Say Hello to the church in Thessalonica and a few other thoughts
March 17th 2011 03:46
1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church 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.
Paul and his companions planted the first Christian church in Thessalonica, but they did not stay long because their lives were threatened. Eventually Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how the new believers were doing. The church at Thessalonica had both Gentile believers who had turned from idols to God and Jews who recognized Jesus as the Messiah and believed in Him as their Savior.
When Timothy returned from Thessalonica, he came back with good news: The believers in Thessalonica were firm in their faith, but they did have some questions about their new faith. These were not questions of doubt, but simply basic questions that Paul was unable to answer because he had to leave so quickly when the riots broke out. Paul wrote this letter to answer their questions and to encourage them in their faithfulness to Christ.
Quite often, spiritual opposition comes from people who consider themselves to be the “cream of God’s crop” – having the answers of God that no one else has. Jesus said of them, "They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God" John 16:2. Many times, the greatest hindrance to churches and believers is professing believers who uphold human traditions and personalities rather than God's commands and teachings.
One could easily say that Paul was his own worst enemy because the first thing he did when entering a new city was to “attend the synagogue of the Jews.” He would immediately start a discussion with the Jewish leaders with the sole purpose of convincing them that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ Messiah, and that His death and resurrection was necessary to their salvation. Usually Paul’s message was convincing with large numbers of Jews coming to Christ, but then the Jews who stuck to their traditions, rules and regulations were so resistant to the truth and jealous of Paul's success, he and his buddies would have to leave town and when they came to the next town – Paul would it all over again.
As Paul did in most of his letters, he almost immediately links grace with peace. We cannot experience “lasting uncircumstantial peace” until we first receive God's grace because true peace is the result of our salvation resting on “what God has done rather than on what we must do.” In the Greek, peace is equivalent to the Hebrew Shalom meaning “favor,” “prosperity,” and “well-being.”
Paul and his companions planted the first Christian church in Thessalonica, but they did not stay long because their lives were threatened. Eventually Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how the new believers were doing. The church at Thessalonica had both Gentile believers who had turned from idols to God and Jews who recognized Jesus as the Messiah and believed in Him as their Savior.
When Timothy returned from Thessalonica, he came back with good news: The believers in Thessalonica were firm in their faith, but they did have some questions about their new faith. These were not questions of doubt, but simply basic questions that Paul was unable to answer because he had to leave so quickly when the riots broke out. Paul wrote this letter to answer their questions and to encourage them in their faithfulness to Christ.
Quite often, spiritual opposition comes from people who consider themselves to be the “cream of God’s crop” – having the answers of God that no one else has. Jesus said of them, "They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God" John 16:2. Many times, the greatest hindrance to churches and believers is professing believers who uphold human traditions and personalities rather than God's commands and teachings.
One could easily say that Paul was his own worst enemy because the first thing he did when entering a new city was to “attend the synagogue of the Jews.” He would immediately start a discussion with the Jewish leaders with the sole purpose of convincing them that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ Messiah, and that His death and resurrection was necessary to their salvation. Usually Paul’s message was convincing with large numbers of Jews coming to Christ, but then the Jews who stuck to their traditions, rules and regulations were so resistant to the truth and jealous of Paul's success, he and his buddies would have to leave town and when they came to the next town – Paul would it all over again.
As Paul did in most of his letters, he almost immediately links grace with peace. We cannot experience “lasting uncircumstantial peace” until we first receive God's grace because true peace is the result of our salvation resting on “what God has done rather than on what we must do.” In the Greek, peace is equivalent to the Hebrew Shalom meaning “favor,” “prosperity,” and “well-being.”
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