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Text -- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
4:3 For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,
Parallel   Cross Reference (TSK)   ITL  

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Dictionary Themes and Topics: Word of God | THESSALONIANS, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE | Sanctification | Holiness | Commandments | Chastity | CRIME; CRIMES | Avoidance | Adultery | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Robertson , Vincent , Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , Defender , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Barclay , Constable , College , McGarvey

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 1Th 4:3 - -- Your sanctification ( ho hagiasmos humōn ). Found only in the Greek Bible and ecclesiastical writers from hagiazō and both to take the place of...

Your sanctification ( ho hagiasmos humōn ).

Found only in the Greek Bible and ecclesiastical writers from hagiazō and both to take the place of the old words hagizō , hagismos with their technical ideas of consecration to a god or goddess that did not include holiness in life. So Paul makes a sharp and pointed stand here for the Christian idea of sanctification as being "the will of God"(apposition) and as further explained by the epexegetic infinitive that ye abstain from fornication (apechesthai humas apo tēs porneias ). Pagan religion did not demand sexual purity of its devotees, the gods and goddesses being grossly immoral. Priestesses were in the temples for the service of the men who came.

Vincent: 1Th 4:3 - -- Fornication Paul wrote from Corinth, where sensuality in the guise of religion was rife. In Thessalonica, besides the ordinary licentious customs...

Fornication

Paul wrote from Corinth, where sensuality in the guise of religion was rife. In Thessalonica, besides the ordinary licentious customs of the Gentiles, immorality was fostered by the Cabeiric worship (see Introduction). About the time of Paul, a political sanction was given to this worship by deifying the Emperor as Cabeirus.

Wesley: 1Th 4:3 - -- Entire holiness of heart and life: particular branches of it are subjoined.

Entire holiness of heart and life: particular branches of it are subjoined.

Wesley: 1Th 4:3 - -- A beautiful transition from sanctification to a single branch of the contrary; and this shows that nothing is so seemingly distant, or below our thoug...

A beautiful transition from sanctification to a single branch of the contrary; and this shows that nothing is so seemingly distant, or below our thoughts, but we have need to guard against it.

JFB: 1Th 4:3 - -- Enforcing the assertion that his "commandments" were "by (the authority of) the Lord Jesus" (1Th 4:2). Since "this is the will of God," let it be your...

Enforcing the assertion that his "commandments" were "by (the authority of) the Lord Jesus" (1Th 4:2). Since "this is the will of God," let it be your will also.

JFB: 1Th 4:3 - -- Not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the more to be denounced (Act 15:20).

Not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the more to be denounced (Act 15:20).

Clarke: 1Th 4:3 - -- This is the will of God, even your sanctification - God has called you to holiness; he requires that you should be holy; for without holiness none c...

This is the will of God, even your sanctification - God has called you to holiness; he requires that you should be holy; for without holiness none can see the Lord. This is the general calling, but in it many particulars are included. Some of these he proceeds to mention; and it is very likely that these had been points on which he gave them particular instructions while among them

Clarke: 1Th 4:3 - -- That ye should abstain from fornication - The word πορνεια, as we have seen in other places, includes all sorts of uncleanness; and it was p...

That ye should abstain from fornication - The word πορνεια, as we have seen in other places, includes all sorts of uncleanness; and it was probably this consideration that induced several MSS., some versions and fathers, to add here πασης, all. Directions of this kind were peculiarly necessary among the Greeks, and indeed heathens in general, who were strongly addicted to such vices.

Calvin: 1Th 4:3 - -- 3.For this is the will of God. This is doctrine of a general nature, from which, as from a fountain, he immediately deduces special admonitions. When...

3.For this is the will of God. This is doctrine of a general nature, from which, as from a fountain, he immediately deduces special admonitions. When he says that this is the will of God, he means that we have been called by God with this design. “For this end ye are Christians — this the gospel aims at — that ye may sanctify yourselves to God. ” The meaning of the term sanctification we have already explained elsewhere in repeated instances — that renouncing the world, and clearing ourselves from the pollutions of the flesh, we offer ourselves to God as if in sacrifice, for nothing can with propriety be offered to Him, but what is pure and holy.

