1 Thessalonians 4:3

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

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

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:3

For this is the will of God. The phrase, "the will of God," has two significations in Scripture: the one is the determination of God—his decree; the other is his desire, that in which he delights—a will, however, which may be frustrated by the perversity of his creatures. It is in this latter sense that the word is here employed. Even your sanctification ; complete consecration; holiness taken in its most general so. use. Our holiness is the great design of Christ's death, and is the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

Holiness is the end aimed at in all the dispensations of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:9 - Brotherly love. 1. Its nature. It is a love to all believers as believers, as being the children of the same Father, the brethren of the same Savior, the members of the same family, the sharers of the same grace, and the expectants of the same glorious immortality. To all men we are related by a common humanity, but to Christians we are still more closely related by a common Christianity. 2. ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Thessalonians 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 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,... read more

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