1 Thess. 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church [royal family] of the Thessalonians [which is] in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ [positional truth]. Grace and prosperity to you. 

1 Thess. 1:2 We always give thanks to God concerning all of you [you are not forgotten], continually making mention of you during our prayers,

1 Thess. 1:3 While unceasingly remembering your production [priestly function] from doctrine [application of the truth in your souls] and your labor [ambassadorship function] from the love complex [virtue love from the filling of the Spirit] and your patient endurance [passing momentum tests] based on confidence which rests on our Lord Jesus Christ [as opposed to self-confidence] in the face of God, even our Father,  

1 Thess. 1:4 Knowing, brethren, that you who were loved in the past and continue to be loved in the present by God are the election [chosen by God in eternity past and cared for logistically at this very moment],  

1 Thess. 1:5 For our gospel [message of good news] did not come to you in the sphere of word only [mere human philosophy], but also in the sphere of power [divine backing], even in the Holy Spirit [baptism of the Spirit placed all believers in union with Christ] and accompanied by full assurance [eternal security], even as you know beyond a shadow of a doubt the kind [quality] of men we showed ourselves to be for your benefit [example].   

1 Thess. 1:6 And as for you [new believers], you became imitators of us [we stayed in Thessalonica as long as we could and taught you Bible doctrine] and of the Lord, having received [positive volition] the Word [Bible doctrine] while under frequent pressure [persecution] with inner happiness from the Holy Spirit [pressure caused them to utilize doctrine and grow to maturity],   

1 Thess. 1:7 So that you became a pattern [Christian blueprint] to all those who are believers in Macedonia [northern Greece] and in Achaia [southern Greece].    

1 Thess. 1:8 For from you the Word of the Lord blasted out like a trumpet in the past and is still sounding forth in the present not only in Macedonia and Achaia [within Greece], but in every place [outside Greece] your application of doctrine towards God [faith rest] has gone forth [worldwide evangelism], so that we [Paul’s missionary team] do not have a need to say anything [in many cities Paul did not have to evangelize because the Thessalonians had gotten there first].    

1 Thess. 1:9 Because they themselves [new converts] continue to report about you: what kind of reception we [Paul, Silas and Timothy] had in your presence [when we first came to Thessalonica], and how you turned to God from idols for the purpose of serving as bondslaves to the living and true God,    

1 Thess. 1:10 And to be waiting expectantly for His Son out from the heavens [at the rapture of the Church], Whom He [the Father] raised out from the dead [resurrection], Jesus, the One Who will deliver us out from the wrath [the Church will not go through the tribulation] which is coming [imminency of the rapture prior to the tribulation].     

1 Thess. 2:1 For you will recall, brethren, our initial visit among you [in Thessalonica], that it did not prove to be futile [believers did come to Christ],     

1 Thess. 2:2 But having suffered before [beaten and tortured] and having been disgracefully mistreated [imprisoned], as you know, in Philippi, we [nevertheless] spoke boldly and freely [with courage] in our God when we proclaimed the good news of God to you [in Thessalonica] while in a state of great conflict [opposition].     

1 Thess. 2:3 For our declaration [of the gospel] did not come from the source of [doctrinal] error nor impure motive [from living in the cosmic system] nor by means of deceit [treachery],      

1 Thess. 2:4 But since we were tested and approved by God [for blessing] as being faithful with reference to the good news, in the same manner we keep on speaking, not as pleasing men [emptying the gospel message of its offensive content], but to God [motivational virtue from love for God in spiritual autonomy], Who ultimately tests and approves the mentality [thinking] of our souls [for rewards and blessings in eternity].      

1 Thess. 2:5 Indeed, neither at any time did we become a flatterer in word, as you know, nor a pretext for covetousness [using the gospel as a cover-up to obtain money]. God is witness [to our proper motivation].       

