First Thessalonians 2:9-10: Holy, Righteous and Blameless

So we are still in the midst of Paul’s defense of his ministry. What follows is a reminder to the Thessalonians of Paul’s behavior while he was with them.

⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

You might remember that Paul was a tentmaker by trade (Acts 18:3) and it was often the case that wherever he was, he would seek to earn some sort of living while ministering. Since one of the charges seems to be that Paul was after financial gain from the Thessalonians, he reminds them that he and Silas did not burden them financially, but they actually had jobs and did not take anything from the young church plant.

Then he says something that we often get tripped up by:

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.

Have you ever told someone how awesome your conduct was? “You remember me, don’t you? You remember how holy I acted among you, how righteous my intentions were and how perfect I was.” And then add, “And God saw my conduct, too. If he was here, he’d agree with my assessment.” If you have ever told someone this, it was probably the end of your conversation. But this isn’t exactly what Paul is saying.

Let’s remember that he’s been charged with some serious offenses. This is not just Paul trying to defend his own honor. The church in Thessalonica is being attacked and there are those seeking to undermine its ministry. In this sense, you can see that the gospel is under attack. There might be some in the church who are being taken in by these attacks and beginning to have a different view of Paul and Silas than the one they had the day they left. And Paul is simply saying, “Don’t you remember what we were like with you? We didn’t take any money. We worked our own jobs.” The charge against Paul and Silas ministering for their own gain falls flat in light of the facts.

When Paul refers to himself as “holy, righteous and blameless,” we know that he doesn’t mean that he is sinless. All we have to read is Romans 7:13-25 to see that! Looking at the word blameless for a minute, this has a biblical history that can help us understand what Paul is saying.

Both Noah and Job are referred to as “blameless” (Gen 6:9; Job 1:1). Understanding that “none is righteous, no not one,” (Rom 3:10) we can’t say that it means sinless for them either. We might simply say that they were godly and sought to follow the Lord in faith and repentance.

David declares in Psalm 18 that he is “blameless” before the Lord (Ps 18:23). We would probably feel uncomfortable declaring that about ourselves, and rightfully so! But again, David is not claiming sinlessness. He’s saying that in a particular instance he has a clear conscience before the Lord with regard to his conduct.

And that’s really what Paul is saying: While we were with you, you know that we sought to walk in faith and obedience before the Lord, and our consciences are clear before him with the way we lived among you.

Of course, we know that there is only one who is truly blameless in the ultimate sense: the Lord Jesus Christ. And though, in this life, we can only be blameless in our conduct in the way we have described above, we are promised that Jesus has reconciled us to the Father and will present us blameless someday before our God (Eph 1:4; Col 1:22).

Here’s a song to help us remember that we are blameless before the throne of God only because of our Great High Priest.