1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
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.
2: For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4: that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5: not in 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 has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
8: So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9: Now as to the love of the brethren, 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 brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, 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 behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
Paul addressed specific issues to the Thessalonians. First, he acknowledged that they had already been conducting themselves according to the instructions he gave them initially, but he encouraged them to do so even more, and reminded them that the commandments they were given were by the authority of the Lord, and were not just the opinion or personal requests by Paul & Co.
The will of God for them was their sanctification—specifically that they abstain from sexual immorality (fornication, sex outside of marriage, or any type of sexual perversion)—that every man had his own wife and conducted himself, and his marriage, in sanctification and honor. The thought being that by having their own wife they would avoid sexual sins and not be enslaved by lustful passions as the Gentiles had been prior to knowing God. He said that no one sin against their brother by engaging in sexual relations with his wife.
Fornication was not considered to be wrong among the heathen, and since many of the Thessalonians were Gentile converts, dishonorable sexual behavior needed to be addressed. Paul added that those who rejected this instruction were not rejecting man, but God who gives the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not Paul’s opinion, but the Lord’s.
Next, he addressed the love of the brethren and acknowledged that God Himself had taught them to love, and that they’d practiced it to all the brethren in Macedonia. Yet again, he urged them to excel even more in this and to lead a quiet life, attending to their own business. Apparently, many Thessalonian converts tended to neglect their work in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. As a result, they ended up in need and did not behave properly toward outsiders (unbelievers). When we take care of our own business, our own needs, then we are not a burden to others. In fact, we can be a blessing to them, giving out of a compassionate heart and showing them the love of God.
2: For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4: that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5: not in 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 has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
8: So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9: Now as to the love of the brethren, 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 brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, 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 behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
***
Paul addressed specific issues to the Thessalonians. First, he acknowledged that they had already been conducting themselves according to the instructions he gave them initially, but he encouraged them to do so even more, and reminded them that the commandments they were given were by the authority of the Lord, and were not just the opinion or personal requests by Paul & Co.
The will of God for them was their sanctification—specifically that they abstain from sexual immorality (fornication, sex outside of marriage, or any type of sexual perversion)—that every man had his own wife and conducted himself, and his marriage, in sanctification and honor. The thought being that by having their own wife they would avoid sexual sins and not be enslaved by lustful passions as the Gentiles had been prior to knowing God. He said that no one sin against their brother by engaging in sexual relations with his wife.
Fornication was not considered to be wrong among the heathen, and since many of the Thessalonians were Gentile converts, dishonorable sexual behavior needed to be addressed. Paul added that those who rejected this instruction were not rejecting man, but God who gives the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not Paul’s opinion, but the Lord’s.
Next, he addressed the love of the brethren and acknowledged that God Himself had taught them to love, and that they’d practiced it to all the brethren in Macedonia. Yet again, he urged them to excel even more in this and to lead a quiet life, attending to their own business. Apparently, many Thessalonian converts tended to neglect their work in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. As a result, they ended up in need and did not behave properly toward outsiders (unbelievers). When we take care of our own business, our own needs, then we are not a burden to others. In fact, we can be a blessing to them, giving out of a compassionate heart and showing them the love of God.
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