1 Thessalonians 2:3

3. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile] Read error for deceit; and supply the Greek ellipsis by is not (R. V.) rather than was not. The Apostle is setting forth the habit and spirit of his ministry: “We behaved in this fearless way at Thessalonica, for our ministry is free from all that is false and impure.” It is true men that make brave men. In 1Th_2:5 Paul returns to his conduct at Thessalonica; 1Th_2:3-4 speak of his general policy.

“Exhortation” hardly conveys his fall meaning,—our appeal is perhaps better; it is the practical “appeal,” or “address,” which “the gospel of God,” as the missionaries of Christ preach it everywhere, makes to its hearers. Comp. note on “comfort,” ch. 1Th_3:2.

This appeal “is not of error” (deceit A.V., is incorrect)—not the product of illusion or deception; for it is “the gospel of God” (1Th_2:2), “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col_1:5). This was amongst Paul’s constant and uppermost convictions. The heavenly Form that met him on the road to Damascus, the Voice that said, “Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles,”—these were no phantasy. “I know Him whom I have believed” (2Ti_1:12).

As the Apostle was sure of the genuineness of his message, so he was conscious of the purity of his motives: “nor of uncleanness.” This epithet commonly denotes bodily defilement, and is a synonym for unchastity, as in ch. 1Th_4:7, &c. But there is a “defilement of spirit” as well as “of flesh” (2Co_7:1). Self-seeking (1Th_2:5) in the witness of truth makes his testimony corrupt. So truth and purity go together; each promotes and guards the other. Comp. 1Pe_1:22, “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth.” On the other hand, the Apostle speaks of the “deceit of unrighteousness” (2Th_2:10), and of “men corrupt in mind and bereft of truth, supposing that godliness is a way of gain” (1Ti_6:5).

So much for his motives: of his method St Paul will only say, “nor in guile;” as he puts it more at large in 2Co_4:2, “not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” The servant of truth should use only the weapons of truth. “Guile” was doubtless imputed to St Paul by his slanderers in Thessalonica, as it was subsequently at Corinth: “being crafty (as they say), I caught you with guile” (2Co_12:16).

To sum up the verse: Our doctrine is true; our motives pure; and our conduct straightforward.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th_2:3-6

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile

Exhortation

The whole gospel preaching and message is so called, as permeated by, and living in, an atmosphere of gentle, soothing affection.

Religion has been defined as morality tinctured by emotion. Much more truly is the whole gospel a system tinctured by emotion, i.e., a paraklesis. Hence two different shades of meaning are blended in the word. As addressed to the careless, slothful, tempted, fallen, it is exhortation; as addressed to the sad and seeking it is solace and comfort. It is the gospel exhortation, which is never without a certain soothing, sympathetic sweetness. The two senses of paraklesis exhortation and consolation, so easily passing into one another (1Th_2:11) are suggestive of the external state of the early Church, sorrowing amid the evils of the world, and needing as its first lesson to be comforted, and not less suggestive of the first lesson of the gospel to the individual soul of peace in believing. (Prof. Jowett.)

Essential elements of success in preaching: sincerity

This is no less essential than courage. As the mountain turn reflects the clear light of the stars so the preacher reflects in his conduct the motives by which he is sustained.

I. Sincerity in motive (1Th_2:3). The Apostle disclaims the harbouring of evil intentions.

1. In relation to God. Not of deceit. Having received the truth from God and about God, he transmits it in all its integrity without error or imposture.

2. In relation to himself. Not of uncleanness. Pure in his own affection and purpose, he preached a gospel that was pure in itself, in its tendency, and in its experienced results.

3. In relation to others. Not in guile. He sought not to propagate the gospel by fraudulent wiles or false representations. He descended not to hypocrisy to catch men. Hypocrites, says Bernard, desire to seem, not to be good; not to seem, but to be evil; they care not to follow or practice virtue, but to colour vice, by putting in it the painted complexion of virtue. The life of a man whose motives are sincere, will be transparent as the light. A certain king of Castile, who had only been too familiar with the duplicity of mankind, once arrogantly said, When God made man, He left one capital defect: He ought to have set a window in his breast. The sincere man opens a window in his breast, by the whole tenor of his words and actions, so that his innermost thoughts are apparent.

II. In speech.

1. They speak under a solemn sense of responsibility. But as we were allowed, etc. (1Th_2:4). To their charge, as men tested and approved of God, was committed the precious treasure of the gospel; and conscious of its riches they were solicitous to distribute them in all faithfulness and sincerity.

2. They sought chiefly the Divine approval. Not as pleasing men, etc. There is much in the gospel distasteful to the natural man--its humiliating exposure of our depravity and helplessness, its holiness, its mysteries, the unbending severity of its law, and the absolute character of its claims. The temptation is sometimes great to temper, and modify the truth to carnal prejudice, and sacrifice faithfulness to popularity. But the apostles risked everything, so that they secured the Divine approval.

3. They practised neither adulation nor deception. For neither at any time used we flattering words, etc. (1Th_2:5). Flattery, says Plutarch, has been the ruin of most states. But alas! who can tell the souls it has forever undone!

III. Of aim (1Th_2:6). Seen--

1. In the generous suppression of the authority with which they were armed. When we might have been burdensome, etc. Whether in foregoing their legitimate claim of maintenance, or, as restraining the exhibition of the dignity and power of their apostleship as generally admitted--it was equally honourable to the pure and disinterested character of their highest aim.

2. In the absence of all selfish ambition. Nor of men sought we glory. They could conscientiously aver--we seek not yours but you. I love a serious preacher, says Fenelon, who speaks for my sake, and not for his own: who seeks my salvation and not his own glory. It is said of one of the ancient fathers that he would weep at the applause given to his discourses. Would to God, said he, they had rather gone away silent and thoughtful! It is a sorry end to preach for mere ephemeral human praise. Such a man may sink into the grave with the touching lament of Grotius--Alas! I have lost my life in doing nothing with great labour!

Lessons--

1. Sincerity in proclaiming the truth can be acquired only by a personal experience of its power.

2. Sincerity is deepened by a conscious Divine commission.

3. Sincerity is unmistakeably evidenced in word and deed.

4. Sincerity is satisfied only in aiming at the highest results in preaching. (G. Barlow.)

The gospel and its preachers

I. The Gospel.

1. It belongs to God; hence it is denominated, the Gospel of God. He indeed was its author; and because He is good, He bestows His gospel on men for their good.

2. It claims universal acceptance. If it is not received in the love of it, there is no other gospel for mankind; it is the only star by which men can navigate the sea of life, and securely gain the shores of eternity.

3. It is benedictive in its influence.

II. The preachers of the Gospel.

1. They were men and not angels. Angels know nothing experimentally of human failings and regrets--human difficulties and trials, therefore are incompetent to preach the gospel. It must be preached by such men as Paul and Silas--men of like passions with ourselves. They are on the same footing with the Thessalonians and all of humankind.

2. They were holy men. In the Divine order of things the blessing of conversion precedes the call to the ministry as surely as the morning star precedes the orb of day. In other words--men are not preachers first and then true Christians, but true Christians and then preachers.

3. They were sincere and bold. They had suffered acutely for the gospel at Philippi, had been shamefully ill-treated by its citizens; but many waters could neither quench their love for the gospel nor for the souls the gospel could save. So they preached it at Thessalonica with the same burning zeal they had done at Philippi. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

St. Pauls ministry--Described

I. Negatively.

1. No of deceit. The word thus translated, as distinguished from guile, denotes mental error without respect to any bad design (see Pro_14:8). It was no false theory, wild vagary, empty speculation, that Paul preached.

2. Not of uncleanness. To understand by this fraud or imposture would not only introduce needless tautology, but would interfere with the acknowledged ethical sense of the word, which is bad morals, especially sensuality. The Apostle affirms that he and his associates did not preach a doctrine which warranted or connived at vice, and did not seek, by preaching, to gratify any sensual passions of their own. The contrary character is exemplified in Jezebel (Rev_2:20), and in the persons described in 2Pe_2:1-22; Jdg_4:10-13; Jdg_4:16-19.

3. Not in guile. They had not acted the part of imposters or hypocrites.

II. Positively.

1. Paul and Silas were--

(1) Allowed of God--a term denoting a much stronger idea than that of bare per mission, viz., distinct choice or positive approbation.

(2) To be put in trust with the gospel, a phrase which not only represents their actual admission to the ministerial office, but sets forth their responsibility as ministers.

2. They spoke in a manner corresponding to the twofold fact of their vocation by God and their responsibility to Him, Not as pleasing men, etc.

(1) They neither acknowledged nor applied what was pleasing to men as a safe and satisfactory standard by which to regulate their ministerial conduct.

(2) They recognized such a standard in what was pleasing to God. They saw cause for special vigilance, and for habitual reference to Him in the fact that He searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, and was intimately acquainted with their secret thoughts and feelings.

(3) Prompted by such considerations they asked of Him, What wilt Thou have me to do. (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)

Deceit an unsafe element in moral building

It is difficult to maintain falsehood. When the materials of a building are solid blocks of stone, very rude architecture will suffice; but a structure of rotten materials needs the most careful adjustment in order to make it stand. (Archbishop Whately.)

Advantages sometimes acquired by guile

Advantages may sometimes be acquired by craft. A fox got into a hen roost one night, and so gorged himself that he could not make his exit through the narrow hole by which he entered. So he lay down pretending to be dead when the hen wife came to look for her fowls. Thinking reynard was really dead, in her vexation for the loss of her hens, she took him by his brush and threw him outside, when he scampered off. Sixtus, Pope of Rome, owed his election to his cleverly counterfeiting sickness and old age; so he got most votes, as other cardinals, who probably hoped to be pope, thought he would soon die. (H. K. Burton.)

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel.