1 Thess. 2:6 Nor did we seek glory [special treatment] from men, neither from you [Thessalonians] nor from others of the same kind [believers in other geographical locations]. When we were able to be burdensome [financially] on the grounds that we were apostles of Christ [legitimate authority],        

1 Thess. 2:7 Instead, we became innocent and gentle [genuine humility] in your midst, as though [we were] a nursing mother taking care of her own children.         

1 Thess. 2:8 So longing to be with you, we took delight in sharing with you not only the gospel of God [evangelistic message], but also our own souls [the doctrinal content in our thinking], because you have become dear [close friends] to us.         

1 Thess. 2:9 For you remember, brethren, our travail [mother’s birth pangs] and labor [father’s toil]: night and day we engaged in manual labor for your benefit [self-supporting missionary team], so that we would not have to financially burden you [as new believers] whenever we proclaimed the good news of God [Bible doctrine] to you.         

1 Thess. 2:10 You are witnesses and so is God, concerning how we conducted ourselves in a manner pleasing to God [divine viewpoint], both just [with virtue] and blameless [with integrity] towards you who are believers [execution of the royal family honor code].         

1 Thess. 2:11 As you know, like a father with his own children [with authority orientation], we exhorted [with doctrine] and comforted [with encouragement] every one of you [individually],         

1 Thess. 2:12 As well as urging you to walk [conduct yourselves] in a manner worthy of God [according to divine standards] Who called you into His own royal power [divine sphere of power] and glory [strategic and tactical victory in the angelic conflict].          

1 Thess. 2:13 Moreover, for this cause [to spur your spiritual momentum forward], we constantly thank God in our prayers, because when you received the Word [Bible doctrine] from us, you welcomed the teaching as from God [divine origin], not from man [human origin], and not only this but because it is truly the Word [doctrine] of God which also continues to operate in you who continue to believe [exercise positive volition].           

1 Thess. 2:14 For you, brethren [members of the royal family], became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea [the first wave of persecution] in Christ Jesus, for you yourselves also suffered similar things from your own countrymen [conspirators], even as they themselves [the Judeans] suffered from the Jews.          

1 Thess. 2:15 Those [Jewish legalistic & criminal element] who murdered both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harshly persecuted us [Paul and his missionary team] to the point of driving us out [of the region], and are not pleasing to God [cosmic 1: antagonism towards God] and are hostile to all men [cosmic 2: hating His evangelists],

1 Thess. 2:16 Who have forbidden us from talking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved, with the result that they [the legalistic Jews] are filling up the cup of their sins at all times [getting drunk on them over and over again]. But wrath [divine judgment] will come upon them at the end [the Great White Throne Judgment].             

1 Thess. 2:17 But we, brethren [members of the royal family], although we have been separated from you for a short time [due to hostile forces in Thessalonica], physically but not mentally [we wanted to stay], we have spared no effort with great enthusiasm [desire to be with them again] to see you physically all the more [in spite of the hostility].            

1 Thess. 2:18 As a matter of fact, we wanted to return face-to-face to you, even I, Paul, and not just once but twice [we began our journey], but Satan prevented [detained] us.

1 Thess. 2:19 For what is our hope [seeing friends in heaven] or happiness [receiving our resurrection body] or crown of rejoicing [victory wreath: a reward for witnessing]? Is it not particularly [especially] you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His return [at the rapture]?

1 Thess. 2:20 As for you [Thessalonian believers], you are our glory [rewards in eternity] and happiness [blessings in time].

1 Thess. 3:1 For this reason, when we could no longer endure it [wondering how things were going with you in Thessalonica], we resolved [thought it best after conferring with each other] to remain in Athens alone,

1 Thess. 3:2 But we sent Timothy [to you in Thessalonica], our brother [fellow believer] and ministering servant [member of our missionary team] of God in the gospel of Christ, for the purpose of stabilizing and encouraging you for the sake of your doctrine [you are ready to go beyond basic Bible teaching],

1 Thess. 3:3 So that no one will be disturbed or upset [if they have attained spiritual self-esteem] by these outside pressures, for you yourselves know that we [Paul’s missionary team, as well as all other believers] are appointed for this purpose [suffering is a requirement for spiritual growth]. 

