←1 Thessalonians 4→BSB

God’s will is for you to be holy: The foundation of Christian ethics is not philosophical speculation about virtue but doing God’s will (Rom 12:1–2; Eph 6:6; Heb 10:36; 13:20–21). Holiness (1 Thes 4:4, 7) embraces all of a person’s life (5:23); here it involves staying away from sexual sin (Greek porneia, any sexual union outside marriage).

will control his own body: Self-control brings honor from others (Rom 12:10) and from God (Rom 2:7; 1 Pet 5:4, 6).

• Willful ignorance of God and his ways is the root of moral corruption (Rom 1:18–32; Eph 4:17–18).
• lustful passion: Sexual immorality was often tolerated in the Mediterranean world. Prostitution was allowed, but sexual relations with another man’s wife were prohibited. Roman marriage customs barred women, but not men, from extramarital affairs. By contrast, Jewish and Christian authors alike prohibited all sexual involvement outside of marriage (Acts 15:20; 1 Cor 6:12–20; Col 3:5–6).

holy . . . not impure: Cp. 1:4; 2:12; 5:23–24; 2 Thes 2:13–14; 1 Pet 1:15–16.

• Rejecting Paul’s teaching on these matters was the same as rejecting God.
• The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to live in accord with God’s will (Ezek 36:27; Rom 8:1–4; Gal 5:16; 1 Jn 3:24).

God himself has taught you to love one another (cp. Isa 54:13) through the teaching of Jesus (John 13:34–35), the cross (Rom 5:8; Eph 5:1–2), and the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22).

The Thessalonian believers demonstrated love toward all the believers in the province of Macedonia (Philippi and Berea; see also 1:7–8) through economic aid (cp. 2 Cor 8:1–5).

• To live a quiet life is to be respectable and not cause problems in the community.
• working with your hands: Paul had previously instructed through his teaching (see 2 Thes 3:10) and personal example (2 Thes 3:7–9) that they should earn their own living.

Self-sufficiency and decorum would win the recognition and respect of people who are not believers (see Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 5:12–13; Col 4:5).

• the believers who have died (literally those who have fallen asleep; also in 4:14): Sleep was a common euphemism for death in Greek, Jewish, and Christian literature (Dan 12:2; Matt 27:52). Personal existence continues after death (Luke 23:40–43; Acts 7:55–60; 2 Cor 5:6–10; Phil 1:20–24; Rev 6:9–11); those who have died await the resurrection (1 Cor 15:23).
• grieve like people who have no hope: Ancient letters of comfort exhorted mourners not to be overcome with grief because they could do nothing to avert death. Paul does not prohibit grief (cp. John 16:6, 20; Phil 2:27) but calls Christian mourners to abandon the kind of grief typical of those who have no hope in God.

• The central Christian creed, that Jesus died and was raised to life again, is the foundation for hope in the face of death, guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15).
• God will bring back refers to the resurrection of believers (1 Thes 4:16).

• directly from the Lord: Jesus’ own teaching provided the source of Paul’s assurance for the Thessalonians (see Matt 24:29–31, 40–41)
• not . . . ahead: Paul wants the Thessalonians to know that, when the Lord returns, the dead will not be at a disadvantage but will participate equally in the resurrection.
• In referring to Jesus’ coming, Paul uses a Greek term (parousia) commonly used to describe the coming of the emperor to a city with great pomp and celebration (see 1 Thes 4:17).

with the trumpet call of God: God’s trumpet will herald the resurrection, just as it previously announced the rescue of Israel (Zeph 1:16; Zech 9:14). In the future it will announce the gathering of God’s chosen people from the “farthest ends of the earth and heaven” (Matt 24:31; cp. 1 Cor 15:52).

to meet: This alludes to the custom of sending an official delegation to greet a visiting dignitary and accompany him as he enters the city (Matt 25:6, 10; Acts 28:15–16).

The purpose of Paul’s teaching about the end is so believers will encourage each other in the face of death. He is not promoting speculation about the end times.