1 Thessalonians 4

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 - How to live in order to please God

Summary

Living in order to please God involves obeying God’s commands—all of them, not just the easy or not-burdensome ones. It is depressing that many deny this fact (not with their lips, but in how they actually live), practicing Christianity only as “Sunday morning Christians”, rather than offering up their entire lives as living sacrifices, in the manner Romans 12:1-3 tells us to do. For all the worship songs they may sing and shallow emotional highs they may experience (fancying this “worship”), God will not praise such people on Judgement Day. Because instead of subordinating everything in their lives to the truth of the Word of God so that their minds might be transformed—which is true worship, as scripture plainly states—they convinced themselves that somehow they “love God”… despite not really obeying His commands to any great extent.

We should take pains to not delude ourselves in such a way. If we wish to please God, there is no way to do so except by doing everything in our power to learn His commands, and then actually obey them in complete and total submission to His Will—essentially meaning we need to 1) learn the Word of God, 2) actually believe it, 3) apply it to our lives by passing the tests and trials put before us, and then 4) help others do likewise. There is no substitute for this hard work of spiritual growth—none whatsoever.

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Loving God means actually obeying His commands

When Paul speaks of “living in order to please God”, we are not to take this as some special or mysterious thing. It is nothing more than following the instructions given to us in the Bible (and no doubt expanded upon by Paul’s teaching when he was physically with the Thessalonians).

For us nowadays, since we no longer have the Apostles (or prophets) with us to guide us, we rely solely on Word of God to determine how to live in order to please God.

So what does the Word of God have to say about all this? A good place to start is with is the passage enumerating the so-called “greatest commandments”:

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1 John 5 is also very relevant:

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Do not be deceived: “love” is not some airy-fairy feeling. It is not mere emotion. It is obedience and submission and keeping the commands of God. If we would wish to please God, we must follow what He instructs us to do. After all, how do soldiers please their superiors here in the physical world? By carrying out their orders with excellence and distinction. In the same way, we are Christian soldiers, and Jesus Christ is our Commanding Officer (and never a better Commanding Officer has there ever been, nor shall there ever be). So why do we imagine that pleasing God will be anything other than obedience? That somehow we can just “love Him” (I suppose entailing thinking warm fuzzy thoughts, putting on a show of praise and “worship”, and paying lip service to God), but not bother with actually learning and then submitting to all the Bible teaches?

The vast majority of self-professed Christians today do not know very much of what the Bible teaches—not really. Just be truly honest and look around (and perhaps inward). And if we humans know God’s commands only through His Word, then this means that these people who don’t really know what the Bible teaches aren’t very familiar with what God commands of us. And if they aren’t very familiar with what God commands of us, they can’t keep His commands properly. And if they don’t keep His commands properly, the Bible says they don’t love God. (If not in an all-or-nothing fashion, certainly in a relative sense; people “do not love God” to the exact extent that they flout His commands as a direct consequence of not even bothering to try to fully learn what they might be).

Those who actually believe necessarily behave differently; faith that is truly alive always bears fruit

Can you be saved if you don’t love God—if you don’t do what God commands of us? James 2:14-26 speaks of those who say they “have faith” (without it being accompanied by works), and that that alone will somehow save them. Such “faith” is dead (James 2:17). In other words, it is, in truth, no true faith at all. Since all true faith leads to “works of faith” (Note: these are not primarily what things people tend to think of with blinders on, like giving money to the poor—the examples James uses are Abraham offering up his only son upon the altar, and Rahab sheltering the Jewish spies from capture and death; the thing in common is the immense faith these actions took), someone who claims “faith” without any works of faith is simply deluding themselves.

This is not to make us all walk around questioning our salvation. If you believe the gospel message, you are saved—the Bible is very clear about that (cf. John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-10). But we do need to be brutally honest with ourselves about exactly how “alive” our faith is. Because James 2 clearly links the “health of our faith-plant” (cf. the Parable of the Sower and John 15:1-17) with how much we work out our faith. If we say we believe, but behave the exact same way as the unbelievers (and share their exact same priorities, and so on), well “how much” do we believe, really?

Let me use an analogy. Let’s say you somehow knew a particular stock was certain to go up 900% in the next week. If you actually believed this, would you not do everything in your power to buy as much of it as you possibly could, to maximize your return? Wouldn’t you look at someone really funny if they said that they “really” believe this (pinky promise)… but then buy none of the stock whatsoever? Would you not think to yourself, “This person doesn’t really believe this, because if they did, their behavior would necessarily be different”?

So, tell me, why do we as Christians tend to be so unwilling to apply that same logic to our faith in God? The Bible certainly does, so we should too. So that we do not lie to ourselves and live lives unworthy of the immeasurable price Christ paid to redeem us from our sin and just condemnation. So that we ensure that we live lives pleasing to God as good Christian soldiers.