1 Thess. 3:4 For indeed, when we were with you [in Thessalonica], we warned you repeatedly in advance that we are destined to suffer [as part of God’s plan to bless us and propel our spiritual growth], just like what began to occur in the recent past [testing has officially started] and you are continuing to experience at the present time [the pressure is still on]. 

1 Thess. 3:5 Because of this [suffering], when I could no longer endure in silence [wondering how things were with you], I sent [Timothy] for the purpose of checking out [validating] your faith [whether you were successfully applying the faith rest technique or not], just in case by some means the one who tempts [Satan] had tempted you [caused you to reside in the cosmic system instead of the filling of the Spirit] and my labor to the point of exhaustion [teaching you doctrine] turned out to be in vain [wasted effort]. 

1 Thess. 3:6 But just now [as I’m writing this letter], Timothy has returned to us [in Corinth] from you [in Thessalonica] and has brought to us the good news concerning your [application of the] faith rest technique and your [residence and function inside the] love complex, and that you continue to have a good remembrance of us always, having a desire to see us just as we [have a desire to see] you [reciprocal relationship]. 

1 Thess. 3:7 Because of this [favorable report on your spiritual progress] we were encouraged, brethren, by all of your necessary trouble [trials & testing] and outside pressure [suffering through difficult circumstances], our encouragement due to your application of doctrine [correct use of the faith rest technique], 

1 Thess. 3:8 For now we are beginning to come back to life again [living life more enthusiastically], since you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 

1 Thess. 3:9 For what thanks [sufficient gratitude] are we able to return to God concerning you, for all the inner happiness which we are pleased to possess because of you in the presence of our God,  

1 Thess. 3:10 Praying exceedingly above and beyond, night and day, that we might see your face [in Thessalonica] and complete those things [advanced teachings] which are lacking with reference to your doctrinal framework?  

1 Thess. 3:11 Now may God Himself, even our Father, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way [road, journey] to you.  

1 Thess. 3:12 And may the Lord [Holy Spirit] cause you to grow [to supergrace maturity] and superabound [reach ultra-supergrace status] in the love complex toward one another [fellow believers in Thessalonica] and toward all others [believers in other geographical locations], just as we [Paul and his missionary team] also [exercise virtue love in the love complex] towards you [reciprocal relationship],   

1 Thess. 3:13 To the end that He [the Holy Spirit] might complete the stabilization of the mentality of your souls [sanctification salvation] - blameless [fully sanctified] in the sphere of holiness [glorification salvation] before God [at the Judgment Seat of Christ], even our Father - before the coming [at the rapture] of our Lord Jesus with all of His saints [the dead in Christ whom He brings with Him to meet those who are alive].    

1 Thess. 4:1 For the rest then, brethren [members of the royal family], we keep on requesting and exhorting you in the sphere of the Lord Jesus [appealing to their positional status in Christ], so that just as you received from us how [the method] you ought to walk [precise protocol for the Church Age believer] and please God [by residence and function in the love complex], even as you are currently walking [they are on the right track spiritually], that you might abound all the more [grow to supergrace and beyond],

1 Thess. 4:2 For you already know what instructions [mandates for living the Christian way of life] we gave you through the Lord Jesus [divine authority]. 

1 Thess. 4:3 For this continues to be the will of God with reference to your experiential sanctification: You should abstain from sexual immorality,  

1 Thess. 4:4 Each one of you should understand [learn how] that he is to possess [have sexual relations with] his own [not another man’s] wife with dedication [fulfill her sexual desires] and honor [recognition of her sexual needs],   

1 Thess. 4:5 Not with an uncontrollable urge of sexual lust [sinful rather than sanctified desire] in the same manner as unbelievers who indeed do not know God,    

1 Thess. 4:6 That no man antagonizes [by flirting or making sexual advances towards another man’s wife] or cheats [by commiting adultery with another man’s wife] his brother [fellow believer] in this matter [sins of sexual arrogance], because the Lord is the One who disciplines with reference to all of these things [sexual sins], even as we previously warned and charged you with a solemn oath [this wasn’t the 1st time Paul had warned them of this category of sins and the resultant divine discpline].    

