For this is [the] will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication;
Many people wonder what God wants for their life. Paul answers plainly: God wants His people set apart for Himself, and the first test of that is what a believer does with his own body.
People hunt for God's will as if it were hidden. On this subject, there is nothing to hunt for:
On the other hand, God has expressed His will in His Word about many things in our practical, daily lives. Do we rejoice in what He has said about the way we should behave? We can know these things for certain too. For example: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality." Many other scriptures show us plainly what conduct is right and fitting. Let us get to know them well by reading and thinking them over.
"Sanctification" sounds like a mood or a manner. Its root sense is far simpler:
To some, sanctification just means putting on a holy face. It means nothing of the sort; nor does it even mean becoming very holy, except in a secondary sense. The primary meaning of sanctify is to set apart — to separate from base uses to the service and pleasure of God.
In this letter that setting apart shows up in ordinary behaviour:
In the first letter to the Thessalonians it is clearly a question of practice. "This is the will of God, our sanctification." "For God has not called us to impurity, but in holiness" — or sanctification. Here it is plain that he is speaking of walking in holiness every day.
Paul starts with the body. The readers' background explains why:
The first quality that should mark those who profess the Name of Jesus, and tread the path of faith, is personal purity. God had called those converts out of a pagan system. There people chased the lusts of the flesh openly in everyday life, and their corrupt religion even turned those lusts into gods. Idol worship surrounded them, and it glorified lust... If these warnings were needed back then, they matter just as deeply in these last difficult days. The danger then, as now, is that we slowly stop caring about the evil, or treat it as a small thing.
The phrase "the will of God, even your sanctification" is easy to lift out on its own and stretch to mean whatever a reader wants. That is precisely the misuse one writer flags:
"The will of God, even your sanctification," is an abuse of the passage (1 Thess. 4:3); the end of it is left out, which totally alters the sense.
Yet the verse's own definition is not where Paul stops either. Abstaining is the floor, not the ceiling:
Holiness, of course, goes far beyond freedom from sensuality. Still, to stand clear of what was everywhere accepted in ordinary life was no small thing. The apostle is not content with the negative duty of abstaining. He calls on "each of them to know how to keep his own body in sanctification and honour," instead of letting it drift into sin and shame.
A letter full of the Lord's return turns, in this chapter, to bedroom ethics. That turn is deliberate:
That is what Christianity looks like in practice, and it is worthless if it is not practical... In the truth Christ has revealed there is no breadth or length, no height or depth that does not touch the state of our affections, or the character of our walk and work. No error dishonours God or damages man more than splitting theory from practice... truth is not there only to inform us, but to sanctify us.
Because it is God's will, no believer may treat it as a matter of taste. Nor does God leave him to manage it alone:
"This is the will of God, even your sanctification," is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4:3), showing that it is not optional for the Christian, not something to take up or drop as we please. What is more, God Himself works it out for His saints, and it covers everything. Paul went on to pray for them, "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely" (1 Thess. 5:23). Everything about us is to come under the sanctifying touch of the God of peace.
- Stated — God's will here is not hidden. He put it in writing, so we can know it and obey it.
- Set apart — that is what sanctification means: separated from base uses to God's service. In this letter it is a matter of daily walk.
- Started at the body — purity comes first. These converts came out of a religion that glorified lust, and we slip into treating such evil lightly.
- Stretched further — abstaining is only the negative half. Quote the verse without its ending and you alter the sense; Paul presses on to sanctification and honour.
- Sustained — it is not optional, and we do not manage it alone. God Himself works it out, and the God of peace sanctifies us completely.
that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour,
Paul has just told the Thessalonians how to walk and please God. Now he names the first mark of it: personal purity. Older translations read "possess his own vessel" where the ESV has "control his own body," and the commentators work from that older wording. So two questions sit inside the verse. What is this "vessel"? And what does holding it "in holiness and honor" involve?
These believers had come out of a religion where immorality was part of the worship. That pressure did not stop when they believed.
The first quality that should mark those who profess the Name of Jesus, and follow the path of faith, is personal purity. These converts had been called out of a pagan system. There the desires of the flesh were not only pursued without shame in everyday life; their corrupt religion made gods of them. An idol-worshipping system surrounded them. It glorified lust, and its temple ritual included the worst immoralities... The danger then, as now, is that without really noticing it, we become indifferent to the evil, or treat it as a small thing.
