1 Thessalonians 3:8 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Now we live, if. — “Now” contrasts the new life and vigour which the “gospel of their faith and charity” had infused into the Apostle, with the deadly sinking he had felt at the thought of their possible apostacy. At the same time the “if” has the half-future sense, as though St. Paul meant that the continuance of this “life” was contingent upon their continued steadfastness. Another interpretation has been suggested, according to which both the “we” and “ye” are perfectly general, and therefore interchangeable, and the sense is made to be a vague proposition, “for standing fast in the Lord is a sine qua non of life” — life in the theological sense: and parts of Romans 7:8 are compared. This interpretation, however, suits the Greek as little as the context.