Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does 1st Thessalonians Chapter 3 mean?

In this chapter Paul tells the Thessalonian believers that he had sent Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica to encourage them, and to learn how they were getting along in the Christian life. He reminds them that his sufferings were not unexpected but were predicted (1 Thessalonians 3:1–5).

Paul states that Timothy had returned with good news about the Thessalonian believers’ faith and love. Timothy had also told Paul that the believers shared fond memories of Paul and longed to see him again, just as he longed to see them. This corresponds to Paul’s earlier comment that he had only been prevented from visiting the Thessalonians by the interference of Satan (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Timothy’s positive report helped Paul cope with his afflictions. Paul indicates he has great joy in knowing the believers at Thessalonica were doing well spiritually. He says he is praying around the clock to see them face-to-face and to address any deficiencies in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:6–10). Some of those concerns, at least, Paul will discuss in chapters 4 and 5.

The chapter closes with Paul praying that the Lord would make the Thessalonian believers’ love overflow to one another and to others, as Paul’s love overflowed to the Thessalonians. He asks God to strengthen them so they would be free of accusations at the coming of the Lord Jesus with His saints. This is a reference to departed righteous souls who will receive their resurrected bodies at that time (1 Thessalonians 3:11–13).

After these words, Paul will begin to address some of the fears and doubts with which the Thessalonians are struggling. These include worries inspired by false teachings about the end times and the return of Christ.

Chapter Context
Chapter 3 concludes Paul’s comments about the condition of the Thessalonian church. These began in chapter 1 and were given more details in chapters 2 and 3. Here, Paul expresses his joy that the Thessalonians are enduring persecution faithfully, and he prays that they will continue to grow. In the following chapters, Paul will address some of the concerns plaguing the Thessalonians, including worries about the end times.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,

Paul was unable to return to Thessalonica when he wanted to, and he lacked the company of Timothy and Silas at Athens. He had traveled to Athens from Berea, where Timothy and Silas stayed. He had reached Athens under unfavorable circumstances, because Jewish agitators from Thessalonica had stirred up crowds against him at Berea. Subsequently, some Christians at Berea had accompanied Paul to Athens before they returned to Berea (Acts 17:13–15).

Athens was a prominent Greek city known for its rich culture, intellectual climate, advanced learning, and sophisticated Areopagus court. But Athens was steeped in idolatry, which Paul noted when he was there and referred to when he preached to the court. He declared: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22–23). Paul followed this declaration by preaching about the one true God and His risen Son (Acts 17:24–31). Upon hearing Paul’s sermon, some philosophers mocked, some wanted to hear from him later, and some believed (Acts 17:32–34).

Context Summary
First Thessalonians 3:1–5 tells the Thessalonian Christians that Paul willingly stayed alone in Athens in order to dispatch Timothy to Thessalonica to help them progress in their faith. He reminds them that they should not be surprised when persecution strikes them. Persecution is part of the Christian experience. He had predicted such affliction when he was in Thessalonica. Now that he was absent from them he was concerned that the Devil might have tempted them, thereby disrupting what Paul’s ministry had begun.

Verse 2. and we sent Timothy, our brother and God ‘s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,

In this verse Paul tells the believers at Thessalonica that he had sent Timothy to them, so Timothy could strengthen and encourage them in their faith. This was an important ministry because the believers were undergoing strong opposition from unbelievers. They needed to be strong in what they believed so they would not fall under pressure. Paul calls Timothy “our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ.” Timothy was younger than Paul, so his youth might reduce his perceived credibility. Paul’s endorsement of him would help the Thessalonians accept his teaching.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul understood that some believers might hold very little respect for Timothy because of his youth. So he told Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). As a spiritual brother to Paul and Silas, Timothy was their spiritual equal. As a coworker with God in the gospel of Christ, he was God’s partner with good news about Jesus Christ. There could be no doubt that Paul regarded him highly.

Verse 3. that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

Timothy’s presence and preaching at Thessalonica would stabilize the believers and keep them from falling victim to the pressures of persecution. This was the reason Paul was willing to be left alone, sending Timothy to these Christians for their own support (1 Thessalonians 3:1–2). Paul reminds his readers, in this verse, that afflictions are a normal part of the Christian’s experience. According to later verses, Timothy’s visit was also to see if the Thessalonians had been able to endure their trials (1 Thessalonians 3:5).