Commentators differ here. Some read the vessel as the believer's own body — a thing the pagan world treated as a tool for any use it pleased.
The body was nothing more than a vessel, to be used at will for whatever purpose they chose. They were to possess this vessel, instead of letting the desires of the flesh carry them away — because they knew God.
Others read it of a man's own wife, which fits the warning that follows about wronging a brother.
Each was to possess his own vessel (his own wife) in sanctification and honour. This would guard him against the many immoralities practised among the pagans. If anyone overstepped another's rights in this matter and so wronged his brother by committing adultery, the Lord would be the avenger. It would show complete disregard for God, who has not called His people to impurity, but to sanctification — to be separated from all these things.
The Greek word behind "possess" carries more than simply having something. Here it means keeping hold of what you are in danger of losing.
The Greek word translated "possess" means more than "possess." It is not to have what is already mine, but to gain — or, as here, to keep, to hold on to, when you are in danger of not keeping it.
Verse 3 says what to avoid. Verse 4 asks for more: knowing how to handle what God has entrusted to you.
Holiness, of course, goes far beyond freedom from sensuality... And the apostle is not satisfied with the negative duty of abstaining. He calls on each of them "to know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour," instead of letting it drift into sin and shame.
Why should the body be held in honour? The answer lies in what Christ has done — in His own body, and in ours.
The true honour of the body was never seen until Christ came and proved it. He proved it in His own person as man, and in ours too — redeemed by His blood and indwelt by the Holy Spirit... Even now the Lord does not look down on this temple of the Spirit. How much less will He when it is changed into the likeness of His glory?
Where does the power for this come from? Two natures are at work in the believer.
The believer is born of God, so his new nature has holy tastes and desires. But the flesh, the old nature we have from Adam, is also in us. So the power for holiness lies in walking with God in conscious dependence on Him.
Purity is only the start. The same care shapes every relationship a believer stands in.
Possessing his vessel applies to all the conduct of the believer. Verse 6 warns against overstepping proper limits to cheat or oppress one's brother in any matter. Whatever relationships we are placed in, we must be careful to respect the responsibilities that belong to them.
Darby names who is really wronged in such a case.
The man wronged in this way was not only the husband of a wife. He was the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and ought to be respected as such.
- Possess, don't drift. The word means keeping hold of what you are in danger of losing. It is the opposite of letting your life drift into sin and shame.
- Possess what? Commentators differ: some take the vessel as your own body, others as your own wife. Either way, something entrusted to you is at stake.
- Possess in honour. Christ showed the body's true worth. He took a human body Himself, redeemed ours by His blood, and made it the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
- Possess by dependence. The new nature has holy desires, but the flesh is still there. The power to keep the vessel comes from walking with God, not from willpower.
- Possess in every relationship. Purity is the first test. The same care must govern how you treat a brother in any matter, because the Lord is the avenger.
(not in passionate desire, even as the nations who know not God,)
Paul has just told the Thessalonians that God's will is their sanctification, and that each is to hold his own vessel in honour. This verse gives the contrast: the nations around them live by passion, and the reason is that they do not know God.
The verse speaks of "the passion of lust." A reference work in the collection lists this verse and defines that lust simply:
Undue and unlawful lust. Rom. 7:8; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:5.
One writer sets the two possible uses of these human vessels side by side:
We are set to walk in a way that pleases God. So we are told plainly what God's will is. It is that we walk in practical sanctification. That sanctification stays clear of lust. It holds these human vessels as set apart for honourable uses. It does not keep them just for the gratification of evil passions, as with those who do not know God.
Thessalonica was a Greek city. Pressure on new believers came from every side at once — daily habits, learning, and worship:
The apostle pressed one thing above all: the personal purity of those who bore the name of Jesus. He pressed it the more because the Greeks failed in it completely. Their habits and their literature helped the evil along, and so did their statesmen and their philosophers. Their very religion made the defilement worse. It treated as sacred the very thing that corrupt nature is already drawn to. Few can grasp the moral horrors of that pagan world, or how little most people felt such shameless pollution. Christ changed all of this for those who believe in Him. He left an example that they should follow His steps.