I. What does the word allowed mean? The Greek word means--

1. To try.

2. To approve.

3. To see fit.

As in Rom_1:25, the heathen, it is said, did not like to retain God in their knowledge, i.e., they did not see fit to do it. Allowed does not mean to judge fit, in the sense that Paul was made a minister on account of his own merits, nor on the ground of the foresight of what he would be, but it was an act of Gods sovereign grace. So in the account of his conversion (1Ti_2:13) he gives thanks to Christ. In 1Co_7:25, he says he had obtained mercy to be found faithful. He regarded his being put in the ministry as a great and undeserved mercy.

II. What is the Gospel? The glad news of salvation revealed in the Scriptures. It is not a code of morals, nor a cultus, nor a life; it is the system of doctrines concerning God and man and Christ. It is called the wisdom of God, so contrasted with the wisdom of men, i.e., what God has revealed as opposed to what reason teaches. Hence to be put in trust with the gospel means to be a steward of the mysteries, i.e., the truths revealed by God. Two things are included in the gospel: the truth and its proclamation. The gospel is a report--something heard.

III. In what sense is the Gospel a trust. Two things are included in a trust or two duties of a trustee.

1. The safe custody of what is committed to his care.

2. Right administration. As to the first, it must he preserved in safety and preserved from deterioration. If gold is committed to a man, he must not deposit it in an insecure place; he must defend and preserve it. He cant substitute worthless paper for it. The gospel is the most precious treasure, far more so than gold or power. The minister is bound to preserve it, and not substitute the worthless products of his own brain for it. He must use it, not keep it hid in a napkin. He must use it for the purpose for which it is designed, not for his own advantage. Paul says of himself, that he acted--

(1) Not as pleasing men, but God.

(2) Not using flattery.

(3) Not covetously.

(4) Not seeking glory of men.

The guilt of an unfaithful trustee is great. His doom dreadful. The reward and blessedness of a faithful minister the greatest conceivable. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

The Christian ministry

I. Its privilege--allowed of God.

II. Its sublime responsibility--put in trust.

III. Its faithful administration--even so we speak.

IV. Its awful scrutiny--God which trieth the hearts. (W. Bengo Collyer, D. D.)

I. The apostles reasons for preaching the Gospel.

1. He was a steward, put in trust with the gospel. It was therefore not the Gospel of Paul, but the Gospel of God. All ministers of it have a great honour put upon them and trust committed to them. They must not dare to corrupt the pure Word of God, but diligently make use of what is intrusted with them, knowing they will he called to give an account of it.

2. His design was to please God and not man. God is a God of truth, and requireth truth in the inward parts. The gospel is not accommodated to the vain fancies and lusts of men; but, on the contrary, it was designed for the mortifying their corrupt affections, and delivering them from the power of fancy, that they might be brought under the power of faith.

3. He acted under the consideration of Gods omniscience. This is indeed the great motive to sincerity--to consider God not only seeth all that we do, but knoweth our thoughts afar off, and searcheth the heart; and it is from God that we must receive our reward.

II. The evidences of the apostles sincerity.

1. He avoided flattery. He and his fellow labourers preached Christ and Him crucified, and did not aim to gain an interest in mens affections for themselves, by glorying, and fawning, and wheedling them: they were far from that. Nor did they flatter men in their sins, or tell them that if they would be of their party, they might live as they listed. They did not build them up with vain hopes, nor indulge them in any evil work or way, promising them life, and so daubing with untempered mortar.

2. He avoided covetousness. He did not make the ministry a cloak or covering for this carnal desire, as God was witness. He would not enrich himself by preaching the gospel; so far from that, he did not burden them for bread. He did out in anywise like the false apostles, who through covetousness with vain words made merchandise of the people.

3. He avoided ambition and vain glory. He neither expected peoples purses nor their caps, neither to be caressed or adored by them, and called rabbi. He might have used greater authority as an apostle, and expected greater esteem, and demanded maintenance; but some might perhaps have thought all this too great a burden for them to bear, and hence he avoided all mention of such things. He thought ever of his Divine Lord, and seldom of himself. (R. Fergusson.)

The ministers trust, faithfulness, and trials

I. The ministers trust.

1. Its basis. The Divine permission--allowed of God. This is the ministers prerogative and authority.

2. Its subject--the gospel.

(1) In its wonderful disclosures of the grace of God.

(2) In its operative power upon the heart and life.

(3) In its presentation of the Person and work of Christ.

3. Its object--the salvation, edification, comfort, and eternal blessedness of men.

II. The ministers faithfulness.

1. The minister who is conscious of his responsibility speaks as one who will have to render an account of his stewardship, thoughtfully, cautiously, humbly, prayerfully, boldly.

2. This faithfulness is expressed in the singleness and sacredness of its object. Not as pleasing men, etc. (1Co_2:1-5).

3. This singleness of purpose in pleasing God rather than man is also a test of our fidelity. The faithful minister is content to labour without human applause.

III. The ministers trials.

1. He is subject not only to those trials which are common to all men, but to those which are peculiar to his office: discouragement, anxiety for souls, doubts as to past labours, a sense of his unworthiness in His sight who trieth the heart.

2. But God trieth the heart for wise and benevolent ends--

(1) To make us purer.

(2) More sympathetic.

(3) More efficient. (W. D. Horwood, M. A.)

Trustees for God

I. The trustees.

1. Christian ministers are trustees for God. They have a charge to keep other than that which is common to Christians. It matters little by what channel the Great Head of the Church has communicated His will to the individual; it is enough that he is allowed of God.

2. A trustee is chosen as being a man of character, one who can be relied upon to administer his trust fairly, Generally he is a friend chosen because of his superior qualifications. And, whatever may be said about truth being independent of the preacher, yet as light is tinged and refracted by the window through which it passes, so it is impossible to separate a man from the system he advocates. It is difficult to believe that to be good which expresses the feelings of a bad man. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Self modifies doctrine. Men universally recognize this, and the first necessity of success is to give no occasion for slanderous lies. That which is culpable in an ordinary Christian is doubly so in a minister.

3. But while as trustees we do well to look to ourselves, yet that does not mean that we should be burdened with the sense of our own importance. It has been the reproach of priests in all ages that they have been more anxious to magnify than to use their office. Without falling back on the exploded fallacy of apostolical succession we may find a platform sufficiently strong and broad in the priceless value of what has been committed to our trust. The trustee of a prince, heir to an ancient throne, is necessarily charged with more responsibility than a homeless wanderer.

II. Their trust. That one word Gospel suggests the nature of it. Not simply the proclamation of a sovereign to his subjects, though that would involve a heavy responsibility; but the revelation of the very nature of Deity, and how that nature has wrought his working for the salvation of men.

1. Even with the Bible in their hands, and the multiplied helps to its study, it is possible for ministers to underrate its importance, and to allow the gospel to be only one among many agencies by which God is renewing the heart of mankind. There is a strong tendency among liberal thinkers to extol what is good in each of the religions of the world, and to conceal the defects which are everywhere visible. But we have a religion which has no defects, and is perfectly adapted to every man, and remake him wiser, nobler, and happier; and which God has designed as the one religion for man. To deal tenderly with false religions is to imperil our trust.

2. Without any intention of substituting another gospel for that of the New Testament, it is possible to so place the emphasis in teaching as to seriously weaken the force of our message; possible so to present Divine love and truth as to add to the weight of the many burdens which almost crush humanity. Any presentation of this solemn trust which fails to strengthen faith, hope, and love, must necessarily be defective. If our gospel be one of perpetual condemnation, destroying the old and not building up the new, it is not in sympathy with Him who came not to condemn but to save, and will win no confidence, and stir no enthusiasm.

III. The administration of this trust.

1. It is required of a steward that he be found faithful.

(1) To be faithful costs something. Faithfulness to a congregation considered as a unit requires self-crucifixion, but faithfulness towards individuals, and to the convictions created by the study of Divine truth much more.

(2) But faithfulness is not that ill-natured determination to assert oneself and ones own views simply because they are our own, and in the spirit of self-defence. It does not mean obstinate adherence to one mode of action, when that method has lost its adaptability, much less the candidating for a cheap martyrdom, by offensively pushing into the forefront unwelcome truths at any cost. We have to be faithful to love as well as to logic.

2. The danger of most is that they are called to administer a trust of which they have no adequate appreciation. Conceive of a man put in trust of an estate rich in gold and precious stones, and allowing an absolute lease of it for the value of the mere timber on it. What an outcry there would be against his intellectual and moral unfitness! Our peril is lest, overcome by the spirit of the age, we should take too great heed to all and everything that is said against the gospel, and fail to appreciate the force of the argument which comes from eighteen centuries of positive evidence.

3. Unwittingly we may be helping into popularity men and their theories whose influence but for us would be confined within a very narrow area. Nine out of every ten men in our congregations know nothing of these, and the tenth man who knows something is likely to be more advantaged by the preaching of positive truth than by mere controversy. When an epidemic is abroad, the men of robust health are least in danger of infection, and our aim should be to get and keep men in a state of robust moral health, by feeding them with the Bread of Life.

4. When men seem disposed to break away from our influence we ought to search our hearts and methods, and everything which concerns us and our ministry, and see if there be anything in the spirit of our action which accounts for such restlessness. We ought to ask ourselves whether our administration of our trust be right, or whether we are the mere teachers of a science of religion, which informs the mind, but leaves the heart unmoved; whether there be not some vital element in the gospel which we have largely left out, which would have roused men to defend a treasure so valuable. Ministers not seldom so present the truth as to convince without persuading. We have knocked men down by the force of argument, and despoiled them without giving them anything in return.

5. Instead of patiently and faithfully administering our trust, we are apt to fall into the error of supposing that men know all that is knowable of Scriptural truth, and thus work outside the facts and truths of the gospel. (Reuen Thomas, D. D.)

Gospel trustees

I. The preciousness of the Gospel. It is precious because--

1. It reveals God.

(1) Who all men are more or less blindly groping after.

(2) As a Father infinitely wise and good.

2. It offers salvation--

(1) From the penalty of sin.

(2) From the power of sin.

