“1 Thessalonians 3”

Friday, July 07, 2017

Paul ended the last chapter by saying that he wanted to come and see them, but had been unable to do so (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18). He is still on the same subject in Chapter 3.

Unable to come himself, Paul has sent Timothy to “establish and encourage” them in their faith. There were several reasons he was concerned about them.

They were relatively new in the faith and, as a result, they had very little knowledge. If a brand new Christian today wants to learn fast, all he has to do is read the New Testament. I have heard of new disciples who have read the entire New Testament in three days. But the New Testament was not yet completed. (Actually, it was barely even started.)Their exposure to the word of God was limited, although, as an apostle, Paul could have laid his hands on some of the members there and imparted spiritual gifts to them, which would have given them some degree of teaching ability. (To review what the basic spiritual gifts were, see 1 Corinthians 12.)So they were not left totally alone in this area, but it wouldn’t have been the same as if Paul had been able to stay there longer.

And persecution was still prevalent. There are references in this chapter to the trials that these young disciples were facing. He mentions “these afflictions” (verse 3), “tribulation” (verse 4) and “the tempter” (verse 5). He was naturally concerned about their spiritual well-being and says that he “could no longer endure” not knowing how they were doing.

So the apostle sent Timothy, his son in the faith, to help them and determine how they were faring spiritually. Verses 6-7 tell us that Timothy brought back good news of their faith and Paul was comforted by the news.

He makes it clear that he still hoped to return and be able to spend some time strengthening them (verse 11). He tells them to love each other and to increase in that love. And he prayed that they might be blameless and holy at the coming of Christ.

As was often the case, when he could not be with a church personally, Paul writes them a letter to strengthen their faith. That is exactly what this epistle is all about.

--Roger Hillis

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