps. This is the true Christian’s attitude concerning our blessed Lord’s return… The second coming of Christ was the bright hope of the Early Church, just as it should be for us. The greatest fact of the past is that Christ came the first time, as a man, and died on the cross to free us from the penalty of sin. The greatest fact of the future is that he is coming again, as King, to free us from the presence of sin (see Matthew 24:42).  

—Henrietta Mears  

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

What is a holy kiss? It’s a culturally appropriate, morally chaste, physical expression of love for other believers. It’s a hand on a shoulder, a warm smile with a hand-clasp, or a friendly hug—a touch that publicly acknowledges our bond with other members of Christ’s body. It’s not just a kiss, it’s a holy kiss, a kiss reclaimed from a fallen world and repurposed for the glory of God. 

And it’s not optional. Pastor A. N. Martin notes that in 2 Corinthians 13:12, the holy kiss comes at the end of a list of imperatives that we would unanimously consider Christian obligations: rejoice, aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, greet one another with a holy kiss. One of the essential marks of the body of Christ is physical affection.

—Megan Hill

Source: Megan Hill, quoted from her article, “Bring Back the Holy Kiss.” This article originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition.