1 Thessalonians 1:1 → Deuteronomy 23:2-3

Paul's use of ekklēsia to describe the predominantly Gentile church at Thessalonica reveals his conviction that the Christian community constitutes the new people of God. The Septuagint background makes it hard to doubt that Paul, in calling this largely Gentile congregation an ekklēsia, consciously reckons them members of the assembly of God, fully alert to the term's covenantal Old Testament weight (so Deidun). This is confirmed by his subsequent use of election language (1:4), which was originally applied to Israel but is now transferred to NT believers. Paul sees these Gentile converts not as a new religious movement, but as continuity with God's ancient covenant people—the church represents the renewed Israel, consisting of both Jewish and Gentile believers. This foundational identity claim shapes all of Paul's subsequent exhortations in the letter, particularly his emphasis on holiness (4:3-8) as the defining characteristic of God's covenant people.