Phillips' pastoral commentary captures the urgency of 1 & 2 Thessalonians—where Paul gives us some of the Bible's clearest teaching on the end times and our preparation for them.
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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess. 1:1)
Everyone can use a little encouragement. When the famous painter Benjamin West was a boy, he decided to paint a picture of his sister while his mother was out. Gathering some bottles of ink and paper, he soon made an awful mess in the house. When his mother returned, she saw the mess but also her son’s attempt at making art. Instead of scolding him, she picked up the portrait and declared, “What a beautiful picture of your sister!” and kissed her son. West later recalled, “With that kiss I became a painter.”1
PAUL’S ENCOURAGEMENT OVER THE THESSALONIANS
Encouragement is so valuable that even the apostle Paul needed it. Having recently arrived in the decadent port city of Corinth, the apostle could only have been discouraged by his recent experience as an evangelist. Landing in Greece at the city of Philippi, he had gained noteworthy converts such as Lydia and the Philippian jailer. But after a false arrest and savage beating, Paul and his colleagues were asked to leave the city (Acts 16:11–40). Moving along the Aegean coast, he next came to Thessalonica. After preaching in the synagogue there, some Jews and “a great many” devout Greeks came to faith in Christ (17:4). This success roused the anger of the Jewish leaders, who raised a disturbance against the Christians, so that once again Paul left town after only a short stay. On the apostle went to Berea and then Athens, where he preached a famous sermon on Mars Hill but once again had to leave only a small band of converts behind.
From Athens, Paul sent his young assistant Timothy back to Thessalonica to minister to the believers whom they had left there (1 Thess. 3:1–2). Shortly after Paul arrived in Corinth, Timothy returned with news that lifted the apostle’s spirits: “Now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love . . . we have been comforted about you through your faith” (vv. 6–7). “For now we live,” Paul exclaimed, “if you are standing fast in the Lord” (v. 8).
Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians to express his joy in the believers’ faith. Based on information from the book of Acts, scholars date this letter during the year A.D. 50 or 51, making it one of the oldest New Testament documents, with only Galatians and James likely to have been written earlier. First Thessalonians is one of Paul’s most encouraging writings, expressing his relief and joy. Leon Morris comments:
[Paul] wrote in exultation of spirit, having just heard the good news of the way in which they were standing fast. He wrote to let them know how thankful he was. He wrote to let them know of his tender concern for them. He wrote to encourage them in the face of the opposition, even persecution, that still confronted them. He wrote to give them fuller information about matters in which their zeal had outdistanced their knowledge. He wrote to put them further along the Christian way that meant so much to him and to them.2
These are matters in which we, too, need to be encouraged and instructed, for which purpose the Holy Spirit inspired 1 Thessalonians and preserved it for many generations of Christians.
PAUL AND FRIENDS
Our letters today normally begin by addressing the recipient: “Dear So and So.” First Thessalonians follows the ancient practice of first identifying the author(s): “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy” (1 Thess. 1:1). These opening words remind us that this book is not an abstract theological treatise, but a letter. The teaching given here is not intended for highly trained specialists but for ordinary Christians of all kinds. The letter served to bridge the gap of space between apostle and church for the sake of ministry. The same letter bridges the gap of time between Christians today and the apostles who were charged to provide the foundational teaching of doctrine and practice for the followers of Christ.
It is noteworthy that Paul’s salutation includes the names of his two assistants, both of whom had helped to plant the Thessalonian church. Silvanus is a Greek rendering of Silas; one bearing that name preached the gospel alongside Paul. Silas is first seen at the Jerusalem Council, where he is described as one of the “leading men” of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:22). After the Jerusalem Council affirmed the acceptance of the Gentile churches, Silas was sent with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch with this news. He is identified as a prophet (v. 32), which means that while he was not formally invested with apostolic authority, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to provide revelation from God. After Paul and Barnabas disputed and parted ways, Paul chose Silas, whose character and gifts made him a valuable partner in evangelism and church-planting (v. 40).
