1 Thessalonians 4:1
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
(a) We request and exhort you. Paul did not lay down the law like a rabbi in the synagogue, but he mentored people like a wise and gentle father (1 Th. 2:11).
(b) How you ought to walk. The Gentile believers in Thessalonica were brand new Christians. They had little experience walking in the new way of the spirit, and a lifetime of experience of living in an idol-worshipping society. Their faith, hope and love were commendable (1 Th. 1:3). But their understanding of what it meant to be a Christian was still something they had to figure out.
(c) You excel still more. Paul’s language is that of an encouraging parent teaching their child to walk.
1 Thessalonians 4:2
For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Commandments. It seems inconsistent for Paul to give requests and exhortations in the previous verse then to start preaching commandments in this one. He’s not. The original word for commandments (paraggelia) is derived from a word that means “to transmit a message” (Strongs). He is referring to instructions or charges he has given by the authority of the Lord Jesus. If the Thessalonians had forgotten those instructions, Paul is about to remind them.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
(a) The will of God. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified in your conduct, not because your salvation hinges on it, but your wellbeing does. Your Father wants you to prosper in all things and not destroy yourself with sin.
(b) Your sanctification. Those who teach progressive sanctification read these words as a recipe for DIY holiness: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” The implication is that we can sanctify ourselves through our conduct. Such a message is an insult to Jesus who is our sanctification from God (1 Cor. 1:30).
When you were born again and put into Christ, you became as holy and righteous as he is (Acts 26:18, 1 Cor. 6:11). “If the root is holy, so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16). You were sanctified by God the Father (Jude 1:1), God the Son (Heb. 2:11, 10:10, 13:12), and God the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16, 2 Th. 2:13, 1 Pet. 1:2). You are well and truly sanctified!
Holiness is not something to strive for; it’s something to work out. Think of a toddler learning to walk. The toddler has within them everything they need to walk, run, and jump. They just need to work it out. That’s how it is with holiness. We are whole—God has given us everything we need in Jesus—we just need to learn how to live whole. It’s a new and wonderful experience for us. We have not been this way before but with our eyes fixed on Jesus the Holy One, we cannot fail.
(c) Abstain from sexual immorality. Sexual immorality was normal in parts of the pagan world, but it was a path to disease, death and the breakdown of families. It was not, and is not God’s will for your life. As children of the light, we don’t even talk about what people do in secret (Eph. 3:3). “It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (Eph. 5:12). When you think about sex, think about the beautiful gift God gave us, why he gave it to us, and how he wants us to enjoy it. Pursue love, not lust.
1 Thessalonians 4:4-5
that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
(a) Possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Treat your body with dignity, for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).
(b) Lustful passion. In the pagan societies of Greece, idol worship was synonymous with sexual promiscuity. Fertility rites, temple prostitution, and orgiastic displays were part of pagan ceremonies.
(c) The Gentiles. Unlike the chaste Jews, the Gentiles were idol-worshippers (1 Th. 1:9). The Thessalonian believers were regularly exposed to the sexual temptations associated with pagan festivals and temple worship.
(d) Who do not know God. In other words, “Since you know who your Father is don’t act like someone who doesn’t.”
Further reading: “If we’re holy, why does God call us to be holy?”
1 Thessalonians 4:6
and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
(a) Transgress. Cross the line. Go too far.
(b) Defraud his brother. Don’t act improperly with another man’s wife. Don’t flirt with her, and don’t tempt her to immorality. Don’t act “like the Gentiles who do not know God” (see previous verse).
Unlike the Jews, the Gentiles had not been raised with the Ten Commandments. They hadn’t heard the one that says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Ex. 20:17). Sexual immorality was normal for a pagan, but it is unhealthy and destructive behavior. “Don’t do it,” says Paul. “Flee immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18).
Which begs the question, why is the Apostle of Grace preaching law? He isn’t. If he were preaching law he would have to prescribe the penalties of the law. He would say something like, “If you covet your neighbor’s wife and commit adultery, both of you will be put to death” (Lev. 20:10). Paul does not do this. He never puts law on people because he knows from personal experience that doing so only inflamed sin (Rom. 7:7–8, 1 Cor. 15:56).
(c) In the matter being discussed. The context is sexual immorality (1 Th. 4:3, 5).
(b) The Lord is the avenger. God is not a punisher, as some translations have it, but an avenger who makes things right (see entry for Rom. 12:19). In context, Paul is reminding the Thessalonians that there is a judgment for those who reject the Lord.
(e) We also told you before. Paul spoke about the judgment of the Lord when he visited Thessalonica.
Paul is not saying, “Sexually immoral Christians will be punished with death”. There is no law and no punishment here (Rom. 6:14, 8:1). Jesus bore all our sins and in him we are eternally unpunishable.
But it would be a terrible error to conclude that sin has no consequences or that God is ambivalent about sexual immorality. Cross the line and God won’t punish you, but sin will. Your sin will sink you. Worse, you will be acting out of character. Instead of walking in the light as a holy and beloved child of God, you will be acting like the Gentiles who don’t know God. You will be acting like an unbeliever who wants nothing to do with God. You will be like those immoral and impure people who give no thought to Judgment Day and have no inheritance in the kingdom (Eph. 5:5–6, Gal. 5:19–21). Why would you do that? Since you live in the light, why walk in the dark? It makes no sense.