3. It breathes hope into every man.

II. It has been entrusted to us in order that by its means we might save our fellow men. How great is our responsibility to let it speak in our words and deeds! (W. Birch.)

Not as pleasing men but God--This should be the supreme and controlling purpose of life.

I. To please God is possible, because--

1. He has revealed what will please Him: His will in His Word.

2. We know this or may learn it.

3. His Spirit will help us if we seek His aid.

II. To please man is impossible.

1. AS it is impossible to please all men, so it is almost as impossible to please one. The same man is different at different times. What may please him today may displease him tomorrow.

2. God has failed to please man even more signally than man himself. Chiefly see how He failed when He came in the likeness of man that He might purify him and fit him for heaven.

3. By seeking to please men instead of God, or more than God, men must doom the world to perpetual darkness and stationariness, or rather, as this is not possible, to sure retrogression and decay. How blessed, then, is the truth that it is easier to please God than man! (E. Mellor, D. D.)

The true missionary spirit

Bravo Paul! He spoke the Word, whether sinners would hear or not, whether men were converted or not. If it pleased God he was content. Just like that grand man who kept working away in isolation in the heart of China, and for years saw no conversion. A lady said to him, What good are you doing in China, Mr. Burns? To which he replied, Madam, I did not go to China to convert the Chinese, I went to glorify God. He went to serve and please his Master. I was asked to examine a young man who wanted to give up his business and go to Africa as a missionary. I asked him, What is your motive in wanting to take this step? Suppose you go to the heart of Africa, and, seeing thousands bowing down before their idols and refusing to hear of Christ, what would you do? He replied, Id just keep pegging away. That is the right spirit of service: to keep pegging away for the Master, not to please the society, not to have a large place on the statistics, not to have a great following, but to please God. If we go forth to any service according to the will of God, and only to please Him. He will bless us in our souls, and in the end give us to see His power in the salvation of sinners. (G. C. Needham.)

An unfaithful preacher

We were sitting under the shade of an oak tree comparing notes and conferring with one another as to the best methods of service, especially in reference to effective preaching. I always write my sermons, said my friend, and then carefully revise them, so that, if anything is written calculated to offend any of my hearers, I may at once erase it. This was said by a young clergyman, who was evidently anxious to make his mark as a preacher. Desirous to know that I heard correctly, I replied, Do you mean that forcible statements, either of your own writing or from Scripture, concerning sin and the terrors of the judgment to come, are either toned down or avoided? Yes, was the reply; if I think they will offend any one I do so. I fear this candid testimony indicates the reason so many ministers are powerless amongst their fellows. The fear of man bringeth a snare indeed. (Henry Varley.)

The danger of popularity

To one who warned him (Whitefield) to beware of the evils of popularity he replied, I thank you heartily. May God reward you for watching over my soul; and as to what my enemies say against me. I know worse things of myself than they can say concerning me. I bless God for my stripping seasons, he would say; nothing sets a person so much out of the devils reach as humility. (J. R. Andrews.)

Displeasing men

You know the anecdote of Louis and Massilon. After Massilon had preached rather an agitating sermon, I suppose, Louis sent for him. Massilon, said he, you have offended me. That is what I wished to do, sire, said the preacher. And we would not give much for a minister who did not offend two-thirds of his congregation at times--arouse them up--smash against the conscience of the bigot, and baulk party prejudices, and touch the secret sin, which, if they do not confess, they still feel.

Tried by God

Some things, if they be tried once, they are tried forever; if we try gold, it will ever be as good as we found it, unless we alter it; as we find it, so it will continue to be. But try the heart of man this day, and come again the next, and you may find it in a different condition; today believing, to morrow unbelieving; today humble, tomorrow proud; today meek, tomorrow passionate; today lively and enlarged, tomorrow dead and straightened;--pure gold today, tomorrow exceeding drossy. As it is with the pulse of sick man, it varies every quarter of an hour, therefore the physician tries his pulse every time he comes, because his disease alters the state of his body: so it is with the distempered condition of mans spirit. God having tried our pulse, the state of our spirit, by crosses, or by mercies, this day, next day He tries us too, and the third day He tries us again, and so keep us in continual trials, because we are continually varying. Our comfort is, that there is a time coming, when God will establish our souls in such a spiritual and heavenly frame, so that He will need to try us no more. (J. Caryl.)

Disregarding the slanders of men

John Wesley once stood out very nobly in disregarding the eyes of men so long as he stood acquitted in the sight of God. Among his many persecutions are to be numbered the falling back of former friends, including him wife. These turned against him, and published many spiteful things, even defaming his character in a shocking manner. Brother Charles hastened off in alarm and indignation to inquire what defence Brother John would set up. There was no time to lose! The eyes of the world were upon him, and Gods enemies and his own would be glad to make capital out of so contemptible a business! What was Charles surprise to find that John was resolved on doing simply nothing! The great preacher was calm and comfortable in mind, being entirely free from any concern for the future. Why should he be perplexed when he had entrusted God with his all--even with his reputation? None are so safe as those whose characters are in Gods keeping. Such often consider that they dishonour God by setting up puny defences of their own against the cavils of the wicked. They think more of that one eye of God which is ever looking upon them, than of the eyes of men. For neither at any time used we flattering words--

The mean between flattery and severity

Paul avoided the extremes alike of obsequiousness and churlishness. The man whose independence forbade him to use flattering words was yet gentle enough in persuading the Thessalonians to embrace and make progress in the truth. And he who would be truly useful must strike this golden mean as we are warned by the following fable: A chameleon once met a porcupine, and complained that he had taken great pains to make friends with everybody; but, strange to say, he had entirely failed, and could not now be sure that he had a friend in the world. And by what means, said the porcupine, have you sought to make friends? By flattery, said the chameleon. I have adapted myself to all I have met; humoured the follies and foibles of every one. In order to make people believe I liked them, I have imitated their manners, as if I considered them models of perfection. So far have I gone in this that it has be come a habit with me; and now my very skin takes the hue and complexion of the thing that happens to be nearest. Yet all this has been in vain; for everybody calls me a turncoat, and I am generally considered selfish, hypocritical, and base! And no doubt you deserve all this, said the porcupine. I have taken a different course; but I must confess that I have as few friends as you. I adopted the rule to resent every encroachment upon my dignity. I would allow no one even to hush me, without sticking into him one of my sharp quills. I determined to take ears of number one; and the result has been that while I have vindicated my rights, have created a universal dislike. I am called Old Touch-me-not, and if I am not as much despised I am even more disliked than you, Sir Chameleon.

Flattery discouraged

One of the first acts performed by George III, after his accession to the throne, was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who should be called to preach before him from paying him any compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was lead to this from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver in the Chapel Royal, and for which, instead of thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his Majesty observing, that he came to the chapel to hear the praises of God, and not his own. This circumstance operated wonderfully on the reverend orator, as from that moment he became a flaming patriot. The Doctor took part with Wilkes, was made liveryman of the Joiners Company, and lavished large sums upon Mrs. Macaulay, the Republican historian, in whose honour he caused a marble statue to be erected in his church at Walbrook, though before he died he caused it to be removed, not indeed so much from a sense of the impropriety of the thing, as out of resentment to the lady, who had displeased him by her marriage.

Flattering words

I resolve, said Bishop Beveridge, never to speak of a mans virtues before his face; nor of his faults behind his back; a golden rule I the observation of which would, at one stroke, banish flattery and defamation from the earth. (Bp. Home.)

Flattery is false money, which would not be current were it not for our vanity. (La Rochefoucauld.)

Nor a cloke of covetousness--

Sin cloaked

The word cloke here is very significant. In this fallen world of ours there are some sins which men may even glory in--many the indulgence of which entails little or no shame. But this sin of covetousness is one which no man will ever dream of boasting of. Men, while they indulge it, always to hide it. As Bishop Sanderson says, No man will profess himself covetous, be he never so wretchedly sordid within; but he will for very shame cast as handsome a cloak as he can over it--frugality, good husbandry, providence--some cloak or other to hide the filthiness of it from the sight of others. But filthy it is still, be it cloaked never so honestly. God abhorreth it as a filthy thing (Psa_10:3). It appears, then, that this covetousness, however often it may evince its presence among men, must have its cloke or mask. Were it at once and invariably to rythe in its real colours, even the children of the world would not endure it. It would be loathsome. But the Apostle adds, God is witness (Rom_1:9; 2Co_1:23; Php_1:8). In reference to the language of flattery, he says, as ye know. Man can judge thereon. Hence he appeals to his readers. They themselves were good enough judges as to whether he had ever flattered them. But it is otherwise with covetousness and its mask. Neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible, except to God alone. By His permissive will through heaven to earth. In regard to it--the hypocrisy of covetousness--therefore, Paul lays bare his heart before the all-seeing eye. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)

Unmercenary motives

When I gave up my business sixteen years ago, after three months of the severest struggle of my life, whether I should go for dollars and cents or for souls, from that day to this I have no more lived for money than I have lived for water. My friends have blamed me because I have not laid aside something for my family. Some of them insisted upon my wife having some money, and they bought her a home in the country, and the rumour is that it cost 30,000 dollars, and 30,000 dollars to furnish it. The home cost 3,500 dollars, and there have been some improvements, and the furniture and everything cost 10,000 dollars. It belongs to my wife and children. My father died at the early age of forty-one, and if I died tomorrow there will be a roof over the heads of my wife and children. I have been offered 500 dollars to lecture, when I might talk an hour, and then go to a comfortable hotel; but as it is now, I work at the Tabernacle all day, and talk till midnight with inquirers, and when I am done have hardly strength enough left to go to my room. The royalty on the hymn books amounted last year to 68,000 dollars, but it all went to three trustees, and not one dollar came into the hands of Mr. Sankey or myself. It belongs to us as much as the income of your business belongs to you but we give it up. We do not want one dollar of your money in Boston. Give it to the Lord as long as you please. I would rather live on a crust of bread than have people think we came for your money. If any young man here wants to go into the work of the Lord for money, I advise him not to do it. Now, I do not want any one to go off and say that we preach for nothing, for we do not. We preach for souls, and the Lord takes care of us. I never have known what it is to want money in the sixteen years I have been at work for Him. The Lord has taken good care of me, and I have not known what it is to want. (D. L. Moody.)

