1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (NKJV) Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
V1 “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God…” We must not be content with our Christian life. We must grow. This is the second of 3 tenses of salvation.
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Three Tenses of Salvation |
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Phase |
Justification |
Sanctification |
Glorification |
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Tense |
Past |
Present |
Future |
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Saved from sin’s: |
Penalty |
Power |
Presence |
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Scripture |
Ephesians 2:8-9 Titus 3:5 |
Philippians 2:12 |
Romans 5:10 |
Source: Dr Andy Woods, Sugar Land Bible Church
Walk= living the Christian life. We must please God. Compare Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 5:8-10 (the why we are to walk), Romans 14:17-18, and Hebrews 13:20-21 (God equips us).
V2 “…for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.” This is the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which consists of over 1,000 rules that are found in the New Testament. Consider this list (I’m not recommending the website, so beware): https://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201407/r1308729_17984331.pdf
V3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality…” People want to know God’s will. Well, her it is: our sanctification, no sexual sins, self-control (verse 4), and refrain from uncontrolled lusts (of any type). Some types: greed (Luke 12:15), Psalm 119:36 (unjust financial gain, power seeking, or status), and 1 Timothy 2:3 (no addictions of any type). The Greek word for “sanctification” is (G38) ἁγιασμός hagiasmós, which means a purifying from something that was not pure. For Christians what was not pure was our soul and spirit because of the sin nature. After regeneration, where the soul and spirit are recreated (2 Corinthians 5:17), the sin nature is eradicated. We still sin though because our flesh has not been eradicated yet. Sexual immorality is any sex except sex in a marital relationship of male (XY) and female (XX).
V4 “…that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor…” This is self-control of our fleshy desires. There is a place for fleshy desires if approved by God. Compare these lists in Galatians 5:19-23. This is the daily battle for all believers: Galatians 5:17 (TCENT) “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. These are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the very things you want to do.” For God’s assisting grace, see 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Peter 5:10, James 4:6, and 2 Corinthians 9:8.
V5 “…not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God…” A comment: (Holman Commentary) “Either we take control of our bodies and their desires, or those desires will control us in unholy lusts. The world around us is a case study in this problem. We live in a culture in which sexual obsession and perversion are rampant. This is displayed graphically day after day through broken lives, the media, conversations, and social confusion. Christians are to stand apart from such a culture.
The manner of life for a Christian is self-control, not through rigorous rules and disciplines—though these can be helpful—but by turning our bodies over to the Lord. Listen to Romans 6:13: “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God. . . and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
V6 “…that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.” Defrauding is usually understood as gaining something that is not ours be it money, spouse, land, etc. The avenger of this sin is God. The text does not say when, but it will happen. We have been warned. See Proverbs 22:23 and Micah 2:1-3. Defrauding is cheating, see Isaiah 13:11.
V7 “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” Since we are Christians, we are to think, talk, and act as Christians in everything. God does help us. The Greek word for “uncleanness” is (G167) ἀκαθαρσία akatharsía, which impurity. The impurity might be moral (sexual–Romans 1:24-27) or motives (1 Thessalonians 2:3).
V8 “Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” All Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them (1 Corinthians 3:16). Are we to insult God by our unholy living? We need to pray and strive to do God’s will. If we reject God’s standards, we are rejecting God.