Bible Passages

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Aim of the Study

Greater commitment to live increasingly distinctive lives* as children in God’s family
Greater dependence on our faithful God, who provides all the resources for such distinctive lives*

*marked by peace, love, joy, prayer, praise, discernment, holiness and hope

Structure of the Study

If we look at the passage under the heading: “Family Relationships With…”, this structure emerges:

• v12-13 – Leaders
• v14-15 – Each Other
• v16-24 – God
• v25-27 – Christians From Elsewhere
• v28 – Christ

Discussion Questions

Recap… Implications of Jesus’ return for believers (& non-believers); individual Christians need to be ready (5:4) and keep each other ready (5:11).

Introduction… ‘Final Instructions’ (NIV)-
= apparently disjointed hotchpotch of ideas thrown together at random? Maybe not!

Starter Question: What do v12,14,25,26 & 27 have in common?
Implication: This concluding section is about ‘living as a family’…

v12-13

• What’s the first instruction Paul gives the Thessalonian family of God?
• How else are these ‘hard-workers’ described in v12?
• Who are these people, then?
• In this letter (eg 1:3, 2:9), what has been the motivation behind the toil of ministry?
• Why should the family in Thessalonica love and respect its leaders?
• What might this mean in practice?

• What should the Thessalonians / we expect our leaders to do?
• (What qualities should be evident in those who feel ‘called to (paid) ministry’?)
• (How should we identify those whom God is calling to ministry?)
• How comfortable are you with these 3 aspects of the leaders’ role?
• If we fail to follow Paul’s instructions here, what risk do we run (v13)?

v14-15

• From your memory of chapter 4, can you suggest who ‘the idle’, ‘the timid’ and ‘the weak’ might be?
• According to Paul, who has responsibility for warning, encouraging, helping etc.?
• What will be especially needed in this work?
• In v15, which particular temptation will have to be resisted?
• Which “motto” will help them resist it?

• Taking v12-15 together…
• what should be the key characteristics of a community of believers?
• How close do we come to fulfilling this ideal? (In which respects are we doing well; how can we keep growing? In which respects do we particularly fall down; how can we improve?)
• What do v23-24 encourage us to do?

v16-24

• In 4:3, Paul wrote, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified”.
• Which 3 marks of a sanctified life does he focus on in v16-18?
• Is he joking?!!
• If not, what does he mean by each of the commands here?
• (To what extent is Paul a model here?)
• “Do not quench the Spirit” (v19) probably refers backwards as well as forwards.
• How does this help us to become a more joyful, prayerful, praising family, in line with God’s will?

• Taking v19-20 together…
• how might the Thessalonians have been “quenching the Spirit”?

• (v21-22) What’s the proper approach to messages purporting to come from God?
• How would they have been able to ‘test everything’? (What would have counted as ‘good’ and ‘evil’?)

• Re: prophecies, how is our situation similar / different to the Thessalonians’?
• So how do v21-22 apply to us?
• How, practically, can we ‘test everything’?
• What must we do after ‘testing…’?
• How can we get better equipped to enjoy this privilege / fulfil this responsibility?

• What does Paul pray for the Thessalonians?
• (How is God addressed in v23? What’s this an echo of?)
• What hints do we get here that God is a ‘perfectionist’?
• Which great event does Paul again have in view?
• Given this prayer’s similarity to the one in 3:13, why does it come here? (ie What’s the link between v23 and the preceding verses?)
• How confident is Paul that his prayer will be answered?
• What are the grounds of his confidence?
• What indications are we given in v12-22 as to how “(God) will do it”?

• What should our response be to v24?
• To what extent are we co-operating with God’s ways of sanctifying us?

Summarise…

• How the family should relate to…
  • leaders (v12-13)
  • each other (v14-15)
  • God (v16-24)

v25-27

• What are the 3 instructions here?
• What do you think “all the brothers means” in v26 & v27? (Cf. 4:10?)
• What does v25 have in common with v26 & v27?
• So how are the Thessalonians to relate to Christians from outside their fellowship?
• Does anything in particular strike you about v27?
• What would this emphasis convey to the Thessalonians? (Cf. v21!)
• How do the 3 instructions apply to us?

v28

• Which key thoughts does Paul sign off with?
• How do these thoughts reflect / sum up this passage / the letter as a whole?