BRUCE C WEARNE continues his series on I Thessalonians with a look at Paul’s call for them to deepen the love God has instilled within the church in Thessalonica…
But with regards to the [cultivated family] love among us you have no need for what I could write to you about it because you are [already] taught of God [personally] to love one another. And it is so toward all you brothers [and sisters] in Macedonia that we are urging you to keep on and deepening your love for each other.
And by putting your mind to living quietly and peaceably you should strive energetically to do so, to attend to your own affairs and to be busy working with your own hands, and this is just what we advised you to do so that your walk be commended by those outside your circle and that you may not have to depend upon others. – I Thessalonians 4: 9-12/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
PICTURE: Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash
“It is all about serving God in the present context, in everyday life and not getting destabilised by speculative projections about the future.”
All Paul can say to the church of Thessalonians is to urge them to go on, and on, deepening and cultivating the love that God has called forth from them. That is the basis of his urgent appeal in what he teaches them. And so, his teaching is directed to their response, their efforts to deepen their “family-circle love” for each other. It is all about serving God in the present context, in everyday life and not getting destabilised by speculative projections about the future.
But what about this daily life and the way we look forward to the next step along the way? Where exactly, is this heading? An answer, I guess, depends upon what “this” is. If “this” is God’s creation, in which love is “the fulfilment of the law”, the purpose of God for us in its “nutshell” fullest and overflowing expression, then this is also the purpose of living quietly, working with your own hands, developing a community life (KOINONIA) which has a Holy Spirited, God-breathed, character and integrity. And “Christ is Lord” becomes the confession that would, with patience, wait for what God will provide for us and what He will thus require of us, at the next step along the way.
And so, Paul moves on to assist these believers in Christ’s resurrection and ascended power in understanding their fellows, those who have “gone before”, those who have “fallen asleep” (KOIMOMENON). (see verse 13)
OPEN BOOK: I THESSALONIANS – DEEPEN THE LOVE GOD HAS GIVEN YOU
BRUCE C WEARNE continues his series on I Thessalonians with a look at Paul’s call for them to deepen the love God has instilled within the church in Thessalonica…
But with regards to the [cultivated family] love among us you have no need for what I could write to you about it because you are [already] taught of God [personally] to love one another. And it is so toward all you brothers [and sisters] in Macedonia that we are urging you to keep on and deepening your love for each other.
And by putting your mind to living quietly and peaceably you should strive energetically to do so, to attend to your own affairs and to be busy working with your own hands, and this is just what we advised you to do so that your walk be commended by those outside your circle and that you may not have to depend upon others. – I Thessalonians 4: 9-12/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
PICTURE: Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash
“It is all about serving God in the present context, in everyday life and not getting destabilised by speculative projections about the future.”
All Paul can say to the church of Thessalonians is to urge them to go on, and on, deepening and cultivating the love that God has called forth from them. That is the basis of his urgent appeal in what he teaches them. And so, his teaching is directed to their response, their efforts to deepen their “family-circle love” for each other. It is all about serving God in the present context, in everyday life and not getting destabilised by speculative projections about the future.
But what about this daily life and the way we look forward to the next step along the way? Where exactly, is this heading? An answer, I guess, depends upon what “this” is. If “this” is God’s creation, in which love is “the fulfilment of the law”, the purpose of God for us in its “nutshell” fullest and overflowing expression, then this is also the purpose of living quietly, working with your own hands, developing a community life (KOINONIA) which has a Holy Spirited, God-breathed, character and integrity. And “Christ is Lord” becomes the confession that would, with patience, wait for what God will provide for us and what He will thus require of us, at the next step along the way.
And so, Paul moves on to assist these believers in Christ’s resurrection and ascended power in understanding their fellows, those who have “gone before”, those who have “fallen asleep” (KOIMOMENON). (see verse 13)
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