The Established Path of Discipleship

The presence of smoke does not always mean a fire, but most of the time, it does. On more than one occasion, the Apostle Paul uses three words to describe the presence of the family of God: faith, hope, and love. Just as the presence of smoke indicates the existence of a fire, the presence of faith, hope, and love in a Christian community signifies the presence of the family of God. The most famous use of these three words is from the great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul concludes, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13). Faith, hope, and love are the Abiding Triad of Christianity.

This Abiding Triad is why Paul thanks God for the Thessalonian church. In prayer, Paul mentions them by “remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:3). Paul remembers what he saw. And what did he see? He saw first their work of faith. True faith in Christ is never alone but always produces works. This was not only apparent to Paul and others in Macedonia and Achaia, which led Paul to say that the Thessalonian’s “faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything” (1 Thess. 1: 8).

Second, Paul saw their labor of love. Love is labor—it is not meaningless work but purposeful action. Although it is work, biblical love is not devoid of feeling. Paul set the example for the Thessalonians.

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 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. (1 Thess. 2:7-8)

For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:11-12)

The Thessalonian believers exhibited what they had seen in Paul: a love that labors by caring for new believers like a mother or father cares for their children. They had become imitators of Paul and the Lord (1 Thess. 1:6).

Third, Paul saw their steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Thessalonian church “received the word in much affliction” (1 Thess. 1:6), but they also did so “with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” How did they do this? They did so not by looking at their current circumstances but by anchoring their hope on what is to come. They were waiting for the certain return of Christ, “who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). We cannot find hope by looking to the kingdoms of this earth. We find steadfast hope in the one who defeated death, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Keeping with our metaphor, the Abiding Triad is the smoke, and the family of God is the fire. Where does Paul make that connection? After thanking God for the presence of this triad in the lives of the Thessalonian church, Paul says, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:4). The evidence of the electing grace of God was the power of God displayed through the Holy Spirit in the conversion and changed lives of the Thessalonians. When you see that type of smoke, there is indeed a fire.