1 Thess. 4:7 For God did not call us to immorality [sexual impurity], but into the sphere of holiness [sanctification].     

1 Thess. 4:8 For this very reason [due to our call to sanctification rather than immorality], he who continues to reject [ignore] this warning [to avoid sexual sins], is not rejecting man [cosmic 1: arrogance complex of sins], but God [cosmic 2: hatred complex of sins], Who has given His Holy Spirit to us [divine provision for spiritual growth].      

1 Thess. 4:9 Now, concerning brotherly love, you have no need for me to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to exercise virtue love towards one another,      

1 Thess. 4:10 For indeed, you are doing it [exercising basic impersonal love] toward all the brethren in the whole area of Macedonia. However, we urge you, brethren, to superabound [exercise advanced impersonal love] all the more [there’s always room for improvement],

1 Thess. 4:11 And that you consider it a point of honor [aspiration] to live a quiet life [free from turmoil and disturbances] and mind your own business [respect the privacy of others] and work with your hands [continue your career or vocation], just as I charged you,

1 Thess. 4:12 In order that you may walk respectably [in your workplace and community] towards those on the outside [unbelievers] and have need of nothing [financial self-support].

1 Thess. 4:13 Now, we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren [members of the royal family of God], concerning those [fellow believers] who are dying, so that you are not distressed, even as others [unbelievers] who do not have hope [of resurrection life].

1 Thess. 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same manner [by resurrection], God will bring along with Him [at the rapture] those [believers] who have died with Jesus. 

1 Thess. 4:15 For this [doctrine] we communicate to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord [the rapture generation] shall not precede those who have died,  

1 Thess. 4:16 Because the Lord Himself [Jesus Christ] will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel [Michael or Gabriel commands the believers who are alive on earth to receive their resurrection bodies] and with the trumpet of God [God the Father gives those believers who are already dead their resurrection bodies], and the dead in Christ will rise first [to meet the Lord in the air at the rapture],  

1 Thess. 4:17 Then we who are living [the rapture generation] and who remain [on earth] shall be caught up [transported] together [at the same time] with them [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to a meeting [royal reception] of the Lord in the air [lower atmosphere], and in this manner [in resurrection bodies] we shall always be together with the Lord [ultimate sanctification throughout eternity].  

1 Thess. 4:18 Therefore keep on encouraging each other with these doctrines [concerning our resurrection bodies and the rapture].  

1 Thess. 5:1 But concerning the extended period of time [times of the Gentiles] and the appointed seasons [Tribulation & Millennium], brethren [members of the royal family], you do not have the need for me to write to you [you already understand the order of divine dispensations], 

1 Thess. 5:2 For you yourselves know with accuracy that the Day of the Lord [Tribulation & Millennium] will come in the same manner as a thief in the night [suddenly and without warning after the rapture].  

1 Thess. 5:3 When they [the international community] say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes upon them [peace efforts without God always fail] like the birth-pains of a pregnant woman in labor [periodic suffering and agony coming at closer and closer intervals]. Moreover, they [those living during the Tribulation] will not by any means escape.  

1 Thess. 5:4 But you, brethren [members of the royal family], are not in the sphere of darkness [seed of the serpent], that this day [the Tribulation] might overtake you like a thief,  

1 Thess. 5:5 Because all of you are sons of light [related to Jesus Christ] and sons of the day [part of the Church Age dispensation]. We [Church Age believers] are not of the night [unbelievers destined to live during the Tribulation] nor of the darkness [related to Satan].  

1 Thess. 5:6 Therefore, let us not sleep [ignore Bible doctrine] as others [in Thessalonica], but let us be alert [apply Bible doctrine] and self-controlled [stabilized mentally and emotionally]. 

