1 Thessalonians 1:3

“remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father”

“Remembering”: “Present active” (Robertson p. 7). “We never fail to recall” (TCNT). “Constantly bearing in mind” (NASV). “We cannot forget” (Nor). Notice that memory, thanksgiving and prayer belong together. “For it is when we remember people (their faces, names and needs) that we are prompted both to thank God and to pray for them” (Stott p. 29). This means that an accurate memory,. memory untainted by envy, suspicion, hate or bitterness is. great help in making our prayers meaningful and effective.

“Without ceasing”: Unfortunately, at times we tend to "unceasingly" remember the short-comings or imperfections of our brethren, instead of remembering their achievements. “Work of faith”: “The efforts that have resulted from your faith” (TCNT). “Your energetic faith” (Gspd). “Active faith” (Ber).

“The work which faith accomplishes” (Erdman p. 33). “There is nothing which tells us more about. man than the way in which he works. He may work in fear of the whip; he may work for hope of gain; he may work from. grim sense of duty. His faith is that this is his task given him by God and that he is working in the last analysis, not for men but for God. Someone has said that the sign of true consecration is when. man finds glory in drudgery” (Barclay p. 217). Carefully note that the same writer insists that salvation is not earned or merited (Ephesians 2:8), yet Paul continually exhorts Christians to "work" (1 Corinthians 15:58). The faith that saves, the faith that pleases God is an active faith (Hebrews 10:39; James 1:22; James 2:24; James 2:26). Seeing that. Thessalonians was written before Romans and Galatians, we already know that the "faith" under consideration in both of those books is. faith that works.

“Labor of love”: “Your unwearied love” (Knox). “Toil prompted by your love” (TCNT). “Your loving service”. The word "labor" here means “laborious, painful exertion, fatiguing toil, intense labor united with trouble”. “Love leads us to attempt labor from which we would ordinarily shrink in dismay. Love leads us to do good without having any feeling of superiority because we have done it, or resentment because it has been imposed upon us” (Fields p. 32). “The word expresses the cost of their love, not its result. With or without visible success, love gives itself unstintingly” (Morris p. 51). “A true love for people leads to labor for them; otherwise it degenerates into mere sentimentality” (Stott p. 30). True love will work (1 Corinthians 13:4); true love will sacrifice and place the needs of others ahead of its own (Romans 13:8; 2 Corinthians 12:15; 1 John 3:16). This is the type of love that God Himself manifests (Matthew 5:46). “He begins to see men in. measure as God sees them, and to love them, not for any worthiness that they may have, but despite their unworthiness. He loves them, not for his own advantage, but for theirs” (Morris pp. 52-53).

“Patience of hope”: “Endurance of hope” (Rhm). “Patient endurance sustained by your hope” (TCNT). “Your unwavering expectation” (Gspd). “The endurance that hope inspires” (Erdman p. 33). “ Patience is not mere passive endurance. It is heroic perseverance and manly constancy” (Erdman p. 34). “What is meant is not. quiet, passive resignation, but an active constancy in the face of difficulties, that hope which is more than pious optimism. It is. solid certainty” (Morris p. 53). “Such hope will enable. person to stand firm in the midst of inducements to give up the struggle; confidence that one is on the winning side enables one to survive apparent setbacks” (Marshall p. 51). This confidence is positive, active, alive and well, in spite of hard circumstances and overwhelming odds (Romans 5:4; Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Hebrews 6:18). “Hope in. Christian context always has an air of certainty about it. It is. confident expectation, and not the unfounded optimism which we often mean by the word”. [Note:. 7th Annual Denton Lectures. 'Studies in. &2 Thessalonians, Philemon. Edited by Dub McClish p. 53.]

“In our Lord Jesus Christ”: Our hope is rooted in Jesus Christ (1 John 3:3; 1 Peter 3:20; Romans 8:23). “Before our God and Father”: “In the presence of” (Con). This expression can have reference to being in the presence of God at the last day (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13); or currently (1 Thessalonians 3:9). Early Christians eagerly awaited the Second Coming of Christ (1 Peter 3:20). They did not fear nor dread His return, and neither did they view it as something that would "interrupt" their plans, or pose an inconvenience. If we "dread" the Second Coming probably indicates that we either are not right with God (and we know it), or we are too focused on the things of this temporary life.