1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

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Scripture:  Thessalonians 4:1-12 (ESV)

4 Finally, then, brothers,1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own kbody3 in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.


Commentary

            As chapter four begins we notice that in the Greek the verbs are in the in the form of commands. Paul is here exhorting the Thessalonians to obey these commands as if they came directly from Jesus himself. “Whether the teachings themselves are attributed to Jesus or the authority to teach is attributed to Jesus, the impact is much the same. The commands the Thessalonians had received in the past and the exhortations Paul was about to deliver were not to be taken lightly. They are not the commands of human teachers. They are the commands of the one whom believers have accepted as their Lord. Throughout these two chapters references to the divine origin (and thus the divine authority) of the exhortations abound: 4:1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 15; 5:12, 18.[1]

Paul also indicates that these are not new commands that he is writing but things Paul and his companions had already taught them. The first command Paul reminds them of is that they should not be involved with sexual immorality of any kind. They are to be pure and holy knowing how to subdue the body and its desires.,” Israel is called to be a holy people to the Lord (Exod 19:6). Because God is holy and not like the other gods, his people too are to be holy (Lev 11:44 – 45) and not like the other nations around them (19:2; 20:7). This means that often they must act in different ways from the other nations around them.”2 The Roman culture during that time was very sexually immoral. It was not uncommon for a man to have a wife and a mistress or two. Even their religious worship sometimes involved sexual intercourse with a temple prostitute. The new Christian morals were counter cultural. Believers will experience holiness as a new freedom and dignity as they understand their true worth to God.3

The next topic is brotherly love. Paul says that the church really has no need to be reminded to do this well already. In fact, their love for each other is so great that it has been noticed throughout Macedonia. Paul then makes up a new Greek word to describe how the Thessalonians learned how to love namely, direct from God.

The next verses 11 and 12 talk about how they were to live in the world. “The preaching of the second coming produced an odd and awkward situation in Thessalonica. The result of it had been many of them had given up their daily work. And were standing around in groups upsetting themselves and everybody else. While they waited for the second coming to arrive.”4 Therefore Paul urged them to live a quiet life. They were to support themselves by working so they would be independent.

Paul’s message in this chapter has been for the Christians in Thessalonica to live exemplary lives by living for the Lord. They were not saved by these good works they were saved so that they could do good works by the power of the Holy Spirit. We should do likewise today.



[1] D. Michael Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians, vol. 33, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995) , 118–119.


2Byron, John. 1 and 2 Thessalonians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (p. 125). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

3Gupta, Nijay K. 1-2 Thessalonians (New Covenant Commentary Series) (p. 82) (Cascade Books, Eugene OR)

4Barclay, William. The Letters to The Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (The Daily Study Bible) (p. 233) (Westminster Press Philadelphia)






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