1 Thessalonians 1:3

Context

1 Thessalonians is a letter that Paul, together with Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy, sent to the church in Thessalonica, a city in Macedonia. According to Acts 17, Paul and his companions preached the gospel and founded a church in this city, but they soon had to leave in the face of opposition. First Thessalonians 1:2–10 forms the thanksgiving section at the opening of the letter. In this verse Paul says that whenever he prays, he calls to mind the believers' life of faith and gives thanks to God. The letter indicates that this church was enduring affliction and persecution (1:6; 2:14).

Interpretation

The verse brings faith, love, and hope together, pairing each with a corresponding term: "work" (deed or action), "labour" (toil or strenuous effort), and "patience" (steadfast endurance to the end). Many commentators paraphrase it as "the work that comes from faith, the labor that love produces, and the endurance that hope sustains." On this reading, the verse describes inward virtues as they become outwardly visible.

• Reformed and Lutheran readings: Works are not regarded as the ground of salvation. Rather, works are the fruit borne by justifying faith, and this verse is read as a text that illustrates that point (justification).
• Wesleyan readings: In Methodist, Holiness, and related traditions, this verse is read alongside "faith which worketh by love" in Galatians 5:6. It is sometimes also cited as a basis for emphasizing sanctification expressed in the practice of love in daily life.
• Eschatological readings: These note that the object of hope is explicitly identified as "our Lord Jesus Christ." They connect this hope with the expectation of the Second Coming in 1:10 and chapter 4, and see it as the source of strength to endure persecution.

Debates and Issues

There is no prominent controversy among denominations over the meaning of this verse. Two points, however, merit attention in translation.

• The meaning of yeoksa ("work"): In the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version, the word translated "work" is yeoksa (役事), meaning "work" or "labor." It is easily mistaken, however, for the homophone yeoksa (歷史), meaning "history." For this reason, some modern Korean translations render it with simpler words meaning "deeds" or "work."
• What "in the sight of God and our Father" modifies: The Greek word order alone leaves interpreters divided over whether the phrase modifies "remembering" or "hope." The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version attach it to "remembering."

In Korean Churches

The threefold expression "work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope" is often used for sermon titles and church mottoes. It is also frequently presented together with 1 Corinthians 13, which addresses the same three virtues.

Related Passages

• 1 Corinthians 13:13
• Galatians 5:6
• Colossians 1:4–5
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10
• 1 Thessalonians 5:8