In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul assured Timothy that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Writing to the Corinthian church, Paul assured his readers that God uses trials to advance the gospel and to help believers look beyond temporal afflictions to eternal things (2 Corinthians 4:8–18). Paul’s faith and hope were so strong that in 2 Corinthians 4:17 he calls his afflictions “light” and “momentary.” He lists his trials in 2 Corinthians 11. They include imprisonments, beatings, perilous escapes from persecutors, forty lashes less one, three beatings with rods, multiple brushes with death, stoning, shipwreck, being adrift at sea, danger from robbers and angry Jews and Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, toil and hardship, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure. Paul also includes that he has daily pressure over his concern for the churches.

Paul’s focus to this point has been on praising the Christians of Thessalonica for their faithfulness and growth. This change in tone, it seems, is more meant as encouragement than as criticism.

Verse 4. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

In this verse Paul reminds the Christians at Thessalonica that, while he was with them, he said repeatedly they would experience persecution. Just as he had predicted, persecution had struck, and they were fully aware of the fact. Some of them were convinced that these hardships and sufferings were signs they had entered the Tribulation. They were wrong of course, as Paul will go one to explain in chapters 4 and 5.

Peter describes believers’ trials as a good thing, because they prove the genuineness of our faith and bring praise, glory, and honor at Jesus’ coming (1 Peter 1:6–7). Writing on the same theme, James states: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4). Such a positive attitude would enable the Thessalonians to see God’s purpose in trials and keep them unmoved by their afflictions (1 Thessalonians 3:3).

Verse 5. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

Paul had sent Timothy to Thessalonica to support the Christians there (1 Thessalonians 3:1–2), but also to find out whether or not the believers’ faith was withstanding persecution. He calls the Devil “the tempter,” knowing that he had tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, numerous believers through the ages, and even the Lord Jesus Himself (Matthew 4:1–11). Of course, Jesus successfully withstood the Devil’s temptations and is available to help believers stand against the Devil (Hebrews 2:18).

Paul was concerned that the faith of the believers at Thessalonica might waver and weaken under the Devil’s temptation, which would stunt their spiritual growth. In that case, Paul’s labor on their behalf to produce spiritual fruit in their lives would be curtailed. Hebrews 4:14–16 encourages believers to pray confidently when we are feeling weak. We should realize that Jesus experienced trials like ours and successfully overcame them. As our great High Priest, He is able to provide help when we need it.

The following passage contains Paul’s delighted reaction at learning that these Christians had, indeed, been able to “hold fast” to their faith (Hebrews 3:6).

Verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you —

Paul was prevented from returning to the Thessalonian Christians (1 Thessalonians 2:18), and so he sent Timothy (1 Thessalonians 3:1–2). This was both to strengthen them and to investigate whether or not they’d been able to withstand persecution (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Paul’s concern was that the Devil might have hindered the Thessalonian believers from making further progress in the faith. This fear vanished when Timothy arrived from Thessalonica. Timothy brought a glowing report of the believers’ spiritual growth. They were abounding in faith that worked, love that toiled hard, and hope that was unflinching (1 Thessalonians 1:3). They were faithfully imitating Paul and his fellow missionaries and the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Also, they were faithful messengers of God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 1:8).

In 1 Thessalonians 3:6 Paul refers to their trust in the Lord and love for Paul as good news. He also rejoiced in the fact that the Thessalonians thought kindly of him and wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see them. It is evidence of believers’ love for the Lord and one another that absence from each other makes the heart grow fonder. They look forward to fellowshipping together at the first opportunity.

Verse 7. for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.

Timothy’s report encouraged Paul and his coworkers. Knowing that the Thessalonians were doing well spiritually lifted their spirits in the midst of the persecution they were encountering. They and the Thessalonian believers were brothers, members of God’s family by faith in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his letter, Paul had called his readers “brothers loved of God” (1 Thessalonians 1:4). Now the love of God was flowing from the Thessalonian brothers to Paul and his missionary team.

Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). To love one another as Jesus loved us involves sincerity, compassion, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice. It also means to never stop loving our fellow Christians. John 13:1 tells us that, “… having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The apostle John reflected on Christian love as evidence of one’s salvation. He wrote: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers…” (1 John 3:14).

Verse 8. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.

Seeing the Thessalonian believers standing firm in the Lord filled Paul’s life with joy and a sense of fulfillment. The word for “standing” derives from the Greek word, stekete, a military term that describes soldiers firmly holding their ground against an enemy. The believers at Thessalonica were holding their ground against attacks from the Devil and his forces. False teachers were trying to detour them from the truth, and persecution was fierce. Nevertheless, they stood firm. They grasped the anchor of hope firmly so they would not drift away from the faith (see Hebrews 6:19).