Early in Paul and Silas’s first missionary journey together (Paul’s third journey), they encountered Timothy at the church of Lystra. Timothy was a young man of good reputation whose mother was a Jewish believer and whose father was Greek. He joined Paul and Silas as an assistant (Acts 16:1–3) and would go on to serve as Paul’s ministerial son and most valued deputy, ultimately serving as pastor of the strategically important church in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3).
Paul’s pattern of ministering as a team fits the overall New Testament approach of joint rule by a plurality of spiritually gifted and qualified men. Not only did Paul usually minister with partners, but he also gave instructions that a plurality of elders would be placed in charge of local churches after he had departed (see Titus 1:5). This practice reflects a general principle that is rooted in Christ’s own instruction. Midway in his own ministry, when Jesus commissioned seventy-two evangelists, he sent them throughout Galilee “two by two” (Luke 10:1).
The benefits of this team approach to ministry include emotional, physical, and spiritual support, a balancing of complementary gifts, and a combination of fellowship and accountability that reduces the likelihood of a leader’s falling into sin. Moreover, the modeling of camaraderie among a ministry team encourages similar fellowship in the church and encourages all believers to participate in the work of spreading the gospel and building the body of Christ. Although Paul is plainly the principal author of this letter, we can imagine him consulting with his partners and praying with them as they communicated their joint concern together for this fledgling church.
The leading author of 1 Thessalonians was the apostle Paul. Formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, this titanic figure of the New Testament is first encountered in the Bible as one of the chief persecutors of the followers of Christ. Saul was so zealous to oppose the gospel that he journeyed from Jerusalem to Damascus to root out the church there. Along the way, he was confronted by a vision of the exalted Lord Jesus, who called him to both faith and apostleship (Acts 9:15–16). With his conversion, Saul’s name was changed to Paul, meaning “little,” perhaps to convey the humility to which the proud Pharisee was called in service to Christ.
As the leading apostle to the Gentiles, Paul wrote thirteen biblical books, making up just under a quarter of the New Testament. In most of his letters, Paul identifies himself as “an apostle” of Jesus Christ. The fact that he did not use this designation in 1 Thessalonians probably reflects how recently he had ministered there, so that his apostolic credentials were well known and accepted.
An apostle is “one who is sent” or “commissioned,” and Christ’s apostles were commissioned to preach the gospel and form the initial churches. Most importantly, the resurrected Lord Jesus granted them authority to teach and rule on his behalf, empowering them with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Acts 1:8). Peter O’Brien states, “As an apostle [Paul] has the authority to proclaim the gospel in both oral and written form, as well as to establish and build up churches.”3
Christ’s apostles consisted of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, with Matthias added to replace the betrayer Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:16–26). Acts 1:22 establishes the qualifications that an apostle must have been personally discipled by Jesus and an eyewitness of the resurrection. These qualifications show that there can be no apostles today. Moreover, the work of the apostles in founding the church and establishing its doctrine was completed during the initial era of the church. Paul fulfilled the criteria for the apostolic office by means of his conversion and commissioning on the Damascus road. What Jesus said to the Twelve just before his ascension into heaven applies equally to Paul: “You will receive power . . . , and you will be my witnesses” (v. 8). Paul’s writing, like that of the other apostles, is the exalted Christ’s own Word as the Holy Spirit inspired these official messengers from Christ to his church.
THE CHURCH IN GOD AND IN CHRIST
After identifying the senders, ancient letters typically stated the recipients. Paul addressed this letter: “To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1).
