First Thessalonians (ca. 50 CE)

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First Thessalonians (ca. 50 CE)
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Key Passages
1 Thessalonians 19-10 For the people of those
regions report about us what kind of welcome we
had among you, and how you turned to God from
idols, to serve a living and true God, and to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the deadJesus, who rescues us from the wrath
that is coming. 1 Thessalonians 213 We also
constantly give thanks to God for this, that when
you received the word of God that you heard from
us, you accepted it not as a human word but as
what it really is, Gods word, which is also at
work in you believers. 1 Thessalonians
312-13 And may the Lord make you increase and
abound in love for one another and for all, just
as we abound in love for you. And may he so
strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may
be blameless before our God and Father at the
coming parousia of our Lord Jesus with all his
saints.
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1 Thessalonians 413-511 But we do not want you
to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about
those who have died, so that you may not grieve
as others do who have no hope. For since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring with him those who
have died. For this we declare to you by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left
until the visitation parousia of the Lord,
will by no means precede those who have died. For
the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the
archangels call and with the sound of Gods
trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive,
who are left, will be caught up Latin
rapiemurraptured in the clouds together with
them to receive the Lord in the air and so we
will be with the Lord forever. Therefore
encourage one another with these words. Now
concerning the times and the seasons, brothers
and sisters, you do not need to have anything
written to you. For you yourselves know very well
that the day of the Lord will come like a thief
in the night. When they say, There is peace and
security, then sudden destruction will come upon
them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman,
and there will be no escape! But you, beloved,
are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you
like a thief for you are all children of light
and children of the day we are not of the night
or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as
others do, but let us keep awake and be sober
for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who
are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong
to the day, let us be sober, and put on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet
the hope of salvation. For God has destined us
not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that
whether we are awake or asleep we may live with
him. Therefore encourage one another and build up
each other, as indeed you are doing.
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Key Ideas

• WrathSome scholars have argued that Paul speaks
  of Gods wrath as an impersonal force, like
  karma most reject this argument.
• Miroslav Volf Reconciliation and justification
  do not issue from some mushy sentiment that
  shrugs the shoulders and turns a blind eye For
  Paul, God's unconditional grace toward sinners is
  unthinkable without judgment. A God of most
  radical grace must be a God of wrathnot the kind
  of wrath that burns against evildoers until they
  prove worthy of being loved, but the kind that
  resists evildoers because they are
  unconditionally loved. (http//findarticles.com/p
  /articles/mi_m1058/is_23_116/ai_55805969)
• Parousiavisitation, the arrival of an
  important ruler who is received by a delegation
  before entering the city.
• John Dominic Crossan The metaphor of parousia
  as state visit would presume that those going out
  to greet the approaching ruler would return with
  him for festive rejoicing within their city. In
  Search of Paul How Jesus Apostle Opposed Romes
  Empire with Gods Kingdom (New YorkHarperCollins
  2004), p. 170.
• Darkness/Light, Night/DayDarkness and night are
  the present age light and day are the future
  age. Paul maintains that for those who are in
  Christ, the daylight has already dawned, even
  though its still the middle of the night. The
  future is already here, starting with Jesus
  resurrection.
• The love commandment You yourselves have been
  taught by God to love one another (1
  Thessalonians 49b). (See Romans 138-10, Mark
  12-28-31, John 1334-35, 1 John 47-21 next two
  slides)

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Romans 138-10 Owe no one anything, except to
love one another for the one who loves another
has fulfilled the law. The commandments, You
shall not commit adultery You shall not murder
You shall not steal You shall not covet and
any other commandment, are summed up in this
word, Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does
no wrong to a neighbor therefore, love is the
fulfilling of the law. Mark 1228-31 One of the
scribes came near and heard them disputing with
one another, and seeing that he answered them
well, he asked him, Which commandment is the
first of all? Jesus answered, The first is,
Hear, O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is
one you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind, and with all your strength. The
second is this, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other commandment greater
than these. John 1334-35 I give you a new
commandment, that you love one another. Just as I
have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.
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1 John 47-21 Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is from God everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love
does not know God, for God is love. Gods love
was revealed among us in this way God sent his
only Son into the world so that we might live
through him. In this is love, not that we loved
God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be
the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved,
since God loved us so much, we also ought to love
one another. No one has ever seen God if we love
one another, God lives in us, and his love is
perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in
him and he in us, because he has given us of his
Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the
Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the
world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus
is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we
have known and believe the love that God has for
us. God is love, and those who abide in love
abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has
been perfected among us in this that we may have
boldness on the day of judgment, because as he
is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in
love, but perfect love casts out fear for fear
has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has
not reached perfection in love. We love because
he first loved us. Those who say, I love God,
and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars
for those who do not love a brother or sister
whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they
have not seen. The commandment we have from him
is this those who love God must love their
brothers and sisters also.