1 Thessalonians 3:5 kjv
For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 nkjv
For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 niv
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 esv
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 nlt
That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Thess 3:1-2 | "Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy..." | Paul's immediate context of sending Timothy due to his distress. |
| 1 Thess 2:17-18 | "But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time... we longed to see you very much, so we endeavored to come..." | Paul's intense longing and inability to return, sparking his anxiety. |
| 2 Cor 11:28 | "...apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." | Paul's universal pastoral anxiety for churches. |
| Phil 2:19-20 | "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you, for I have no one like him..." | Paul frequently sent Timothy to assess and strengthen churches. |
| Acts 17:15 | "Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible..." | Timothy joining Paul after the initial persecution in Thessalonica. |
| Acts 14:22 | "...strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." | The reality of entering the Kingdom through tribulation, a test of faith. |
| Rom 5:3-4 | "...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character..." | Suffering is part of the process of developing faith and spiritual maturity. |
| Jas 1:2-4 | "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." | Trials are meant to test and produce steadfastness in faith. |
| 1 Pet 1:6-7 | "...you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes..." | Persecution proves the authenticity of faith, refining it like gold. |
| Mt 4:3 | "And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.'" | "The Tempter" explicitly identified as Satan. |
| Lk 4:13 | "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." | Satan's strategic methods of testing and tempting believers. |
| Jn 8:44 | "...He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him." | The Tempter's nature as a liar and destructive adversary. |
| 1 Pet 5:8 | "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." | Warning about Satan's active and aggressive pursuit to destroy faith. |
| Jas 4:7 | "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." | Instruction on how to respond to the tempter's attacks. |
| Eph 6:11-12 | "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil... against the spiritual forces of evil..." | Recognition of spiritual warfare and the need for divine protection against evil. |
| Rev 12:9-10 | "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world..." | Satan as the great deceiver, actively working against humanity. |
| Mk 4:15 | "...Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them." | Satan's direct aim to nullify the preached word and nascent faith. |
| 2 Cor 11:14 | "...even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." | Satan's deceptive and subtle tactics in spiritual warfare. |
| Gal 2:2 | "...I went up... lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain." | Paul's fear that his apostolic efforts and preaching might be fruitless. |
| Gal 4:11 | "I am afraid for you, that I may have labored over you in vain." | Paul's similar concern for the Galatian church potentially drifting from truth. |
| Phil 2:16 | "...that I may boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." | Paul desires for his arduous work to result in genuine, enduring fruit. |
| 1 Cor 15:58 | "...be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." | Assurance that work done in the Lord is never futile. |
| Isa 49:4 | "But I said, 'I have toiled in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity...'" | A prophetic lament illustrating the concept of perceived futile effort. |
| Jn 15:5 | "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." | Emphasis on abiding in Christ for fruitfulness; efforts without Him are vain. |
1 Thessalonians 3 verses
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Meaning
Paul's profound concern and anxiety for the fledgling Thessalonian church, established amidst severe persecution. Unable to bear the uncertainty regarding their spiritual endurance, he dispatched Timothy to ascertain their faith. His greatest fear was that "the Tempter" (Satan) might have successfully assailed them through trials, causing them to abandon their faith, thereby nullifying all the arduous missionary effort expended on their behalf.
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Context
1 Thessalonians is among Paul's earliest epistles, likely written from Corinth around 50-52 AD, not long after he, Silvanus, and Timothy had founded the church in Thessalonica. Paul had been forced to leave Thessalonica prematurely due to persecution (Acts 17:1-10). Having heard reports of the severe affliction the young converts were facing (1 Thess 3:1-4), Paul’s pastoral heart was consumed with worry. He considers himself a spiritual father to them, deeply invested in their growth and perseverance. This verse specifically articulates the extreme anxiety that compelled him to send Timothy back to assess their spiritual condition. His fear was not just for their suffering but that the spiritual attack might cause them to apostatize, thereby invalidating his efforts to establish them in faith.
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Word analysis
- For this reason (διὰ τοῦτο, dia touto): This is a strong conjunction establishing a cause-and-effect relationship, indicating that what follows is the direct result of the preceding context (Paul’s inability to return to them and his intense longing in 1 Thess 2:17-18, coupled with reports of their persecution in 1 Thess 3:1-4).