Nor of men sought we glory--Why should the Apostle so repeatedly repudiate the imputation that he sought glory of men? He was one of those who instinctively knew the impression produced by his character and conduct on the hearts of others. What was the motive of this vain babbler would be a common topic of conversation in the cities at which he preached. To get money; to make himself somebody, would be the ordinary solution. Against this the Apostle protests. His whole life and conversation were a disproof of it. It may have been that he was aware also of something in his manner which might have suggested such a thought. It was not good for him to glory, and yet he sometimes spoke as a fool. Rightly understood, this glorying was but an elevation of the soul to God and Christ, or at worst the assertion of himself in moments of depression or ill-treatment, but to others he might have been conscious that it must have seemed a weakness, and may have been made a ground of the imputation of his adversaries. (Prof. Jowett.)

Glory claimed for God alon

e:--Cromwell in announcing the victory at Naseby to the Speaker of the House of Commons, added, Sir, this is none other but the hand of God, and to Him alone give the glory wherein none are to share with Him. (C. E. Little.)

Emptiness of worldly glory

When Henry Martyn went in for and obtained the high distinction of senior wrangler at Cambridge, his mind was kept, he tells us, in a state of calmness by the recollections of a sermon he had heard from the text, Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not, saith the Lord. James Brainerd Taylor was announced as being Number One in the class of students at college. The emptiness of honours struck him as it had done Henry Martyn. What are honours? he said. What is fame? These are not my God. In such a spirit, the soul, while using honours to Gods glory, is freed from that vexation of spirit which chafes some men of the world in high life, because a few inches of riband have been bestowed upon a favoured rival. How touching, we may add, it is to see the vain pursuit of human ambition acknowledge its emptiness when gratified. Madame Maintenon, when elevated to the throne of France as wife of Louis XIV, wrote to her friend Madame de la Mainford: Do you not see that I am dying with melancholy, in a height of fortune which my imagination could scarcely have conceived? When sick, too, of high society, the wife of Thomas Carlyle wrote to her gifted husband: Ah! if we had been left in the sphere of life we belonged to, how much better it would have been for both of us! (Sunday at Home.)

All glory to God

Said a converted Hindoo, addressing a number of his countrymen, I am by birth a man of low and despised caste--and yet God has called me not only to know His gospel, but to teach it to others. Do you know why He did so? I will tell you. If God had selected one of you learned Brahmins, and made you His preacher, and you were successful in winning converts, the bystanders would have said, It is the amazing learning of the Brahmin, the Brahmins influence, the Brahmins great weight of character that has done this; but now, when hearers are convinced and brought to the truth by my instrumentality, nobody thinks of the preacher, and God gets all the glory. When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ--This has been referred in different senses either to what precedes or to what follows. In the first case the sense would be, although we might have been oppressive to you with our glorying and claims. But even though the words be thus humoured, the antithesis is not quite sound. Without wholly losing sight of what has preceded, it is better to connect them with what follows. The Apostle means to say that he might have oppressed them with apostolic claims and pretensions. He might have commanded where he entreated; he might have come to them with a rod, and he came to them in love and in the spirit of meekness (1Co_4:21); he might have claimed the right of support from them as an apostle of Christ, and he waives it for their sake (comp. 1Co_9:1-27). It is true that this last point is not referred to until 1Th_2:9. But nothing is more in the Apostles manner than to drop a thought and then resume it. (Prof. Jowett.)

Labour of love

Sixteen years ago a godly man and his wife were sent out to evangelize these then-heathen people (Sambaina, a remote place in Madagascar); and the people hated them, and for long they would not listen. They broke into their house at night again and again, and threatened to burn them out; but they would not go away, but quietly and lovingly waited and prayed and worked. By and by the contributions from Ambohipotsy, from the Society on which these good people depended, were completely dried up. And when the heathen people heard that they rejoiced, for now at last they will go, they said. But they did not go, but held on to their work; and they are there yet, working all for love and nothing for reward. And God has blessed their work and raised many helpers and spiritual children for them there. The wilderness and solitary places are glad because of them; and some of those who persecuted them at the first told me the story with tears standing on their faces … On the Sunday a large congregation filled their new chapel. (W. Montgomery.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 2:3-6. For our exhortation — That is, our preaching, a part being put for the whole; was not of deceit — With a design to seduce or corrupt any one by false doctrine; or, we preach not a lie, but the truth of God; nor of uncleanness — Tending to encourage men in their impure course of life; nor in guile — To procure esteem or any worldly advantage to ourselves, under pretence of aiming at the glory of God. In this verse, and in those that follow to 1Th 2:12, “the apostle delineates his own character, and the character of his assistants as teachers, on purpose to make the Thessalonians sensible that they had nothing in common with impostors, who are always found to use the mean, vicious practices, which the Christian teachers in this passage disclaimed.” But as we were allowed — Δεδοκιμασμεθα, were approved, of God; to be intrusted with the gospel — That most invaluable treasure; even so we speak — That is, preach; not as pleasing men — After the manner of impostors, accommodating our doctrine to their tastes and prejudices; but God, who trieth our hearts — It is our constant endeavour to secure his approbation. And what stronger proof can be given of our not preaching with guile? Neither used we flattering words — To insinuate ourselves into your affections: this ye know; nor a cloak of covetousness — A pretence of piety to promote the schemes of covetousness; of this God is witness. Macknight reads, with a cloak over covetousness; justly observing, that covetousness is never used as a cloak to cover any thing, but needs a cover to conceal itself. The apostle calls men to witness an open fact; God, the secret intentions of the heart: in a point of a mixed nature, (1Th 2:10,) he appeals both to God and man. Flattery and covetousness were vices to which the teachers of philosophy, in ancient times, were remarkably addicted. And they are vices which, more or less, enter into the character of all impostors, who, as the apostle observes, (Rom 16:18,) by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Nor — Instead of seeking to acquire power or riches by preaching; of men sought we glory — That is, popularity, honour, and applause; neither of you, nor yet of others — Among whom we laboured and conversed. Nay, we did not seek so much as the respect of a suitable maintenance; when we might have been burdensome — That is, might have claimed support; as the apostles of Christ — Who had authorized us to take from our hearers what was necessary for our subsistence, but we maintained ourselves by the labour of our own hands. He refers to the right they had of being maintained at the charge of those to whom they ministered. See 1Co 9:6-14; 1Ti 5:18. But he was acting now on the same maxims at Corinth, (from whence he wrote this epistle,) by which he had governed himself at Thessalonica. See Act 18:3.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Th_2:3. For our exhortation.—The word reminds us of Christ’s word, “I will send you another Advocate”—“Paraclete.” Our advocacy of the gospel of Christ was not born of error. Was not of deceit, nor uncleanness, nor guile.—Perhaps we might paraphrase thus: We were not ourselves mistaken as to the subject-matter of our preaching, we used no “dirty tricks” in the way of its publication, we baited no hooks for unwilling souls.

1Th_2:4. As we were allowed of God.—The original word means “to approve after testing”—or, as God knows without testing, as it is applied to Him it simply means—“we were approved of God.” To be put in trust.—R.V. “to be intrusted.” “ ‘To be put in trust with the gospel’ is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice” (Findlay). Not as pleasing men.—The vice condemned in slaves is equally reprehensible if it should appear in the minister of the gospel. But God, which trieth the hearts.—“Alloweth” and “trieth” are different forms of the same verb. Like an assayer whose methods are perfect, God makes manifest what is in man’s heart.

1Th_2:5. For neither at any time used we flattering words.—“His friends well knew that he was not one to

‘Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee

Where thrift may follow fawning’ ” (Ibid.).

Nor a cloke of covetousness.—The same thing perhaps as a mode of flattering speech. Fulsome flattering is either the mark of a mind hopelessly abject or the craft of a designing mind. Much fair speech and the flattering of the lips still lead fools by the nose (Pro_7:21) to where “covetousness” dwells.

1Th_2:6. Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others.—“The motive of ambition—‘that last infirmity of noble minds’—rises above the selfishness just disclaimed; but it is just as warmly repudiated, for it is equally inconsistent with the single-mindedness of men devoted to the glory of God. Our Lord finds in superiority to human praise the mark of a sincere faith (Joh_5:44)” (Ibid.). When we might have been burdensome.—A.V. margin, “used authority.” R.V. margin, “claimed honour”—literally in weight—an ambiguous phrase whose sense is interpreted by 1Th_2:9 (Ibid.).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Th_2:3-6

Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. II. Sincerity.

The devout Richard Baxter once said: “The ministerial work must be managed purely for God and the salvation of the people, and not for any private ends of our own. This is our sincerity in it. A wrong end makes all the work bad from us, however good in itself.” In order to success, it is necessary not only to display a fearless courage, but also a spirit of unmistakable ingenuousness and sincerity. As the mountain tarn reflects the clear, chaste light of the stars as they kindle in the heavens, so the preacher reflects in his outward conduct the pure and lofty motives by which he is animated and sustained. We observe, in connection with the preaching of the gospel at Thessalonica, sincerity in motive, in speech, in aim.

I. Sincerity in motive.—“For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile” (1Th_2:3). The apostle disclaims the harbouring of evil intentions in relation to God, himself, and others.

1. In relation to God.—“Not of deceit”—not in error. Having received the truth from God and about God, he transmits it in all its integrity, without error or imposture.

2. In relation to himself.—“Nor of uncleanness.” Pure in his own affection and purpose, he preached a gospel that was pure in itself, in its tendency, and in its experienced results.