Given the priorities of most modern churches, focusing on the truth as you ought will likely make you an outcast

We should do what we have been discussing—and be completely unapologetic about it, and unyielding in it—despite what everyone else around us might be saying. For example, most modern churches won’t agree with the assessment that most of the Church visible is steeped in lukewarmness and ignorance of the Bible, despite it being objective truth (and obvious, at that, for any who care to look with the least bit of honesty). Do you imagine that they will be happy when you say that it is all about the truth of the Word of God, when in fact most modern churches spend the greater part of their time and focus and money on many, many things other than that? Many modern churches barely teach anything of substance at all, and those that do either teach so many false things or keep their focus on such a narrow subset of what the Bible teaches—e.g., about such happy topics as marriage and love and family—that they too ought to be greatly ashamed.

Put bluntly, if you follow things here to their logical conclusions, you won’t fit it in at most modern churches, since most modern churches really only pay lip service to teaching the full truth of the Word of God. But that’s OK, since we are out to please God, not man. Because we know that true worship (as opposed to whatever it is people imagine it to be) is dedicating our lives as living sacrifices to God, being transformed in our thinking by the power of His Word (Romans 12:1-3, and cf. John 4:23-24). That people somehow think we can “renew our minds” in any way other than the hard work of learning, believing, and applying the Bible to our lives (and then helping others do likewise) is why many self-professed Christians will never worship God as He actually wishes for them to (despite all their supposed “worship”), and will consequently never really live in order to please God. Let us not be among that number, even if it means we walk a lonelier road.


1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 - Sexual immorality

Summary

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 is one of passages of scripture that most clearly condemns sexual immorality. (1 Corinthians 6:12-20 is another). Sexual sin is no small matter in the eyes of God, and we must take pains to remember that, given our culture’s ever-laxer attitude towards it.

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No matter what our culture says, sexual immorality ought to be avoided at all costs

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 makes it clear that:

  • God desires that we be sanctified, avoiding sexual immorality so that we might control our bodies in a way that is holy and honorable
  • God punishes those who commit sexual sins
  • Those who do not heed God’s instructions in this area do not reject a human being, but God Himself.

This is perhaps more relevant in our culture now then in most times and places throughout human history. The culture in which the Bible was written—that is, a world that had been dominated first by Greece, and then by Rome—had plenty of sin in this area as well (perhaps more than many cultures since, up until recently). However, nowadays, we are constantly bombarded with advertising, movies, and other things of the world that tell us that we should do what we want, what gives us pleasure. “It’s natural”, they say.

Like the Thessalonians, however, these words apply to us. Whenever we feel the siren song of temptation in this area, we need to keep in mind these things that Paul reminds his readers about in this passage.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 as a parallel passage

It is also good to compare 1 Corinthians 6:18, which says that unlike many other kinds of sin, the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Actually, it is profitable to consider all of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 as we examine this matter, as it is very parallel to the warnings against sexual immorality present in this passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8:

  • Our bodies are not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13).
  • Our bodies are members of Christ himself. Shall we then take the members of Christ, and unite them with a prostitute? Never! (1 Corinthians 6:15).
  • Whoever sins sexually sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).
  • Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who indwells us (1 Corinthians 6:19).
  • We are not our own, but were bought at a price 1, so we need to honor God—our owner and redeemer—with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 - Loving the brethren

Summary

Even if we already love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can always do so more fully. We need to guard against thinking we’ve “made it” and have no more need for improvement in this area, just like all other areas besides. For the second we stop straining ever forward and put down our sword, at that moment our self-delusion will cripple our spiritual growth greatly. Because “the healthy” (in their own opinion) don’t even think they need a doctor, they cannot ever get better (cf. Luke 5:31-32; Revelation 3:17).

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In 1 Thessalonians 4:10, Paul encourages the Thessalonians to continue to love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia more and more.

We can always love more fully, even when we actually already are loving others (compare the first half of the verse)—and that is no low bar to clear in itself! This is actually rather important as a concept, because it means love is not binary, but a continuum. We all have more work to do here, even if we fancy ourselves as already spiritually advanced. If we ever think we have “made it”, we need to check our attitude.

I think perhaps it is easy to think of those in our lives that are easier for us to love—perhaps our spouse, our children, our families, and our friends who already love us in return—and then conclude that we do love other Christians as we ought. But what about everybody else around us in our church communities? We can’t stretch the context here in 1 Thessalonians 4 to include unbelievers since the text is very obvious talking about believers (“God’s family in Macedonia”), although we certainly need to love unbelievers—just as God does—in that we should desire their salvation and repentance. Even without including unbelievers, however, I am sure most Christians can think of a few people they know who profess Christianity (and may well be actual believers) who nonetheless are not easy for us to love, for whatever reason.

