*Ye* [are] witnesses, and God, how piously and righteously and blamelessly we have conducted ourselves with you that believe
Paul has just reminded the Thessalonians of the nights he worked with his hands, so that his preaching would cost them nothing. Now he calls two witnesses to the whole record: the converts themselves, and God. That raises a question for every preacher and every believer. Can my life stand as evidence for what I say?
The claim is bold, and it is public. Paul's proof is not a statement about himself. It is work they watched — labour with his own hands so that no one carried his cost.
Paul worked with his own hands in Thessalonica, as he did in Corinth, where he was when he wrote to them. He did it so that he might be a burden to no one… He sums up his appeal to the believers and to God Himself. Only a man who trained himself to keep a conscience free of offence toward God and men at all times could make such an appeal.
The verse uses three words: holy, righteous and blameless. Older translations read "holily, justly and unblameably," and the writers below use that older wording. They take the three as covering the whole of life, not as three ways of saying one thing. One reading maps them onto God, other people, and self.
Notice in verse 10 the solemn appeal again, as in verse 5. Paul points to their own knowledge and to the witness of God. It is precious that a servant of God can honourably do this, as we see with Samuel in 1 Samuel 12:3-5. Now three features of their behaviour press upon us: "holily," which is Godward; "justly," manward; and "unblameably," selfward. Men commonly ignore the first, and it is the most important of all. They excuse personal evil by claiming they harm no one but themselves. That leaves only their relationship with others to be seriously considered. But the child of God must ignore none of these spheres of responsibility. Only then is behaviour wholesome, solid and dependable.
Commentators differ on the third word. Another reading keeps all three within the circle of God and fellow believers. It lets the last one reach out to the watching world as well.
What a record of the life of a Christian — and made, too, under the eye of God and before the eyes of men. It takes in three spheres, if we understand it rightly. "Holily" refers to his walk with God. "Justly" refers to his relationships with his fellow believers. "Unblameably" refers to his conduct still in respect of believers, though it perhaps also includes the world as the source of contamination.
The verse sits between two pictures: a nursing mother, and a father charging his children. The life Paul lived in front of them links the two.
If the Apostle was gentle as a nurse, he also faithfully charged them as "a father does his own children." To charge others, however, calls for a faithful and holy walk. The Apostle's walk was exactly that. So he can call them to witness, and God also, that he lived among these believers piously, holily and blamelessly.
What holds for Paul holds for anyone who serves the Lord.
He would urge them to conduct like his own with all the weight that his own walk gave him, just as he would want their growth in love to match the affection he had for them. It is this which gives authority to the exhortation, and to every word of a servant of the Lord.
The reverse is also true. A messenger can drive people away from a sound message.
Their lives and conduct were beyond reproach. How enormously important this is! Rub a magnet with garlic and it loses its power to attract. And if worldliness or self-seeking taints an evangelist or a pastor, he repels people. People hold his name in contempt, and his preaching falls on deaf ears.
- Witnessed. Paul submits his conduct to two courts at once: the people who watched him daily, and God. So he kept a conscience free of offence toward both.
- Threefold. Writers read the three words as three spheres: holy toward God, righteous toward others, blameless in the rest of life. They differ over whether that last word looks inward at self or outward at the world.
- Undivided. People drop the first sphere most easily. They excuse private wrong because it harms nobody else. A believer leaves none of the three out.
- Authorising. A holy walk lets a man charge others as a father charges his children. It gives a servant's words their weight.
- Attractive or repellent. Conduct beyond reproach draws people to the message. Worldliness or self-seeking in the messenger makes even true preaching fall on deaf ears.
as ye know how, as a father his own children, we used to exhort each one of you, and comfort and testify,
Paul has just compared himself to a nurse caring for her children; now he takes up the picture of a father with each of his own. The verse shows what real care looks like: how it changes as people grow, how personal it is, and what it aims at.
The two pictures in this chapter are not two people. They are one love meeting two stages of growth.
First, when they were still at the infant stage, he cherished them as a nurse. When they grew a little, he went on with his course, working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of them, and preaching to them the gospel of God. He exhorted, comforted and charged every one of them, as a father does his children. As they grew, the way he met their need changed. But the same love that had cared for them as a nurse now exhorted them as a father.
They came to faith through Paul's preaching, so he stood to them as a father. Each thing he did met a different need.
This picture implies the spiritual relationship God had formed between Paul and these believers. They came to faith through his work, so they were his children in the faith. Standing in that relationship, he carried a special responsibility. He therefore sought to train them up in the way they should go. To this end he exhorted them when he saw the need to urge them forward. He comforted them if they were depressed, downcast, or sorrowful. He charged each one about his own responsibility, explaining that the standard set before them was to walk worthy of God, who had called them to His kingdom and glory.
The middle word is worth a pause. Two Greek words are both translated "comfort," and Paul uses the warmer of the two here.
The words parakaleo and paramutheomai are both translated "to comfort," but there is a difference between them. The second word comes from para and muthos, "a word, speech." It occurs in four places (John 11:19, 31; 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:14), where the Authorised Version translates it "comfort." It seems to express more tenderness than the first word.