1 Thess. 5:7 For those who are asleep [ignorant of eschatology], sleep at night [continue to be clueless right up to the Rapture], and those who are drunk [focused on the things of the world], drink at night [go through the Tribulation].  

1 Thess. 5:8 But let us who are of the day [Church Age dispensation] be habitually stabilized [mentally and emotionally], putting on the breastplate of doctrine and virtue love, and for a helmet, the confidence of deliverance [from the Tribulation],  

1 Thess. 5:9 Because God did not appoint us [Church Age believers] to wrath [in the Tribulation], but to obtain deliverance [at the rapture] through our Lord Jesus Christ,   

1 Thess. 5:10 Who died for us [believers] so that as a result, whether we are awake [alive during the Rapture] or asleep [dead before the Rapture], we will live together with Him [as the Bride of Christ at the wedding feast in heaven rather than going through the Tribulation].

1 Thess. 5:11 Therefore, keep on encouraging [by means of eschatology] one another of the same kind [fellow believers] and continue to build up [strengthen by means of Bible doctrine] one [pastor or teacher] to another [member of the congregation], just as you are indeed doing.

1 Thess. 5:12 Moreover, we urge you, brethren [members of the royal family], to fully appreciate those [pastors & teachers] who diligently labor to the point of exhaustion [studying] among you and who periodically exercise authority [leadership that cares] over you in the Lord [legitimate delegated authority] and who teach you on a regular basis [continual doctrinal instruction],

1 Thess. 5:13 And to appreciate them [pastors & teachers] very highly in virtue love [love complex] because of their work [not their personality]. Live in peace with one another. 

1 Thess. 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren [pastors of the local churches]: Keep on warning the rebellious ones [those who are rejecting Bible doctrine]; keep on encouraging the emotionally discouraged ones [those who are hysterial or otherwise out-of-balance]; keep on supporting the weak ones [new believers, babes in Christ]; keep on being patient with everyone [exercising impersonal love & the faith rest technique]. 

1 Thess. 5:15 See to it that no one returns [retaliation] evil for evil [revenge motivation] to anyone, but make it a practice to pursue good towards each other [fellow believers] and all others [even unbelievers].  

1 Thess. 5:16 Always maintain inner happiness.   

1 Thess. 5:17 Make it a habit to pray on a regular basis.   

1 Thess. 5:18 In all things [situations in life] give thanks [gratitude], because this [being happy, praying and giving thanks] is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.   

1 Thess. 5:19 Stop quenching the Spirit [with cosmic II involvement].    

1 Thess. 5:20 Stop treating prophesies [such as the rapture, tribulation, 2nd advent, millennium] with contempt.    

1 Thess. 5:21 Test for the purpose of approval [by the absolute standard of the Word of God] all things [the philosophical and psychological content provided by various communication mediums]; hold fast to [keep as a prized possession] the good [things which agree with Bible doctrine].     

1 Thess. 5:22 Keep yourself free from every form of evil [avoid any type of activity in Satan’s cosmic system].      

1 Thess. 5:23 Now, may the God of peace Himself sanctify [ultimate sanctification] every part of you [the totality of your being].  As a matter of fact, may your spirit and soul and body be blamelessly maintained [experiential sanctification] until the coming [rapture] of our Lord Jesus Christ [when ultimate sanctification will occur].     

1 Thess. 5:24 Faithful is He [God the Father] Who called you [through positional sanctification into experiential sanctification], Who will also accomplish it [guaranteed ultimate sanctification].      

1 Thess. 5:25 Brethren [members of the royal family], keep on praying for us [Paul’s missionary team].       

1 Thess. 5:26 Greet all the brethren [fellow believers] with a sanctified [respectful] kiss [shake hands].       

1 Thess. 5:27 I solemnly charge you [pastors & teachers] by the authority of the Lord that you make this letter known publicly [read or teach its contents in detail] to all the brethren.        

1 Thess. 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.