1 Thessalonians 5:27 Commentary and Bible Study

Paul says, ‘I charge you’, ‘I adjure you’, I put you under an oath. The Greek is I charge solemnly – read aloud. It is part of the canon of Scripture: read it aloud. To Timothy he says, ‘Give attendance to reading’ (1 Timothy 4:13). He means to public reading, not private. (The literacy rates were much lower in those days, and individual believers did not have their own private copies of the Scriptures.) That is why many churches follow the practice of having two Scripture readings per service. It is one of the great commands for public worship. It needed to be read publicly not only because some could not read but because the whole church was under the authority of Scripture. God wants us to worship and he wants his word of have the primary place.