1 Thessalonians 2:10

Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: YE ARE WITNESSES - as to our outward conduct. GOD - as to our inner motives. HOLILY - toward God. JUSTLY - toward men. UNBLAMEABLY - as to ourselves. BEHAVED OURSELVES, [ egeneetheemen (G1096)] - 'were made to be;' namely, by God. AMONG YOU THAT BELIEVE - Alford, 'before (i:e., in the eyes of) you that believe:' whatever we seemed to the unbelieving. As 1 Thessalonians 2:9 refers to their outward occupation, so...

10_Ye are witnesses_. He again calls God and them to witness, with the view of affirming his integrity, and cites, on the one hand, God as a witness of his conscience, and them, (532) on the other hand, as witnesses of what they had known by experience. _How holily_, says he, _and justly_, that is, with how sincere a fear of God, and with what fidelity and blamelessness towards men; and thirdly, _unreproachably_, by which he means that he had given no occasion of complaint or obloquy. For the servants of Christ cannot avoid calumnies, and unfavorable reports; for being hated by the world, they must of necessity be evil-spoken of among the wicked. Hence he restricts this to _believers_, who judge uprightly and sincerely, and do not revile malignantly and groundlessly....

7-12 Mildness and tenderness greatly recommend religion, and are most conformable to God's gracious dealing with sinners, in and by the gospel. This is the way to win people. We should not only be faithful to our calling as Christians, but in our particular callings and relations. Our great gospel privilege is, that God has called us to his kingdom and glory. The great gospel duty is, that we walk worthy of God. We should live as becomes those called with such a high and holy calling. Our great business is to honour, serve, and please God, and to seek to be worthy of him....

Verse 10. _YE_ ARE _WITNESSES, AND GOD_ ALSO, _HOW HOLILY_] i.e., in reference to GOD; how _justly_ in reference to _men_; and _unblamably_ in reference to our _spirit_ and _conduct_, as ministers of Christ, _we behaved ourselves among you_. What a consciousness of his own integrity must St. Paul have had to use the expressions that are here! No hypocrite, and none who did the work of the Lord carelessly, could make such an appeal both to God and man....

YE ARE WITNESSES - They had a full opportunity of knowing his manner of life. AND GOD ALSO - See the notes on ver 5. HOW HOLILY - Piously - observing all the duties of religion. AND JUSTLY - In our contact with people. I did them no wrong. AND UNBLAMEABLY - This seems to refer to his duties both to God and man. In reference to all those duties no one could bring a charge against him. Every duty was faithfully performed. This is not a claim to absolute perfection, but it is a claim to consistency of character, and to faithfulness in duty, which every Christian should be enabled to make. Every man professing religion should so live as to be able to appeal to all who have had an opportunity of knowing him, as witnesses that he was consistent and faithful, and that there was no

EXPOSITION CONTENTS.—Paul turns from the reports of others to the experience of the readers. They themselves knew that his entrance was not powerless; although maltreated in Philippi, he was emboldened to preach the gospel at Thessalonica. His preaching did not proceed either from delusion on his part or from a desire to delude others. He felt approved by God, and was actuated by no improper motives: he sought neither their praise nor their money; so far from insisting on his apostolic rights, he was gentle among them, and conducted himself with the tenderness of a nursing mother toward her children; and so far from his ministry being a pretext for covetousness, he had labored for his own support; and thus he could confidently appeal to the Thessalonians as witnesses of the blamelessness of his conduct And as his entrance among them was not powerless, so he thanked God that it resulted i...

YE ARE WITNESSES, AND GOD ALSO,.... Not so much to what goes before as to what follows after, relating to their holy walk and conversation among them, the more open part of which they were witness of; and for the more secret part God is appealed to, who is acquainted with the springs of actions, as well as with actions themselves: HOW HOLILY, AND JUSTLY, AND UNBLAMABLY WE BEHAVED OURSELVES AMONG YOU THAT BELIEVE. The Syriac version joins the last clause of the preceding verse with this, and reads the whole thus, "ye are witnesses, and God also, how purely and justly we preached unto you the Gospel of God, and how unblamable we were among all that believed"; referring the former part to the purity and integrity in which they preached the Gospel, and the latter to their unblemished conduct among the saints; but the whole of it refers to their conversation, which was holy, externally holy,...

II. TRUE SERVICE, AS MANIFESTED IN APOSTOLIC MINISTRY CHAPTER 2 _ 1. Apostolic conduct and service 1 Thessalonians 2:1)_ 2. Thanksgiving for the reception of the message and the opposition 1 Thessalonians 2:13) 3. Looking forward to His coming 1 Thessalonians 2:17) 1 Thessalonians 2:1 The apostle now enlarges upon the brief statement in the previous chapter “Ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes.” His conduct and character, as well as that of his fellow laborers, corresponded fully with the holy character

PAUL'S DEFENCE OF HIS MISSIONARY WORK. Paul had been charged by his opponents with being a wandering sophist making money out of his followers. He rebuts the charge and incidentally gives us a picture of the ideal missionary. 1 THESSALONIANS 2:2. AT PHILIPPI: the reference is to the scourging and imprisonment described in Acts 16:22. 1 Thessalonians 2:3. Our preaching was not the result of mental delusion, nor of an impure character, nor was it with intent to deceive. Each phrase refers to a charge which had been brought against Paul. 1 Thessalonians 2:4. pleasing

You yourselves know, brothers, that our coming among you was not to no effect; but after we had--as you know--already undergone suffering and ill-treatment at Philippi, we were bold in our God to tell you the good news of God, and a sore struggle we had. Our appeal to you did not proceed from any delusion, nor from impure motives, nor was it calculated to deceive; but as we have been deemed worthy by God to be entrusted with the good news, so we speak, not as if we were seeking to please men, but rather as if we were seeking to please God, who tests our hearts. At no time, as you know, did we use flattering words; at no time did we use our message as a pretext for greed; God is our witness at no time did we seek reputation from men, either from you or from others, although we might well have claimed a place of weight, as apostles of Christ. But we showed ourselves gentle among you, treat...