1 THESSALONIANS 4 [†]Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you d received from us e how you ought to walk and f to please God, just as you are doing, that you g do so more and more. 2[†]For h you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3[†]For this is the will of God, i your sanctification: j that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4[†]that each one of you know how to control his own k body in holiness and l honor, 5[†]not in m the passion of lust n like the Gentiles o who do not know God; 6[†]that no one transgress and p wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is q an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7[†]For r God has not called us for s impurity, but in holiness. 8[†]Therefore t whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, u who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9[†]Now concerning v brotherly love w you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been x taught by God y to love one another, 10for that indeed is what z you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to a do this more and more, 11[†]and to aspire b to live quietly, and c to mind your own affairs, and d to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12[†]so that you may e walk properly before f outsiders and be dependent on no one.
13[†]But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, g that you may not grieve as others do h who have no hope. 14[†]For i since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him j those who have fallen asleep. 15[†]For this we declare to you k by a word from the Lord, that l we who are alive, who are left until m the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16[†]For n the Lord himself will descend o from heaven p with a cry of command, with the voice of q an archangel, and r with the sound of the trumpet of God. And s the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be t caught up together with them u in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so v we will always be with the Lord. 18[†]Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:5 in the passion of lust like the Gentiles. See Rom. 1:24–27. Paul is concerned that some of the Thessalonian Christians may fall back into their former ways.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:1–12 On Pleasing God. Paul calls on the Thessalonians to please God (vv. 1–2) by living in holiness (vv. 3–8) and love (vv. 9–12).
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:1 Finally (Gk. loipon). Paul is either indicating that he is approaching the end of his letter or simply that he is beginning a new section (cf. Phil. 3:1); clearly, there is much still to come. To walk and to please God is to live a life that is pleasing to God (see note on Col. 1:10). do so more and more. Their process of growth in sanctification and in their ability to “please God” has not yet been completed.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:12 walk properly before outsiders. For some Christians to be shamelessly exploiting the charity of wealthier Christians would have been disgraceful in a first-century Greco-Roman environment.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:16–17 cry of command … voice of an archangel … trumpet of God. The three noises summon the dead to wake from their slumber. The only “archangel” identified in the Bible is Michael (Jude 9). Trumpets in the OT proclaimed the Lord’s presence (Ex. 19:16; 1 Chron. 16:6; Ps. 47:5; Joel 2:1; Zech. 9:14); in Jewish tradition, the “trumpet” was associated with battle, the day of the Lord, and the resurrection (cf. 1 Cor. 15:52). first … Then. Dead Christians rise from their graves to the realm of the living, and then the living and the dead together are caught up from the earth into the air to meet Christ. The Greek for “caught up” (harpazō, “to grab or seize suddenly, to snatch, take away”) gives a sense of being forcibly and suddenly lifted upward (see John 6:15; Acts 8:39). together with. The dead Christians would suffer no disadvantage (cf. “we who are alive … will not precede,” 1 Thess. 4:15). clouds. Probably not earthly rain clouds but the clouds of glory that surround the presence of God (cf. Ex. 13:21; 33:9–10; 40:38; Num. 12:5; 1 Kings 8:10–11; Ps. 97:2; Dan. 7:13; Matt. 17:5; Mark 13:26; Acts 1:9; Rev. 14:14). to meet. The Greek term apantēsis is often used of an important dignitary’s reception by the inhabitants of a city, who come out to greet and welcome their honored guest with fanfare and celebration, then accompany him into the city (cf. Matt. 25:6; Acts 28:15; a related term hypantēsis is used in Matt. 25:1; John 12:13). It may indicate that the subsequent movement of the saints after meeting Christ “in the air” conforms to Christ’s direction, thus in a downward motion toward the earth. However, some interpreters caution that the vivid symbolism of apocalyptic language must be kept in mind to avoid over-interpretation of the apocalyptic details. in the air. The sky.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:14 rose again. The resurrection of Christ is the center of God’s plan for history and is the basis for hope in the future resurrection of the body (1 Cor. 15:42–57; Rev. 21:4). through Jesus, God will bring. Jesus is shown to be God’s mediator of salvation who will “bring” deceased Christians with him (those who have fallen asleep), that is, the souls of those who have been in heaven with Christ up to this point. The direction of movement (whether upward or downward) is debated, although the allusion to Zech. 14:5 suggests a picture of Christ coming down from heaven, bringing with him the souls of those who have already died. Paul’s point is that all the Christians who have died (“fallen asleep”) will be with Christ in his second coming, as Christ descends to earth. Paul then explains in more detail (in 1 Thess. 4:16–17) how the dead are able to be present with Christ—that is, because their bodies will, at that moment, be resurrected and reunited with their souls, as they are “caught up to meet the Lord in the air” (v. 17).