The phrase "who do not know God" is more than a remark about Thessalonica's neighbours. Scripture describes the nations this way again and again, and the words return where judgment is in view:
Here the question is one of vengeance. It does not fall on unbelievers marked by two features, as Calvin says. It falls on two distinct objects of judgment. One is "those who do not know God" — the Gentiles, described in just this way in 1 Thessalonians 4:5, and in substance throughout Scripture.
The verse gives a reason, not just a comparison. What the nations lack, the believer has:
But the motives given here show the entirely new ground on which Christianity places us. This is true even for the most ordinary morality. The body was only a vessel to use at will, for whatever purpose they chose. They were to possess this vessel, instead of letting the desires of the flesh carry them away. The reason was that they knew God.
William Kelly puts the ruin and the remedy side by side:
When God is dishonoured, man is depraved. And God, in forgiving and rescuing from the wrath to come through Christ's death and resurrection, also gives a new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit acts on that life by the word, so that it bears fruits of righteousness through Him to God's glory.
Commentators differ on what the "vessel" is. Some read it as the believer's own body, as the quotation above does. Others read it as a man's wife, so that marriage itself is the safeguard:
Each was to possess his own vessel — his own wife — in sanctification and honour. This would be a safeguard against the many immoralities practised among the pagans. Suppose someone overstepped the rights of another in this matter and so wronged his brother by committing adultery. Then the Lord would be the avenger.
Why would new believers need such a warning? Their old world had shaped them, and every age brings its own pressure:
God had called those converts out of a pagan system. In it, people not only pursued the lusts of the flesh shamelessly in everyday life; their depraved religion also made those lusts divine... These warning exhortations were needed in that day. They matter just as much in these last difficult days. The danger then, as now, is that we hardly notice ourselves growing indifferent to the evil, or thinking lightly of it.
- Not knowing. Scripture keeps one description of the nations: they do not know God. That ignorance, not weak willpower, is the root of the passion named here.
- Knowing God. Christianity puts even ordinary morality on new ground. The believer possesses his vessel instead of letting desire carry him along, because he knows God.
- Knowing how. The call is not only to stay clear of lust. It is to hold the vessel in sanctification and honour. Commentators read that vessel as either the body or the wife.
- Knowing the pressure. Thessalonica's religion treated impurity as sacred. So the converts' old habits and their neighbours' lives pulled the same way.
- Knowing the danger now. The real risk is drifting into indifference, thinking lightly of what God has called us out of.
not overstepping the rights of and wronging his brother in the matter, because the Lord [is] the avenger of all these things, even as we also told you before, and have fully testified.
This verse draws a hard line inside the Christian family. No believer may step over it and take what belongs to a brother, because the Lord Himself takes up the case of the wronged brother.
Most writers keep this wrong inside the subject of purity. Paul speaks of it delicately, because the sin touches a brother's marriage:
There is no real reason to bring in a new subject here... This is the apostle's delicate way of referring to the same uncleanness, especially in marriage, where a brother's rights were violated. That called for special notice, and it gets it. Christian brotherhood brings people into free, happy and close fellowship. That very closeness holds a special danger, in case Satan tempts where faith has not kept the flesh in the place of death... Clearly the passage does not branch off into business dealings, or into dishonesty in everyday life.
One Bible dictionary puts it briefly: the verse "refers to the same subject, concerning a brother's wife" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
Commentators differ. Others read "the matter" in a wider sense, so the verse guards every relationship a believer is in, not only marriage:
Possessing his vessel — his own body — covers the whole conduct of the believer, and verse 6 warns against going beyond proper limits to cheat or oppress one's brother in any matter. Whatever relationships we are placed in, we must be careful to respect the responsibilities that belong to them. It would, of course, be easier to take advantage of one's brother than of a stranger, but this is sin. "The Lord is the Avenger of all such," and Paul had warned them of this beforehand.
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Read either way, the sting is the same. Closeness makes the wrong easier, and closeness is exactly where Satan tempts.
The Thessalonians came out of a world where this sin carried no shame. Old habits do not die at conversion:
The apostle takes up the subject of purity in particular. Pagan morals were so corrupt that people did not even count impurity as sin. It seems strange to us that Christians as lively as the Thessalonians needed such a warning. But we do not allow enough for the power of the habits people grow up with. Those habits become almost a part of our nature and of the way we think.
The clause is not a threat of hell but a statement of how God governs His own children now. He does not let the wrong drop:
The Apostle also taught the principles of God's holy government among His children, causing us to reap what we sow. "The Lord is the Avenger" of all who are wronged by their brethren, "as we also have forewarned you and testified."
Forgiveness and consequence are two different things, and the first does not cancel the second:
"Whatever one sows, that will he also reap." God may forgive the sin of sowing weeds, but the reaping must match the sowing. The first is grace, the second is government. Each acts in its own sphere, and neither interferes with the other.
The wrong looks like a private matter between two believers. But the wrongdoer has three others to answer to:
First, we have to reckon with the Lord, who will deal with us in His righteous government of His saints. If someone wrongs another, the Lord makes Himself the Avenger of the wronged one's cause. Second, we have to reckon with God. It may look as if the wrongdoer is only despising or disregarding the rights of a man, but in reality he is disregarding the rights of God. Third, we have to consider the Spirit of God. He is the Holy Spirit — the word for holy comes from the same root as the words for sanctification in the verses above. Since the Spirit has been given, He sets us apart for God.
That last point cuts deepest. The wrong reaches past the brother to the Spirit Himself: "to act like this would be to despise that Spirit, both in oneself and in one's brother in whom He also dwells" (J. N. Darby).
- Boundary. Most writers take "the matter" as a brother's marriage rights. Others read it as any dealing at all. Either way the line is the same: do not take what belongs to another.
- Nearness. Christian fellowship is warm and open, and that is where the temptation works. Closeness calls for more care, not less.
- Habit. New believers still carry the habits of the world they came from. That is why even lively Christians needed this plain warning.
- Government. The Lord takes up the wronged brother's cause. Grace forgives the sin; God's government still lets the harvest come.
- Weight. The Holy Spirit lives in the brother you wrong, so the offence passes over the man and lands on God.
For God has not called us to uncleanness, but in sanctification.
Paul has been warning the Thessalonians to keep clear of sexual sin, and here he gives the reason: God's call itself has a character. Where the ESV reads "impurity," the older wording quoted below is "uncleanness."
The word translated "holiness" here appears twice already in this passage. Its force shows in the contrast Paul draws.
The word sanctification in fact occurs three times in these verses. In verse 7 it is translated "holiness," where it stands in contrast with uncleanness. We have been called to sanctification. If we ignore this, we will find serious consequences in three directions.
In this letter the word points to practice — the way a believer lives from day to day.
Again, in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians it is clearly a question of practice. "This is the will of God, our sanctification." "For God has not called us to uncleanness but in holiness" or sanctification. Here it is plain that he is speaking of walking in holiness every day. In all of it he is looking at the practical work that goes on in the believer.
The verse says God called us in holiness, not merely to it. That small word carries weight.
So we are called in sanctification. It is the condition of our existence. It does not come before the call; it is the condition — that without which the calling would not be what it is.
Holiness is not simply doing what is right. It carries feelings with it.
Uncleanness is here put in contrast to holiness. We are called not only to righteousness, but to holiness. Holiness involves the love of what is good and the hatred of evil. Righteousness does not ask for such feelings, but the believer must be holy as well as righteous.
These were new believers from a culture that did not count sexual sin as sin. Old habits run deeper than we allow for.
The apostle takes up especially the subject of purity, for the pagan morals were so corrupt that impurity was not even accounted to be sin. It seems strange to us that Christians as full of life as the Thessalonians needed such a warning. But we do not allow enough for the power of habits people are brought up in. Those habits become part of our nature and of the flow of our thoughts... The motives given here show what completely new ground Christianity puts us on, even in the most ordinary morality. The body was just a vessel, to be used at will for whatever service they chose. They were to keep control of this vessel, instead of letting the desires of the flesh carry them away, because they knew God.
The word covers one definite sin, and Kelly marks its limits:
This is the apostle's delicate way of pointing to the same uncleanness, above all in married life, where someone violates a brother's rights... The true grace of God does not spare the strongest and repeated warnings, for God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. It is plain that there is no branching off to commercial dealings, or to dishonesty in the affairs of every-day life.
Hole named three directions of consequence. Here are the last two:
The wrongdoer may seem to be despising only the rights of a man. In reality he is disregarding the rights of God. Third, we must reckon with the Spirit of God, and He is the Holy Spirit. The word for holy comes from the same root as the words for sanctification in the verses above. God has given us the Spirit, and He sets us apart for God.
The God who calls is Himself holy. Conduct that breaks with holiness tells a lie about Him.
That which marked us in our unconverted state was lusts and ignorance; that which is to mark us now is divine holiness. "God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness." And He who has called us is Himself holy. He says, "So be holy in all your conduct" — in every bit of how you behave. If any part of it breaks holiness, that is a libel on our calling, and on Him who has called us.
- Call — God does not merely call us to holiness. He calls us in it. Without holiness the call would not be what it is.
- Character — the One who calls is holy. Conduct with any hint of uncleanness is a libel on the call and on the Caller.
- Contrast — holiness stands opposite uncleanness. It asks more than righteousness: love of good and hatred of evil.
- Conduct — this sanctification is daily and practical. A believer keeps control of his own body instead of being carried along by desire.
- Consequence — to shrug at this slights God, not a man. It also disregards the Holy Spirit He has given, the One who sets us apart for God.
He therefore that [in this] disregards [his brother], disregards, not man, but God, who has given also his Holy Spirit to you.
Paul closes his call to purity with a warning. Whoever waves this teaching aside is not waving aside a preacher's opinion, but treating God lightly — the God who called him and gave him the Holy Spirit.
Older translations read "despises" here. The word means to disregard, and the one disregarded is the believer's own brother.
"Despises." It means, He therefore who [in this] disregards [his brother], disregards not man but God.
If anyone disregards his brother by overstepping his marriage rights, it is not man only but God whom he disregards; for the Holy Spirit dwells in that brother who has been wronged.
Wrong done to a brother does not stop with the brother. One writer counts three Persons a believer must reckon with here.
First, we have to reckon with the Lord, who will deal with us in His righteous government of His saints. If someone has wronged another, the Lord will make Himself the Avenger of their cause. Second, we have God to reckon with. It may seem as if the wrongdoer is only despising or disregarding the rights of a man. In reality he is disregarding the rights of God. Third, we have the Spirit of God to consider, and He is the Holy Spirit. The word for holy comes from the same root as the words for sanctification in the verses above. God has given the Spirit, and He sets us apart for God.
God Himself keeps account of a wrong done to a brother.
God has called us to holiness. It is with Him that we have to do. Suppose someone despised his brother, taking advantage of his weakness of mind to encroach on his rights in this respect. That would be to despise not man but God, who would Himself remember it, and who has given us His Spirit. To act like this would be to despise that Spirit, both in oneself and in one's brother in whom He also dwells.
The manuscripts differ over one word in this verse:
"God, who has also given to us His Holy Spirit," to dwell in us — Christians. Some read you instead of us.
The Spirit is not only the reason impurity is offensive. He is also the reason it is avoidable.
Here uncleanness stands in contrast to holiness. God calls us not only to righteousness but to holiness, and holiness means loving what is good and hating evil. Righteousness does not call for such feelings, but the believer must be holy as well as righteous. Suppose we think lightly of improper conduct. Then we are not simply despising men's opinions. We are despising God Himself, who, in the very act of giving us His Holy Spirit, has given us the power both to recognise uncleanness and to refuse it.
Warnings this strong are not a failure of kindness. The very closeness of Christians to one another is where the danger lies.
This is the apostle's delicate way of pointing to the same uncleanness. He has marriage especially in mind, where someone overstepped a brother's rights... The brotherhood of Christians brings them into free, happy and close company. So the danger is sharpest in these very circumstances, in case Satan tempts them where faith has not held the flesh as dead... True grace does not hold back the strongest and repeated warnings.
The same reasoning reaches past this one sin. It touches how believers treat each other in everything.
To disregard any brother, and overstep his rights, is to do wrong against God, who dwells in those who are His. It is wholesome and elevating to regard each other rightly, and not to think carelessly of the saints of God. This is no difficult matter where the love of God is known.
- Called — God calls us to holiness, not to uncleanness. Ignore that call and you meet three Persons: the Lord as Avenger, God whose rights you slight, and the Holy Spirit.
- Given — the warning rests on a gift, not a rule. God has given His Holy Spirit, and that name, Holy, shares its root with the word sanctification.
- Indwelling — the Spirit lives in the wrongdoer and in the person wronged. One act of impurity despises Him in two people at once.
- Despising — so the offence is never just against a man. To overstep any brother's rights is to do wrong against God, who dwells in those who are His.
- Power — the same gift that makes the sin grave also makes it refusable. The Spirit gives power to see uncleanness and to turn from it.