3. In relation to others.—“Not in guile.” He sought not to propagate the gospel by any fraudulent wiles or false representations. He descended not to hypocrisy to catch men. “Hypocrites,” says St. Bernard, “desire to seem not to be good; not to seem, but to be evil: they care not to follow or practise virtue, but to colour vice by putting upon it the painted complexion of virtue.” The life of the man whose motives are thus sincere will be transparent as the light. A certain king of Castile, who had been only too familiar with the duplicity of mankind, once somewhat arrogantly said, “When God made man He left one capital defect: He ought to have set a window in his breast.” The sincere man opens a window in his own breast by the whole tenor of His words and actions, so that his innermost thoughts are apparent.

II. Sincerity in speech.—

1. The preacher speaks under a solemn sense of responsibility. “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak” (1Th_2:4). To their charge, as men tested and approved of God, was committed the precious treasure of the gospel; and keenly conscious of the unutterable riches with which they were entrusted, they were deeply solicitous to distribute the same in all faithfulness and sincerity. Every gift we receive from Heaven has its corresponding responsibility.

2. The preacher seeks chiefly the divine approval.—“Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts” (1Th_2:4). There is much in the gospel distasteful to the natural man—its humiliating exposure of our depravity and helplessness, its holiness, its mysteries, the unbending severity of its law, and the absolute character of its claims. The temptation is sometimes great to temper and modify the truth to carnal prejudice, and sacrifice faithfulness to popularity. But the apostles risked everything so that they secured the divine approval. “As of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”

3. The preacher must practise neither adulation nor deception.—“For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness” (1Th_2:5). “Flattery,” says Plutarch, “has been the ruin of many states.” But alas! who can tell the souls it has for ever undone? Truth is too sedate and solid to indulge in meaningless flattery. It is only the vain and self-conceited who can be deceived by adulation.

III. Sincerity in aim.—“Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ” (1Th_2:6). The sincere aim of the apostles was seen:—

1. In the generous suppression of the authority with which they were invested.—“When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ.” Whether we understand this authority as exercised in foregoing for the time being their legitimate claim of maintenance by the Church, or as restraining the exhibition of the dignity and power of their apostleship—which latter view is generally admitted to be the true exegesis—it was equally honourable to the pure and disinterested character of their highest aim.

2. In the absence of all selfish ambition.—“Nor of men sought we glory.” They could conscientiously aver, “We seek not yours, but you.” “I love a serious preacher,” says Fénélon, “who speaks for my sake and not for his own; who seeks my salvation and not his own glory.” It is said of one of the ancient fathers that he wept at the applause frequently given to his discourses. “Would to God,” said he, “they had rather gone away silent and thoughtful!” It is a sorry and painfully disappointing end to preach for mere ephemeral human praise. Such a man may sink into the grave with the touching lament of Grotius, “Alas! I have lost my life in doing nothing with great labour!”—though in his case it was an unduly despondent estimate of his life-work. When Christ is to be exalted, the preacher must be willing to be unnoticed.

Lessons.—

1. Sincerity in proclaiming the truth can be acquired only by personal experience of its power.

2. Sincerity is deepened by a conscious divine commission.

3. Sincerity is unmistakably evidenced in word and deed.

4. Sincerity is satisfied only in aiming at the highest results in preaching.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Th_2:3-6. Apostolic Preaching characterised by Transparent Truth.

I. The doctrine was opposed to every form of impurity (1Th_2:3).—

1. It was itself pure.

2. It received no tinge of impurity from the apostle’s mind.

3. Its results were pure.

II. The preaching was free from insincerity and selfishness (1Th_2:4).—

1. They avoided flattery. Love of favour (1Th_2:5).

2. They avoided covetousness. Aggrandisement (1Th_2:5).

3. They avoided vainglory. Love of applause (1Th_2:6). Three rocks on which thousands have been shipwrecked.—Stewart.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 2:3. Γὰρ, for) for occurs again, 1Th 2:5. There is a double reason assigned (ÆtioIogia), α, in the thesis, concerning their (his and his companions’) regular and constant practice; β, in the hypothesis, how they behaved (proceeded) among the Thessalonians, 1Th 2:5 and the following verses; comp. with 2Co 1:12, concerning his general and special mode of proceeding towards others.—παράκλησις, exhortation) The whole preaching of the Gospel is so called, seasoned as it is with the sweetness of sufferings; see 1Th 2:2, with which comp. 2Co 1:3, et seqq. Παράκλησις, Zuspruch, has an extensive meaning; when he rouses the slothful, it is exhortation (παράκλησις): when he applies balm to sorrow, it is comfort or consolation (παραμύθιον); comp. 1Th 2:11, note.—οὐκ—οὐδὲ—οὔτε, not—nor—nor) He disavows evil intentions, in relation to God, himself, and others. The antithesis to this is similarly universal, in the following verse, which should be compared with 1Th 2:10 [where see the note on the similar threefold relation].—οὐκ ἐκ πλάνης, not from [of] deceit) namely, is; comp. we speak, in the present, 1Th 2:4.—οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας, nor from [of] uncleanness) This uncleanness is when the fruit of the flesh is sought after: comp. Php 1:16. The fruit of the flesh is somewhat subtile: Eigenheit, self-seeking (seeking one’s own honour or gain), peculiarity.[4] Concerning its antithesis, purity, see Act 15:9.

[4] Beng., I conceive, contrasts purity, in the sense of singleness of aim for God’s glory and Christ’s, Mat 5:8, with carnal seeking of self, the want of a pure intention, οὐχ ἀγνῶς, not purely, Php 1:16. Comp. Jas 4:8, Purify your hearts, ye double-minded.—ED

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th_2:3-4 explain what enables and obliges the apostle to preach the gospel in sufferings and trials. The objective and subjective truth of his preaching enables him, and the apostolic call with which God had entrusted him obliges him. γάρ, 1Th_2:3, accordingly does not refer to τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ (Moldenhauer, Flatt), nor to ἐπαῤῥησιασάμεθα (Olshausen, de Wette, Koch), but to λαλῆσαι ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι.

ἡ γὰρ παράκλησις ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐκ πλάνης κ.τ.λ. sc. ἐστίν, not ἦν (Bloomfield), for Paul establishes (1Th_2:3-4) the manner of his entrance in Thessalonica (as the present λαλοῦμεν proves) by qualities which were habitual to him; and not until 1Th_2:5 does he return to the special manifestation of those general qualities during his residence in Thessalonica.

παράκλησις] denotes exhortation, address. The meaning of this word is modified according to the different circumstances of those to whom the address is directed. If the address is made to a sufferer or mourner, then it is naturally consolatory, and παράκλησις denotes comfort, consolation; but if it is directed to a moral or intellectual want, then παράκλησις is to be translated exhortation, admonition. Now the first evangelical preaching naturally consists in exhortation and admonition,namely, in a demand to put away their sins, and to lay hold on the salvation offered by God through the mission of His Son (comp. 2Co_5:20). Accordingly, παράκλησις might be used to denote the preaching of the gospel generally. So here, where to adhere to the meaning consolatio, with Zwingli, would be unsuitable. Yet it is erroneous to replace παράκλησις with διδαχή (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, de Wette) or with διδασκαλία (Theodoret); for, according to the above, more is contained in παράκλησις than in these ideas. Pelt explains παράκλησις erroneously by docendi ratio. But παράκλησις, understood as an exhortative address, or as the preaching of the gospel, may be taken either in an objective or subjective meaning: in the first case, it denotes the contents or subject of the preaching; in the second case, the preaching itself. The latter meaning is to be preferred on account of 1Th_2:4.

The παράκλησις of the apostle and his assistants had its origin not ἐκ πλάνης. πλάνη, error, is used in a transitive and intransitive sense. In the former case it denotes deceitfulness (Mat_27:64) or seduction (Eph_4:14); in the latter, which is the more usual meaning, delusion. In both cases πλάνη is the contrast of ἀλήθεια (1Jn_4:6): in the former case, of ἀλήθεια in a subjective sense, truthfulness; in the latter, of ἀλήθεια in an objective sense, truth (thus in Rom_1:27, where πλάνη refers to the idolatrous perversion of Monotheistic worship). Also, here πλάνη (on account of the succeeding ἐν δόλῳ) is best rendered not impostura (Erasmus, Calvin, Hemming, Estius, Beza, Turretin) or seducendi studium (Vorstius, Grotius, Baumgarten-Crusius), but delusion. Accordingly the sense is: the apostle and his associates avoided not sufferings and trials in the preaching of the gospel, because their preaching rested not on a fiction, a whim, a dream, a delusion,consequently it had not such as these for its object and contents; but it is founded on reality,that is to say, it has divine truth as its source.

οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας] a second reason different from the first, and heightening it. Paul turns from the objective side of the origin of his preaching to its subjective side,that is, to the motive which lay at the foundation of the gospel preaching of himself and his assistants. This motive is not ἀκαθαρσία (see Tittmann, de synonym. in N. T. I. p. 150 f.), uncleanness, i.e. impurity of sentiment, as would be the case were the apostle to preach the gospel from covetousness, vanity, or similar reasons.

