1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

6: You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
7: so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
8: For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
9: For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
10: and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

*** 

Paul & Co. acknowledged that after having received the gospel from them and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit through them, the Thessalonians became imitators of them and the Lord. He said because they received the Word in so much tribulation (Acts 17:5-10) with the joy of the Holy Spirit, they became an example to all the believers in Macedonia, Achaia and beyond. Word had spread that those who once served idols now served the true and living God.

There were some Jews, but a large number of “God fearing Greeks” (Gentile converts to Judaism) among the converts at Thessalonica, as we read in Acts 17:4, as well as a number of leading women. So, there was a mixture of the Judaism and idolatrous Gentiles who had been converted. Yet the Jews who became jealous conspired with some wicked men and set the city in an uproar, to try to get Paul & Co. in trouble with the authorities. They sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea but when the Thessalonian Jews heard Paul was there, they went after him. He left for Athens with plans to meet up with Silas and Timothy later (Acts 17:1-15).

Needless to say, having left under these conditions, Paul was happy that word was spreading about the Thessalonian converts—that they had turned from idols to serve the true God, and that they were waiting for His son Jesus who was raised from the dead and will rescue us from the wrath to come. There was no question the Thessalonians were believers in Jesus.

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