For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe.
not as the word of men: The word is preached by men, but it does not originate with them, and the Thessalonians have heard enough doctrines with purely human origins to be able to recognize the difference between the two.