(Chapters 4:2–5:11)
In this section of the epistle, Paul outlines four great things that ought to characterize the practical lives of Christians who are waiting for the Lord to come. These things are to be viewed as being normal to Christian living:
• Holiness toward God (chap. 4:2-8).
• Love toward one another (chap. 4:9-10).
• Honesty toward them who are without (chap. 4:11-12).
• Watchfulness in view of the Lord's coming (chaps. 4:13–5:11).
Holiness Toward God
Vss. 2-8—Paul begins with reminding them of the moral “charges” that he had given them when he was with them, because it was “the will of God” that they should walk in practical “sanctification” (vss. 2-3). Sanctification means “to make sacred by being set apart.” In connection with Christians, it is used in three ways:
1) Absolute or Positional Sanctification
This is a work of God done in the believer through new birth (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2) and for the believer through being justified by faith in Christ (Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; Heb. 10:10, 14; 13:12; Rev. 22:11) whereby he is set apart from the mass of mankind for eternal blessing. This is a once-and-for-all thing and is true of every believer, regardless of what state his practical life may be in.
2) Progressive or Practical Sanctification
This has to do with the believer perfecting holiness in his life practically (John 17:17; Rom. 6:19 ("holiness"); 2 Cor. 7:1 ("holiness"); 1 Thess. 4:4-7; 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27, and Heb. 12:14 ("holiness"). This aspect of sanctification should be an on-going, daily exercise in the believer's life. It involves judging oneself, and separating in thought and action, from everything that is inconsistent with the holiness of God. It is the aspect that Paul is referring to here in 1 Thessalonians 4.
3) Relative or Provisional Sanctification
This has to do with a person being in a clean place on earth through his association with what is clean, without necessarily having an inward work of faith in his soul.
In the case of a marriage where one partner is saved and the other is not, the unbelieving one is “sanctified,” in this relative sense, by his or her association with the believing partner who is sanctified (1 Cor. 7:14). It does not mean that the unbeliever is thereby saved, but that he is in a place of holy privilege.
In the case of those associated with Abraham, Romans 11:16 states that they are in a place of relative holiness (sanctification). The point that the Apostle Paul is making in this passage is, that if the "root" of the nation of Israel (Abraham) has been set in a holy place of privilege in relation to God, then the "branches" (Abraham's descendants) are in that “holy” place too (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 1 Kings 8:53; Amos 3:3).
The Apostle also refers to a person purging himself from the confusion that has come into God’s house (Christendom) by “separating himself” from it, and thus, being “sanctified” in this relative sense (2 Tim. 2:19).
This aspect of sanctification is also seen in Hebrews 10:29. The Jews who professed faith in Christ in that day had thereby taken Christian ground, and thus, they had been “sanctified” in a relative sense by Christ’s blood. But some of these were not even born of God.
The Sin of Fornication
Vss. 3b-8—The chief thing that Paul had in mind here, in connection with practical sanctification, was the sin of “fornication.” This term covers a broad spectrum of immoral behaviour, all of which are to be abstained from in Christian living. In 1 Corinthians 5, it is in connection with incest; in this chapter it has to do with adultery, and in Jude’s epistle it is in connection with homosexuality. Paul insists that every one among them should “possess [keep or preserve] his vessel in sanctification and honour.” The “vessel” that he is referring to is our physical body. Since marriage involves the physical union of “they two” becoming “one flesh,” some translations suggest that “vessel” could be translated as “wife.” In fact, the word “vessel” is used for wife in 1 Peter 3:7.
Marriage in Christianity is to be held in “honour” (Heb. 13:4), which was something that was not done in heathendom. Since these Thessalonians had been saved out of that heathen lifestyle, they needed to understand that God’s intention for Christian marriage was not along the base lines of “the lust of evil concupiscence [passionate desire].” Hence, they were not to be found “overstepping the rights of and wronging” their “brother” in the matter—i.e. adultery.
