1-thessalonians 1:1

Church - Assembly of "called out" ones.

Grace - Kindness; favor.

Paul, and: Silvanus, and Timotheus - Though St. Paul himself dictated this letter, yet he joins the names of Silas and Timothy, because they had been with him at Thessalonica, and were well known there. See Acts 17:4, Acts 17:14.

And Silvanus - This was certainly the same as Silas, who was St. Paul's companion in all his journeys through Asia Minor and Greece; see Acts 15:22; Acts 16:19; Acts 17:4, Acts 17:10. Him and Timothy, the apostle took with him into Macedonia, and they continued at Berea when the apostle went from thence to Athens; from this place St. Paul sent for them to come to him speedily, and, though it is not said that they came while he was at Athens, yet it is most probable that they did; after which, having sent them to Thessalonica, he proceeded to Corinth, where they afterwards rejoined him, and from whence he wrote this epistle. See the preface.

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus - On the reasons why Paul associated other names with his in his epistles, see the 1 Corinthians 1:1 note, and 2 Corinthians 2:1 note. Silvanus, or Silas, and Timothy were properly united with him on this occasion, because they had been with him when the church was founded there, Acts 17, and because Timothy had been sent by the apostle to visit them after he had himself been driven away; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Silas is first mentioned in the New Testament as one who was sent by the church at Jerusalem with Paul to Antioch (notes, Acts 15:22); and he afterward became his traveling companion.

Which is in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ - Who are united to the true God and to the Redeemer; or who sustain an intimate relation to the Father and the Lord Jesus. This is strong language, denoting, that they were a true church; compare 1 John 5:20. "Grace be unto you," etc.; see the notes, Romans 1:7.

1:1 Paul - In this epistle St. Paul neither uses the title of an apostle, nor any other, as writing to pious and simple - hearted men, with the utmost familiarity.There is a peculiar sweetness in this epistle, unmixed with any sharpness or reproof: those evils which the apostles afterward reproved having not yet crept into the church.