{"id":6072,"date":"2022-02-16T13:47:52","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T19:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=6072"},"modified":"2023-03-14T08:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T14:21:30","slug":"2-thessalonians-11-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=6072","title":{"rendered":"2 Thessalonians 1:1-3"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, t<\/span>o the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0<\/sup>Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Silvanus (v.1) = The full name of Silas, the man beaten and jailed with Paul in Philippi (Acts 16:19-24<\/span><\/a>) who then helped Paul found the Thessalonian church. As co-writer of the first epistle (1 Thessalonians 1:1<\/span><\/a>), Silvanus is part of the “we” (2:2<\/span><\/a>), and there was no Silvanus in Philippi, only a Silas. So Paul mentions Silas in the opening salutation since the Thessalonians knew and loved the man who suffered with Paul and then helped found their church along with Timothy. \u2014 Kurth<\/span><\/h3>\n

in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (v.1) = the believer’s position in Christ. All men are born into Adam but are baptized into Christ when they are saved (1 Corinthians 12:13<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n

grace (v.2) = gift (Ephesians 2:8-9<\/span><\/a>). Believers are saved by grace, but also need grace to deal with the problems of life.<\/h3>\n

peace (v.2) \u2014 Believers have peace with God when they are saved (Romans 5:1<\/span><\/a>), but Paul was reminding them that they couldn’t lose this peace when they sinned because they had it “in Christ,” not because of their own works.<\/h3>\n

[Paul] pens this blessed benediction without any word of warning, comfort, or encouragement concerning “the day of [God’s] wrath,” evidently because [the Thessalonians] have no connection with this. Certainly, if they were to be called upon to go through the prophesied Tribulation, the omission of such comfort and encouragement would be unforgivable. <\/span><\/h3>\n

For another thing, these verses speak of a growing ministry of grace, not a last stand against the forces of evil such as well be taken by the remnant in the Tribulation. \u2014 Stam, page 111.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

we are bound (v.3) = under legal or moral obligation, in debt, owing. Paul felt he owed a moral debt to God to thank Him that the faith and love of the Thessalonians had grown because He had prayed that their faith and love would grow (1 Thessalonians 3:10-12<\/span><\/a>). No wonder he said he was bound to think God for them “as it is fitting,” for it is not fitting to not<\/em> thank God when He answers prayer. \u2014 Kurth<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

give thanks to God always for you (v.3) \u2014 The apostle had been so tried at Corinth and on the way thither, and at the same time so filled with apprehension for the converts at Thessalonica, that it seemed to him as though his very life depended on their steadfastness (1 Thessalonians 3:1-8<\/span><\/a>). Receiving confirmation of the former favorable report of their welfare, he acknowledges his own sense of indebtedness to God for what he looked upon as a mercy to himself. \u2014 Vine, page 103.<\/span><\/h3>\n

grows (v.3) = the growth of living things, as seeds<\/span><\/h3>\n

faith (v.3) \u2014 faith is the noun, believe is the verb \u2014 Kurth<\/span><\/h3>\n

In his first letter, Paul expressed concern about the Thessalonians’ faith (1 Thessalonians 3:5<\/span><\/a>, 10<\/span><\/a>). In his second letter, he thanked God that their faith had grown. The growth is given by God (1 Corinthians 3:6<\/span><\/a>; 2 Corinthians 9:10<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n

Faith grows by the Word of God (Romans 10:17<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n

love (v.3) = agape<\/em><\/h3>\n

every one of you (v.3) \u2014 not just the church was growing, but the individual members were growing<\/h3>\n

abounds (v.3) = more than enough, increasing<\/h3>\n

In Paul’s first epistle he thanked God for the Thessalonians faith and love and hope (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3<\/span><\/a>), but doesn’t mention their hope here. Their hope was not just the Rapture (Titus 2:13<\/span><\/a>), it was the pre-Tribulation Rapture\u2014that God will call us home before<\/em> the Tribulation. Because of the tribulations the Thessalonians were enduring (1:4<\/span><\/a>), they had begun to believe that they were in the Great Tribulation. But Paul had said “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22<\/span><\/a>), and had told these very Thessalonians the same when he was with them (1 Thessalonians 3:3-4<\/span><\/a>). <\/span><\/h3>\n

The troubles of the [Great] Tribulation are all sent from God. Even those that come from Satan are just God using him as a chastening tool. Your troubles do not come from God\u2014they are not “acts of God” as the insurance companies claim. But you serve a God that can bring good things out of your troubles (Romans 8:28<\/span><\/a>), good things like patience, experience, and hope (Romans 5:3-4<\/span><\/a>). \u2014 Kurth<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Thessalonians faith and love were growing, but their hope wasn’t. That’s why Paul wrote this letter.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2\u00a0Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3\u00a0We are bound to thank God … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-thessalonians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6072"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7557,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072\/revisions\/7557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}