Firmly planted in the faith and holding onto the anchor of hope, they were doing what Paul exhorted the Corinthian Christians to do. They were “steadfast, immovable” and “always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). In a similar exhortation, Paul wanted the Philippian believers to stand firm “in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). Collectively, Christians can be stronger than an individual believer in standing against the Devil and his forces.

Verse 9. Instead of taking credit for the Thessalonians’ spiritual progress, Paul gave thanks to God. The Lord deserved all the credit for what was taking place in the Thessalonians’ lives. He strengthened them to overcome their afflictions and persecution. God was at work in their lives to perfect His will in them, just as He worked in the Philippian believers to “will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

No Christian can rightfully take credit for the spiritual progress he sees in another Christian. We may faithfully disciple another believer, but God deserves all the credit for what transpires in an individual’s heart and life. In 1 Corinthians 3:5–6 Paul wrote, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” Further, the spiritual qualities listed in Galatians 5:22–23 are not credited to any Christian worker, but to God. The qualities are called “the fruit of the Spirit.”

Verse 10. as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

Paul tells the Thessalonians that he prays with all his strength both during the day and at night that God would enable him to see them again. This is something Paul had wanted to do earlier, but was prevented (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Such a face-to-face visit would give him the opportunity to increase their faith. They were young Christians who still needed to grow spiritually and to increase their knowledge of spiritual truth. They had not reached spiritual maturity, but they had made a good start towards that goal. They were like babies that needed to grow up.

As Peter exhorted his readers, the Thessalonians needed to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). In chapters 4 and 5 Paul would provide important information and instruction that would help the Thessalonian Christians grow up in the faith and become more like Christ. Paul’s anticipated ministry at Thessalonica would “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” and advance them toward “mature manhood” and “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12–13).

Verse 11. Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,

Paul prays to God the Father and the Lord Jesus to provide a clear way for him and his coworkers to travel to Thessalonica to see the Christians there. Praying for our fellow believers is not only a privilege but also a responsibility. Often in his epistles Paul urged believers to pray for one another. He also requested prayer for himself, such as in 1 Thessalonians 5:25.

The fact that Paul directs his prayer to both the Father and Jesus, whom he calls “Lord,” shows that Jesus is as much God as the Father is. They are co-equal and co-essential. In his letter to Titus Paul refers to Jesus as “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13). Belief in the deity of Jesus is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. The apostle John wrote: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:14–15).

Context Summary
First Thessalonians 3:11–13 concludes this chapter with Paul’s prayer for himself and for his readers. He asks God and the Lord Jesus to guide him and his coworkers to the Thessalonians. He also prays that the Lord would cause the Thessalonians’ love to overflow to one another and to others. He assures his readers that his love overflowed to them. He strongly desires that God will strengthen his readers’ faith so they will be fully separated unto him without any valid accusation when Jesus returns. Paul adds, ”with all his saints.” When Jesus comes in the air to catch away his church, the souls of departed Christians will accompany Him to receive their resurrected, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Verse 12. and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,

Paul’s prayer in these verses expresses his strong desire that the Lord would keep on increasing the Thessalonians’ love. He uses a term derived from the Greek root word perisseuo, which implies something that “overflows” or “spills over the top.” Paul desires to see their love greatly increase for fellow believers and everyone else. Paul’s love for the Thessalonians served as a model for the believers at Thessalonica. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul named love as the greatest quality of the Christian life, In 1 John 3:14 the apostle John cites love as a proof of one’s salvation, and in 1 John 4:7 he writes, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

Christians should love one another and also love the lost. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, demonstrated love for the lost. He illustrated this love by telling a story about a shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep to rescue one lost sheep. When he brought it safely to the fold, he called his neighbors to rejoice with him (Luke 15:1–7).

Verse 13. so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Paul strongly desired that God would establish the Thessalonian believers’ hearts blameless in holiness at the return of Jesus with all His saints. Paul did not pray that they would be sinless but blameless—free of all valid accusations. No one can attain sinlessness in this life. The apostle John said, “If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). Even the apostle Paul, who led a holy life, recognized that he was a sinner. In 1 Timothy 1:15, after writing that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, Paul added, “of whom I am the foremost.” He did not say he had been a sinner. He said, “I am the foremost sinner.” All human beings are sinners. They are either lost sinners or saved sinners.

Who are the saints that will return with Jesus? They must be departed Christians, whose bodies are in the grave. When they return with Jesus, they will receive resurrected bodies. Paul discusses this event in the next chapter.

End of Chapter 3.

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