The Heart Of Paul’s Theology: Paul And The ThessaloniansSample

Early Instructions: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

The fourth major section of this letter runs from 4:1–5:22. As we have already seen, many Thessalonian believers had been so distracted by the idea of Christ’s immediate return that they had lost interest in life in the present world. So, Paul gave them a number of instructions meant to correct existing problems and prevent future ones. He did not want the Thessalonians to give up hope in Jesus’ return, but he did want them to recognize that Christ might not come back right away. In the interim, he wanted them to live as the Lord had commanded. This section is relatively long and is composed of a brief introduction followed by the main body of Paul’s instruction.

First, 4:1-2 introduced the section. Here, Paul commended the Thessalonians as a whole for obeying his earlier commands. Of course, he knew that the temptation to disobey his instructions was strong because his opponents implicitly — perhaps even explicitly — promised freedom from earthly responsibilities and boundaries. So, Paul reminded the Thessalonians that his teaching carried the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ; God himself would take the Thessalonians to task if they neglected his words.

Second, in 4:3–5:22, Paul mentioned a number of specific arenas in which he hoped the Thessalonian Christians would guard against sin and increase their obedience to Christ. As we have mentioned, he paid particular attention to sins that might be promulgated through the false teaching in the Thessalonian church.

Paul began in 4:3-8 with commands to be sexually pure. Historically, sexual immorality has characterized many groups that have believed the end of the world to be at hand. Perhaps the most relevant example can be found in the civic cult of Thessalonica itself, which celebrated the supposed return of the god Cabirus in worship that involved sexually immoral behavior. Paul ended this section with great emphasis by including another assertion of the divine authority behind his words.

In 4:9-10, Paul praised the Thessalonians for their brotherly love, and encouraged them to love all the more. The context of this chapter implies that one concrete way to demonstrate love is to be self-supporting so as to avoid becoming a burden to others. 

In 4:11-12, Paul commanded the Thessalonians to engage in meaningful labor and daily work. Some Thessalonian believers had become so enamored with the idea that Jesus would come back in the immediate future that they had ceased working their daily jobs. Because these people were not independently wealthy, they rapidly became a financial burden on the charitable Thessalonian church. Moreover, the laziness they displayed damaged the credibility of the church in the eyes of unbelievers.

In 4:13-18, the apostle exhorted the Thessalonians to encourage each other with the hope of future reunion with their loved ones who had died in the Lord. Sadly, the false teaching in Thessalonica had caused some to fear that no one who died before Jesus returned would be saved.