1 Thessalonians 1:4 – Choice Perceived

4 having perceived, brethren beloved by God, your choice, 5 for the evangel of our God did not come to you in word only…

Paul addresses the Thessalonians as “brethren beloved by God” and says that he has perceived their choice. Choice (predestination) means that God chooses people for a specific position or task. Why He does so is hidden from human beings and often incomprehensible to them as well (1 Cor. 1:27). Yet Paul could perceive among the Thessalonians that God had chosen them. How? He explains it immediately in what follows: “for the evangel of our God did not come to you in word only.”

The evangel did, of course, come in word. Paul had spoken from the Scriptures in Thessalonica and proclaimed the Christ to them. But it did not stop at words that were merely heard. The message did something. It found an entrance and became operative. That is precisely how Paul recognized their choice. He saw what happened when the evangel came to them.

For Paul, then, choice could be perceived by its effect. This fits beautifully with what he had written earlier about “the work of faith.” The truth of the faith had done its work among the Thessalonians. In what follows, Paul will explain more fully how the evangel came among them: not in word only, but in power also, and in holy spirit and much assurance. In this, God’s choice became visible.

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