Hope
April 27, 2010 by Jay Adams
In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul speaks of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope. What has he got in mind?
Elsewhere, he places these three virtues in a different order when he enumerates faith hope and love. It would seem that the last of the three is the one that he is emphasizing, the other two building up to it.
If that is so, in this letter, he is emphasizing hope. And rightly so. There was confusion in the Thessalonian church about death and the resurrection. Evidently, as the second letter clarifies, some rumor had reached them to the effect that no Christian would die before the Lord’s coming. Presumably some of their loved one had died, and this caused confusion and consternation among them. So hope was the uppermost quality they needed.