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:3 that you abstain from sexual immorality. For former pagans, the lure of sexual sins was strong (see 1 Corinthians 5–6). By using the Greek term porneia (which referred to adultery, fornication, or other sexual immorality), Paul forbids any sexual activity outside the bounds of heterosexual marriage (see Eph. 5:3; 1 Pet. 1:15–22).
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:7 called. When the Thessalonians embraced Paul’s gospel, they were responding to God’s effectual call (see note on Rom. 8:30; cf. note on 1 Thess. 1:4). That call did not have as its goal impurity but rather a life of holiness.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:4 control his own body. The Greek could be rendered “take a wife for himself” (see esv footnote). However, in view of vv. 4–5 and 1 Corinthians 7, sexual self-control is more likely the intended meaning. in holiness and honor. Behavior suitable before God and humans respectively.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:15 Word from the Lord probably refers to something the Lord revealed personally to Paul, which he then states in vv. 15b–17. We who are alive does not imply that Paul was convinced that he himself would be alive at the second coming, but rather that all Christians should be prepared for Christ to return during their lifetime. who are left. Left behind, that is, by all Christians who have already departed this life. will not precede those who have fallen asleep. It is unclear whether the Thessalonians were assuming that the dead would rise only after the second coming, or whether they thought that the dead had no hope of salvation at all.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:18 Clear teaching about the Lord’s return should result in comfort and encouragement (Paul’s goal), rather than fear and divisiveness. These words refers to vv. 13–17.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:3–8 Paul commands the Thessalonians to live in sexual holiness. Some converts may have found it a struggle to adjust to Christianity’s demanding ethical code.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:6 wrong (Gk. pleonekteō, “to defraud, exploit, cheat”). Defrauding a fellow Christian through sexual sin. the Lord is an avenger. Those who ignore the Christian sexual ethic will face the wrath of Jesus when he returns, and perhaps even before.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:1–5:28 Instruction and Exhortation. In the main body of the letter Paul gives instructions on pleasing God (4:1–12), the second coming (4:13–5:11), community conduct (5:12–22), and prayer and assurance (5:23–24).
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:2 instructions (Gk. parangelia). Originally a military word, it usually denotes authoritative commands.
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:8 Therefore. In view of v. 7, to reject Paul’s teaching on sex is to reject not merely Paul but God, who is the source of Paul’s sexual ethic. who gives his Holy Spirit to you. In the OT (e.g., Ezek. 36:26–27) God promised that he would establish a new covenant in which the Holy Spirit would write the law on people’s hearts and cause them to obey. This new covenant reality, which has been inaugurated by Christ, makes sexual sin inexcusable. To reject the giver of the Holy Spirit is to cut oneself off from the sanctifying power that enables the Christian to be “blameless in holiness” at the second coming (1 Thess. 3:13).
1 THESSALONIANS—NOTE ON 4:11 live quietly. Live peaceably with others (see 2 Thess. 3:11–12), instead of meddling in others’ affairs. work with your hands. Paul calls on Thessalonian believers to earn their own living rather than to depend on wealthier Christians, as Paul had instructed them when he was at Thessalonica.