1 Thessalonians 2:3-8 (ESV)
For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
We all live by formulas. Even though we might have missed in algebra class formulas like “x+y=z” have great impact on us. In philosophy they are called “syllogisms.” They sound like this:
B = C
Therefore A = C.
Syllogistic formulas abound in life. They also abound in Scripture. The most obvious is this syllogism:
Love = Sacrifice
God = Sacrifice (There God demonstrated His love by sacrificing His Son.)
In the above passage we have the long syllogistic reasoning of Paul in regard to his ministry about the churches he is addressing in 1 Thessalonians. Here is what it says in syllogistic form:
The Gospel = The purity of God
Therefore those who all called by God are to speak the pure Gospel and ought to do in a pure way.
That is the formula Paul outlines for all those who represent God and speak for Him. We don’t do so to please men. We don’t do so with flatterer. We don’t speak to when the glory and praise of men. We do so by offering ourselves, as God did, through HIs son. God has a formula for a successful Godly life. It is giving ourselves in service for the King by telling others of HIs great love for us in the Gospel story. Go out each day to practice this formula; this syllogism for life.
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