Paul proceeds to mention three great reasons why we must abstain from moral evil:
• The Lord’s governmental judgment will be upon all such who engage therein (vs. 6). He is “the Avenger of all such” (Prov. 6:29).
• God has a claim on us through redemption to be holy. He has “not called us unto uncleanness, but to sanctification.” The person who “disregards his brother” by overstepping himself in adultery “disregards, not man, but God” (vss. 7-8a).
• The believer’s body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” and it, therefore, must be devoted to the service of the Lord and not to immoral practices (1 Cor. 6:19). God has “given unto us His Holy Spirit” and this divine Guest within us will be grieved by such activity (Eph. 4:30). We will lose the practical benefits of His presence—such as giving us the present enjoyment of our blessings in Christ and practical discernment (vs. 8b).
Love Toward One Another
Vss. 9-10—Paul goes on and says, “Now concerning brotherly love....” The practical flow of brotherly love among the saints is normal to Christianity and a mark of a healthy assembly (John 13:34-35; Heb. 13:1). They had been “taught of God to love one another.” This refers to the new life in the believer responding normally and according to its nature. The Apostle John said that this is one of the characteristics of the new life and nature: “Every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1).
He commends them for letting their love express itself among the other saints in Macedonia (Philippi, etc.) and encourages them to “increase more and more” in this virtue. This will happen quite naturally, but the problem often is that we hinder the outflow of divine love inherent in our new natures. Hence comes the needed exhortation, “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1).
Honesty Toward Them Who Are Without
Vss. 11-12—Paul moves on to speak of the need for being gainfully employed and occupied with upright things so that the world would see that we are honest persons.
Paul had taught them the great truth of the Lord’s coming (the Rapture), and they rightly lived in the imminence of it. But some of them wrongly reasoned that if the Lord was going to come—and it could be that very day—why bother with working at all? Brotherly love that was in action among the saints in Thessalonica had taken care of those who lacked, and these persons may have presumed that that same love would take care of them too. These converts were predominantly Greeks, and the Greek philosophers of those times despised manual labour. So, when the idea of “not working at all” (2 Thess. 3:11) arose among the Thessalonians, there were certain ones who had been saved out of that philosophical persuasion who naturally gravitated to it. They may have excused their idleness with the thought that it was faith on their part not to work, because it showed (in their minds) that they were truly living in the imminence of the Lord’s coming. But it was not a good testimony to the world.
Understanding that this situation existed among them, Paul exhorts them to “study [strive eagerly] to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands,” so that they would “walk honestly” before “them that are without.” Even those of the world despise a man who will not work to support his family. Far be it that such a thing should be found among Christians (1 Tim. 5:8). Hence, they were to work with their own hands and to go on quietly with the Lord. Paul instructs us that we should pray to that end (1 Tim. 2:1-2). He adds, “As we commanded you,” reminding the Thessalonian believers that he had already exhorted them along these lines when he was with them. When Christians neglect this, the world will be quick to find fault. To negate this, we are to “provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17).
In the second epistle, Paul told them that if there was an individual who persisted with not working, they were to “withdraw” themselves from him and to “have no company with him, that he may be ashamed” (2 Thess. 3:6-16). This shows that Paul saw this idleness as a serious disorder and something that was damaging to the Christian testimony.
Watchfulness in View of the Lord’s Coming
(Chapters 4:13–5:11)
Paul then sets straight the misunderstanding that the Thessalonians had regarding their loved ones who had recently died. Somehow—probably through bad teaching which 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 suggests—they had picked up the idea that their brethren who had “fallen asleep” were going to miss out on the Rapture and of being part of the kingdom that Christ would establish when He appeared. This caused much grief and “sorrow” among them. It shows how bad doctrine (misinformation) can affect our joy. These poor souls were sorrowing over something that wasn’t even true!
