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1 Thessalonians 1 · a question people ask

"not in word only, but also in power" (1:5). What was the power?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say, and these notes don't either. Here is the verse whole: "and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake." (1:5). It doesn't say what the readers saw or heard, and these notes add nothing to its words and choose nothing.

The verses

“and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Thessalonians 1: An example to all who believe

1 Thessalonians 1 says the readers "became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1:6), and then "an example to all who believe" (1:7), and "from you the word of the Lord has been declared" (1:8). Behind declared is a verb the New Testament has only here; Strong's gives its sense as "resound (be generally reported)".

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions