Deeper Reflection
PAUL “EXHORTED…ENCOURAGED…CHARGED” THE Thessalonians to “walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (2 Thess 2:12). How did Paul exhort, encourage and charge his new converts? With the Word of God. Where did Paul get the idea of living our lives worthy of God who call us into His kingdom and glory? From the Word of God. In Paul’s disciplemaking and pastoring work, the Word of God is central. In 1 Thessalonians 1 and 2, the Word of God and the Gospel of God are synonymous, together occurring eight times.³⁰Observe the nature and character of the Word of God. The Word of God is spoken and received “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v.5), “in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (v.6) and “in the midst of much conflict” (1 Thess 2:2). The Word of God – and so are also those who trust in and hold fast to God’s Word – is tested and tried by all opposition and obstacles but proves true and triumphs over them. The Word of God is so sacred that to be entrusted with it, our hearts must be tested and approved by God (1 Thess 2:4). The infinite worth and transforming power of the Word of God convinced and compelled Paul to serve with selfsacrificial love in his ministry of the Word (1 Thess 2:8, 9). There are two dimensions in our relationship to the Word of God: active and passive. Actively, we walk by God’s Word; passively, God’s Word “is at work” in us (1 Thess 2:13). 

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²⁹ 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 6, 8; 2:2, 4, 8, 9, 13