Grace be to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for you all: making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing,
ευχαριστουμεν τω θεω παντοτε περι παντων υμων μνειαν υμων ποιουμενοι επι των προσευχων ημων
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The Apostle calls God to witness their great progress, when he not only praises them, but also thanks God as the accomplisher of all their progress. At the same time, he teaches them humility, as though saying that all this is the work of God's power. Thus he speaks of thanksgiving because of their good works, and of remembering them in prayers because of his love for them.
"We always thank God for all of you." Immediately after praise comes praise to God. For by thanking God for them, he shows that they fulfilled everything by which God is glorified. At the same time, he teaches humility, since everything is accomplished by God. "Remembering you in our prayers." That he thanks God is the result of their virtues. That he remembers them in prayer comes from his love for them.
We are taught first to give thanks for the good things already bestowed on us, and only then to ask for the good things that are lacking. For one can find that the divine Apostle acts this way everywhere. He also makes known why he hymns the God of all.
The whole Epistle is visibly divided into two parts: a historical part and a moral-dogmatic part. At its beginning stand the inscription and greeting, and at its end the concluding directives and good wishes.
I. The Apostle Paul sends the greeting from himself, Silvanus, and Timothy, wishing grace and the peace of God to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 1:1).
II. In the historical part, the holy Apostle Paul seeks to dispose the Thessalonians to stand firmly in the faith of Christ which they received from him. He does this through the circumstances of their conversion, the manner of his conduct among them, their sufferings, and his own sympathy for them (1 Thess 1:2-3:13).
The circumstances of the Thessalonians’ conversion may be called extraordinary, with clear signs of their divine election. “Our Gospel among you,” despite its short duration, “was not in word only,” the Apostle writes to them, “but also in power, ... and in much assurance.” And “you ... became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia, so that we have no need to say anything. ... They themselves report ... how, in so remarkable a way, you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:5-9).
The conversion of the Thessalonians and the founding of the Church there was a very great miracle of God’s mercy. This mercy regenerated the newly converted with extraordinary speed and almost completely changed them. Therefore, when the Apostle remembered this, he could not fail to thank God. At the same time he had to ask that the Lord strengthen the Thessalonians and make them grow spiritually.
He did pray for them. He bears witness to this so that they themselves also would pray, and would strive in every way to be in God. For this they first had to keep themselves pure from every sin. Then, according to their strength, they had to attain possible perfection, helping one another by every service and above all by prayers.
“Thanksgiving to God for the Thessalonians is a testimony to their great progress,” says St. John Chrysostom. “The Apostle not only praises them, but also thanks God as the accomplisher of their progress. At the same time he teaches them humility, as though saying that all this is the work of God’s power.”
“He says, ‘We always thank God.’ And this is no exaggeration. The Apostle lived in God, and prayerful turning to Him never departed from his heart. Such is the power of the apostolic spirit, the bearer of the Spirit of God. Thanksgiving in words was not, of course, constant. Yet it was always present in the feeling of the heart, ready to pass into speech” (Bishop Theophan).
To this our more recent interpreter adds: “The feeling of thanksgiving to God for the success of his work formed the constant disposition of the reverent spirit of the great Apostle of the Gentiles.” “Having put on Christ, the Apostle as it were died to the world, and Christ Himself began to live in him (Gal 2:20). Yet with such devotion to the Lord, the Apostle never lost awareness of his own powerlessness. Therefore the feeling of gratitude to God constantly filled the Apostle’s loving heart (Eph 5:20). Therefore almost all the Epistles of the Apostle of the Gentiles begin with thanksgiving to God (Rom 1:3, 9; 1 Cor 1:3-4; Eph 1:16; Phil 1:4; Col 1:3).”
After the greeting to the Thessalonian church, which the Apostle gives not only in his own name, but also from Silvanus and Timothy, who helped him in founding the church in Thessalonica, the Apostle says that he always thanks God for the good condition of the Thessalonian church whenever he remembers it in his prayers.
In the first part of the Epistle, Saint Paul recalls all the historical events concerning the Thessalonians from the time he gained entrance among them until the time he writes the Epistle.
He does this in order to root in them, through the indication of God's finger in everything, the conviction that the faith they received bears the tangible seal of divinity. Thus he inspires them still more to stand firm in it, despite afflictions and deprivations.
He accomplishes this by depicting three things. First, the radiant state of the Church of Thessalonica in itself, in God's relation to it, and in its relation to all others (1:2-10).
Second, he depicts his own stay among them, sealed by a lofty moral character recognized by them themselves (2:1-16). Third, he depicts his fatherly and heartfelt cares for them (2:17-3:13).
Having received pleasant news about the Thessalonians from Saint Timothy, Saint Paul rejoiced over it (3:9). In his joy, he gives thanks to God for all the good with which He had been pleased to endow the Thessalonians.
From the first word he raises their mind to God. By pointing to Him as the accomplisher of their progress, he suggests that they belong to God and that the work of their faith is God's work.
Saint Paul begins almost all his Epistles with thanksgiving, and some with almost the same words (Rom 1:8-9; Eph 1:16; 2 Thess 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3). Yet this is not a mere turn of speech or a matter of custom.
It is the expression of real feelings with which his soul was filled; see 3:8-9. Called to the work of God, he could not fail to rejoice in its successes. Seeing God's finger tangibly in everything, he could not fail to thank God.
"We give thanks to God always," he says. This is no exaggeration. The Apostle lived in God, and prayerful turning to Him did not depart from his face. Such is the power of the apostolic spirit, the bearer of the Spirit of God.
Thanksgiving in words was not continuous, of course, but it was always present in the feeling of the heart, ready to pass into words. That he gives thanks for all seems to be stated deliberately.
Although the Apostle knew that not all were perfect, he does not narrow the breadth of his thanksgiving. Through this, he opens in advance the way for his word into the hearts even of the imperfect, when the time comes to touch their correction.
By the words "making mention of you" and the rest, he defines the act of thanksgiving when it is expressed in words during prayer. The Apostle speaks as if to say: in our prayers, remembering you, we pour out grateful feelings to God.
But what were prayers among the Apostles? They made up half of their apostolic labors. "We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word," they said when deacons were chosen for the Church of Jerusalem (Acts 6:4).
Saint Chrysostom says: "Thanksgiving to God for the Thessalonians is testimony to their great progress. For the Apostle not only praises them, but also thanks God as the accomplisher of all their progress.
"Moreover, he teaches them humility, as if saying that all this is the work of God's power. Thus he speaks of thanksgiving because of their good deeds, and of remembrance of them in prayers because of his love for them."
In other Epistles, thanksgiving appears as an introductory discourse, after which follows an indication of other subjects. Here, however, thanksgiving is closely bound to what follows and forms the subject of the first chapter.
Saint Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians as he thinks of the perfection of their Christian character and of God's election of them. These motives, or subjects of thanksgiving, are also marked in the structure of the discourse by the words "remembering without ceasing" (v. 3) and "knowing" (v. 4).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 14 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS