…because our gospel came to you not simply with words… (1 Thessalonians 1:5a)
The pervasive influence of secular philosophy has infected many professing believers with an anti-intellectual bias. Thus it has become unacceptable to present the gospel with “just a sermon”; rather, great emphasis is given to performance, entertainment, socializing, and mystical experience. Such a disposition tends to distort Paul’s “not simply with words” into an endorsement to this type of thinking, so that the expression could be seen even as a deprecation of plain preaching.
Even some of the more reliable commentators stumble over the phrase. For example, Leon Morris writes, “Words alone are empty rhetoric, and more than that is required if people’s souls are to be saved.” But just because it is true that “more than that is required if people’s souls are to be saved,” it does not follow that “words alone are empty rhetoric.”
Morris is unclear in the first place. If by rhetoric he means, “the art of speaking or writing effectively,” “skill in the effective use of speech,” or “verbal communication,” then what he says almost amounts to, “Words are words,” which is a mere tautology. However, Morris probably has in mind the meaning, “artificial eloquence; language that is showy and elaborate but largely empty of clear ideas.” But if Paul’s preaching had been stripped of the power of the Spirit, it still does not follow that his words would have been “artificial eloquence” or “language that is showy and elaborate but largely empty of clear ideas.” Paul preached the gospel, and Morris’ statement is equivalent to saying that the gospel by itself is nothing more than showy language void of substance and clear ideas. But the gospel is what it is whether or not it is accompanied by the power of the Spirit – the same words and ideas are conveyed.
Morris betrays his confusion when he continues, “The gospel is power…whenever the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, there is power.” But if “the gospel is power,” then it is never empty rhetoric. It is fashionable to repeat anti-intellectual phrases such as, “Words alone are empty rhetoric,” but words are always rhetorical, and rhetoric always deals with words. Whether a presentation is empty rhetoric depends on the content of the speech. The proposition, “Jesus is Lord,” consists of words alone, and no one will acknowledge its truth unless by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), but whether one believes it or not, it is not empty rhetoric.
Any interpretation of Scripture that deprecates the role of words or of preaching cannot be true. The entire Bible consists of words without a single picture or musical note; it uses words to convey intellectual information. Paul says, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). We inherit the blessings of the gospel and grow in the spiritual life by means of the words of God.
Again, the verse says, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only” (NASB). There are two ways to understand the word “only,” as the following examples illustrate:
1. The Godhead does not consist of only God the Father, but also Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. His wealth does not consist of only this broken bicycle, but also five cars and two houses.
In the first statement, the word “only” does not belittle God the Father, but merely indicates that he is not the sole member of the Godhead. So the word can simply mean that there are additional items in the list without implying anything negative. But in the second statement the same word suggests that one’s wealth would indeed be meager if it consists of nothing more than a broken bicycle.
Since the Scripture emphasizes the importance of words in many places, the word “only” (or “simply”) in verse 5 cannot be understood in the second sense. Paul has no intention of belittling words or preaching when he says that his gospel did not come “in word only,” but he desires to indicate that other things besides his verbal presentation had happened, and these things suggest to him that his converts are among God’s elect.
Misconceptions in this area are common. Robert Thomas begins well his explanation of verse 5, saying, “Words are basic to intelligent communication. But the gospel’s coming was not ‘simply’ in word; speaking was only a part of the whole picture.” But then he stumbles over the same point as Morris and writes, “Their preaching was not mere hollow rhetoric but contained three other ingredients essential to the outworking of God’s elective purpose.” However, Galatians 1:11-12 eliminates the possibility that the content of Paul’s preaching is ever “mere hollow rhetoric.”
What Thomas writes amounts to saying that if the Spirit does not accompany your reading of the Bible, then the Bible is mere rhetoric. Many unthinking people would agree with Thomas, but I call this blasphemy. As God’s verbal revelation, the Bible is never mere rhetoric. That the Spirit does not act powerfully when you read only means that you may not be affected by what you read, but the content of the Bible, being the mind of God, is not therefore hollow.
Morris and Thomas do not seem to know what the word “rhetoric” means. Paul says he knows that God has chosen the Thessalonians because his preaching came “with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” This implies that his preaching was not always accompanied by the power of the Spirit, in the sense that God did not always make his preaching effective; otherwise, all who heard Paul preach would have been converted. Now, at those times when God did not make his preaching effective with great power and conviction, did the content of the gospel become empty rhetoric, or did the content of the gospel remain the same – that is, the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24)? If Paul preached the same thing, then whether or not the Spirit came with power to produce faith in the hearers, the gospel was still the power and wisdom of God.
Against the anti-intellectual interpretations of Scripture, we must maintain that words can be meaningful by themselves, and whether a presentation consists of empty rhetoric depends on the content of the speech. Since the gospel consists of truth, it is never empty rhetoric. It is true that besides the words that we preach, God must exercise his power to convert the sinner, but it is often on the occasions of our preaching that he exercises this power. Paul came to know that some of the Thessalonians were among God’s elect because of the effects accompanying his preaching that he could not have produced as a man. But in trying to affirm the necessity of God’s power to convert the sinner, we must not belittle words or preaching, lest we blaspheme the gospel of Jesus Christ.