In the first century, the Thessalonian church grieved deaths in their community, endured harsh persecution, and struggled with questions about the future. Paul offered them the comforts and reassurances of hope in the Messiah Jesus. But he offered far more than wishful thinking or pie-in-the-sky comfort. Paul's emphasis on hope in the Messiah Jesus involved capturing a vision of God's redeemed and just future in order to see and live faithfully today. Paul did not believe in a passive hope, but an active hope where, if the Day of the Messiah is a beacon, believers set their course and diligently move toward it. That diligence is especially captured by love for Christian brothers and sisters, commitment to honest and productive work, and obedience to the truth of the gospel of Lord Messiah Jesus.

Nijay K. Gupta serves as assistant professor of New Testament at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. In addition to Prepare, Succeed, Advance (Pickwick 2011), he has written two other books, Colossians and Worship That Makes Sense to Paul, as well as numerous articles for journals such as The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Horizons in Biblical Theology, Neotestamentica,and Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha. He is currently writing the 1-2 Thessalonians volume for Cascade's New Covenant Commentary Series.