Articles
Abiding and Acting in "These Three."
Paul was never shy about speaking frankly with churches he loved and cherished. Even when those churches needed to make significant changes, he spoke to them about those changes directly and lovingly. One church that Paul had very few criticism against was the church at Thessalonica. We know from Luke’s account that the church in that city was founded by Paul amidst severe persecution (Acts 17:1-9), and we know from later epistles that the persecution did not end when Paul left them (I Thessalonians 1:6; II Thessalonians 1:3-12).
Perhaps it is for this reason that his communications with this church are so positive on the whole. From the very opening of his letter, he praises them and gives thanks to God for them. “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention [of you] in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, [His] choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” (I Thessalonians 1:2-5) From this beautifully positive opening we can learn some important truths for our walk in Christ today.
Faith is a work. We don't often think of faith being a work that we accomplish, perhaps because we have heard so much about “faith only” salvation. However, when Jesus was asked “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” He responded that the work God expected was “that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:28-29) They weren’t actively seeking to believe, but to be filled with food, however, Jesus’ statement is instructive. The work that God expects us to accomplish is faith, and our faith is made alive in the work that we accomplish in loyalty. (cf. James 2:8-26)
Love means labor. When Paul described all of the hardships that he had undergone for the churches, he often described it as “labor” or “toil.” (II Corinthians 6:5; 10:15; 11:23-27) Additionally, he endured much of his struggles at his own expense, many times not taking payment for his labor. What was his motivation in all of this? Cold and unfeeling duty? Certainly not. “Why? Because I do not love you? God knows [I do]!” (II Corinthians 11:11) Paul had even acted in the same way toward the church in Thessalonica, “so that we would not be a burden to any of you.” (I Thessalonians 2:9; II Thessalonians 3:8)
Hope requires patience. It is a sad result of the Disney-fied culture of this country that we sometimes aren’t very sober about hope. We have this idea that it is the same as wishing, but that is not the case. Hope is confident expectation, but even in that, we need patience. Romans discusses this three times (5:4; 12:12; 15:4) all in the context of diligence even in trials. God’s gracious salvation provides us hope, but we must be patient in it and remain steadfast.
We know that faith, hope, and love are the greatest of the gifts we’re provided by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 13:13), but we don’t often think of how we make them actionable. Maybe we can learn from the Thessalonian church and do likewise in our lives.