And this is why we all have work to do here, why it will always be a constant battle to love our brothers and sisters in Christ more and more—because selfishness and pride come much more naturally to us than service and humility. We must stay honest about the need for continual growth and progress here (as in other areas), to guard against legalism and an improperly inflated estimation of our holiness and accomplishments. Honesty with oneself is quite critical for us as Christians to make maximal forward progress; self-delusion affects all of humanity, Christians included (see here, for example). This area of growing ever more in our love for the brethren is a great example of the importance of avoiding self-delusion in our own walks—of thinking that we are “doing good” when in fact there is still a vast chasm between where we are and where God wants us.


1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 - Minding our own business and working with our hands

Summary

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 make it clear that we need to mind our own business and work with our hands. Put simply, we need to be pleased keep our heads down as we shoulder the responsibilities God has seen fit to give to us personally. This way we will win the respect of outsiders, and not be dependent on anybody.

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Minding our own business in general

In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul says “You should mind your own business and work with your hands.”

These commands apply just as much today as back then. The impulse to go get up in other people’s business can be overwhelming, especially when they are so, well… wrong.

Well, wrong according to God, or wrong according to you? And if you say the former, how do you know for sure? Is it sin? And if it’s not sin, how do you know it is not right for them, given that God makes us all different, and calls us all to different things?

We are allowed to be skeptical, to be sure. I’m skeptical when someone says God individually spoke to them, but instead of saying something spiritually momentous (e.g.), God apparently told the individual to go buy a yacht instead of supporting their children. Did God now? Interesting. I’d put my money on that not actually being true, but you know what, God is plenty capable of sorting it out. He doesn’t need my help doing it.

And really, that’s the problem here. When we start sticking our nose into other people’s affairs and telling them what’s what, that is not leaving judgment to the Lord. For the Lord is plenty capable of setting them straight—I promise (cf. Hebrews 12:4-12).

Sin is a somewhat different matter, since the Bible tells us to not associate with those who claim Christ but refuse to acknowledge sin (i.e., not that they sin—for we all sin—but that they refuse to acknowledge sin as such, and flout it in a sort of public way that cannot be ignored). See, for example, Matthew 18:15-17, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.

But there is a very large difference between (a) exhorting someone engaged in gross, public sin and then avoiding them thereafter if they refuse to listen the Word of God, vs. (b) snooping around in the affairs of others in an effort to uncover sin (even past sin) so that we might wag our finger and scold them for it.

We’ve all got skeletons in our closets, and most of us probably have far bigger skeletons far closer to the surface than we’d like. I certainly do. So let’s do everyone a favor and let the skeletons stay locked away there, and instead turn all our efforts towards encouraging our brothers and sisters to press forward toward the goal that we are all striving after—not looking back, but straining ever more single-mindedly towards the finish line (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:12-14).

What does working with our hands have to do with it?

Put simply, only idle people have the time to go about being busybodies.

If you dedicate yourself towards working outside the home (or working within the home, depending upon what God has called you to)—keeping your hands busy with the responsibilities in life that are yours to shoulder—once you add to that all the time you should be spending upon Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, and ministry (whatever ministry looks like for you specifically, as we are all called to different things)… well after all that, there simply won’t be any time left for you to go interfere in other people’s business. Not if you are doing it right.

It really is that simple.

What are some of the specific reasons for minding our own business while working with our hands?

Paul gives two reasons in 1 Thessalonians 4:12:

  • So that we might win the respect of outsiders
  • So that we will not be dependent on anybody

It’s about our witness. Being industrious—keeping our focus on what’s before us specifically, as we work unto the Lord—is the only way to achieve these things.

Idle people gossip and interfere. Idle people also depend upon others rather than pulling their own weight, becoming a burden to the body of Christ instead of being able to support others in need. This is why we need to be pleased keep our heads down as we shoulder the responsibilities God has seen fit to give to us personally.

If we give a good witness—live our lives as salt and light—and then let the chips fall where they may, God’s perfect justice will see to the rest. We need to be pleased to not only say we believe that, but to also live like we really do.


1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - The resurrection of the dead and the rapture at the second coming of Christ

Summary

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 speaks of the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ, and also the “catching up” of those believers still alive at the time, which is commonly called “the rapture”. All this happens when Christ returns right before Armageddon (as described in Revelation 19:11ff.), not before the Tribulation. Believing in the false doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture inherently makes one spiritually complacent, so getting this right is important.