Vs. 13—Paul traces the whole thing to a simple matter of ignorance, and says, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep.” There was no need for them to “sorrow...even as others who have no hope,” for they would surely see their brethren again. Death is not a final parting of brethren. Paul does not say that we shouldn’t sorrow when death claims a believing loved one, but that it need not be to the extent of despair that unbelievers experience.
It is interesting that this state of “sleep” is said to be something that is brought to pass “through Jesus.” This means that their death, though it may seem untimely for the saints who remain alive, is really no accident. In fact, the Lord Jesus is the One who induces it—He puts them to sleep! His manhood name, “Jesus,” is used alone here (without His titles) to emphasize His sympathy, for He too walked in this world as a Man and knows what it is to pass through the article of death. Their disembodied spirits and souls are presently with Him while they are in the separate or intermediate state, and thus, they couldn’t be in better hands (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies lie in the grave awaiting resurrection.
It is well for us to remember that when the Bible speaks of believers sleeping, it refers to their physical bodies, not their spirits and souls (Matt. 27:52). Sleep is never applied to unbelievers who have died. “Soul sleep” is a false doctrine that supposes that the spirits and souls of the dead are not conscious. However, Scripture says that believers who die go immediately into “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and are “with Christ which is far better” (Phil. 1:23). How could this possibly mean being made unconscious? An unconscious sleeper cannot experience the thrill of paradise. If he is unconscious he wouldn’t know a good state from a bad one! Nor could he experience fellowship with Christ! Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). He lived and served in the enjoyment of communion with Christ. If he were to die, and if that meant that he would become unconscious, he would lose the blessedness of his sweet fellowship with Christ! How could death be a “gain” to him?
Vs. 14—Paul then says, “For if (since) we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in [through] Jesus will God bring with Him.” That is, just as surely as Jesus died and rose again, so also will those who are asleep be raised, for both are of the same order of resurrection. Scripture says, “Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23). Thus, the basis of the believer’s hope of resurrection is founded on the fact of Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor. 6:14). His resurrection is the pledge and proof of the believer’s resurrection! Bible teachers call this “the first resurrection.”
Three Phases to The First Resurrection
There are actually three phases to the first resurrection:
• “Christ, the first-fruits” (1 Cor. 15:23a).
• “They that are Christ’s at His coming”—the Rapture. This refers to both Old and New Testament saints (1 Cor. 15:23b).
• The faithful who die during the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 9:27). This will occur just prior to the Appearing of Christ (Rev. 14:13; 20:4).
Four Things That Give Us Comfort Regarding the State of Departed Believers
Comfort concerning our loved ones who have deceased will not come from listening to the opinions of sincere people, nor will it come from subjective feelings that we might have concerning their state. Comfort can only come from understanding and believing the facts regarding those who have departed, and these facts can only be found in the Word of God. The gospel has brought these things concerning “life and incorruptibility” to light (2 Tim. 1:10), and when they are understood, they give us peace and comfort. The following four facts help to this end:
• The state of death is temporary—This means that our loved ones who have passed away will not be dead and gone forever. They will rise again when the Lord comes at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:15-16; 1 Cor. 15:23, 51-56). Since the Lord’s coming is imminent, their rising from the dead could be today!
• The condition of departed believers is that of bliss—While the spirits and souls of departed believers are in the intermediate state, waiting for the Lord to come, they are “with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8) “in paradise” (Luke 23:43) and in a state which is “very far better” (Phil. 1:23). This means that they are with the best Person possible and are far happier than they ever could be on earth. This gives us comfort, knowing that all is well with them.
• Their death has not been an accident—God makes no mistakes in what He allows to happen to His people, because “His way is perfect” (Psa. 18:30). While we may not understand why He has allowed death to overtake one of our loved ones, He will explain it all in the coming day, and it will make perfect sense.
• There is going to be a grand reunion of the saints—At the Rapture, the deceased saints and the living saints will all be caught up together, and we will never be separated again (1 Thess. 4:17). This, too, is a great comfort.