A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Paul has just defended himself from the claims his detractors spread of his impure motives, errors and any attempt to deceive. As mentioned earlier, he fully understood the reason those in the church may spread this slander about him, for if the messenger was defamed, the message became null and void, even harmful. A little slander goes a long way and though it may not be trusted by all in the church, it can be a very effective tool to split a church, to cause disunity and distract from the goal of the church!

Paul saw the writing on the wall, and he fights back, beginning with his commitment to God, and God’s commitment to him

Approved by God

Paul goes to the core of the issue, by speaking of the One who sent his troupe with the message of the gospel, and in the sending has approved of these men and their preaching.

In the trials and sufferings of this group, God has “dokimzoed” these servants

To be “dokimzoed” (δοκιμάζω dokimázō) is to be tested and to be found genuine. The object, or person in this instance, was examined and after a period of time, was found genuine. Once the testing is complete, the person has the approval of the testing authority.

God had placed on the apostle Paul and his team testing that is not described in this verse, but since he has recently spoken of his time in Philippi (vs 2), we may surmise he is speaking of the beatings, jailing and rescue from the prison. But let us remember he is defending the message here, the gospel he is preaching by describing God’s actions in rescuing him.

If God did not approve of this message he was spreading, this miraculous rescue from a prison must be explained by his detractors.

No, Paul and his team had been tested, at the very least in Philippi, but I suspect Paul could speak of more, and they were approved, found to be the real deal, and due to this, could be trusted to provide a truthful, God approved message.

Entrusted with the gospel

This is exactly what has happened, for as these men were tested and approved by God, God entrusted them with the message that cost His Son His life.

Earlier I had mentioned that the apostles testing may have been more than just in Philippi. To be entrusted with the spreading of the gospel, from what I understand Paul is saying, is to be tested by God first, and then to be sent out. Or at the very least, in the sending, testing would occur. Note that Paul mentioned “as we have been approved”, speaking of a past testing. The faithfulness of the servants had been tested and found genuine, and due to this, the gospel was committed to Paul and his team in their missionary travels.

Consider the importance of this message to God. The truine God had been establishing and orchestrating a condition for His Son to enter a sin sick world, provide a message of life to the world, and as the love of God was spread out to those who claimed to know God, those who claimed to know God crucified the very God they claimed to follow. Our messenger, God’s Son was crucified. Rejected. Murdered. And yet, in all this, the Son was resurrected from the grave, with one message – He is King, Savior of the World and Lord of all.

This message was and is the heartbeat of the Living God, and to be entrusted with this message is of the highest honor. God actually trusted Paul with His message, in the diffusion of His gospel throughout the known world.

Please God

Because of this successful testing, and because of this entrustment between God and His servant, Paul speaks. He is providing the source, even the motivation of speaking and spreading this message. Out of this mutual trust between God and him, Paul speaks.

And his goal as he speaks is two fold.

Not Please Man

To please someone is to seek their approval, to work to gain the approval of their audience, to adjust their lives in order to satisfy someone else’s opinions or desires!

Although I cannot prove this, I suspect he is separating himself from those in the church who seek the approval of men, those religious men (and women?) who spread errors, impure teaching and attempt to deceive, as they claim he does.

In general, Paul cares little for the approval of man. But is he seeking man’s disapproval? Is he speaking in order to offend, or is he simply seeking to provide a faithful witness.

There are those in the church who seek position, or office in the church by comforting those in the church in order to gain authority. This is not Paul’s goal. There are also those in the church who unnecessarily offend their listeners, thinking they do service to God by their harsh message.

Neither of these positions is taken by Paul. He has a goal in mind, and pleasing men is not a part of that goal!

Please God

This is central to Paul’s motivation. Since a wee boy, he has sought to please God. Through the trials and through the preaching, he is adjusting his life and thoughts to find approval before God.

Paul adds a critical phrase after this statement of his goal to please God. He speaks of God as the One who tests our hearts. This testing is the very same testing we spoke of in the earlier portion of our thoughts on this verse.

God “dokimzoes” our hearts. He is testing our hearts, through trials and circumstances to determine our genuineness as believers. I suspect God does this for a number of reasons, but the one reason I would like to end this post on is that He tests us for our own instruction!

We are a self deceiving people and in the daily back and forth of living, we make decisions and act out our desires. Our “heart” actually is the source of our actions, and in the testing of our hearts God provides proof of our desires in concrete, historical actions we do.

I am of the opinion that His heart wants us to succeed, to be faithful, to pass the tests we face as we walk with Him.

God tests our hearts, and we should be thankful for the nudging, conviction and call to repentance we experience as we seek to walk with Him.

He is faithful to us. May we seek to be faithful to Him!

---

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.