1 Thessalonians — Chapter 1

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1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

2We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers

3and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4Brothers who are beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you,

5because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction—just as you know we lived among you for your sake.

6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

7As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

8For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more.

9For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

10and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

3Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

4Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

5For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

6And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

7So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

8For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

9For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

2We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention [of you] in our prayers;

3remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;

4knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election,

5how that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and [in] much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.

6And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit;

7so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.

9For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.

1From Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you!

2We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly in our prayers,

3because we recall in the presence of our God and Father your work produced by faith and labor motivated by love and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

5in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).

6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction.

7As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything.

9For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers,

3remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.

4We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen,

5and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.

6You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,

7so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out; so that we need not to say anything.

9For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

Paul, Silas, and Timothy greet the Thessalonian church and open by thanking God for them, remembering their work of faith, labor of love, and endurance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ (vv. 1-3). Paul notes that the gospel came to them not in word only but in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, and that they received the message with joy despite affliction, becoming examples to believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia (vv. 5-7). Their faith became so well known that Paul says he no longer needs to say anything about it, since others report how the Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living and true God (vv. 8-9). The chapter closes by noting that they now wait for God's Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, and who delivers believers from the coming wrath (v. 10).

Authorship & Background

Author: Paul the Apostle, with Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy (v.1). Written from Corinth, approximately AD 50-51. First Thessalonians is likely the earliest of Paul's letters and possibly the earliest book of the New Testament.
Recipient: The church at Thessalonica — the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia (northern Greece). Paul founded this church during his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9) but was forced to leave after only about three weeks due to persecution. Despite the brief time, a strong church was established.
Purpose: Paul writes to encourage a young church facing persecution, to defend his ministry against slander, to instruct them on holy living, and to answer questions about Christ's return (especially regarding believers who had died). Every chapter ends with a reference to Christ's second coming.
Theme: The return of Christ and living in light of it. Practical holiness motivated by the hope of Christ's coming.
Classification: Epistle — Pauline
Key Themes: Faith, love and hope shown in work, labour and patience, election evidenced by the gospel's effect, imitation producing further imitation, a report that traveled ahead of the apostles, and a turn from idols to serving and waiting
Greeting from Three Names (v.1): Paul, Silvanus and Timothy write jointly — the team present when the church was founded. This is likely the earliest of Paul's surviving letters, written from Corinth within months of his forced departure from Thessalonica. That timing makes the confidence of the chapter notable: the congregation was only weeks old and had been left under pressure almost immediately.
Work of Faith, Labour of Love, Patience of Hope (vv.2-3): The triad appears here for the first time in Paul's letters, and each term is tied to something visible. Faith produces work, love produces labour, hope produces endurance. He remembers not their sentiments but their effects, which sets the method for the rest of the chapter — everything he commends is something that could be observed from outside.
Election Known by Its Effect (vv.4-5): Paul says he knows their election, and the evidence offered is not their profession but the manner of the gospel's arrival: “not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance”. He adds the conduct of the messengers as part of that evidence, since what the Thessalonians became was bound up with what they had watched.
Followers Who Became Examples (vv.6-7): They became imitators of the apostles and of the Lord, receiving the word “in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” — the affliction and the joy named in the same breath rather than set against each other. The result reverses the direction: imitators became a pattern themselves for believers across Macedonia and Achaia.
The Word Sounded Out (v.8): The verb pictures a sound carried outward, as of a trumpet or an echo off a hillside. The report traveled beyond the province so thoroughly that Paul says he had no need to speak of it himself. Their reputation preceded his account of them, which for a church of a few weeks' standing is a considerable claim to make.
Turned, Serving, Waiting (vv.9-10): Paul quotes the report itself, and it summarizes conversion in three movements: they turned from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. The turning is finished, the serving present, the waiting ongoing. The chapter ends on deliverance “from the wrath to come”, introducing the return of Christ that the letter keeps circling back to.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers Paul's thanksgiving, the evidence of election, the gospel's power, and the Thessalonians' conversion and witness.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Book of 1 Thessalonians Summary: A Complete Animated Overview
BibleProject

1 Thessalonians 1-3 | A Church with Only Three Weeks of Bible School | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

1 Thessalonians Overview: Caught Up in the Air
Spoken Gospel

1 Thessalonians 1 - The Products from Faith, Hope, and Love
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of 1 Thessalonians -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Faith, Love, and Hope in Action (v.3) — Paul commends the Thessalonians for a faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that endures. Would people who know you describe your faith, love, and hope in such active terms?
  • A Gospel That Comes in Power (v.5) — The gospel reached them not merely as words but with power, the Holy Spirit, and deep conviction. Are you sharing your faith in your own strength, or trusting the Spirit to work through you?
  • Joy in the Midst of Affliction (v.6) — They received the message amid great affliction, yet with joy that came from the Holy Spirit. Have you known joy that exists alongside hardship rather than only after it ends?
  • A Complete Turning From Idols (v.9) — Their conversion meant turning away from idols entirely to serve the living and true God. What competes for the devotion that belongs to God alone in your life?
  • Waiting for Christ's Return (v.10) — Paul describes believers as people who actively wait for God's Son from heaven. Does the hope of Christ's return shape how you live today?