What does 1 Thessalonians 5:20 mean?
Before the completion of the New Testament, God gave some believers the gift of prophecy, which was the ability to reveal the future (Acts 11:28) and to declare God's will (Acts 13:2). Ephesians 4:11 states that God gave prophets to the church to help build believers up in the faith.However, false prophets also existed in the first century, and they proclaimed corrupt messages. The believers at Thessalonica lived before the New Testament was completed, so they often depended on prophets to reveal God's will for the church. However, some prophets were masquerading as genuine prophets, so their message must have caused some believers to regard prophecy unfavorably, so Paul instructs his readers not to despise genuine prophecy. The following verse will support this idea, telling us to "test" what we see and hear.
Today, believers do not need prophets, because we have a complete Bible that provides answers to life's big questions and guides our actions. God gave the Bible to us so we would become what He wants us to become and do what He wants us to do (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
First Thessalonians 5:12–22 gives the Thessalonian believers a series of exhortations. As children of the day, who were anticipating the Lord's return, they needed to live righteously. As a church, they needed to relate well to their leadership. Paul calls upon them to treat all their fellow believers kindly and patiently and to do good to one another. Paul admonishes the believers to be joyful at all times and to keep on praying. Constant thanksgiving was to mark their lives. Further, Paul tells his readers not to quench the Holy Spirit or to have a negative attitude toward prophetic ministries. However, they were supposed to keep a firm grasp on teachings that they tested and found to be true. Lastly, Paul directs his readers to avoid every kind of evil.
First Thessalonians chapter 5 reiterates that the rapture will occur quickly, catching the unbelieving world unprepared. In contrast, Paul presents faithful Christians as those who are aware and ready for this event. This passage uses the contrast of day versus night to highlight those differences. Paul also completes his letter by offering various practical instructions. These include the need to be peaceful, hardworking, and forgiving. He also commends constant prayer and an attitude of joyfulness, before closing his letter with a command for this letter to be read aloud.