- when I could no longer endure it (μηκέτι στέγειν, mēketi stegein): Stégein implies "to cover," "to hold in," "to bear up under," or "to suppress." Paul here expresses that he could no longer hold back his intense anxiety and distress regarding their welfare. His pastoral burden had become unbearable without knowing their state.
- I sent (ἔπεμψα, epempsa): A concise aorist verb, pointing to a definite past action. This refers to the specific dispatch of Timothy, as already established in 1 Thessalonians 3:2, as Paul's trusted emissary and representative.
- to find out about your faith (εἰς τὸ γνῶναι τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν, eis to gnōnai tēn pistin hymōn): The express purpose of Timothy's mission was to ascertain the condition of their pistis (faith). In this context, pistis refers not merely to intellectual assent to doctrines but to their active trust, steadfastness, and loyal perseverance in Christ in the face of ongoing trials and external pressures. Paul needed to confirm if they were remaining firm.
- fearing that somehow (μή πως, mē pōs): This phrase conveys a serious apprehension, a concern for a real, anticipated negative outcome. It highlights the gravity of Paul’s spiritual fear that a potentially devastating spiritual setback might have occurred.
- the tempter (ὁ πειράζων, ho peirazōn): This active participle literally means "the one who tests" or "the one who tempts." The definite article "ὁ" (ho) clearly points to a specific, well-known individual – Satan. This direct identification signifies Paul's awareness of the malevolent spiritual agent behind the persecutions, aiming to undermine faith.
- might have tempted you (ἐπείρασεν ὑμᾶς, epeirasen hymas): Peirazō implies to "test," "try," or "entice to evil." Here, given the context of persecution, it primarily refers to Satan’s strategic efforts to test the Thessalonians’ loyalty to Christ by means of suffering and pressure, with the intent of causing them to falter, renounce, or abandon their Christian convictions.
- and that our labor might have been in vain (καὶ κενὸν γένηται ὁ κόπος ἡμῶν, kai kenon genētai ho kopos hēmōn):
- our labor (ὁ κόπος ἡμῶν, ho kopos hēmōn): Kopos denotes arduous, often painful, and exhausting work or toil. It encompasses the intense effort, personal sacrifice, and suffering Paul endured in establishing and nurturing the Thessalonian church through evangelism and discipleship.
- might have been in vain (kenon genētai): Kenon means "empty," "futile," "useless," or "without result." This phrase expresses Paul's deep spiritual anguish at the prospect of his strenuous missionary and pastoral efforts amongst them having been ultimately unproductive or having yielded no lasting spiritual fruit if they were to fall away. This signifies the ultimate loss of their salvation, which would render his spiritual parenthood to them null.
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Bonus section
The active portrayal of Satan as "the Tempter" in this verse, consistently rendered with the definite article, underlines an important theological conviction in early Christianity: evil is not merely an abstract force or a product of human weakness, but is orchestrated by a personal, malevolent spiritual entity. This personification of evil as "the Tempter" highlights a pervasive New Testament understanding of spiritual warfare as a direct struggle against the schemes of Satan, distinct from natural human sinfulness. For the nascent Thessalonian church facing real-world persecution, this perspective offered not despair but an explanation that encouraged spiritual vigilance and reliance on divine power rather than mere human resilience. It framed their struggles as part of a larger cosmic conflict, urging them to recognize the enemy and stand firm in their faith.
1 Thessalonians 3 5 Commentary
Paul's intense concern in 1 Thessalonians 3:5 reflects the core of his apostolic ministry: not merely to make converts, but to see those converts endure in faith. His emotional exhaustion ("could no longer endure it") was not weakness, but a profound empathy and sense of spiritual responsibility for the young Thessalonian believers, who were undergoing intense affliction shortly after their conversion. He identifies a clear spiritual adversary, "the Tempter" (Satan), as the architect behind these trials, designing them specifically to break the believers' faith. The fear that his "labor" (his tireless, self-sacrificing ministry) might be "in vain" speaks to the ultimate significance he attached to their perseverance. It was not merely about personal gratification but about the integrity of the gospel and the lasting reality of their salvation. Their continued steadfastness validated the truth of his message and the authenticity of their transformation, while their apostasy would have been a bitter and profound failure in the spiritual realm.