οὐδὲ ἐν δόλῳ] nor also (does it consist or realize itself) in guile or deceit (contrast to εἰλικρίνεια, 2Co_2:17); a new emphasis, as it was something still worse, if not only an impure purpose lay at the foundation of a transaction, but also reprehensible means (e.g. κολακεία, 1Th_2:5) were employed for the attainment of that purpose.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 2:3 . γάρ : Our mission (whatever that of others may be) is not the outcome of self-seeking, otherwise it would readily be checked by such untoward circumstances. Our confidence is in God , not in ourselves; our work is not self-appointed but a sacred trust or commission, for which we are responsible to Him (4). Hence, discouragement and hesitation are impossible. Paul argues that the very fact of their cheerful perseverance at Thessalonica, after their bad treatment at Philippi, points to the divine source and strength of their mission; what impelled them was simply a sense of lasting responsibility to God, upon the one hand, and an overpowering devotion to men upon the other ( cf. the διʼ ὑμᾶς of 1Th 1:5 ), for the gospel’s sake. Had the apostles yielded to feelings of irritation and despondency, giving up their task in Macedonia, after the troubles at Philippi, or had they conducted themselves at Thessalonica in such a way as to secure ease and profit; in either case, they would have proved their mission to be ambitious or selfish, and therefore undivine. As it was, their courage and sincerity were at once the evidence and the outcome of their divine commission. πλάνης , “error” ( cf. Armitage Robinson on Eph 4:14 ). Their preaching did not spring from some delusion or mistake. Paul was neither fool nor knave, neither deceived nor a deceiver ( δόλῳ ). Nor was his mission a sordid attempt ( ἀκαθαρσίας ) to make a good thing out of preaching, the impure motive being either to secure money ( cf. πλεονεξίας 1Th 2:5 , and 1Th 2:9 ), or to gain a position of importance (1Th 2:6 ) and popularity. Cf. Tacit., Annal. , vi, 21 (of Tiberius’ attitude to astrologers) “si uanitatis aut fraudum suspicio incesserat”. Both features were only too familiar in the contemporary conduct of wandering sophists, ἀρεταλόγοι , and thaumaturgists ( e.g. , Act 13:10 , and Clemen’s article in Neue Kirchl. Zeitschrift , 1896, 151 f.) whose practices would also explain the literal interpretation of ἀκ . (= sensuality). But the context favours the associations of greed ( cf. Eph 5:3 ), as in the case of πλεονεξία . On the persuasiveness of sincerity in a speaker, i.e. , the extent to which his effectiveness depends upon his hearers’ conviction of his own earnestness and honesty, see Aristotle’s analysis of ἠθικὴ πίστις ( Rhet. , ii. 1) and Isocrates’ description of εὐνοίας δύναμις ( Orat. , xv. 278, 279).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To teach pure doctrine faithfully and with a pure heart.

By any wicked and naughty kind of dealing.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For--The ground of his "boldness" (Th1 2:2), his freedom from all "deceit, uncleanness, and guile"; guile, before God, deceit (Greek, "imposture"), towards men (compare Co2 1:12; Co2 2:17; Eph 4:14); uncleanness, in relation to one's self (impure motives of carnal self-gratification in gain, Th1 2:5), or lust; such as actuated false teachers of the Gentiles (Phi 1:16; Pe2 2:10, Pe2 2:14; Jde 1:8; Rev 2:14-15). So Simon Magus and Cerinthus taught [ESTIUS].

exhortation--The Greek means "consolation" as well as "exhortation." The same Gospel which exhorts comforts. Its first lesson to each is that of peace in believing amidst outward and inward sorrows. It comforts them that mourn (compare Th1 2:11; Isa 61:2-3; Co2 1:3-4).

of--springing from--having its source in--deceit, &c.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Our exhortation] The word παρακλησις has a very extensive meaning; it signifies not only exhortation and teaching in general, but also encouragement, consolation, and the like. When the apostles exhorted or admonished men, it was that they should turn from evil to good, from misery to happiness, from Satan to God, and from hell to heaven. Their exhortations having this object, every word was consolatory; and as the truth which they delivered was unquestionable, therefore their ministry was a subject of the highest encouragement and joy.

Not of deceit] We did not endeavour to allure you with false pretences; we did not deceive you, nor were we deceived ourselves.

Nor of uncleanness] Such as the teachings of the Gentile philosophers were; their supreme gods were celebrated for their adulteries, fornications, uncleannesses, thefts, barbarities, and profligacies of the most odious kind. Our Gospel was pure; came from the pure and holy God; was accompanied with the influences of the Holy Spirit, and produced purity both in the hearts and lives of all that received it.

Nor in guile] We had no false pretences, and were influenced by no sinister motives.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3 For our exhortation. He confirms, by another argument, the Thessalonians in the faith which they had embraced — inasmuch as they had been faithfully and purely instructed in the word of the Lord, for he maintains that his doctrine was free from all deception and uncleanness. And with the view of placing this matter beyond all doubt, he calls their conscience to witness. The three terms which he makes use of may, it would seem, be distinguished in this manner: imposture may refer to the substance of doctrine, uncleanness to the affections of the heart, guile to the manner of acting. In the first place, therefore, he says that they had not been deluded or imposed upon by fallacies, when they embraced the kind of doctrine that had been delivered to them by him. Secondly, he declares his integrity, inasmuch as he had not come to them under the influence of any impure desire, but actuated solely by upright disposition. Thirdly, he says that he had done nothing fraudulently or maliciously, but had, on the contrary, manifested a simplicity befitting a minister of Christ. As these things were well known to the Thessalonians, they had a sufficiently firm foundation for their faith.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) “The reason that we were able to endure so much was our consciousness of the sincerity and purity of our attention.”

Exhortation.—Exhortation is an attempt to make men take a particular line of action. “Our efforts to get men to act as we wish,” St. Paul says, “do not spring from a desire to dupe them,” etc. It is a question whether “of deceit” is the right rendering, or “of error,” “all a mistake.” If the latter, the argument would be that of Paley’s Evidences, i.e., to deduce the truth of the revelation from the sufferings of its prophets. But the points raised in contrast, in 1Th_2:4-12, seem to preclude this meaning, which would be more likely to introduce some substantiation of the gospel truths, as in 2Pe_1:16.

Of uncleanness.—It is possible that the word only means “with impure (or covetous) motives;” but it probably refers to the subtle forms of temptation which often accompany spiritual work. See, for example, the Greek of 1Ti_1:5; also 5:1, 2; 2Ti_3:4-7.

In guile.—The preposition is changed;” nor yet by the use of tricks;” Not only were their motives sincere and pure, but their manner of dealing straightforward.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our exhortation,.... Or "consolation"; for the ministry of the Gospel, which is here meant, consists of doctrines full of comfort to distressed minds, such as free justification by the righteousness of Christ, full pardon by his blood, and complete satisfaction by his sacrifice; as well as of exhortations to the exercise of grace and discharge of duty: and this was

not of deceit; or "error", was not "fallacious", as the Ethiopic version renders it; it consisted of nothing but truth, it was the word of truth, and the truth as it is in Jesus; nor did it proceed from any intention to deceive and impose on persons; it was no imposture:

nor of uncleanness; it did not spring from any impure affection for any sin, for popular applause, or worldly interest; nor did the ministers of it connive at uncleanness in others, or practise it themselves, as did the false teachers; but bore their testimony against it, both by word and example, and taught no doctrine that encouraged to it; but, on the contrary, the doctrine which is according to godliness, and which teaches men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts:

nor in guile; as there was no deceitful design in the ministry of the word, nor anything impure and immoral in the matter of it; so there was no artifice used in the dispensing of it; it was plain and simple, without any colour and guile, without the hidden things of dishonesty, without craftiness and handling the word deceitfully; and this is a reason why the apostles preached it with so much freedom and boldness, because there was nothing false, impure, or artful in it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

Ver. 3. Was not of deceit, nor, &c.] Neither for profit, pleasure, nor preferment (the worldling’s trinity). A minister, as he should have nothing to lose, so he should have nothing to get, but should be above all price or sale. He hath too impotent a spirit, whose services, like the dial, must be set only by the sun of self-respects. True grace is of a most masculine, disengaged, noble nature, and remits nothing of its diligence either for fear of a frown or hope of a reward.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our exhortation - That is, the exhortation to embrace the gospel. The word seems to be used here so as to include preaching in general. The sense is, that the means which they used to induce them to become Christians were not such as to delude them.

Was not of deceit - Was not founded on sophistry. The apostle means to say, that the Thessalonians knew that his manner of preaching was not such as was adopted by the advocates of error.

Nor of uncleanness - Not such as to lead to an impure life. It was such as to lead to holiness and purity. The apostle appeals to what they knew to be the tendency of his doctrine as an evidence that it was true. Most of the teaching of the pagan philosophers led to a life of licentiousness and corruption. The tendency of the gospel was just the reverse.Nor in guile - Not by the arts of deceit. There was no craftiness or trick, such as could not bear a severe scrutiny. No point was carried by art, cunning, or stratagem. Everything was done on the most honorable and fair principles. It is much when a man can say that he has never endeavored to accomplish anything by mere trick, craft, or cunning. Sagacity and shrewdness are always allowable in ministers as well as others; trick and cunning never. Yet stratagem often takes the place of sagacity, and trick is often miscalled shrewdness. Guile, craft, cunning. imply deception, and can never be reconciled with that entire honesty which a minister of the gospel, and all other Christians, ought to possess; see notes on 2Co 12:16; compare Psa 32:2; Psa 34:13; Joh 1:47; 1Pe 2:1, 1Pe 2:22; Rev 14:5.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Our exhortation was not proceeding from error.[1] That is, was not by promoting errors, or uncleanness. (Witham)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

De errore, &c. i.e. ex errore, Greek: ek planes, &c.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Our exhortation; whereby he means either the whole gospel he preached, by a synecdoche, or particularly that which is hortatory; what was first taught doctrinally was followed with exhortations to faith and practice. The decrees of the council at Jerusalem are called an exhortation, Act 15:31; when Paul, and others with him, were desired to preach in the synagogue, the rulers said: If ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on, Act 13:15; but taken more strictly, Rom 12:8, in a distinction from prophecy and teaching.

Was not of deceit; this refers either to the doctrine taught by them; it was true, not fallacious, not a devised fable, and did not issue out of any error of judgment; and so the apostle gives a reason why they were so bold in preaching it, because they knew it was all truth. Or to their sincerity in preaching; We did not use any impostures, we designed not to seduce men, as the false apostles did, but we really sought your conversion and salvation.

