A Commentary of the Book of 1 Thessalonians
By Dr. Barry L. Jenkins
Text Used: Legacy Standard Bible
Bible Study 1 Thessalonians: 4: 1-18
Text:
Sanctification and Love
4 Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to [a]walk and please God (just as you actually do [b]walk), that you excel still more. 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 abstain from [c]sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to [d]possess his own [e]vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in [f]lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 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. 7 For God did not call us to impurity, but [g]in sanctification. 8 Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now concerning love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, 10 for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and [h]not be in any need.
The Dead in Christ Will Rise
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [i]in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive [j]and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a [k]shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive [l]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. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Verse by verse commentary
Verse 1: “Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.”
Paul praises the Thessalonians for their progress in learning how to please God, but challenges them to go further. Paul recognized the constant need for growth and for “straining forward”. The word translated “walk” means to “conduct yourselves.” Paul stressed that your faith must include a transformational effect on the way you live. If you are a “new creature in Christ Jesus,” you should act like it.
Verse 2: “For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”
Paul emphasizes that the authority for his instructions did not come from him, but rather from the risen Lord Jesus Christ. This is another reason that preachers need to preach from the Word of God as opposed to their “notions.” I recall a church convention was the use of the Internet in the homes of church members. For a year, every message was on the topic of the dangers of the Internet. So much wasted time that could have been spent preaching the gospel, but instead, the emphasis was on the notions of the ministers. Avoid this trap and just preach the Word.
Verse 3: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;”
The word translated “sexual immorality” literally means “fornication” and is broad enough to include any sexual sin. Sanctification, i.e, being set apart for God, of the believer is a work of the Spirit of God. We need to review the threefold aspect of it, because this is so very important:
Positional sanctification means that Christ has been made unto us sanctification. We are accepted in the Beloved, and we will never be more saved than at the moment we put our trust in Christ.
Practical sanctification is the Holy Spirit working in our lives on a daily basis to produce a holiness in our walk.
Complete sanctification, i.e. glorification, will occur in the future when we are conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
Verse 4: “that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,”
All around the Thessalonian believers were the pagans who combined sex and religion. Sex was a religion among the Greeks and the draw was strong. Paul says that we are to live a life that promotes the gospel. The immoral living that we find among some believers today brings the gospel into disrepute. Such people are not living for God or serving God. You cannot serve God and live in sin. There are no “honest thieves,” “adulterous Christians,” or sexually promiscuous believers. We are to live our lives that others may see Christ in us.
Verse 5: “not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;”
Pagan society in Paul’s day provided little inducement to sexual purity. Religion and sex went hand in hand. Marital infidelity, at least for men, was the norm, and some of the pagan religions from which the Thessalonians had been freed sanctioned gross sexual misconduct in their rituals. The Christian gospel brings a moral awakening and a fresh desire to live a holy life. The Scriptures speak of a “highway of holiness,” and we need to make sure that we are on that road.
Verse 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.”
“Because the Lord is the avenger in all these things,” is setting forth a principle that God will take care of His children that are defrauded by a brother. I’ve lived long enough as a Christian and as a pastor to see this principle work out in the lives of many believers. I’ve observed certain believers who have been dishonest in their dealings with others, and God is an avenger. He moves in and judges them. His judgment is far worse than anything we could do. Stand down and revenge not, but rather trust the Lord to fight for you.
Verse 7: “For God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification.”
A child of God cannot continue in habitual sin. The prodigal son got in the pigpen for a time, but he won’t live in the pigpen and he got out. Our calling is to a life of holiness and separation from the world and to God. That is our calling. That was the purpose of Christ in shedding His blood on the cross. While we will not ever be perfect in this world, we are preparing for the next world when we will be perfect.
Verse 8: “Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”
A true convert to the Lord Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He will not continue to live in habitual sin because the Holy Spirit is within him. As the believer grows in his faith, there will be a greater desire to live a holy life. God has given the Holy Spirit to every believer. He is not something to be sought after a person is saved. It is heretical to teach such a second grace doctrine whereby you receive the Holy Spirit. The moment a sinner trusts Christ, that person is indwelt by the Spirit of God. You receive the Holy Spirit only when you are converted and come to Christ. At that point the believer receives and is baptized with the Holy Spirit and is placed into the body of believers to serve in it. A person may have many infillings of the Spirit after that, and I think we need a constant infilling of the Holy Spirit. It is only the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that enables us to lead holy lives.
Verse 9: “Now concerning love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,”
Through God’s Word and by God Himself, they were loving believers. It was most natural for those with the Holy Spirit to love the brothers because they all had the same Holy Spirit. The love of God in us enables us to love the love of God in our brothers and sisters.
Verse 10: “for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more,”
Love for the brethren is an area for growth and development for all true disciples of Christ. Honestly, some of the church members are not very lovely. Someone has put that fact into this little jingle:
To dwell above with saints in love
Oh, that will be glory.
But to stay below with the saints I know—
Well, that’s another story.
Let us never be satisfied with our love for the saints of God. Rather, let us heed Paul’s words and seek “to excel still more.”
Verse 11: “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,”
We are to lead quiet lives. We have courses in public speaking but I know of no class that teaches you to be quiet. We are all about making noise. We need to speak less and listen more. To “attend to your own business,” is the more polite way of saying “mind your own business.” That is good advice. To “work with your hands” is not a restriction to manual labor, but rather the principle that we should all work for the Lord which will result in observable results.
Verse 12: “so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.”
To “walk properly” will gain the respect and the confidence of those around us. Our walk should be honest before God and man. The “outsiders” were non-Christians. When we follow the advice in verses 11 and 12, we will not be in need.
Verse 13: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”
“Asleep” was a standard metaphor for death among pagans as well as Jews and Christians. Regarding Christians and grief, Christ’s resurrection provides Christians a deeply seated hope and assurance of never-ending fellowship with Him and with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Verse 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.”
There are three kinds of death in Scripture. There is physical death, which is the separation of the spirit from the body. That is what we ordinarily call death. Then there is spiritual death. Paul says that to be carnally minded is death, which is separation from God. The third death is eternal death. That is eternal separation from God. Through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a hope that the world, the flesh and the devil cannot take away from you. Faith will lead to your resurrection.
Verse 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.”
According to 2 Esdras, a Jewish work of the second century a.d., those who survive until the coming of the glorious Messiah are more blessed than those who have died before. Some of the Thessalonians may have heard a similar teaching. Paul is setting the record straight. Paul makes clear that both groups (the alive and dead in Christ) will be on equal footing, that both will enter the fullness of the kingdom together.
Verse 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.”
Notice first, that it is the Lord Himself that will leave the glories of the highest heavens and return not all the way to earth, but He will stop mid-air. He will “shout” which literally means “cry of command.” Christ’s voice will be the sound of the trumpet. At His command, the dead believers will rise first. This is the great hope for all those in Christ.
Verse 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.”
After the dead come forth, their spirits, already with the Lord, are now being joined to the resurrected new bodies. The living Christians will be raptured, literally meaning “snatched away”. This passage, along with John 14:1–3 and 1 Cor. 15:51, 52, forms the biblical basis for “the Rapture” of the church.
Verse 18: “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The verses regarding the coming of Christ at the Rapture and at the Second Coming are designed to provide comfort to the Thessalonians and they should be for us as well. The primary purpose of this passage is not to teach a scheme of prophecy, but rather to provide encouragement to those Christians whose loved ones have died.
