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NT Doctrine -- 1 Thessalonians 4-5 - Ed Hurst - 04-20-2024
The last two chapters of Colossians, and the first three chapters of this letter are either encouragement or personal matters between Paul and readers. We note in passing that this was likely the first apostolic epistle of Paul's career. He wrote from Corinth back to Thessalonica because they had only three weeks of ministry before Paul was chased out of town.
In the first part of this chapter, Paul recounts some basic guidelines for walking in Christ. The sexual restraint Jesus and His apostles taught came as a cultural shock to Gentiles in that part of the world. However, the moral purity of caring for each other was not so foreign, and with the energizing guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church had learned sacrificial love very quickly. But because the Macedonians were not known for working all that hard, it would be too easy for them to decide that brotherly affection meant they could sponge off each other. Thus, Paul warns them to provide for themselves.
The big issue is the Resurrection. Keep in mind that for most pagans in the old Greek Empire, there was no such thing as a Spirit Realm. For them, this realm of existence is all there is. Should there be an afterlife, it would have to be some place in this world that most mortals never see. Thus, it's quite natural that they would assume those who came to Christ, but then died, were gone forever. The teaching of a Spirit Realm was simply too new.
Paul says that, if Jesus died and rose again, then so could all their fellow believers who lay in the grave. Paul even uses the term "fell asleep" to make this point. Not only will the dead believers rise at Christ's return, they get to join Him first. Then, those who see Him come while still alive will get to watch them all rise from their graves, to follow behind them to meet Him in the air.
As to when that Day will be, no human can possibly know. Paul uses the image of a thief in the night. The prompt for such a thing comes completely from the outside, as does all the planning and execution. Nothing you can imagine as making sense of such a thing has any bearing on the matter. The only thing we can do is be ready because we've been warned that it will happen.
Sleeping in the grave is one thing; sleeping on the job is a huge mistake. Paul beats that into the ground here so it doesn't move from their sight. Faith is our armament against being caught off guard.
The chapter ends in a laundry list of what faith moves us to do in preparation.