1 Thessalonians 4:14

for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

If we believe, .... "There is no uncertainty implied by the use of the conditional, the same being an idiomatic way of arguing from a certainty, as when Jesus said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I come again" (John 14:3).

Asleep in Jesus ... Stibbs construed the prepositional phrase in this passage as modifying "God will bring," rendering it: "Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep";[26] but this would seem to be both arbitrary and awkward. While true enough that the resurrection shall be accomplished "through Jesus," the thing in view here is that community of souls who are "asleep in Jesus." This passage does not deny the general resurrection of all the dead, but the general resurrection of unbelievers is not mentioned. The glorious promises of this passage are for them that sleep Jesus." Thus, again, the supreme importance of being Christ" appears as a mandatory prerequisite of receiving any Christian blessing. The apostle John wrote: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord (Revelation 14:13); and the same teaching is in Paul's words here.

Before leaving this verse it is important to note the implications that are inherent in it. Moffatt states them thus:

Since Paul left, some of the Thessalonian Christians had died, and the survivors were distressed with the fear that these would have to occupy a position secondary to those who lived until the Advent of the Lord, or even that they had passed beyond any such participation at all.[27]

To these implications, there is another to be added. The Thessalonians who were the object of Paul's concern were not worried about themselves, but only about their deceased members, indicating that they fully expected to live to the Second Advent! Of course, this expectation was erroneous, and it may not be inferred that they had received any such false impression from what Paul had actually taught. The appearance of 2Thessalonians such a short time later to correct their false views proves conclusively that the false views were not of apostolic origin, but due only to their improper deductions. It should be remembered that Paul's instruction of them had been interrupted by persecution before it was concluded.

[26] A. M. Stibbs, New Bible Commentary Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1159.

[27] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 46.