110. The Delicate Work of Spiritual Guidance (nouthetein 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15)
Scattered throughout Paul’s correspondence1 (and in one of his speeches in Acts 20:31) we find the verb nouthetein and its cognate noun nouthesia. The pattern of usage chronologically spans the entire written ministry of Paul (from his initial letters to the Thessalonian church through to the Pastoral Epistles (Titus)). However, he is selective in his [...]
106: The Ministry of Encouragement (paramutheisthai 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
The verb paramutheisthai and its cognate nouns paramuthia and paramuthion occur only in Paul’s letters and John’s Gospel within the New Testament. Paul used the verb in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 and 5:14, the noun paramuthia in 1 Corinthians 14:3, while the other noun paramuthion is found in Philippians 2:1. Paul employed these terms in contexts [...]
105: “Describing ‘Leadership’ in the New Testament (proistēmi 1 Thessalonians 5:12)”
In Paul’s writings the verb proistēmi occurs eight times.1 His use of this verb spans the entire frame of his writings from 1 Thessalonians to 1Timothy. In his earliest and latest letters the verb occurs in contexts that describe church leadership functions. In fact it is one of the few terms we have in the [...]
78. Taught by God (theodidaktoi – 1 Thessalonians 4:9)
The Psalmist declared “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me” (Psalm 71:17) and he desires that God continually would teach him to do his will (Psalm 143:10). His experience and expectation is that God does instruct him, with the result that he knows God and his ways. While this defines the Psalmist’s relationship [...]