Nor of uncleanness; ez akayarsiav. If this refers to the doctrine preached, it denotes the purity of it, which did not tend to gratify the flesh, as that of the Nicolaitanes and Libertines, &c. If we refer it to the manner of their preaching, it denotes the purity of their hearts; they were not acted by any impure lusts in their preaching, as covetousness, pride, or vain-glory. Nor in guile; this seems to be mentioned before, and therefore some expositors refer the two former expressions to the matter that they taught, and this only to the manner, which is most probable. They had no cunning designs upon them, to make merchandise of them, as the false apostles did; but approve their hearts to God, and make themselves manifest to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And the apostle allegeth all this as a further reason of his boldness in preaching, for sincerity breeds boldness; or as some cause also of his great success, for uprightness is usually attended with a blessing; or as an argument to these Thessalonians to continue their affection to him, and to abide in the doctrine preached to them, for suspicion of insincerity in the preacher hinders the efficacy of the word upon the people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. How pure, as yourselves remember, was our exhortation; that is, the cheer and consolation of our blessed gospel, or glad announcement.

Of— Or rather, from deceit, as our motive. Our preaching flowed forth from some pagan myth, or some Eastern mysticism, or some modern religions fabrication.

Of—From uncleanness; from the sexual rites and abominations which are part of the very religion of heathens. In—Attended with.

Guile—Crafty purpose to deceive, and make gain by you. He was thus, as they knew, pure from fable, lust, and guile.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our exhortation. This word has a twofold signification, denoting both "exhortation" and "consolation;" when it refers to the moral conduct it denotes exhortation, but when it is an address to a sufferer it denotes consolation. In the gospel these two meanings are blended together. Was not of deceit. Not in the sense of guile, which would be tantological, but simply error," without any direct evil intent; our gospel was not a delusion we were not ourselves deceived. Nor of uncleanness; a word usually employed to denote sensuality, and in this sense the meaning is We did not, like the heathen in their worship, give occasion to unclean practices: We have corrupted no man". (2Co_7:2) The word, however, may be taken in a more general sense, as denoting impurity of disposition, impure motives: such as the impure desire of applause or of gain, to which the apostle afterwards alludes. Or of guile. As we were not ourselves deceived, so neither did we attempt to deceive others. The apostle did not adapt his religion, and Mahomet, to suit the prejudices or passions of men; he did not employ any seductive or temporizing arts; but he boldly went in the face of the prevailing religions of the age, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our exhortation - That is, our preaching. A part is put for the whole. Is not, at any time, of deceit - We preach not a lie, but the truth of God. Nor of uncleanness - With any unholy or selfish view. This expression is not always appropriated to lust, although it is sometimes emphatically applied thereto. Nor in guile - But with great plainness of speech.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Here our apostle assigns a subordinate reason why his preaching was so successful amongst the Thessalonians, namely, because it was very sincere. There was both sincerity in the doctrine preached, and also in the preacher of that doctrine.

Where note, 1. St. Paul calls his preaching an exhortation; doubtless because a great part of his preaching was, as ours ought to be, applicatory and exhortatory, earnestly and affectionately exciting the hearers to cleave unto the truths, whether doctrinal or practical, delivered to them.

Note, 2. How St. Paul removes from himself the opposites of sincerity, some of which point at the sincerity of the doctrine preached by him; it was not of deceit or of ensnaring and seducing error, not suited to the corrupt opinions and wicked inclinations of men; nor of uncleanness, nothing that he either preached or practiced did countenance and encourage men in their filthy lusts, as did the false preaching of the false apostles, and the Gnostics: Nor in guile; this points at the sincerity of his own heart in preaching his exhortation was not in guile; that is, he did not seek himself, under a pretence of acting for God and his glory, nor propound his own worldly advantage as his ultimate end.

Learn hence, it is the duty of Christ’s ministers, not only to preach the pure word of God, but to preach it purely, in simplicity of heart, and with a single eye at God’s glory, without looking at, or having any regard unto base, sinister ends, or by-respects.

Note, 3. That St. Paul having vindicated his ministry from all suspicion of insincerity, next assures them of his great uprightness in all his ministerial performances, making it his chief design to approve himself unto God, and to be approved of him, not in the least regarding to please men, but only in subordination to God.

Note, 4. The arguments or motives inclining him thus, in much sincerity, to approve himslf to God in all his ministerial services;

namely, 1. The consideration of that high favour and honourable trust which he had received from God; We were allowed of God, to be put in trust with the gospel; God did fit him for this trust, and then entrusted him with it, and he looked upon both as a favour and honour from God.

2. The consideration of God’s omnisciency and all-seeing eye, who trieth our hearts. The apostle well knew, that Almighty God was both a witness of his doctrine and conversation, and also privy to his intentions and purposes, his aim and end, as being a God that searcheth the heart; therefore he so preached, not as pleasing men, but God.

Learn from both, that nothing doth more effectually constrain the ministers of Christ to the faithful discharge of their whole duty, than the consideration of the honour and weight of that trust which God hath conferred on them, and the remembrance that the eye of an all-seeing and heart-searching God is both upon and within them also; We so speak, being put in trust with the gospel by God, who trieth our hearts.

Here our apostle assigns a subordinate reason why his preaching was so successful amongst the Thessalonians, namely, because it was very sincere. There was both sincerity in the doctrine preached, and also in the preacher of that doctrine. Where note, 1. St. Paul calls his preaching an exhortation; doubtless because a great part of his preaching was, as ours ought to be, applicatory and exhortatory, earnestly and affectionately exciting the hearers to cleave unto the truths, whether doctrinal or practical, delivered to them. Note, 2. How St. Paul removes from himself the opposites of sincerity, some of which point at the sincerity of the doctrine preached by him; it was not of deceit or of ensnaring and seducing error, not suited to the corrupt opinions and wicked inclinations of men; nor of uncleanness, nothing that he either preached or practiced did countenance and encourage men in their filthy lusts, as did the false preaching of the false apostles, and the Gnostics: Nor in guile; this points at the sincerity of his own heart in preaching his exhortation was not in guile; that is, he did not seek himself, under a pretence of acting for God and his glory, nor propound his own worldly advantage as his ultimate end. Learn hence, it is the duty of Christ’s ministers, not only to preach the pure word of God, but to preach it purely, in simplicitty of heart, and with a single eye at God’s glory, without looking at, or having any regard unto base, sinister ends, or by-respects. Note, 3. That St. Paul having vindicated his ministry from all suspicion of insincerity, next assures them of his great uprightness in all his ministerial performances, making it his chief design to approve himself unto God, and to be approved of him, not in the least regarding to please men, but only in subordination to God. Note, 4. The arguments or motives inclining him thus, in much sincerity, to approve himslf to God in all his ministerial services; namely, 1. The consideration of that high favour and honourable trust which he had received from God; We were allowed of God, to be put in trust with the gospel; God did fit him for this trust, and then entrusted him with it, and he looked upon both as a favour and honour from God. 2. The consideration of God’s omnisciency and all-seeing eye, who trieth our hearts. The apostle well knew, that Almighty God was both a witness of his doctrine and conversation, and also privy to his intentions and purposes, his aim and end, as being a God that searcheth the heart; therefore he so preached, not as pleasing men, but God. Learn from both, that nothing doth more effectually constrain the ministers of Christ to the faithful discharge of their whole duty, than the consideration of the honour and weight of that trust which God hath conferred on them, and the remembrance that the eye of an all-seeing and heart-searching God is both upon and within them also; We so speak, being put in trust with the gospel by God, who trieth our hearts.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARGUMENT 2

PAULINE MINISTRY

3,4. “Not pleasing men, but God, who proveth our hearts.” A man- pleasing gospel is Satan’s delusion. A preacher in a great metropolis said: “If we preach the Bible as it is, not one of us can hold our pulpit.” The whole country is cursed with a diluted, man-pleasing gospel.

5,6. “Not in pretext of covetousness, seeking glory from men.” “God is our witness.” Here Paul calls God to witness that money wielded no influence in the ministry of him and his comrades.

7-9. While they had a right to temporal support, they supplemented their income with manual labor. We must be true to the New Testament, and faithfully preach the Word, regardless of temporal support.

10. “You and God are witnesses, how holily, righteously, and blamelessly we were among you!” Here Paul, in behalf of himself and comrades, boldly professes sanctification. Holily, the literal translation of the Greek, means in a holy manner. The adverb includes the adjective, and could be affirmed of none but holy people.

13. …”As it truly is the Word of God, who worketh in them that believe.” This affirms a wonderful truth. When you believe convicting truth, God works conviction in you. When you believe converting truth, God works conversion in you. When you believe sanctifying truth, God works sanctification in you. Faith is the hand by which you receive everything from God. Your faith is the measuring-line of your experience. Faith is the human side of the plan of salvation. Silently and imperceptibly to mortal eyes, the Holy Ghost works in you according to your faith. Not only does he work in you according to your faith, but he actually inspires and augments your faith. This is the secret of wonderful experiences.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile [The word "exhortation" has a double significance--it includes the idea of rousing the slothful, and also that of comforting the sorrowful. Paul here begins to contrast his teaching with that of false teachers with whom the world abounded, and with whom the Thessalonians had been long familiar. The instruction of these teachers, being founded on myths, fables and delusions, was full of error. The purpose of the instruction was to introduce lascivious mysteries and unhallowed rites such as the Bacchic, Isiac, Mythraic, etc.; the manner of the instruction was full of trickery and guile ( Act_8:9 ; Act_13:6-10 ). Paul had not roused the indifferent by proclaiming false dangers, nor comforted the despairing by wakening vain hopes]:

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. For our exhortation was not of deceit. The message they preached did not spring from deceit, or unclean lives, or guile. It was in all sincerity, and hence they were bold.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

was not from error, nor from impurity, nor from deceit

"was truthful, pure, and honest"

approved by God to be trusted

Paul was tested and proven trustworthy by God.

