1 Thessalonians 2:13 - Meaning and Application

Here Paul points to the success of his ministry among the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 2:13). He first shows this by the way they received God’s word. When they heard the message from the apostles, they did not treat it as a human opinion, but as it truly is, the word of God. The gospel is preached by men like us, people with weaknesses and limits, but the message itself comes from God.

That is why it is wrong to pass off our own ideas or commands as God’s word. It is also wrong to listen only for human skill, like fine speech, good style, or a pleasing voice. When we hear Scripture, we should receive it as God’s own word, with the honor due to his holiness, wisdom, truth, and goodness. Human words pass away, and people may be wrong or unreliable, but God’s word is holy, wise, just, and faithful, and it lives forever.

Paul also says that this word worked powerfully in those who believed. Those who receive it by faith find it to be good and useful. It converts the soul, gives light to the mind, and brings joy to the heart (Psalm 19:1-14). The inward work of Scripture in a person’s heart is strong proof to that person that the Bible is from God, even though it may not persuade someone who has not experienced that work.

He then gives thanks for the good results of his preaching. It was always a reason for thanksgiving, because God had counted him faithful and made his ministry fruitful. Paul never seemed to think he could thank God enough for that mercy. Success in preaching was not something he claimed for himself, but something that moved him to praise God without stopping.

The word also worked in the Thessalonians. It made them examples to others in faith and good works, and it also strengthened them to endure suffering with patience. They became followers of the churches of God in Judea, the believers in the Jewish land, and they suffered in the same way those churches had suffered (1 Thessalonians 2:14). That is a mark of the Christian life: if we are called to suffer, we are only following the path of God’s people before us (Matthew 5:12).

Paul notes that the churches in Judea were the first to hear the gospel and the first to suffer for it. The Jews were among the bitterest enemies of Christianity, and they were especially angry with their own countrymen who became Christians. Strong religious hatred can set neighbors and even family members against each other, and it can break natural bonds as well as God’s commands. In city after city, the Jews stirred up the people against the apostles. At Thessalonica, unbelieving Jews became jealous, gathered troublemakers, and threw the whole city into an uproar (Acts 17:5).

Paul then gives a description of those unbelieving Jews, and it is strong enough to explain why God’s judgment was coming on them (1 Thessalonians 2:15). They killed the Lord Jesus, and they even called for his blood to be on them and on their children. They also killed their own prophets, as their fathers had done before them, showing a long history of persecution. They drove away and hurt the apostles as well, which should not surprise us if they had already killed the Lord Jesus.

He adds that they did not please God. They had lost all true sense of religion and duty toward him. It was a terrible mistake to think they were serving God by killing God’s servants. Murder and persecution are hateful to God, and no claim of religion can make them right. Paul also says they were opposed to all people. Their spirit was twisted and contrary to reason, to human kindness, and to the good of everyone.

Finally, they showed bitter hatred toward the Gentiles, the non-Jews, because they did not want them to hear the gospel and be saved. They resisted the apostles when the message was offered to the Gentiles. God’s saving truth had long been entrusted especially to the Jews, and they were jealous that others should share in it. Nothing angered them more than hearing that salvation was also for the Gentiles. This kind of resistance only filled up the full measure of their sins, and wrath came on them at last. In time, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jewish nation was cut down by the Romans. When a person or a people sins fully and keeps going to the end, judgment follows.