by Darrel Cline (darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)
Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 6 March 20, 2024 Broadlands, Louisiana (Download Audio)
I. The Overall Paragraph In Terms Of Its Focus.
A. Paul's prayers because of the response the Thessalonians gave to the message of the Gospel.
1. Began with "thanksgiving" expressed to God.
2. Moved from this gratitude to incessant, intercessory, prayer.
3. Focused upon the obvious changes that occurred when the Thessalonians heard and believed the Gospel.
a. Begins with what Paul called "the 'of you' work of The Faith".
b. Moves to what Paul called "the 'of you' labor of The Love".
1) The difference between "work" and "labor".
a) "Work" is the translation of a word that Paul only used two times in this letter another two times in 2 Thessalonians.
(1) The roots of this word are in the concept of "spending energy".
(2) In our current text, it is placed alongside of "labor" and "steadfastness" ('remaining under' something that is not pleasant).
(3) In 5:12-13 Paul mixes the concept of "labor" (as a verb) with the concept of "work" (as a noun) and he does so in view of those who are "over" the believers in the Lord and "admonish" them (teach them instructively so as to establish what is loving/true and explain how that "what" is supposed to look in both attitude and behavior).
(4) In 2 Thessalonians 1:11, he again connects "work" with "faith" and does so in the context of God's "power" as He makes the "work" effective (they "believe" and He "responds with power").
(5) And, in 2 Thessalonians 2:17, he is seeking for both "the Lord Jesus Christ Himself" and "our Father" to comfort our hearts (where the "love" exists) and to establish us (make us resolute) in "every good word and work".
(6) In all four of these texts, "work" is the actual "expenditure of energy" toward some "goal" that requires God's input alongside of the "worker" so that the "work" is not wasted energy.
b) "Labor", on the other hand, is described in terms of "how great the expenditure of energy is".
(1) In our current text, "labor" is connected to "love" so that we are supposed to "connect" the idea of "how valuable an issue is to us" (love) with the idea of "how much energy is to be expended" so that "labor" is what is done when the thing sought is of great value.
(2) In 1 Thessalonians 2:9, Paul combines "labor" with "travail" and indicates his meaning by referring to "working" at the level of "day and night" in order to keep from being a weight someone else has to carry.
(3) In 1 Thessalonians 3:5, he builds on these ideas by bringing in both his own inability to remain in ignorance regarding the "faith" of the Thessalonians because he knows that "the tempter" might well have reduced his "labor" to "a vain expenditure of energy".
(3) Then, in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, he returns to his claim, first made in 1 Thessalonians 2:9, that "labor" is a "day and night" effort.
c) This means, then, that the "works of faith" are "faith driven efforts" and that "labors of love" are "intensely driven efforts".
2) Paul's "point" is that "faith, hope, and love" are involved in the lives of the Thessalonian believers in a manner wherein "work" arises out of "faith" and "labor" arises out of "love".
3) And the greater "point" involves what Paul declared was THE goal of all "Bible teaching" in 1 Timothy 1:5, namely, the reorganization of the value systems of people so that they begin to line up with God's system of values (like taking the scrambled pieces of an intricate puzzle and putting them together) so that the "picture" of God's "love" arises out of these "works" and "labors".