We speak

Paul is referring to preaching the gospel message. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

who examines our hearts

The word "hearts" is a metonym for a person's desires and thoughts. AT: "who knows our desires and thoughts" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

exhort

deceive

God

trust

good news

heart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. ἡ γὰρ παράκλησις ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐκ πλάνης οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας οὐδὲ ἐν δόλῳ. For our appeal (is) not of (does not proceed from) error, nor from impurity, nor (is it made) in guile. Παράκλησις may denote any kind of animating address (see 1Co 14:3; 1Ti 4:13; Act 13:15), then the encouragement which such address gives (2Th 2:16; 2Co 1:3 ff., &c.); here it is not “exhortation” to those already Christians, but “the appeal” of the Gospel to those who hear it; it includes the totum prœconium evangelii (Bengel). It corresponds to διδαχή (Chrysostom’s gloss, as in Rom 6:17, &c.) or διδασκαλία (2Ti 3:10) on one side—“from both of which it is distinguished as being directed more to the feelings than the understanding” (Ellicott)—and on another side to κήρυγμα (2Ti 4:17); it always contemplates the benefit of those addressed: cf. for παρακαλέω in like connexion, Act 2:40; Luk 3:18; and for other uses of the verb, 1Th 2:11 below, and 2Th 2:17. The writers deny that they had been actuated by delusion or by impure motives (in other words, that they were either deceived or deceivers), or that they acted in crafty ways: ἐκ points to source, ἐν to manner of proceeding.

Πλάνη signifies (objective) error, as in 2Th 2:11; Rom 1:27, &c.,—the opposite of “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col 1:5; cf. 2Co 4:2; 2Co 6:7; Eph 1:13; 1Jn 4:6; 2Th 2:10-13 below); ἀκαθαρσία, (subjective) personal uncleanness. The latter expression commonly implies bodily defilement, as in Rom 1:24, &c., and may have this reference here; but the term, on occasion, includes μολυσμὸς πνεύματος as well as σαρκός (2Co 7:1). There is no hint anywhere else in the Epistles that St Paul was taxed with fleshly impurity; and uncleanness of spirit (sordid and mercenary aims, the αἰσχροκερδία of 1Ti 3:8, &c.) seems more to the point here. Against this reproach the Apostle jealously guarded himself (see 2Co 11:7-12; 2Co 12:14-18); possibly he is taking the word ἀκαθαρσία in this passage from the mouths of his gainsayers. In classical Greek it denotes moral foulness, dirty ways, of any sort. Cf. note on 1Th 4:7; also 1Ti 6:5, where ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας is recalled by διεφθαρμένων τὸν νοῦν, and ἐκ πλάνης by ἀπεστερημένων τῆς ἀληθείας. For ἐν δόλῳ, cf. 2Co 12:16; Mar 14:1; Joh 1:47.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. παράκλησις] exhortation to you, viz. our whole course of preaching. Supply is, not ‘was;’ cf. λαλοῦμεν below. “The two senses of παράκλησις, exhortation and consolation, so easily passing into one another (compare ver. 11), are suggestive of the external state of the early church, sorrowing amid the evils of the world, and needing as its first lesson to be comforted; and not less suggestive of the first lesson of the Gospel to the individual soul, of peace in believing.” Jowett.

ἐκ] having its source in.

πλάνης] here probably error. “The word is used transitively and intransitively. In the former case, it is ‘imposture’ (Mat 27:64) or ‘seduction’ (Eph 4:14): in the latter and more usual, error.” Lünem.

ἀκαθαρσίας] hardly, as Chrys., ὑπὲρ μυσαρῶν πραγμάτων οἷον γοήτων κ. μάγων,—though such a reference is certainly possible, considering the vile degradation of that class at the period,—but here apparently of the impure desire of gain, cf. ver. 5, where ἐν προφάσει πλεονεξίας seems to correspond with ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας. Still such a meaning seems to want example. If it be correct, this represents (Lün.) the subjective side, the motive, as ἐκ πλάνης the objective side, the ground.

ἐν δόλῳ] this of the manner, or perhaps, as Ellic., the ethical sphere, in which: ‘nor did we make use of deceit to win our way with our παράκλησις.’ See 2Co 2:17.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3-4. The self-defence is continued with direct reference to the insinuation that the missionaries were of a kind with the wandering sophists, impostors, and propagandists of religious cults. First negatively (as v. 1) it is said: “Indeed (γά as v. 1) our appeal never comes from delusion, nor from impurity, nor is it ever calculated to deceive.” Then positively (ἀλλα as v. 2): “On the contrary, we are wont to speak as men approved by God to be intrusted with the gospel, concerned not with pleasing men but God who tests our motives.” The three specifications of v. 3 are not replied to formally but are nevertheless adequately met: Not ἐκ πλάνη for the gospel is in origin divine not human; not ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας, for the gospel has been committed to tested missionaries; and not ἐν δόλῳ, for our responsibility is not to men but to God who sounds the depths of our inner lives. ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶ. “The appeal we make,” taking up λαλῆσαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ. παράκλησι (often in Paul) may mean “summons,” “address,” “encouragement” (1, 2 Mac.; cf. II 2:16) “comfort” (so usually in Lxx). In this connection, however, as λαλῆσα (v. 2) and λαλοῦμε (v. 4) make evident, the address itself, not the content (διδαχη Chrys.), is meant; hence “appeal” (Lft.), and that too in virtue of ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶ and τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεου, a religious appeal, not without reference to προφητεί (5:20, 1Co 14:1, 1Co 14:39; Rom 12:8).

ἐστί is to be supplied in view of λαλοῦμε (V. 4). The habitual principle (Bengel) is intended. As the Thess. could have no direct knowledge of Paul’s custom elsewhere, he does not in vv. 3-4 appeal to them in confirmation (contrast vv. 5 ff).

ἐκ πλάνη. Our religious appeal does not come “from delusion,” for our gospel is of God. πλάν, as δόλῳ shows, is not “deceit” (active) but “error” (passive), the state of πλανᾶσθα “delusion” (Lillie). “Homo qui errat cannot but be undecided; nor is it possible for him to use boldness without consummate impudence and folly” (Cocceius, quoted by Lillie). οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀκαθαρσία. “Nor does it come from an impure character.” ἀκαθαρσί (elsewhere in N. T. only in Paul, except Mat 23:27) regularly appears directly with πορνεί or in contexts intimating sexual aberration. Hence here, as 4:7, Rom 6:19, the reference is not to impurity in general, not to covetousness, but to sensuality (Lft.). The traducers of Paul, aware both of the spiritual excitement (5:19 ff.) attending the meeting of Christian men and women and of the pagan emotional cults in which morality was often detached from religion, had subtly insinuated that the missionaries were no better morally than other itinerant impostors. That such propagandists would be repudiated by the official representatives of the cult would aid rather than injure a comparison intended to be as odious as possible.

“St. Paul was at this very time living in the midst of the worship of Aphrodite at Corinth and had but lately witnessed that of the Cabiri at Thessalonica” (Lft.). The exact nature of this latter cult, the syncretistic form which it assumed, and the ritual which it used are uncertain, but Lightfoot’s phrase, “the foul orgies of the Cabiric worship,” may not be too strong. The maligners of Paul may have had some features of this cult in mind when they charged him with ἀκαθαρσί The cult of the κάβιρο or κάβειρο (perhaps from the root כבר; ηενχε μέγαλο, (δυνατοί, ἰσχυροι) θεοι) originated, it would appear, in Phœnicia and was carried thence to Lemnos, Samothrace (cf. Herod. 2:51), Macedonia (cf. Lactant. div. instil. I, 1518 and Bloch, cols. 2533-34) and elsewhere, and became in the Hellenic-Roman period second in importance only to the Eleusinian mysteries. That it was well known in the seaport town of Thessalonica. is evident from coins and from Jul. Firmicus Maternus (de errore prof. relig. 11). On the Cabiri, see Lft. Bib. Essays, 257 ff. where the older literature including Lobeck’s Aglaophanes, 1202 ff. is given; also the articles by Hild (Cabires in La Grande Encyc. 606-610) and by Bloch (in Roscher, 1897), Megaloi Theoi, cols. 2522-2541.

οὐδὲ ἐν δόλῳ. “Nor is it with craft, with any purpose to deceive,” for they are ever engaged in pleasing not men but God. Over against the ἐ of origin, ἐ denotes the atmosphere of the appeal. It is not clothed with deception or deceit, that is, with any deliberate intention to deceive (Ell.). This charge may have suggested itself to the critics in view of the devices of sophists and the tricks of jugglers and sorcerers (cf. Chrys.) by which they sought to win the attention and the money of the crowd (cf. 2Co 12:16).

The reading οὐδε before ἐν δόλῳ is well attested, but the οὔτ of KL after an οὐδε has a parallel in Gal 1:12 (BEKL); cf. Bl 77:10. Note in 1 Mac. ἐν δόλῳ (1:30), μετά δόλο (7:10), and δόλῳ (13:17).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exhortation [παρακλησις] . See on Luk 6:24 and 1Co 14:3. Exhortation or counsel is Paul 's usual sense.

Of deceit [εκ πλανης] . Better, of error. It may imply deceit as accompanying or causing error, but it does not occur in the sense of deceit. Our exhortation did not proceed from any false teaching which we had ourselves received. We were guided by " the spirit of truth "; See 1Jo 4:6, and comp. 2Pe 1:16.

Of uncleanness [εξ ακαθαρσιας] . " Akaqarsia in Mt 23:27 of the corruption of the sepulchre. Elsewhere in N. T. of sensual impurity. See Rom 1:24; 2Co 12:21; Eph 4:19. Here in the sense of impurity on the side of sordidness. 17 In Eph 4:19, Paul speaks of working uncleanness [ακαθαρσιαν] in a spirit of selfish desire [πλεονεξια] which is the spirit of covetousness. In Eph 5:3, uncleanness and covetousness are closely associated. Paul means that his exhortation did not proceed from greed for gain or lust for power.

In guile [εν δολω] . While uncleanness expresses impure purpose or motive, guile has reference to improper means; plausible but insincere methods of winning converts; suppression of the truth; "huckstering the word of God" (see on 2Co 2:17); adulterating it for purposes of gain or popularity.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.