Essays on I Thess. 2.7-12 (Part 3)

‘We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us’ (NIV).

Verse 8 explains these metaphors and begins a description of how Paul and his ministry teams had cared for the Thessalonians. The ESV renders a better reading as follows, “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” In essence, Paul is saying that because of his love for the Thessalonians he was delighted to share not only the gospel, but also his life with them.

The specific language used to express Paul’s love for the believers mirrors language that was used upon funerary inscriptions describing the longing a parent felt for a deceased child.[1] Paul likely states this so strongly to impress upon the Thessalonians his true love and care for them, despite the fact that he was not able to be with them.

Paul declares this as the reason for sharing with them his life in addition to the gospel. As a minister of Christ it was Paul’s mission to proclaim the gospel in whatever geographic locale he visited. But for Paul, merely sharing the gospel was not enough; a vital part of sharing the gospel was sharing his life. The two were so intertwined that Paul could not give one without the other. And so we see that having such a strong love for the Thessalonians Paul made the conscious decision to share everything that he had with them. This would have created a contrast for Paul’s behavior to the behavior of the popular orators and moralists who would have given their teachings in return for praise or payment.[2] Paul gave everything, and took nothing.[3]

Concluding v. 8 Paul reiterates the affection which he has for the Thessalonians, which Michael Holmes suggests stems from the transforming power of the gospel.[4] While there is certainly an element of truth to this, the affection which is here being displayed is probably better understood in view of the many familial references littered throughout the passage, and provides a context for those references.

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[1] Green, 128.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Gorman, Michael J. Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 48-49. This is the beginning of what Gorman terms a theology of cruciformity, which he says is “an ongoing pattern of living in Christ and of dying with him that produces a Christ-like person.” Gorman posits that this is the major idea of Paul, and suggests that the idea which is briefly seen here in I Thess. 2 is later developed in light of Phil. 2 where we observe Christ ignoring a superior status and pouring himself out and I Cor. 9 where Paul also sets aside those things which might lend him superior status to become “a slave to all, that [he] might win some.” Gorman, Apostle, 68-69.

[4] Holmes, Michael W. 1&2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 65.