Reflections on 1 Thessalonians 4

1 Thessalonians 04 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Finally, my dear friends, since you belong to the Lord Jesus, we beg and urge you to live as we taught you. Then you will please God. You are already living that way, but try even harder.
2. Remember the instructions we gave you as followers of the Lord Jesus.
3. God wants you to be holy, so don't be immoral in matters of sex.
4. Respect and honor your wife.
5. Don't be a slave of your desires or live like people who don't know God.
6. You must not cheat any of the Lord's followers in matters of sex. Remember, we warned you that he punishes everyone who does such things.
7. God didn't choose you to be filthy, but to be pure.
8. So if you don't obey these rules, you are not really disobeying us. You are disobeying God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9. We don't have to write you about the need to love each other. God has taught you to do this,
10. and you already have shown your love for all of his people in Macedonia. But, my dear friends, we ask you to do even more.
11. Try your best to live quietly, to mind your own business, and to work hard, just as we taught you to do.
12. Then you will be respected by people who are not followers of the Lord, and you won't have to depend on anyone.
13. My friends, we want you to understand how it will be for those followers who have already died. Then you won't grieve over them and be like people who don't have any hope.
14. We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died.
15. Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won't go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.
16. With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life.
17. Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever.
18. Encourage each other with these words.
    
    

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    Paul voiced a prayer in the previous chapter that he might "see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith." (3:10) In the verses of chapter 4 he seeks to accomplish that task of completing what was lacking in their faith. It was not that they were being unfaithful or had in any way turned away from the faith, but he encouraged them to do more of what they were already doing which was to "walk and please God." (4:1) To this end, Paul gave two practical instructions and one teaching of encouragement.
    
    The first practical instruction was to "abstain from sexual immorality." (4:3) This included every form of sexual practice outside God's will: adultery, premarital and extramarital intercourse, homosexuality, and other perversions. Abstaining from any such practice, Paul said, is "God's will," (4:3) and is a part of the Christian's sanctification, that is, their progressively being conformed to the image of Christ. The Christian is to be different from the unbeliever in this regard. Knowing God gives him a different perspective. Besides going against God's will, sexual immorality transgresses agaisnt and defrauds "his brother in this matter." (4:6) Paul told the Thessalonians that "the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit." (4:8) Should they reject Paul's teaching on this matter, it was not Paul they would be rejecting, but God who gave the teaching. Furthermore, they would be rejecting God's Holy Spirit who would enable them to abstain from sexual immorality.
    
    The second practical instruction Paul gave was concerning brotherly love. About this, he said, they didn't need his instruction, "because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another." (4:9) It is an intuitive part of knowing God. The Thessalonian Christians were, in fact, already demonstrating brotherly love to other Christians throughout the region of Macedonia. So Paul's instruction to them was simply to "do so even more." (4:10) In addition to brotherly love, he told them to also "lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands." (4:11) All three of these instructions were in regard to demonstrating brotherly love. The quiet life is in contrast to a noisy and distruptive life which would be an annoyance to others. Minding one's own business is an obvious demonstration of brotherly love, while working with one's own hands is aimed at not being a financial burden on anyone else.
    
    As for the teaching of encouragement, Paul wanted them to understand about the death of a Christian of whom Paul refers as "those who are asleep." (4:13) He didn't want them to grieve over loved ones who had died in the same manner as those "who have no hope." (4:13) In the power of Christ's resurrection God will "bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus." (4:14) It is not of any greater advantage to remain alive than to "fall asleep," or die. For when Christ comes again, those who are already "dead in Christ will rise first." Then those who still live "will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." Then, both those raised from the dead and those caught up alive "will always be with the Lord." (4:17)