That ye abstain. This is one injunction, which he derives from the fountain of which he had immediately before made mention; for nothing is more opposed to holiness than the defilement of fornication, which pollutes the whole man. On this account he assigns the lust of concupiscence to the Gentiles, who know not God. “Where the knowledge of God reigns, lusts must be subdued.”

By the lust of concupiscence, he means all base lusts of the flesh, but, at the same time, by this manner of expression, he brands with dishonor all desires that allure us to pleasure and carnal delights, as in Rom 13:14, he bids us have no care for the flesh in respect of the lust thereof. For when men give indulgence to their appetites, there are no bounds to lasciviousness. 567 Hence the only means of maintaining temperance is to bridle all lusts.

As for the expression, that every one of you may know to possess his vessel, some explain it as referring to a wife, 568 as though it had been said, “Let husbands dwell with their wives in all chastity.” As, however, he addresses husbands and wives indiscriminately, there can be no doubt that he employs the term vessel to mean body. For every one has his body as a house, as it were, in which he dwells. He would, therefore, have us keep our body pure from all uncleanness.

And honor, that is, honorably, for the man that prostitutes his body to fornication, covers it with infamy and disgrace.

Defender: 1Th 4:3 - -- "Sanctification" (Greek hagiasmos) is used to indicate both separation to God (1Co 1:30; 2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:2) and the holy lifestyle of those so separat...

"Sanctification" (Greek hagiasmos) is used to indicate both separation to God (1Co 1:30; 2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:2) and the holy lifestyle of those so separated (1Th 4:4, 1Th 4:7; Rom 6:19, Rom 6:22; 1Ti 2:15; Heb 12:14). When Christians are seeking to find the will of God for their lives, they should recognize that His will centers, first of all, on their sanctification - that is, the total dedication of their lives, as redeemed sinners, to Christ.

Defender: 1Th 4:3 - -- While there may be questions about engaging in "doubtful" things (Rom 14:1), there can be no doubt at all, even in this permissive age, that fornicati...

While there may be questions about engaging in "doubtful" things (Rom 14:1), there can be no doubt at all, even in this permissive age, that fornication (any sexual relationship outside of heterosexual marriage) is always contrary to God's will. Engaging in it will, inevitably, bring grief."

TSK: 1Th 4:3 - -- this : 1Th 5:18; Psa 40:8, Psa 143:10; Mat 7:21, Mat 12:50; Mar 3:35; Joh 4:34, Joh 7:17; Rom 12:2; Eph 5:17, Eph 6:6; Col 1:9, Col 4:12; Heb 10:36, H...

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Th 4:3 - -- For this is the will of God, even your sanctification - It is the will or command of God that you should be holy. This does not refer to the pu...

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification - It is the will or command of God that you should be holy. This does not refer to the purpose or decree of God, and does not mean that he intended to make them holy - but it means that it was his command that they should be holy. It was also true that it was agreeable to the divine will or purpose that they should be holy, and that he meant to use such an influence as to secure this; but this is not the truth taught here. This text, therefore, should not be brought as a proof that God intends to make his people holy, or that they are sanctified. It is a proof only that he requires holiness. The word here rendered "sanctification"- ἁγιασμὸς hagiasmos - is not used in the Greek classics, but is several times found in the New Testament. It is rendered holiness, Rom 6:19, Rom 6:22; 1Th 4:7; 1Ti 2:15; Heb 12:14; and sanctification, 1Co 1:30; 1Th 4:3-4; 2Th 2:13, and 1Pe 1:2; see the Rom 6:19 note; 1Co 1:30 note. It means here "purity of life,"and particularly abstinence from those vices which debase and degrade the soul Sanctification consists in two things:

\caps1 (1) i\caps0 n "ceasing to do evil;"and,

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 n "learning to do well."Or in other words, the first work of sanctification is in overcoming the propensities to evil in our nature, and checking and subduing the unholy habits which we had formed before we became Christians; the second part of the work consists in cultivating the positive principles of holiness in the soul.

That ye should abstain from fornication - A vice which was freely indulged among the pagan, and to which, from that fact, and from their own former habits, they were particularly exposed. On the fact that they were thus exposed, and on the reasons for these solemn commands on the subject, see the Act 15:20 note, and 1Co 6:18 note.

Poole: 1Th 4:3 - -- What in the former verse he called commandments from Christ, he here calls the will of God or he had some further duties to lay before them, which ...

What in the former verse he called commandments from Christ, he here calls the will of God or he had some further duties to lay before them, which he had not yet given commandments about, which were the will of God. There is the secret and revealed will of God, and his revealed will is about things to be believed or practised. The latter is here meant, so that the will of God is put figuratively here for the things he willeth, or commandeth of us. And that which the apostle first mentions is sanctification which is often taken for holiness in general, which consists in men’ s conformity to the will of God both in the heart and life. But I think not so taken here, but for chastity, as opposite to the sin of uncleanness, as the apostle explains it in the next words. For to

abstain from fornication is the will of God. And by it is meant all unchasteness, either of persons married or unmarried; and that either in the heart, or in speech, or in the eye, or lascivious gesture, as well as in the very act itself. It was a sin common among the Gentiles, especially the Grecians, and judged as no sin. And therefore it is particularly mentioned and forbidden to the believing Gentiles by the council of Jerusalem, lest they should apprehend it not to be an evil, Act 15:20 . For it is not so evident by the light of nature as many other moral evils; and therefore the apostle tells the Thessalonians that it is the will of God they should abstain from it, and that is a sufficient ground either of doing or not doing. This will of God is expressed in the seventh commandment, which though the Jews well knew, yet these new converted Gentiles might not yet so well understand. And therefore the apostle in his several Epistles to the Gentile churches doth dehort them from it, especially the Corinthians, 1Co 6:9 , and that by many arguments. It is a sin which corrupts and effeminates the mind, captivates the heart, consumes the flesh, and wastes men’ s estates. So that this will of God that forbids it is a good will, Rom 12:2 , as all the commandments of God are said to be for our good, Deu 10:13 .

Gill: 1Th 4:3 - -- For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,.... Which is another reason to enforce the above exhortation. "Sanctification" is internal or e...

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,.... Which is another reason to enforce the above exhortation. "Sanctification" is internal or external. Internal sanctification is the work of the Spirit of God, and is a principle of spiritual life in the soul, a divine and spiritual light in the understanding, a flexion of the will to the will of God, and a settlement of the affections on divine things, and is an implantation of every grace in the heart. External sanctification arises from this, and lies in holiness of life and conversation; and is what is chiefly designed, as appears both by what goes before, and follows after: and this is "the will of God"; the will of his purpose and decree; for in the same decree that he wills the salvation of any by Jesus Christ, he also wills their sanctification in heart and life, and here and hereafter: and this is his approving will, or what is well pleasing in his sight, being agreeable to his nature, and divine perfections, particularly his holiness, in which he is glorious; and it is his will of command, and what he requires in his law, which is holy, just, and good, and perfectly agrees with the sound doctrine of the Gospel, and the revelation of his will in both.

That ye should abstain from fornication: which is particularly mentioned, abstinence from it being a branch of external holiness; and because that this sin was common among the Gentiles, and not esteemed a sin by them; as also to observe to these Christians, that as simple fornication was not to be allowed of, much less other acts of uncleanness, as adultery, incest, sodomy, and the like, which were iniquities that greatly prevailed among the Heathens. The Syriac version renders it, "from all fornication"; on this subject the apostle enlarges in some following verses.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Th 4:3 Or “your sanctification.”

Geneva Bible: 1Th 4:3 ( 2 ) For this is the will of God, [even] your ( b ) sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: ( 2 ) This is the sum of those things w...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Th 4:1-18 - --1 He exhorts them to go forward in all manner of godliness;6 to live holily and justly;9 to love one another;11 and quietly to follow their own busine...

