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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Here we have, I. An exhortation to abound in holiness, to abound more and more in that which is good, 1 Thess. 4:1, 2. We may observe, 1. The manner in which the exhortation is given?very affectionately. The apostle entreats them as brethren; he calls them so, and loved them as such. Because his love to them was very great, he exhorts them very earnestly: We beseech and exhort you. The apostle was unwilling to take any denial, and therefore repeats his exhortation again and again. 2. The... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

4:1-8 Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you have received instructions from us as to how you must behave to please God, even so you do behave, that you may go on from more to more. For you know what orders we gave you through the Lord Jesus; for this is God's will for you, that you should live consecrated lives, I mean, that you should keep yourselves from fornication, that each of you should know how to possess his own body in consecration and in honour,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 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 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:4

That everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel ,.... By which may be meant, either a man's wife, or his body, and it is not very easy to determine which, for the Jews call both by this name. Sometimes they call F16 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol 22. 2. a woman גולם , which the gloss says is a "vessel" unfinished. It is reported F17 Juchasin, fol. 48. 2. Shalsheleth Hakkabala, fol. 23. 1. , that when R. Eleazar died, Rabbenu Hakkadosh would have married his widow, and she... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:5

Not in the lust of concupiscence ,.... Or "passion of lust"; for the mere gratifying and indulging of that; for a man so to possess his vessel, is to cherish the sin of concupiscence, the first motions of sin in the heart, by which a man is drawn away, and enticed; to blow up the flame of lust, and to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof: even as the Gentiles which know not God ; for, though they knew him, or might know him with a natural knowledge, by the light and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Thessalonians 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 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. That ye should abstain from fornication - The word πορνεια , as we have seen in other places, includes... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Thessalonians 4:4

How to possess his vessel - Let every man use his wife for the purpose alone for which God created her, and instituted marriage. The word σκευος answers to the Hebrew כלי keli , which, though it signifies vessel in general, has several other meanings. That the rabbins frequently express wife by it, Schoettgen largely proves; and to me it appears very probable that the apostle uses it in that sense here. St. Peter calls the wife the weaker Vessel, 1 Peter 3:7 . Others think that the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Thessalonians 4:5

Not in the lust of concupiscence - Having no rational object, aim, nor end. Some say, "not like beasts;" but this does not apply as they who use it wish, for the males and females of the brute creation are regular and consistent in their intercourse, and scarcely ever exceed such bounds as reason itself would prescribe to those most capable of observing and obeying its dictates. The Gentiles which know not God - These are the beasts; their own brutes are rational creatures when compared... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Thessalonians 4:3

Verse 3 3For 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5

With this chapter commences the hortatory part of the Epistle. I. EXHORTATION TO ADVANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT HAD BEEN DELIVERED TO THEM OF THE DIVINE WILL . "Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk,—that ye abound more and more." The announcement which is made by "finally" of the close of the Epistle is to be taken as meaning that the... read more

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