(f) Solemnly warned you. The original verb (diamartyromai) is a composite word that includes the word (martureo) that means “testify” or “witness”. Paul is saying, “As I have said before, this is a serious business.” Paul is not talking about a specific sin (sexual immorality in this case) but whether you reject or receive in the Lord (see next verse).
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
(a) In sanctification. Paul reinforces his earlier point that sanctification is God’s will (1 Th. 4:3). Your heavenly Father does not want you to destroy yourself and others through sexual immorality.
(b) He who rejects this. “These aren’t just my words; it is God’s desire for you to live a whole and healthy life.”
A Thessalonian believer who had lived under a pagan culture his whole life might have had trouble receiving the words of an itinerant Jewish apostle. “What does Paul know? We do things differently here.” So Paul appeals to a higher authority. “Sexual purity is God’s idea. He is not against sex—he invented it. But sex that is contrary to his design leads to all kinds of death. Sexual immorality is dehumanizing and degrading. It destroys lives, marriages, families, reputations, careers, and ministries. It is the driving force behind the evils of trafficking and sexual slavery, and as children of God we are to have nothing to do with it.”
Some say grace gives us a license to sin (Rom. 6:1). This scripture refutes such a lie. Sin is dangerous, like juggling hand grenades. It has no place in the new creation life that Christ gives us. Paul does not address the sin of sexual immorality with law and threats of punishment. Instead, he calls us to trust that God’s ways are better. To treat your body with dignity and live a whole and holy life is far better than the disease-ridden alternative being peddled in the alleys and temples of Thessalonica.
(c) The Holy Spirit. You are not alone in your struggle with sexual temptation. The Lord has given you the mighty Spirit of Grace who will empower you to say “no” to counterfeit caricatures of intimacy, and “yes” to the authentic life that he offers.
1 Thessalonians 4:13
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
(a) Those who are asleep refers to those who have died. Some of the Thessalonians had passed away and Timothy may have brought this sad news to Paul.
(b) Grieve. It’s normal to grieve when a loved one dies, but our grief is not the bitter grief of those who have no hope of the resurrection. We can take comfort that we will see our loved ones again.
1 Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
(a) Believe. The chief takeaway of the new covenant is to believe in the Risen Lord (see entry for John 3:16).
(b) Jesus died and rose again. The resurrection was a central theme of Paul’s message. See entry for 1 Cor. 15:3.
(c) Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead will resurrect those who have died in Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4:15
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
(a) We say to you by the word of the Lord. “What I am saying, I learned from the Lord.” Paul got this revelation direct from the Holy Spirit.
(b) Coming. The original word (parousia) comes from an oriental word used to describe the royal visit of a king, or emperor. See entry for Matt. 24:37.
(c) Will not precede those who have fallen asleep. We who are alive when Christ returns will not rise before those who have died. In fact, they will be raised first (see next verse).
1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(a) The Lord Himself will descend from heaven. Jesus is the Son from heaven (1 Th. 1:10). His first arrival to earth was a humble birth in a one-horse town. In contrast, his final return will be a glorious and loud procession visible to all (Matt. 24:27). If history is a play, the final scene is where the Author and Hero of the story steps onto the stage to vanquish his foes. Jesus’ return is the climax of history.
(b) Shout. The word for shout implies a call or summons. It’s a shout to raise the dead.
(c) The dead in Christ will rise first. These words give hope to those mourning the loss of loved ones. “For those who sleep in death will rise to new life” (1 Th. 4:13).
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
(a) Caught up together. If the dead are resurrected, the living are raptured. Although the word rapture doesn’t appear in our English Bibles, it’s derived from a word that appears in the Latin Bible. Paul didn’t write in Latin, but in Greek, and the word he used (harpazō) means to seize or snatch away. To be raptured is to be gathered or caught up (2 Th. 2:1). Think of Philip on the desert road. One moment he was baptizing the Ethiopian; the next he was snatched away by the Spirit (Acts 8:39). It’s the same word here. The rapture or gathering of the church will be sudden and disruptive.
(b) We shall always be with the Lord. One day Jesus will return to earth to dwell with us forever.
The earth is God’s gift to humanity (Ps. 115:16) and God’s gifts are good. Although our planet has been broken and marred by sin, God has a plan. He’s not moving us out; he’s moving in. He’s not sending us to heaven; he’s bringing heaven to earth (Rev. 21:3-4).
Further reading: “What about the rapture?”
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Comfort one another. Many of us have buried children, parents, or spouses. Families have been torn apart by death. But when Christ returns death itself will be defeated, and we shall be with the Lord forever.
The final coming of the Great King is not something to fear but something to eagerly await (Php. 3:20). All our lives up until then will seem like a waking dream compared to the life we will share with him in eternity.
Further reading: “Six awesome things that will happen when Christ returns”
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