1 Thessalonians 3:11

3:11-13 Prayer is religious worship, and all religious worship is due unto God only. Prayer is to be offered to God as our Father. Prayer is not only to be offered in the name of Christ, but offered up to Christ himself, as our Lord and our Saviour. Let us acknowledge God in all our ways, and he will direct our paths. Mutual love is required of all Christians. And love is of God, and is fulfilling the gospel as well as the law. We need the Spirit's influences in order to our growth in grace; and the way to obtain them, is prayer. Holiness is required of all who would go to heaven; and we must act so that we do not contradict the profession we make of holiness. The Lord Jesus will certainly come in his glory; his saints will come with him. Then the excellence as well as the necessity of holiness will appear; and without this no hearts shall be established at that day, nor shall any avoid condemnation.

1 Thessalonians 3:11 . Αὐτὸς , Himself ) Both epistles to the Thessalonians have almost all the several chapters singly sealed and distinguished by single breathings of prayer [each chapter sealed with its own prayer], ch. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:16 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:5 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:16 .— Ἰησοῦς , Jesus ) Prayers and vows are also addressed to Jesus Christ; for the word κατευθύναι , direct , extends both to Him [as the subject] and to the Father: comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 .

1 Thessalonians 3:11 . κατευθύναι (optative), as already ( Acts 16:8-10 ; Acts 17:1 ). The singular ( cf. II., 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ) implies that God and Jesus count as one in this connection. The verb is common ( e.g. , Ep. Arist., 18, etc.) in this sense of providence directing human actions.

Verse 11. - Now God himself and our Father ; or, as we would express it according to the English idiom, God himself, our Father , omitting the conjunction. And our Lord Jesus Christ. Some suppose that the three Divine Persons of the sacred Trinity are here expressly named: God the Holy Ghost, and the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ; but the words in the original will not bear this sense: "God himself and our Father" is the same Divine Person. Direct . It is to be observed that the verb "direct" is in the Greek in the singular, thus denoting a unity between God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. At all events, we have an express prayer directed to Christ, thus necessarily implying his Divine nature. Our way unto you. 1 Thessalonians 3:11

11. Translate, "May God Himself, even our Father (there being but one article in the Greek, requires this translation, 'He who is at once God and our Father'), direct," &c. The "Himself" stands in contrast with "we" (1Th 2:18); we desired to come but could not through Satan's hindrance; but if God Himself direct our way (as we pray), none can hinder Him (2Th 2:16, 17). It is a remarkable proof of the unity of the Father and Son, that in the Greek here, and in 2Th 2:16, 17, the verb is singular, implying that the subject, the Father and Son, are but one in essential Being, not in mere unity of will. Almost all the chapters in both Epistles to the Thessalonians are sealed, each with its own prayer (1Th 5:23; 2Th 1:11; 2:16; 3:5, 16) [Bengel]. Paul does not think the prosperous issue of a journey an unfit subject for prayer (Ro 1:10; 15:32) [Edmunds]. His prayer, though the answer was deferred, in about five years afterwards was fulfilled in his return to Macedonia.

(11) God himself and our Father. —Better, our God and Father Himself. If we are to find any special person with whom the word “Himself” is intended to enforce a contrast, the contrast is probably not so much with the baffled efforts of St. Paul, as with Satan, who had hindered the journey. But the word is probably added without such specific reference: “May God Himself direct us; for in that case who could hinder?” And our Lord . . .—An important theological passage. From the use of the singular in the verb “direct” (which of course the English cannot express), some divines argue in favour of the Catholic doctrine of “homoüsion,” or substantial unity of the Son with the Father: it must not, however, be too strongly pressed, or it might otherwise lead to the false notion of a personal unity between Them. Nevertheless, we may admit that the prayer (or, rather, wish) implies the equality of the two Persons, and that it would have been inconceivable for a Catholic Christian to have used the verb in the plural. (See 2Thessalonians 2:17.)

Here his prayer is expressed. The person to whom he prays is God himself, personally considered as God the Father, and relatively, when he styles him our Father: so ought believers to address themselves to God, not absolutely, but as to their Father. So Christ taught his disciples to pray: Our Father; and so the Spirit of adoption doth prompt the saints to pray: we come to God with greater freedom and confidence when we can come to him as a Father. And he prays also to Christ, whom he styles our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence we may have an argument that Christ is God, else he could not be the object of Divine worship: not that we are to present our prayers distinctly to the Son without considering his union with the Father, nor to the Father distinctly from the Son, but to the Father in and by the Lord Jesus Christ; for so only we can consider him as our Father in prayer. And he speaks of Christ also in his relation to his people: our Lord Jesus Christ. And the thing he prays for is, that God would direct his way unto them; that the hinderances of Satan, whatsoever they were, might be removed, and the providence of God open him a way to come to them: the word direct signifies in the Greek to make straight, and, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 , is applied to the heart: The Lord direct your hearts, & c., which is setting the heart straight towards God; answering to the Hebrew word Jashar, which signifies to be upright, and is often used in the Old Testament.

Now God himself - This is evidently a prayer. He earnestly sought of God that he might be permitted to visit them, and that he would so prepare the way that he might do it. And our Father - Even our Father. The reference is particularly to the "Father," the First Person of the Trinity. It does not refer to the divine nature in general, or to God as such, but to God as the Father of the Lord Jesus. It is a distinct prayer offered to him that he would direct his way to them. It is right therefore to offer prayer to God as the First Person of the Trinity. And our Lord Jesus Christ - This also is a prayer, as much as the former was, for it can be understood in no other way. What can be its meaning, unless the apostle believed that the Lord Jesus had power to direct his way to them, and that it was proper for him to express this wish to him; that is, to pray to him? If this be so, then it is right to pray to the Lord Jesus, or to worship him; see the John 20:28 note; Acts 1:24 note. Would Paul have prayed to an angel to direct his way to the church at Thessalonica? Direct our way unto you - Margin, "guide." The Greek word - κατευθύνω kateuthunō - means, to guide straight toward or upon anything. It is rendered "guide," in Luke 1:79, and "direct" here and in 2 Thessalonians 3:5. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The idea is that or conducting one straight to a place, and not by a round-about course.