Greetings to a young church (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

The church in Thessalonica was a young church, having been founded by Paul, Silas and Timothy only a few months before the writing of this letter. Shortly after the church had been founded, Paul and Silas had been forced to leave the city because of the strength of the opposition (Acts 17:10). They were taken to Berea, after which Paul went on to Athens and Silas waited for Timothy, before joining up with Paul. In Athens, the team were concerned about how the young church was doing and eventually they sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how the church was getting on (1 Thess. 3:1), and since Paul was left alone, perhaps Silas went back to Berea. They rejoined Paul after he had moved to Corinth (Acts 18:5). Timothy came back with a very good report in the main, and the team wrote this letter in response. He had also identified some problems, such as wrong ideas about the second coming of Jesus, and these are corrected in the letter.

In looking through this letter, we will see many features of church life. Although it was written in the first century, and to a city which was very different to modern cities, the letter is relevant for today. While there will be cultural aspects that are no longer in existence, and even doctrinal problems that no longer exist (for example, the Thessalonians were concerned about benefits those of their number who had died would receive when Jesus returned), there are many principles that we must implement if we want to qualify as a New Testament church.

We should observe something that is so obvious, yet we often fail to spot it. This book is a pastoral letter, not a theological treatise. Paul and his colleagues are responding to real situations, not hypothetical ones. This letter is written from the heart as well as from the mind. There is a bond between them and their readers, a bond created by God through the gospel. We will see this bond several times as we proceed through the letter.

A question worth asking is whether we can call this a letter from Paul given that he mentions his two colleagues as co-senders. The answer is that we can, and for two reasons at least. First, Paul agrees with all that is in the letter and, secondly, he utilises his apostolic authority in 5:27 where he says, ‘I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.’ So it is appropriate to say it is a letter from Paul.

Because it is a letter, the customs of the time are followed, which is that the senders are identified, as are the recipients, and a statement of good wishes begins the letter. The senders are Paul, Silvanus and Timothy; the recipients are the church in Thessalonica; and the good wishes are the blessings of grace and peace. Then as became customary in Paul’s letters, the greeting is followed by information about his prayers for those to whom he was writing.