Paul dealt with them one at a time. That rules out care handed out only in bulk, from a distance.
They knew this fatherly care. The apostle had counselled and advised every one of them separately and tenderly. He did it not just from the platform, but one by one. None of them could miss a concern for his welfare that sprang from the warm affections of a father. So we see fatherly care at work.
A father's charge carries weight only when his own life backs it.
If the Apostle was gentle as a nurse, he also charged them faithfully, as a father does with his own children. But to charge others calls for a faithful and holy walk. The Apostle's walk was such that he can call them to witness, and God also, that he lived among these believers in a devout, holy and blameless way.
All this exhorting and charging had one aim: a walk worthy of God, who calls people to His own kingdom and glory. Whether the saints keep that in view shapes how they live.
What could better show that His kingdom bears on how we walk now? And it is well known that losing sight of it leaves the saints open to seeking ease and honour, and wealth and all worldliness. With His kingdom and glory before us, we can bear present shame and suffering with a whole heart, and this lifts the walk.
- One love, two forms. The nurse and the father are one love adjusting to growth. It cherishes the newborn, then trains the child who has begun to grow.
- Three tools. Exhorting urges forward. Comforting lifts the sorrowful. Charging presses each person's own responsibility.
- One by one. Fatherly care reaches each person on his own, not just from the platform. Then no one can miss the concern for his welfare.
- Backed by a life. Charging others needs a faithful and holy walk. Paul could call the Thessalonians and God as witnesses to his own conduct.
- Aimed at glory. The goal is a walk worthy of God, who calls us to His kingdom and glory. Keeping that in view lifts the walk. Losing it opens the door to ease, honour and worldliness.
that ye should walk worthy of God, who calls you to his own kingdom and glory.
Paul has just described how he worked among the Thessalonians. Here he names the goal of all that labour. It is a life that matches God Himself, steadied by God's call into His own kingdom and glory. Two questions press. What does it mean to walk worthy of God? And how does a future kingdom shape life now?
These three verbs are not repetition. Each one meets a different need.
Exhorting stirs up faith. Comforting binds up love. Charging strengthens hope, like the charge of the Lord Jesus to His servants, "Engage in business until I come." (Luke 19:13) This threefold ministry was needed so that they might "walk worthy of God" — the triune God, who had called them "to His kingdom and glory."
Paul also names "each one of you." His care was personal, and the calling itself set its direction:
He watched over each one, and all of them, with constant and thoughtful care. His exhortation, comfort, and testimony always stirred, cheered, and guided them in the ways that suit the God who calls to His own kingdom and glory. There He will have His own with Christ soon and for ever. He would have them walk now in that hope, and in a way worthy of it.
Scripture uses this "walk worthy" language more than once. Comparing the passages shows what is distinctive here.
I think there is a practical difference in the three "walkings worthy," though they are essentially the same. In Thessalonians we have the measure itself and its nature — "Worthy of God," imitators of God as dear children, "Who has called us to His own kingdom and glory." Then we see what this is, shown in a perfect and divine expression of it in Christ — "Worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." In Ephesians 4 we have more our own present place in it by the Holy Spirit — "the calling with which we are called."
The measure is God Himself, seen in the light of where He is taking us:
"Worthy of God!" Think what this is, and that it is according to the place we are to have with Him in glory, when all is complete.
A standard this high could be misread as a way of earning God's favour. The order runs the other way. God makes us His, then tells us to act like it.
Christian duties are real. They flow from the new relationship that grace forms in Christ. We must first be in the relationship before the duties are there. People make a serious mistake here. They treat the duties as a way of getting into relationship with God... You cannot fulfil the duties of a child until you are one, or show the love of one either... God makes us His children, and then says, Now imitate your Father.
Both sides stand together, and neither cancels the other:
Note, it is not responsibility as to our acceptance; we are in Christ. But if that is true, the other side is also true. "Walk worthy," therefore, "of God, who has called you to His kingdom and glory."
This call puts the believer's honour on a different scale from the world's.
The world thinks it an honour to stand with those who are high in the kingdoms of this world and its glory. How far greater the privilege of standing with those whom God has called to His kingdom and glory! Down here they may have been only ignorant and unlearned fishermen. Yet they are going to sit on thrones judging in the kingdom of Christ. It is a far greater honour to be found with them than with the greatest ruler of this passing world.
What we expect shapes how we live now. Losing sight of the kingdom leaves a mark.
What could more prove His kingdom as bearing on present walk? And in fact it is well known that when the saints lose sight of it, they are left open to seeking ease and honour, and wealth and all worldliness. With His kingdom and glory before us, we can gladly bear present shame and suffering, and this lifts our walk.
- Called — God's call comes first. Grace forms the relationship, and only then do the duties of a child begin.
- Measured — The call sets the standard. It is not human opinion, but God Himself, seen in the place we are to have with Him in glory.
- Carried — Exhortation stirs faith, comfort binds up love, and charge strengthens hope. Paul gave that care to each one.
- Crowned — Standing with those who will reign with Christ outweighs any honour this passing world can offer.
- Changed — Keep the kingdom in view and shame becomes bearable. Lose sight of it and ease, honour and wealth take over.