October 11th

By Randall L. Broad

Read: Jeremiah 16:16-18:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 25:6-8 

Today in the One Year Bible we find Paul exhorting the church in Thessalonica to become imitators of Christ as he had, and make their work, families, and lives testimonies to the redeeming quality of the cross. This was the ‘special mission’ he was given on the Road to Damascus and in today’s reading we get a better understanding of what this ‘Christian ethic’ meant to Paul.

Thessalonica was at the head of the Gulf of Therme on the Aegean Sea and was the chief port of Macedonia. Most members of the church were pagan worshipers before their conversion. The first verses of today’s reading exhort the faithful to remember the instruction Paul and Silas gave them when they established the church in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4) on their first missionary journey.

¹When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. ⁴Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

Acts 17:1-4

However, it is important to remember Acts tells us Paul and Silas also brought turmoil to Thessalonica and they were forced to flee the city (Acts 17:5-10).

⁵But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, ⁷and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ⁸When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. ⁹Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

Acts 17:5-10

This epistle was most likely written on Paul’s second missionary journey while he was in Corinth, to encourage the faithful in Thessalonica and to call upon them to remember by whose authority (v. 2) their instructions came. The need for such assurances would be rooted in the confusion and resistance of their rivals who would surely have brought the missionaries ‘authority’ into question after they were driven out.

¹As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. ²For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2

In the verses leading up to today’s reading, Paul has commended the Thessalonians for their faith (v. 3:6) and for standing firm in the distress and persecution they have endured (v. 3:7). We cannot be certain if their persecution is from the Jews or from the city officials in the aftermath of Paul’s unceremonious departure, or from something entirely different. What we can be certain of is the Thessalonians have remained strong in their faith and they are living to please God (v. 1). Yet … Paul encourages them to do this more and more (v. 1). This is the first of two occurrences in today’s reading where Paul will use this phrase: encouraging them to please God (v. 1) and to love one another (v. 10).

Today, the Thessalonian letters are not used as commonly in sermons and teachings as letters like Romans or Galatians, because of the limited amount of teaching about salvation found in them. But in both Thessalonian epistles is a deep understanding of the Spirit by Paul found in his understanding of eschatology (messianic prophecy) and the importance of ethical living rooted in his training as a Pharisee. The middle verses illustrate the importance of personal holiness and sexual purity and the role the Holy Spirit plays in becoming pure and sanctified.

³It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

For the Apostle Paul the Holy Spirit was essential to a Christ-centered life. The Spirit was God’s empowering presence given to us by a Holy God so that we could live holy and become purified (v. 7). The passage emphasizes sexual immorality (v. 3) … but by extension also directs us to discipline our bodies and emotions in a manner that keeps us free from unholy entanglements that drag us into the sins of the world and makes us dependent on physical needs. For Paul an ethical life consisted of walking in holiness, embracing the Spirit, and doing God’s Will. Most of the Thessalonians were living to pleases God (v. 1), but some were still walking in sexual immorality (v. 3), and all could do more to control their own bodies in ways that were holy and honorable (v. 4). Failure to do so would lead to the rejection of God and to His judgment (v. 6). The reward for doing “more and more” was the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 8). The Holy Spirit is the key to everything Paul has instructed the Thessalonians to do in this passage and the term is intended to be more than just a name.

Throughout his epistles Paul uses the term “Holy Spirit” as the name and reality (the holiness) of the Spirit of God just as the term “our Lord Jesus Christ” refers to the name and reality of Jesus. In the Old Testament “the Spirit of God” is the most common reference to the spirit the Holy God gives to men. Thus Paul is using the term here to refer to the character of God, the Christian ethic, and the producing of that character in His people. Secondly, this verse represents Paul’s first reference to the Holy Spirit as a gift from God in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies promising God would send his Spirit to indwell his people. (cf. Ezekiel 37:14). This indwelling is a constant presupposition of Paul’s writings (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Lastly, this passage also presents the work of the Holy Spirit as ongoing evidenced by the use of the phrase “who also gives”. For Paul, the Spirit is the constant divine companion by whose power the believers lives out their Christian ethic.

Walk with the Lord …

Ephesians 1:17

(RLB231011)

© Copyright 2018: Randall L. Broad

Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.