Monday, September 2

The Book of 1 Thessalonians


Paul wrote his first letter to the church in Thessalonica 50-52 AD[1] to encourage the persecuted believers of the second coming of Christ (4:13-18) and to communicate his authentic ministry (2:1-16) in order to implore them to increase and abound in love (3:11-4:1) which precludes sexual immorality (4:2-12), and includes a righteous work ethic (5:12-14).  Because the Thessalonians are children of light who have the blessed hope of eternal life (1:3; 5:9-10), they are to anticipate deliverance from this age (5:3) and to wait for the sudden return of the Lord (5:9), armoring their lives with the faith that is theirs in Christ (5:7-8).  Righteous living that is pleasing to the Lord is secured because this faith that is theirs is based on the faithfulness of the coming King (5:12-28).


[1] Dating and theme information is adapted from Dr. Jason Meyer’s 17th NT Lecture, Slide 3

No comments:

Post a Comment