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.