1 Thessalonians 1:3

ἀδιαλ. Neither distance nor fresh interests make any difference to his affection; his life is bound up with their welfare; his source of happiness is their Christian well-being (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20; 1 Thessalonians 3:7-10). The adverb (a late Greek formation, cf. Expos., 1908, 59) goes equally well with the preceding or with the following words; better with the former, on the whole, as the participles then open the successive clauses in 2, 3 and 4. ὑμῶν is prefixed for emphasis to the three substantives which it covers, while the closing ἔμπροσθεν … ἡμῶν (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:19) gathers up the thought of μνημον. Faith in one sense is a work, but Paul here (as in Galatians 5:6) means faith that does work (opus opponitur sermoni inani, Bengel), by producing a change of life and a cheerful courage under trials. It would be no pleasure to recall a merely formal or voluble belief, any more than a display of Christian love (cf. Colossians 1:4) which amounted simply to emotions or fitful expressions of goodwill, much less a hope which could not persist in face of delay and discouraging hardships.