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On the concept of “the rapture”

These verses say:

  • Those who have died will be resurrected, just as Christ was resurrected
  • When Christ returns, first believers who have died will be resurrected at the peal of the trumpet, and then believers still alive at His coming will be “caught up” (compare the Latin verb rapio—which is where the term “rapture” comes from) to meet Jesus in the air.

Different theologians hold different views on exactly when this event happens, relative to the events of Revelation collectively known as “the Tribulation”. Some believe it happens before the Tribulation (so-called “pre-tribulation rapture”), and that believers will not be in the world when the judgments of Revelation are rendered upon the world. But I believe that the Bible clearly supports the view that it happens after the Tribulation (so-called “post-tribulation rapture”), right before the battle of Armageddon, when Christ returns in glory.

The doctrine of the post-tribulation rapture

To be clear, this post-tribulation rapture does not mean believers will themselves face the full judgments described in Revelation. Just how the generation of the Exodus 2 was basically spared from the judgments rendered upon Egypt, believers in the Tribulation will also be basically spared the judgments rendered upon the world around them. But also just how the Exodus generation had to go “through” not “around” (so to speak), so too in this case.

There is only one parousia (Greek: παρουσία) of Christ discussed in scripture—a clear and obvious challenge to the notion that Christ comes as described here in 1 Thessalonians 4, only to disappear for a while (?) until coming again right before Armageddon, as described in Revelation 19:11ff.

Further, while we might say that the falseness of this position in an epistemological sense is established only based on arguments from scripture (i.e., rather than based on utilitarian/consequentialist arguments), we might also note that this false teaching inherently leads to a large amount of spiritual complacency, no matter how much supporters of the position might protest and claim that this is not necessarily the case. (Most do). To put it bluntly, if God will just miraculously spare us from all hardship, why bother preparing spiritually for those difficult times ahead? Even if you know you ought to… well, knowing right and doing right are two very different things, are they not?

The complacency bred by belief in the false doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture

If you have ever heard something along the lines of “a conflict of interest doesn’t go away just because you acknowledge it”, same concept applies here. I don’t trust a government regulator who owns company stock in the industry they are supposed to be regulating (no matter how much they might swear that it doesn’t affect their actions… yeah right), and in the same way, I do not for a moment believe that teaching on this doctrine is independent from people’s spiritual motivation (or rather lack thereof). The two things are not independent from another, if one looks at the situation with honesty.

And this is why this doctrine is no small matter. Along with belief in the false doctrine of “institutional security” (something along the lines of “I’m saved because I attend church, regardless of my unbelief and poor conduct”) and the false doctrine of “positional security” (something along the lines of “I’m saved because I once put my faith in Jesus Christ, and thus cannot stop being saved, regardless of my present unbelief and poor conduct”), belief in the false doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture affects people’s spiritual attitude and spiritual motivation very negatively, and therefore stunts their growth, leaving them lukewarm and vulnerable. (You might also read this page on Ichthys, for more on these three dangerous false doctrines).

Once you understand that God measures us not by church attendance but by how much we really commit to Him in our whole lives, that while God will never turn His back on us, we are quite capable of turning our back on Him if we stop believing, and that Christians will not be spared the time of judgment upon the world (that will necessarily take an immense amount of faith to navigate properly)—well, suddenly, being a mediocre Christian who just sits on one’s hands doesn’t work as an option anymore now, does it? God will not be mocked. If you give Him a measly 10% of your life and your focus (no matter how a good a game you talk, if that is actually what the reality is, in fact), well that lack of dedication will do you no credit on Judgement Day. You may be saved, but you will be getting no “well done good and faithful servant!” unless you knock off the complacency and start getting serious about Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, and ministry. So that you might learn the truth, believe it, apply it your life, and then help others do likewise. It is no exaggeration to say that this progression is the very reason we are here in this life.

Back to the passage

In any case, we are supposed to draw encouragement from the fact that we will see our (believing) loved ones again when Jesus returns, and that we will thereafter be with them in the presence of the Lord forevermore. This is the blessed hope we have to look forward to.

  1. A very steep price, actually: the blood of Christ upon the cross. We cannot properly appreciate the true magnitude of this sacrifice—what it took to atone for the very least of our individual sins (much less the sins of the whole world). But we should act according to the understanding that the price paid for us is greater than we can even imagine; if we have the least bit of honor, we must strive as best we can to live worthy of the price that has been paid for us. ↩︎

  2. A very clear parallel vis-à-vis prophetic typology—pharaoh is a clear prophetic type of antichrist, the plagues clearly correspond to the judgments of Revelation, the promised rest of the Millennium clearly corresponds to the promised land overflowing with milk and honey = Israel’s inheritance, and so on. ↩︎

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