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1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 (Pdf) Download Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 1 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 Jesus is Coming! Paul shifts gears starting in chapter 4 from personal comments about longing to see them to content having to do with sanctification and the promise of Jesus’ return Vv. 1-2—A walk that God approves - 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. o …in the Lord Jesus…—that is, under the authority of Jesus or on behalf of Jesus ▪ Paul periodically reminds his readers that what he is writing is not his own opinions, but the word of God ▪ By doing so, he continually emphasizes the importance of following the instructions in his letters o …that you should abound more and more… ▪ “Paul was thankful for the growth he saw in the Thessalonians, but still looked for them to abound more and more in a walk that would please God…Christian maturity is never finished on this side of eternity. No matter how far a Christian has come in love Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 2 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry and holiness, he or she can still abound more and more.”1 Vv. 3-8— - He opens this section with a discussion that it is God’s will for the believer to be sanctified o Sanctification ▪ “The will of God for His people determines, among other things (‘will’ has no article), that they should be separated to Him and therefore holy. And here we learn that this especially applies to the avoidance of wrong sexual practices…sanctification is the process of being made truly holy and Christ-like.”2 ▪ “…refers to a state of being set apart from sin to holiness. In this context, it means being set apart from sexual impurity in particular…”3 - V. 3— o …you should abstain from sexual immorality… ▪ The word here is πορνεία (any sexual relationship outside of marriage4) • All sexual activity outside marriage is sin, but it was not regarded so in 1 Enduring Word Bible Commentary, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-thessalonians-4/ 2 Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/1-thessalonians- 4.html 3 MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, 1847 4 Enduring Word Bible Commentary, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-thessalonians-4/ Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 3 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry Roman society & is less & less regarded so in western culture today o “It may seem strange (to us today) that Paul should go to such lengths to (discuss) sexual purity in a Christian congregation; but two things have to be remembered. First, the Thessalonians had only newly come into the Christian faith and they had come from a society in which chastity was an unknown virtue; they were still in the midst of such a society and the infection of it was playing upon them all the time. It would be…difficult for them to unlearn what they had for all their lives accepted as natural. Second, there never was an age in history when marriage vows were so disregarded and divorce so disastrously easy.”5 o “The ancient writer Demosthenes expressed the generally amoral view of sex in the ancient Roman Empire: ‘We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day needs of the body; we keep wives for the faithful guardianship of our homes.’”6 - Vv. 4-6— o …each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification an honor… ▪ Vessel=body 5 William Barklay’s Daily Study Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/1-thessalonians-4.html 6 Enduring Word Bible Commentary, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-thessalonians-4/ Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 4 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry o …that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter… ▪ The reference here likely refers to the seduction or corruption of any woman…a man’s wife or daughter; to compromise fidelity to spouse or parents ▪ Also may be referring to mere coveting the illicit relationship with another man’s wife or daughter - V. 7—For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness. o “Sexual purity is part of the call of God. There are two options, being involved in uncleanness or being in sanctification. God’s call is from the one to the other. If we are those who are called by God then we do not have an option, for our behavior and attitude will reveal the genuineness of our calling. Again this sanctification is to be practical and not imputed, although resulting from having been first sanctified by God (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2).”7 - V. 8—Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. o V. 8 is the conclusion of Paul’s statement v. 7 ▪ God called us to holiness not sin when He saved us; therefore, continuing in sin is a 7 Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/1-thessalonians- 4.html Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 5 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry rejection of God, not a rejection of Paul or any other authority ▪ The demands of Christian morality & holiness are uncompromising8 Vv. 9-12— - Vv. 10-11— o For Paul, a word about loving each other naturally follows his brief discussion about morality o Love for another Christian will cause us not to compromise the relationship by enticing another Christian to sin ▪ Paul has already labeled immorality as unclean, the opposite of holiness to which God has called us ▪ He also refers to immorality as defrauding another • The act of propositioning or even coveting is the desire to take away the innocence or holiness of another o There just is no room for compromise at all for the Christian when it comes to sin versus holiness - Vv. 11-12— 8 William Barklay’s Daily Study Bible, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/1-thessalonians-4.html Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 6 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry o In v. 11, Paul segues from the impact of holiness on other Christians to its importance as a witness to unbelievers o V. 11—…aspire to lead a quiet life… ▪ The meaning is “…one who does not present social problems or generate conflict among those people in his or her life, but whose soul rests easy even in the midst of difficulty.”9 ▪ …lead a quiet life…—ἡ συχαζειν, “hold your peace” ▪ Paul brings this up to the Thessalonians for a specific reason, as he explains in 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12— • 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. o Some in the Thessalonian church were idle, not supporting themselves as they waited on the Lord’s return, engaging in speculation about His return & when it would happen, perhaps even chastising those who continued to work 9 MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, 1847 Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 7 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry ▪ Paul tells them to hold their peace, mind their own business, and get back to work Vv. 13-18— - V. 13— - The Thessalonians believed “…in and hope for…their Savior’s return. They were living in expectation of that coming, eagerly awaiting Chris. V. 13 indicates they were even agitated about some things that were happening to them that might affect their participation in it. They know Christ’s return was the climactic event in redemptive history and didn’t want to miss it. The major question they had as ‘What happens to the Christians who die before He comes? Do they miss His return?’ …they had an imminent view of Christ’s return, and Paul had left the impression it could happen in their lifetime. Their confusion came as they were being persecuted, an experience they thought they were to be delivered from by the Lord’s return.”10 - In addition, the Thessalonians believed “…that their dead fellow Christians might not participate in the Rapture with them… They apparently thought that one had to be alive to participate in the Rapture.”11 o …those who have fallen asleep… 10 Ibid. 11 Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/1-thessalonians- 4.html Studies in the Book of 1 Thessalonians P a g e | 8 © Copyright 2018 Joel B. Curry • Κοιμάομαι, from Κοιμάο, “to fall asleep” o Root for English “cemetery”— ”place of sleep” - V. 14— o In v. 14, “Paul lays down a great principle. The (person) who has lived and died in Christ is still in Christ even in death and will rise in him. Between Christ and the (person) who loves him there is a relationship which nothing can break, a relationship which overpasses death. Because Christ died and rose again, so the (person) who is one with Christ will rise again.”12 - V.
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