Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Thessalonians 1:3

"remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;" — 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (ASV)

Remembering without ceasing. This means remembering your faith and love whenever we pray. This is not to be understood literally, but it is language like we use concerning anything that greatly interests us. It is constantly in our mind. The apostle had such an interest in the churches he had established.

Your work of faith. That is, your work showing or demonstrating faith. The reference is probably to acts of duty, holiness, and benevolence, which proved that they exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Works of faith are those to which faith prompts, and which show that there is faith in the heart. This does not mean, therefore, a work of their own producing faith, but a work which showed that they had faith.

And labour of love. This refers to labour produced by love, or showing that you are motivated by love. Such would be all their kindness toward the poor, the oppressed, and the afflicted; and all their acts which showed that they loved the souls of men.

And patience of hope. This means patience in your trials, showing that you have such a hope of future blessedness as to sustain you in your afflictions. It was the hope of heaven through the Lord Jesus that gave them patience. (See Barnes on Romans 8:24).

"The phrases here are Hebraisms, meaning active faith, and laborious love, and patient hope, and might have been so translated." Doddridge.

In our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, your hope is founded only on him. The only hope that we have of heaven is through the Redeemer.

In the sight of God and our Father. This means before God, who is also our Father. It is a hope we have through the merits of the Redeemer, and which we are permitted to cherish before God; that is, in his very presence. When we think of God, and when we reflect that we must soon stand before him, we are permitted to cherish this hope. It is a hope that will be found to be genuine even in the presence of a holy and heart-searching God. This does not mean that it had been merely professed before God, but that it was a hope they might dare to entertain in the presence of God, and which would bear the scrutiny of his eye.