1 Thessalonians 1:6 – The Word Came In

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in much affliction with joy of holy spirit,

In the previous verse Paul wrote, “Such we became among you.” Now he turns it around: “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.” What they had seen in Paul and his coworkers, they themselves began to imitate. And in doing so, they also imitated the Lord. Paul immediately says how this became visible in practice: they received the word in much affliction.

Paul writes that they received the word. That better reflects the Greek word than ‘accepted.’ We find the same Greek word in Acts 28:21, where letters from Judea are said to be received. A letter is delivered to you and comes in. In the same way, the Word had come in among the Thessalonians. The initiative did not lie with them, but with the Word that came to them. And they received that Word “in much affliction.”

The affliction that arose came from outside, but the joy they experienced came from within. The Word had come in among them and brought about “joy of holy spirit” there. In the previous verse the Evangel came to them “in holy spirit”; here they receive it with “joy of holy spirit.” No affliction could stop that!

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