Chapter Four
1 Thess. 4:1. Furthermore then, brethren, we ask and exhort you by Christ Jesus, that as you have received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more,
After I have told you, he says, about what is fitting to hear, next listen about what is always necessary to hear. "Furthermore" is what this means, that is, always and unceasingly. See what humility: he does not consider himself worthy of belief, even in matters of exhortation, but offers the word from Christ, saying: Christ exhorts you through me. The word "having received" refers not to words only, but also to deeds, for he taught by deeds as well. About what then do we beseech? "That you would abound more and more," that is, that you would strive to do more than what the commandments require, and that you would rise above the ordinances. Just as the earth produces not only what has been cast into it, so too the soul must not stop at the ordinances, but rise above them.
1 Thess. 4:2. For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.⁴
A commandment concerns such things which must be avoided, the commission of which entails punishment, while not committing them deserves no praise whatsoever. Meanwhile, there are certain matters that ought not to be commanded; that is, not imposed with a threat, but left to the will of the hearers, such as, for example, the distribution of possessions and virginity. "He who is able to receive it," says the Lord, "let him receive it" (Matt. 19:12). Probably Paul gave them a commandment concerning certain matters with a greater threat. Therefore he does not set this forth here, but only reminds them. And again in the name of Christ. They are not my commandments, he says, but Christ's; so that you will either obey Him or reject Him.
1 Thess. 4:3. For the will of God is your sanctification,
That is, chastity. Everywhere he gives commandment concerning this virtue, both in the Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim. 5:22), and to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:6), and to the Hebrews (Heb. 12:14). For this passion is especially strong and therefore requires many and constant remedies.
1 Thess. 4:3. that you should abstain from fornication;⁵
There are many different kinds of this passion, which are even unbearable to speak of, and therefore he simply said: "from all fornication."
1 Thess. 4:4. That each one of you should know how to keep his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
He calls the body a vessel. When we are temperate, the body is also pure, and we have mastery over it; but when it is impure, sin has mastery over it. For whatever sin commands, the body does, like a slave. Properly speaking, it is in honor when it is chaste. Thus sin is dishonor. Pay attention to the word "to keep." It shows that chastity requires training and struggle. Where then are the Manichaeans and Marcionites who complain against nature?
1 Thess. 4:5. and not in the passion of lust,
That is, not in desire that contains passion. For there is also dispassionate desire, such as the desire for divine things. Or, that everything which arouses lust he calls a passion of lust, such as luxury, wealth, idleness, and negligence — each of these can be called a passion of lust. Thus, if we wish to be chaste, we must not permit ourselves any passion that arouses lust.
1 Thess. 4:5. as the Gentiles who do not know God;
Those who do not know God have no hope of recompense either. Therefore they do everything for their own pleasure.
1 Thess. 4:6. that you not wrong or defraud your brother in any matter:
Above the apostle speaks of fornication in general, but now he speaks of adultery, which he rightly calls covetousness and transgression. For God gave each man a wife and set limits to nature, meaning cohabitation with this one wife. Therefore covetousness applies to this matter, that is, to unlawful cohabitation; and specifically against a brother.
1 Thess. 4:6. For the Lord is the avenger for all these things, as we also previously told you and testified.
Do not think, he says, that I say this only with regard to brothers; no, one must not have the wives of other people either, whether unmarried women or the wives of others. For the Lord punishes for all of this: we do not do this without punishment; we will bear a far greater punishment compared to the pleasure we now receive from it. Look: first the apostle entreated, then he shamed them by saying "even as the Gentiles," then through arguments he showed the vileness of this vice, calling it covetousness; finally, he frightens them and reminds them that they have often heard about this from him.
1 Thess. 4:7. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness.
1 Thess. 4:8. Therefore he that is disobedient is disobedient not to man, but to God, Who also gave us His Holy Spirit.
After having said that you wrong your brother, and having pointed out that God will avenge, he now expands his thought, showing that even if an unbeliever suffered this, the guilty one will still bear punishment. For God will punish you not in avenging him, but for His own sake — He called you so that you would be pure, and you have insulted by your impurity the One who gave you the Holy Spirit. Therefore, whether you defile your married slave or a queen, the guilt is the same, for you insult the one God. Even if you were fornicating (and not committing adultery), God will still avenge, because you have defiled His Spirit. Or yet another way: God, seeing that in such matters we show more contempt toward Him than toward people, will avenge for Himself. Before people we take care that they do not see us with their own eyes, but we show contempt toward God, despite the fact that He sees.
1 Thess. 4:9. But as touching brotherly love ye have no need (ἔχετε)⁶ that I write unto you;
The Apostle no longer speaks of love toward all, but of love toward the brethren. By the very omission he already exhorts, achieving two purposes: first, this matter is so necessary that there is no need even to learn it, for everyone knows that it holds particular importance for all. Second, by this he admonishes them all the more, urging them not to fall below the opinion he had of them, considering them already corrected.
1 Thess. 4:9. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,