The Greek word for church is ekklesia, which has the general meaning of “assembly.” In the Greek society of Paul’s audience, this word evoked images of the great democratic assemblies in which free citizens met for shared rule. Speaking generally, an ekklesia was any body joined together for political, social, or other purposes. The Christian church is a unique kind of assembly that has turned to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul’s later writings will convey the distinctiveness of the church by referring to his readers as “saints,” that is, holy ones who have been separated by God for faith, godliness, ministry, and worship in Christ’s name. John Lillie comments: “Called out . . . from the surrounding mass, whether of unbelieving Jews or of heathen idolaters, and quickened individually with a new life, they were, as a church, incorporate one with another, set apart and furnished for holy service, and consecrated to a glorious destiny.”4
Most important to the meaning of church is the Old Testament background of Israel as the assembly of the Lord. The Greek translation of the Old Testament commonly used in Paul’s day (the Septuagint) used ekklesia to render the Hebrew word qahal, which designated the gathering of Israel as the congregation of God’s people. Thus, Paul sees the Christians to whom he is writing as an extension of the ancient people of God who were redeemed in the exodus and called out as a pilgrim nation to serve and worship the Lord. G. K. Beale observes: “In this light, the Thessalonian church was part of the true Israelite congregation of God’s people who had been established by Messiah Jesus’ latter-day redemptive work.”5
Seeing the church as the great assembly of God’s people throughout history highlights its importance to the Christian faith and life. To be a Christian is to be part of the church, both locally and universally. The church provides the communal context for Christian evangelism, discipleship, worship, and ministry. When Christians are saved out of the world, they are saved into Christ’s church, which serves “to establish group boundaries between saved and unsaved humanity.”6
Paul wrote his letter to an assembly of Christians at a particular place and time. His original audience was “the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:1). Christian life and ministry will always have a local feel and flavor. There is a tendency today, however, to exaggerate these differences when it comes to the witness of the gospel. When we think of Paul’s various places of ministry, we should note that his strategy varied little, and his doctrine not at all, despite the wide variety of cultural and social contexts in which he served. Paul explained to the Corinthians that he had come to preach “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). In a city with a large Jewish population, such as Thessalonica, Paul would begin preaching in the synagogue, proving from the Old Testament that Jesus was the promised Messiah. In a city without many Jews, such as Athens, Paul still preached in order to declare Jesus as Savior and Lord. After his preaching had caused conversions, Paul then discipled and organized a local church to continue preaching the message of Christ.
As the chief city of the northern Greek region of Macedonia, Thessalonica was a strategic location, with probably a quarter-million residents. Since its main street was the primary east-west highway of the Roman Empire, a strong church in Thessalonica would be well situated to spread the gospel to others. This strategic potential did not cause Paul to change his ministry approach, but it could account in part for the interest and attention he showed to this important church.
Paul’s audience may have been located in Thessalonica, but their identity came from God. Paul thus refers to them as “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1). The worldly city of Thessalonica had proved to be inhospitable to the Christians, causing Paul and his friends to leave and exposing the church to persecution (see Acts 17:1–9). So how encouraging it was for them to know that their life was rooted in God himself, who through Jesus Christ had become their loving Father. Thessalonica might reject them, but God had received them as children. Thessalonica might vilify and persecute them, but God the Father would provide for and save them. Paul’s language of being “in God the Father” emphasizes that the church dwells in God, “as not merely the ground of her existence, but as her fortress and high tower, and her eternal home.”7 Although these Thessalonians are “newborn Christians, freshly converted from either Judaism or paganism,” though their beliefs and “moral standards have been recently adopted,” and though “they are being sorely tested by persecution,” Paul is still confident of their perseverance “because he knows it is God’s church, and because he has confidence in God.”8
In addition to its grounding in God the Father, the church is also in “the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1). By placing Jesus alongside God the Father, Paul emphasizes the full deity of Christ. This expression, penned a mere twenty years after Christ’s death and resurrection, identifies the deity of Christ as an essential article of faith for believers. Paul further notes the deity of Jesus by referring to him as Lord. The title kurios,...
Table of contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Series Introduction
Preface
1 Thessalonians: Standing Fast in the Lord
2 Thessalonians: In Light of Christ’s Coming
Select Bibliography of Commentaries Cited and Consulted
