1. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How does the virtue of hope fit into the letter as a whole?

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV)

3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The overarching framework of the whole letter is the return of Christ (see 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–10, 1 Thessalonians 5:23), and it is hope that fixes the believer’s attention on this glorious reality. Such hope was crucial for the Thessalonian believers in the midst of their suffering.1