Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:6

"But when Timothy came even now unto us from you, and brought us glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, longing to see us, even as we also [to see] you;" — 1 Thessalonians 3:6 (ASV)

“We were in great anxiety, fearing that you might have fallen away, so we sent Timothy to see if all was well; but now, all anxiety is over.”

Timothy came.: According to the usual interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 3:1–2, adopted above, this means that Timothy had already returned from his mission to Thessalonica, as related in Acts 18:5. The occasion of this current letter was Saint Paul’s relief at the news Timothy brought.

Brought us good tidings.: This is an enthusiastic word, generally rendered as “preached the gospel to us.”

Faith and charity.: The first signifies the confidence in God that enabled them to endure (“that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in Your mercy”); the second, the tenderness with which they helped one another through.

Good remembrance.: This is not merely a “clear, vivid remembrance” (as we say, “to remember well”), but “a good, kind remembrance,” as the explanation in “desiring,” and so on, shows. The word “good” bears the same significance in Matthew 20:15, Romans 5:7, and 1 Peter 2:18. If the Thessalonians had been beginning to fall away, they would not have cared to see their teachers.