1 Thessalonians 2:4 – Tested by God

4 but, according as we have been tested by God to be entrusted with the evangel, thus are we speaking, not as pleasing men, but God, Who is testing our hearts.

When we read “tested,” we should not think of a test whose outcome God still had to await. The word carries the idea of putting something through testing so that it becomes proven. Think of gold that is tested by fire (1 Pet. 1:7): impure elements are removed, and the tested gold remains. Paul, too, had been tested through suffering and opposition. In the preceding verse he had just recalled what had happened to him in Philippi. In this way God tested His messengers and made them fit for what He entrusted to them: the evangel.

That determined their speaking: “so we speak.” Whoever has been entrusted by God with His evangel does not speak to please men. After all, the message does not belong to the messenger, nor does it belong to his audience. It is God’s. Therefore, what matters is not the approval of men, but the pleasure of the One Who entrusted the evangel.

At the end, the same word returns: God is the One “Who tests our hearts.” With that, the circle is complete. The God Who tested His messengers and entrusted them with the evangel also continued to test their hearts. Whoever is tested by God learns not to speak for men, but for Him.

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