Title: God Chosen / 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
The Thessalonian Church, although the history of the gospel was short, was growing day by day in God's abundant grace as the members possessed the right faith based on the gospel.
The thanksgiving in this verse is the Greek verb eucharistumen, which is the present tense and the adverb always is used. Gratitude is not the past, nor is gratitude for the vague expectations of the future, but a present confession of faith.
“I remember you in prayer”
Paul uses the word remember only in prayer-related parts (Romans 1:9; Phm 1:4), which not only gives thanks to God for the growth of the church he founded, but also allows them to stand upright on the gospel and have faith. It means that you prayed for intercession to God so that you could grow.
In this verse, Paul rejoices that God's grace toward the Thessalonians is concretely manifested in the lives of the Thessalonians. On the other hand, faith, love, and hope in this verse are words that were widely used in the early church and are often combined into one unit (5:8; Romans 5:1~5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 5:5, 6). ; Col 1: 4, 5; Heb 6: 10-12; 10: 22-24; 1 Pet 1: 21, 22). These three are organically related to each other, and these are the virtues that make up the essence of life that God has given to the saints through Christ. In other words, faith, hope, and love are the three virtues that govern all areas of a Christian's life.
“History of Faith”
This can be understood as the meaning of your history that came out of faith. Faith is based on the redemptive work God has done in Christ to save His people. This belief inevitably changes the whole of life, enabling the saints to live a life of active service to fulfill God's holy plan.
“Labor of Love”
Love reveals the friendly relationship between God and his people through Christ, and, like faith, is accompanied by practical actions. The Thessalonians gave alms to help the sick and the hungry, and in spite of severe persecution, they were zealous in preaching the gospel. These are labors for the gospel, as the Apostle Paul expressed elsewhere (3:5; 1 Corinthians 15:10, 58; 2 Corinthians 10:15; Galatians 4:11; Phil 2:16).
“Patience of Hope in Our Lord Jesus Christ”
The members of the Thessalonian church had the hope of seeing the ultimate victorious day when Christ would return. As such, those who hope for the second coming of Christ have the patience to overcome any difficulties they may face in reality. The Greek word translated as perseverance in this verse is hypomones, which is an enterprising and courageous quality of a Christian.
Since Christians have the hope of the Second Coming, they should never get discouraged and move forward with perseverance in the midst of difficulties that seem like a dead end.
Paul always gives thanks to God in verse 2, the specific cause of thanksgiving in verse 3, and the ultimate motive for such gratitude in this verse.
“Brothers loved by God”
Paul liked to use the title brethren, and he uses it 21 times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians alone. If the word “saint” is an expression related to God, the word “brother” is an expression of human relationships and shows that all the saints are one with Jesus as the center. In this verse, the title "brethren" is connected with the word "beloved of God", showing that the Thessalonians stand firm in their faith. Because the Greek word for loved is egapemenoi, a present perfect participle, indicating that God's love for them has already been completed and is still being exercised in the present.
“I know that I have chosen you”
Election is a great biblical concept that flows throughout the Old and New Testaments, meaning that before the creation of the human father, Adam, God had already chosen the Thessalonian saints and all other saints as his sovereignty (Ephesians 1:4). Some argue that God chose the Thessalonian saints either when they were converted or after. However, Paul is saying that the Thessalonian brothers were chosen as a thing of the past (before the foundation of the world), and that their selection was not based on any human response, but because of God's unconditional love and God's absolute sovereignty.