Prayer of Thanksgiving: Part 3 - 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Prayer of Thanksgiving: Part 3 - 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Paul's abundant prayer life has become evident in our previous two studies. In verse 2 we saw him constantly giving thanks to God for the Thessalonian believers. And, in the first part of verse 3 we found him continually bearing them in mind as he approached God in prayer. Now, when Paul was praying, he mentions that there were particular things that were at the forefront of his mind that he was especially thankful for. Our study today will focus on the first of these, which is these believers' work of faith. So, if we're all ready for the study of spiritual truth, let's open our Bibles and dig in.

Quote :

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NASB) - constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father (emphasis added)

For the student of Scripture, this phrase, "work of faith," brings with it some interesting thoughts. At face value, many will find the phrase to be contradictory, but upon further investigation that is not the case. Our study today will focus on understanding what Paul meant when he used these words and why Paul was thankful for it. We'll want to make sure that we're thorough in our work here, because without it we leave the door open for doctrinal error.

The first thing that we need to tackle is figuring out what Paul meant when he said "work of faith." Let's start by looking at what a "work of faith" is not. The majority of Christendom has been taught that faith is not a work, which is accurate and biblically true. Many like to describe faith as a non-meritorious work, meaning that it has no intrinsic value of its own. So, while "having faith" is indeed doing something and accomplishing a work of sorts, the faith itself has no value. Part of the reason that we understand this is because of passages like Ephesians 2:8-9, which reads:

Quote :

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB) - 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

This passage tells us that salvation is the gift of God and that there are no works that we can do to obtain it. It is only by the grace of God that we are even able to be saved, and it is through our faith in Jesus as Savior that we are able to do so. Ephesians 2:8-9 is important because it contains our key words "work" and "faith;" we are saved not by "works" but through "faith." If salvation is through faith, then that faith cannot be a work. Romans 4:4-5 is another passage that helps to drive this idea home when it states that it's not through works but our belief that we're declared righteous. So, is Paul contradicting himself in these two epistles? Of course not. If faith isn't a work, then what in the world is he talking about? Let's continue and we'll find our answer.

When Paul says that he constantly keeps in mind their work of faith, he is referring to their belief in the gospel message. He's not saying that their faith is a work, but that their faith has produced a work within them. This can become confusing because even though faith is not a "work," it is often discussed and thought of in the context of work because to believe you have to "do" something by putting your faith in an object. As we saw in Ephesians, faith is merely the mechanism that God enacted by which we might receive eternal life. Jesus makes this clear for us in the gospel of John, so let's take a look at that.

Quote :

John 6:27-29 (NASB) - 27“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” 28Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

In this instance, we see Jesus dialoguing with the crowd after feeding the five thousand with the loaves and fish. He is trying to get them to quit thinking temporally, but to think about eternal matters, which He will give to them if they would seek after it. Their response was, "how do we do the works of God?" Jesus' response was that they simply need to believe in the One that God had sent; that was their "work." Thus, even here, we see the equivalence between faith/belief and work. There was nothing that the crowd could work toward, they just had to believe.

This is the idea that Paul was getting at in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. He wasn't saying that these Thessalonian believers were doing anything special that they could work toward, but simply that their work of faith was a belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was rejoicing over the fact that they had positive volition as they heard the gospel being preached to them, which was their believing work of faith. Therefore, whenever Paul thought of the believers at Thessalonica Bible Church, one of the first things that always came to mind was their belief in Jesus Christ, without which he would not be able to have Christian fellowship with them. It was their belief that was the overwhelming reason why Paul was able to give an abundance of thanks to the Father. The work of faith is a great reason why any believer should give thanks to God!

For us today, as we close, we always need to remember our own work of faith. It wasn't anything that we did to receive our salvation, other than our belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Take some time to meditate on that today. If Paul was able to offer such great thanks on behalf of the faith of others, then we should be able to rejoice and give thanks for our own salvation, as well as the salvation of our brothers & sisters in Christ. So, until next time, thank God for allowing you to exercise your work of faith! God bless!

devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/1thess015