1 Thessalonians 3:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Are those words not flattery? By no means, God forbid. Above he testified that they displayed great struggles and endured no less than the churches in Judea.

What then does this mean? It means that they had not yet made use of all the teaching and had not learned everything they needed to learn. He explains this toward the end of the epistle.

Perhaps there were disputes among them concerning the resurrection. There were also many who troubled them, no longer by temptations and dangers, but by presenting themselves as teachers.

This he calls “what was lacking in faith.” For this reason he expressed himself in this way. He did not say “to establish,” but “to complete.”

When he feared for the faith itself, he says, “we sent Timothy to establish you.” Here he says, “to complete what was lacking in your faith,” which pertains more to instruction than to establishment.

Likewise he says elsewhere: “May He perfect you in every good work” (Heb 13:21). What is complete is that which lacks little and is filled up.

That is why Paul remarks in the epistle to the Colossians: “Though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and that which is lacking in your faith in Christ” (Col 2:5).

And to the Thessalonians he says: “Night and day praying most earnestly that we may see your face and complete what was lacking in your faith.” The Latin reads: id guod deest fidei uestrae in Christo. The Vulgate version reads: firmamentum eius quae in Christo est fidei vestrae.

“The greatness of the rejoicing overcomes the hymnody of the lips. For we are unable to raise to God a song equal to the joy that has been given us by you” (blessed Theodoret).

“When the Apostle gives thanks for his own gladdening, one might think that he gives thanks for himself, for his own happiness. But by adding prayer that he may see the newly converted disciples, he gives us to understand that this gladdening is not all that is in his soul.

“This is on the surface. Deeper lies love. The gladdening came from love for them. Love produced gladness at the news of their good standing in the faith. This same love is the reason why he is not content with joy alone, but also desires to see them.

“Both merge into one feeling and compel him to pray day and night that God may count him worthy to see them again. He prays to see them not merely in order to see them, but to complete what was lacking in their faith.

“During his brief stay in Thessalonica, much had remained unsaid. Similarly, writing to the Romans, he says that he had always desired to see them, that he might impart to them some spiritual gift for their establishment (Rom 1:11)” (Bishop Theophan).

The heart of the Apostle Paul was especially permeated with this love. He loved the Thessalonians even before they became his brethren in Christ.

This love will establish their heart in perfect purity before God, as it must appear on the day of the Second Coming of Christ.

Both merge into one feeling and compel him to pray day and night that God may count him worthy to see them again. “As a farmer, hearing that his field, which he has cultivated, abounds in fruits, impatiently desires to see for himself what gives him such pleasure, so also Paul desires Macedonia” (Chrysostom).

He prays to see them not merely in order to see them, but to complete what was lacking in their faith. The Apostle’s feelings are always subordinated to the chief aim of his apostolic ministry: that the converted stand in the faith and know it perfectly.

During his brief stay in Thessalonica, much had remained unsaid. Therefore he desires to visit them in order to say the rest. Similarly, when writing to the Romans, he says that he had always desired to see them, that he might impart to them some spiritual gift for their establishment (Rom 1:11).

“To complete what was lacking in faith.” Faith as a disposition of soul was strong in them, but not all the content of faith had been handed down to them. The power of faith was great, but not the knowledge of its objects.

Faith can appear in full intensity from the first moment of belief, but time and teaching reveal the realm of faith more and more. St. Chrysostom writes: “‘To complete what was lacking in faith.’ What does this mean?

“It means that they had not yet made use of all the teaching and had not learned everything they needed to learn. Perhaps there were disputes among them concerning the resurrection. There were also many who troubled them, not by temptations and dangers, but by presenting themselves as teachers.

“This he calls what was lacking in faith. Therefore he did not say ‘to establish,’ but ‘to complete,’ which pertains more to instruction than to establishment. Likewise he says elsewhere: ‘May He perfect you in every good work’ (Heb 13:21).”

Oecumenius adds: “Concerning those wavering in faith he says ‘to establish’ (v. 2). Concerning those firm in faith, but having some lack in its teaching, he says ‘to complete,’ that is, to fill up.

“The teaching of the faith was not fully known to them. They did not know fully about the resurrection and perhaps about something similar. In faith in Christ they were firm, despite temptations and afflictions. Yet they had to learn all the dogmas of our faith” (so also Theophylact).