Chapter 2

1 Thessalonians 2:3 - Paul speaks about the source of he and Silas' comfort in this verse. One might think, on account of the NASB's choice of words rendering the GK Paraklaisis as "exhortation" (The GK word is the same word rendered in John 14:16 "Helper" NASB & ESV, or "Comforter" KJV referring to the Holy Spirit) that he was speaking about his exhortation to others. The evidence points otherwise. He describes the comfort they receive, which in context makes more sense (vs. 2 describes their tribulations, vs. 3 describes their comfort and how they are able to continue their labor). He says their comfort does not come from three sources most commonly utilized by humans: (1) "error", (2) "impurity", (3) "deceit" (NASB). The first one mentioned (error) is best understood as that which emanates from the inside. If someone is in error, he or she is not operated on from the outside, but rather from his or her own beliefs comes action. Paul says by this that they did not believe a lie to comfort themselves. Lies people believe today that suppose to offer comfort is the heresy called "Open Theism," which says God does not know the future. Therefore, He is not at fault for the bad things that happen. He's doing the best He can to help you. The second (impurity) refers to fleshly comforts such as sensuality, drunkenness, carousing, and gluttony. Some people say, "I am a stress eater." That means he or she eats to as a means of comfort. "I drink to calm my nerves." Paul and Silas needed none of these devices. Lastly, (deceit) this one is best understood as someone acting on you to lead you astray. Most often, this is an evil spirit that deceives a person and turns him or her away from a belief previously held that may have been correct.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 - "...but even as we have been tested by God to be entrusted [with] the Gospel..." Paul identifies that there was a time of testing before they were entrusted with the Gospel. Of course, Paul is referring to being entrusted with Gospel proclamation, not simply possessing the Gospel for himself. Perhaps he points to this testing immediately at this point because enduring mistreatment (vs. 2) and avoiding pitfalls (vs. 3) are proof of their passing the test (vs. 4).

1 Thessalonians 2:5 - "Flattering speech" may refer to soft-pedaling the Gospel; making it easier for people to accept and endure thereby avoiding the unpleasantness of persecution. When he speaks of "pretext of greed," he may be referring to professional orators. They would travel to cities gathering crowds and trying to win the populace. Once they were accepted, they would set up schools and earn a lucrative living. These men were infiltrating the churches. (For further reading on professional orators and their influence on the church, see "After Paul Left Corinth" by Bruce Winter.)

1 Thessalonians 2:9 - Paul and his team had great hardships with labor and worked all the time while with the Thessalonians. Why? "So as not to be a burden to any of you..." (NASB). The "burden" Paul wanted to avoid is, in context, a financial burden. Note in particular that the language of this verse says, "any one of you." That is, he didn't want to burden the group of believers (the church), and he didn't want to burden any individual either. Therefore, he and his team worked to support themselves.

1 Thessalonians 2:12 - Modern Christianity says, "You are worthy of God. You just need to accept Him. He wants you just as you are." Paul said that they were exhorting, encouraging, and imploring (vs. 11, NASB) so that they might walk "worthy of God." The presupposition is that they are not, by default, worthy of God. They must be made that way. Work is done by the ministers. The believers themselves must labor also. The end goal is to be worthy of God! Modern Christianity does not really believe sin is odious to the Lord. They are lulled into thinking that God doesn't notice their sins. In an effort to gain the approval of the world, we have adopted the world's general acceptance of everyone's lifestyles and sins. We have fashioned a god (who is not God) that will not just accept any sinner, but the onus is on God to accept us, if we come to Him. I say "no." This is not God. Once we have received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, then our lives must be consumed with this one thing: Becoming worthy of the Lord, His kingdom, and His glory.

Paul says they were imploring the Thessalonians "as a father would his own children" (vs. 11, NASB). Perhaps this is the source of the breakdown of the church. Parents have very low expectations of their children, in terms of behavior and manners. Ask any school-teacher or restaurant worker, and they will tell you the truth about parents today. Society expects virtually nothing other than the children sit quietly when they are supposed to. They stand when they are supposed to. They are dismissed when they are supposed to. So consequently, people think that if they come to church, and they sit when they are supposed to. They stand when they are supposed to. They don't wiggle around and make a scene, and they go home when they are supposed to, then they are accepted by God. Wrong. Being a Christian is more than attending church and sitting still like a good boy or girl. Being a Christian means you follow Christ in holiness and obedience.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 - When we preach, we need to keep in mind that, in so far as we walk with the Lord daily, we do not preach the "word of men" but the "word of God." I believe this word of God is not referring to the Bible as the word of God. There was no Bible at that time. There were the Hebrew Scriptures, but if Paul meant to refer to that, he would have said "Scriptures." Paul is referring to a prophetic kind of speaking and preaching whereby "God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20, NASB).

1 Thessalonians 2:16 - The Jews tried to keep Paul from preaching to the Gentiles because they didn't want the Gentiles to share in the salvation. They were jealous of their own supposed salvation, and they wanted to keep the Gentiles on the outside. Many churches are the same way. They would not welcome the filthy dogs (as Gentiles were often called) of worldly people such as homosexuals, prostitutes, or drug addicts. They are jealous of their own "salvation" and want to keep "those people" out. The irony of it is that while they suppose their own salvation, they actually show themselves to be excluded from the kingdom based solely on this fact. That is, they prove to be not genuine about their own religion by the sheer fact of trying to keep others from enjoying it as well. Thus, they are damned to hell and those they tried to exclude will, by God's grace, be saved. How many whole churches full of members will be cast into hell on the Day of Judgment for this crime? "Many will come to Me on that day...and I will say, "Depart from Me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you" (Matthew 7:22-23).
If we liken the Jews that Paul directly refers to in this passage to religious people who suppose themselves to be Christians (but are really false converts), we can see also that these religious people merely add the sin of trying to exclude people to their already hideous and odious sins. The phrase, "fill up the measure of their sins" (NASB) would mean "to top it all off..." Lastly, he says that the wrath of God has already come upon them. They suffer in this life and in the next life because of their sins.