1 Thessalonians 1:3

‘work of faith and labour of love
and perseverance of hope’
(1 Thessalonians 2:4)

The first thing to note about this short quote from the apostle Paul is that it includes ‘faith’, ‘hope’ and ‘love’, a triad he often puts together, because they form the core of our lives as Christians.

Faith, at its simplest level, is about becoming aware that God ‘exists’(Hebrews 11:6) and is gracious, our salvation springing from this revelation/realisation, which comes to us by ‘grace… through faith’(Ephesians 2:8). More broadly, this involves ‘belief in the truth’(2 Thessalonians 2:13) as revealed and recorded for us in ‘the holy Scriptures’(2 Timothy 3:15ff.) in all their fullness, like understanding that Jesus ‘died for our sins… was buried… was raised on the third day’(1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and other associated truths. In addition, we’ll find that our ‘faith grows’(2 Thessalonians 1:3) as we learn ever more details, and as we increasingly experience God’s ‘grace’(2 Peter 3:18) ‘in its various forms’(1 Peter 4:10).

One thing we’ll increasingly focus on is the hope Paul mentions here, a subject he often turns to. On hearing about the Ephesians ‘faith’(Ephesians 1:15ff.), he prayed that God might give them ever more ‘revelation in the knowledge of Him’(Ephesians 1:17), with spiritual eyes to see ‘the hope of His calling’(Ephesians 1:18), i.e. ‘“the good news of God’s Kingdom”’(Luke 4:43) – so this hope is central to the ‘“good news”’ or ‘“gospel”’. Paul looked forward to standing with the Thessalonians ‘before our Lord Jesus at His coming’(1 Thessalonians 2:19), a ‘hope’(1 Thessalonians 4:13ff.) his letters to them cover in some detail – that glorious time when the future present impacts our ‘eternal comfort and good hope’(2 Thessalonians 2:16).

However, faith and hope, without love, are ‘nothing’(1 Corinthians 13:2ff.), love being another essential to our lives as Christians. In fact, when considering ‘faith, hope, and love… these three. The greatest… is love’(1 Corinthians 13:13), partly because the very essence of ‘God is love’(1 John 4:8&16). It’s how our journey begins: ‘We love Him, because He first loved us’(1 John 4:19), then continues, as we’re ‘taught by God to love… more and more’(1 Thessalonians 4:9-10), and finally never ends (!) – the eternal consummation of our faith and hope in Him, like a ‘bride’(Revelation 21:2ff.).

So we find Paul putting these three together often. In fact, it was his joy on hearing about the Thessalonians ‘faith and love’(1 Thessalonians 3:6) that largely prompted this letter, in which he exhorts them wear their ‘breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope’(1 Thessalonians 5:8). Similarly, he reminded the Romans that being ‘justified by faith, we… rejoice in hope… and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts’(Romans 5:1-5).

All of this should have a profound effect on us – in fact everything will ‘become new’(2 Corinthians 5:17), with regards to our priorities, motivations and Christian ‘walk’(Ephesians 2:10) that follows. Here Paul focuses on the ‘work… labour… and perseverance’ that certainly characterised his walk with ‘God’(2 Corinthians 6:4ff.). Similarly, James could write, ‘I will show you my faith by my works’(James 2:18). Yet this isn’t a ‘grievous’(1 John 5:3) slog, rather a ‘labour of love’, driven by the faith and hope, as we learn to ‘“‘love… God with… heart… soul, and… mind’”’(Mark 12:30), and our ‘“‘neighbour’”’(Mark 12:31) too.

In fact, this new dynamic is all of God. His love is ‘poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit’(Romans 5:5), for us to express through His Holy ‘fruit’(Galatians 5:22ff.). So the Thessalonians came to faith not simply by believing Paul’s words, but through a work of the Holy Spirit, ‘in power… with much assurance’(1 Thessalonians 1:5) – encountering and recognising ‘God’(1 Thessalonians 2:13, cf. Hebrews 4:12) in Paul’s message. Then God began working through them, as Paul taught elsewhere: ‘it is God who works in you both to will and… work, for His good pleasure’(Philippians 2:13), adding encouragingly that ‘He who began a good work in you will complete it’(Philippians 1:6). So, in his other letter to the Thessalonians, Paul prays that God may direct their ‘hearts into God’s love, and… the perseverance of Christ’(2 Thessalonians 3:5), and energise their resulting ‘desire of goodness and work of faith with power’(2 Thessalonians 1:11), so as to establish and strengthen them ‘in every good work’(2 Thessalonians 2:17).

Consistent with this, it’s of note that Paul’s thoughts here are expressed as a prayer of thanks to God: ‘We always give thanks to God for all of you… remembering… your work of faith… labour of love and perseverance of hope’(1 Thessalonians 1:2-3) – for ‘of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory for ever! Amen’(Romans 11:36).

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