MHCC: 1Th 4:1-8 - --To abide in the faith of the gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of faith. The rule according to which all ought to walk and act, is the ...

Matthew Henry: 1Th 4:1-8 - -- Here we have, I. An exhortation to abound in holiness, to abound more and more in that which is good, 1Th 4:1, 1Th 4:2. We may observe, 1. The man...

Barclay: 1Th 4:1-8 - --It may seem strange that Paul should go to such lengths to inculcate sexual purity in a Christian congregation; but two things have to be remembered....

Constable: 1Th 4:1-12 - --A. Christian living 4:1-12 Paul used the opportunity this epistle afforded him to give his readers basic...

Constable: 1Th 4:3-8 - --2. Sexual purity 4:3-8 This section opens and closes with explicit references to the will of God. 4:3-5 The will of God for the Christian is clear. Po...

College: 1Th 4:1-18 - --1 THESSALONIANS 4 IV. EXHORTATION (4:1-5:22) A. EXHORTATION CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIVING (4:1-12) 1. To Continue in Current Behavior (4:1-2) 1 Fina...

McGarvey: 1Th 4:3 - --For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication ;

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Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) First Thessalonians From Corinth a.d. 50-51 By Way of Introduction We cannot say that this is Paul’s first letter to a church, for in 2Th_2:2 h...

JFB: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) The AUTHENTICITY of this Epistle is attested by IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 5.6.1], quoting 1Th 5:23; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [The Instructor, 1.88], qu...

JFB: 1 Thessalonians (Outline) ADDRESS: SALUTATION: HIS PRAYERFUL THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE. THEIR FIRST RECEPTION OF THE GOSPEL, AND THEIR GOOD INFLUENCE ON ALL...

TSK: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) Overview 1Th 4:1, He exhorts them to go forward in all manner of godliness; 1Th 4:6, to live holily and justly; 1Th 4:9, to love one another; 1Th ...

Poole: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 4

MHCC: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) This epistle is generally considered to have been the first of those written by St. Paul. The occasion seems to have been the good report of the stedf...

MHCC: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) (1Th 4:1-8) Exhortations to purity and holiness. (1Th 4:9-12) To brotherly love, peaceable behaviour, and diligence. (1Th 4:13-18) Not to sorrow und...

Matthew Henry: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Epistle of st. Paul to the Thessalonians Thessalonica was formerly the metropolis of Macedoni...

Matthew Henry: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) In this chapter the apostle gives earnest exhortations to abound in holiness, with a caution against uncleanness, enforced with several arguments (...

Barclay: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL The Letters Of Paul There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letter...

Barclay: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) The Summons To Purity (1Th_4:1-8) The Necessity Of The Day's Work (1Th_4:9-12) Concerning Those Who Are Asleep (1Th_4:13-18)

Constable: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) Introduction Historical background Thessalonica was an important city. Cassander, the ...

Constable: 1 Thessalonians (Outline)

Constable: 1 Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians Bibliography Askwith, E. H. "I' and We' in the Thesalonian Epistles." Expositor. Series 8:1 (19...

Haydock: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE, TO THE THESSALONIANS. INTRODUCTION. St. Paul having preached with success at Thessalonica, the chi...

Gill: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO 1 THESSALONIANS Thessalonica was a very large, populous, and flourishing city, it was "liberae conditionis", as Pliny says a, a fre...

Gill: 1 Thessalonians 4 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO 1 THESSALONIANS 4 In this chapter the apostle proceeds to exhort in general to the performance of good works, particularly to purit...

College: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction) FOREWORD This commentary has been produced through a full schedule of college and seminary teaching and church-based ministry. In the current climate...

College: 1 Thessalonians (Outline) OUTLINE I. GREETING - 1:1 II. THANKSGIVING - 1:2-10 A. The Initial Thanksgiving - 1:2-5 1. Paul's Constant Prayers for the Readers - 1:2 ...

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