Foundations of Christian Life (Lessons from Paul) – 1&2 Thessalonians

Foundations of Christian Life

In the first chapter of both of these letters, Paul speaks of the faith and love of the believers in Thessalonica and adds hope in 1 Thessalonians and perseverance in 2 Thessalonians. The repetition of love and faith in Paul’s prayers of thanks to God indicate the importance that he places on them. It is an exhortation to us to focus on our own faith and love, followed by hope and perseverance. Let’s look at each of these.

Faith

We know that our foundation is faith, for it is by faith that we are saved. Simply put, it is our believing in the one true God and his son who died to reconcile us to Him that saves us. We have this faith without ever seeing God or having a specific evidence to His existence. But we believe nonetheless that He is good, He is love. We believe he is who he says he is. So, how in the world did the Thessalonians end up with such famous faith? It has spread to ‘all Macedonia and Achaia’ according to Paul (1 Thess 1:8). In Romans 10:7 we find that faith comes from hearing; so, it is perhaps that the Thessalonians met together often and shared the Word of God, the gospel. Perhaps they also sang hymns (psalms at that point I guess). I would think as well that the people of Thessalonica also acted in their faith. We have a long a detailed list in Hebrews 11 of people, people who acted in faith. We often speak of the Hebrews 11 list as that of people, but really it is a list of actions. Actions taken in faith that revealed and deepened their faith at the same time. So I would posit that the Thessalonians spent time together in the word, singing and sharing God, they likely also acted in faith with only the assurance of God to base their decisions on. That strikes something in me, does it you? Stepping out in faith I guess we call it. And God was glorified in it because their faith was shared in all the area around them. I see why Paul mentioned the Thessalonians faith and commended them for it in his letters to them.

Love

I spoke quite a bit of love last June, see 1 Corinthians Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. I don’t think that I have much to add in light of Paul’s teachings to the Thessalonians. He speaks of ‘labor prompted by love’ (1 Thess 1:3) and their love ‘for one another is increasing’ (2 Thess 1:3). 1 John 4:8 is always the verse that comes to mind when I consider love in the Bible, God is love. I have made the connection that if God is love and we believe in and accept him into our lives, then we know and accept love into our lives as well. Therefore, we have love, as a possession. It can be freely given because it will be freely replenished, and never run out. We are called to share God with others, to share Love (with a capital ‘L’ because it is his name). I don’t know if the Thessalonians loved ‘non-believers’ as well, but I would guess that they did, as that too is acting in faith.    

Hope

Hope is a challenging idea to hold firm in my mind. It gets a bit muddled in definition. It is not wishing, for wishing is not grounded in my faith in a good God. It is also closely tied to faith, like a subset, it is faith for future things. Hope is a future expectation of good because of faith in God. I have the image that it is like pregnancy in that there is certainty in the waiting that something is coming, and it grows in the wait. Our hope can come to fruition, but we have many examples in Hebrews 11 of those who passed on without ever seeing the reality they hoped for. Psalm 42:5 says ‘Hope in God!’, on other words: expect great things from Him! The Thessalonians had ‘endurance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ’ (1 Thess 1:3). Paul talks much more on the topic of hope in Christ, that we will look at in the study of Thessalonians this month.

Perseverance

Paul also boasts of the perseverance of the Thessalonians (2 Thess 1:4) in the troubles they face and have faced. Perseverance is persistence despite difficulty or delay in achieving the desired outcome (most would say ‘success’, but is that really all that we strive to achieve – success? By what definition?). Peter and James and Paul all affirm that trials and trouble and persecutions will come. But it is the perseverance in our faith that will reward us in the end. It is not crossing the finish line, but the race we run that determines who we are and how we reflect our God. We all have and will have more trials and sometimes the same all over again, but it is in enduring and persevering in hope that we succeed even if we fail to achieve our desired outcome. It is the how of our perseverance that must have made Paul boast of the Thessalonians. I’m not sure I would say that I struggle gracefully or in an admirable way. What would that even look like? I guess it looks like living daily in the faith and love of God with the hope of His goodness to come. In whatever may come and in whatever is already raging around us, it is the faith that we have in God to bring about goodness of the future we hope for. Joshua was faced with 10 other people who wanted nothing to do with God’s promised land, yet he stood in faith looking forward in hope to the land that would be his. We have to envision the future we hope for and hold on to it in the struggles from now to then.

Paul commends the Thessalonians on their living in faith, love, hope and perseverance. They set an example for us to consider and they set a challenge before us to grow in faith and abound in love, ground our hope in Christ and persevere in difficulties. Has God spoken to you of these today? Will you share it with us below?