These two letters afford rich reflection upon the triune God. We may trace four lines of teaching about the Trinity from these two letters. And then we may draw some implications from these letters about the place of theology in Scripture and in the Christian life.
In all likelihood, the first surviving letters written by the apostle Paul were to the church in Thessalonica. As he recounts in 1 Thess 2:17-3:5, Paul had been driven from Thessalonica by enemies of the gospel. These verses testify to the anguish and concern that Paul was experiencing as he left this young body of believers in the crucible of persecution. But in the verses that follow (1 Thess 3:6-13), Paul’s mood reflects the joy he experienced when Timothy brought to him the “good news” of the Thessalonians’ “faith and love” (3:6). It was to encourage the Thessalonians, recently converted from paganism, to persevere in their young faith that Paul wrote these two letters.
What did a body of new believers need to hear? They needed to hear the gospel. It was through the gospel that the church in Thessalonica had come to faith. It would be through the gospel that the church in Thessalonica would grow in faith. And the gospel, according to Paul, is a message centered upon the triune God – one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit.
These two letters afford rich reflection upon the triune God. We may trace four lines of teaching about the Trinity from these two letters. And then we may draw some implications from these letters about the place of theology in Scripture and in the Christian life.
The Trinity in Thessalonians
First, and most basically, Paul affirms that there is but one God. A minority of Pauline scholars argues that Paul, like most people in antiquity, was a polytheist. But the letters to the Thessalonians offer some of Paul’s most strongly worded affirmations of monotheism. In 1 Thess 1:9, Paul reminds the church that they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…” Formerly, the Thessalonians had been idol worshippers. That condition had been one of spiritual slavery (see Gal 4:9). But they had “turned,” that is, they were converted by God (see 2 Cor 3:16). The service they now offer is no longer to idols. It is “the living and true God,” alone and exclusively, whom the Thessalonians now serve. And who is this God? Paul’s description of him as “living and true” reminds us of Jeremiah’s words, “But the Lord God is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jer 10:10). This God is none other than YHWH, the God of Israel. We serve one God alone, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is living and true. All other gods are idols, dead and false.
Second, Paul affirms Jesus to be God. He does this in many ways. We may mention three. First, Paul says that Jesus is in unique relationship with God. Thus, the church is “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 1:1; compare 2 Thess 1:1). To set Jesus alongside the Father in this way indicates their equality of nature – Jesus is God. Note that within this unity there is diversity – Paul speaks of God as “the Father” (1:1) and, a little later, Jesus as “his Son” (1:10). Second, Paul addresses Jesus in prayer as well as God the Father. Jesus along with the Father receives the prayers of believers, “Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and
