Reflections on 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Thessalonians 01 (Contemporary English Version)


1. From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
2. We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray,
3. we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people.
5. When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you.
6. So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.
7. You became an example for all the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8. And because of you, the Lord's message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don't have to say a thing about it.
9. Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God.
10. They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God's anger.
    
    

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    The Christians in Thessalonica to whom this letter was addressed and sent had become "an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." (1:7) But the testimony of their faith was not limited to the region of Macedonia and Achaia, but was known "in every place that your faith in God has gone out." (1:8) It might be assumed that the Thessalonian's great faith and testimony was largely due to a receptive environment to the gospel in which they lived and thus a freedom in which they could exercise their faith. But the opposite was true in their case and is most often the case.
    
    The Thessalonia Christians had not only received Christ but became imitators of Christ "in spite of severe persecution." (1:6) Those in the Thessalonica church who were Jews would have experienced the hatred of their unbelieving Jewish brothers, and those who were Gentiles would have had to go against the strong current of paganism in which they had grown up. But in spite of these obstacles it was with joy that they "welcomed the message." (1:6)