By
Randall L. Broad
Read: Jeremiah 16:16-18:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 25:6-8
Today in the One Year Bible we find Paul exhorting
the church in Thessalonica to become imitators of Christ as he had, and make
their work, families, and lives testimonies to the redeeming quality of the
cross. This was the ‘special mission’ he was given on the Road to Damascus and
in today’s reading we get a better understanding of what this ‘Christian ethic’
meant to Paul.
Thessalonica
was at the head of the Gulf of Therme on the Aegean Sea and was the chief port
of Macedonia. Most members of the church were pagan worshipers before their
conversion. The first verses of today’s reading exhort the faithful to remember
the instruction Paul and Silas gave them when they established the church in
Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4) on their first missionary journey.
1When
Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came
to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As was his
custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned
with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the
Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to
you is the Messiah,” he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and
joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a
few prominent women.
Acts 17:1-4
However,
it is important to remember Acts tells us Paul and Silas also brought turmoil
to Thessalonica and they were forced to flee the city (Acts 17:5-10).
5But
other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the
marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to
Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the
crowd. 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some
other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused
trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has
welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying
that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8When they heard
this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then
they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
Acts 17:5-10
This
epistle was most likely written on Paul’s second missionary journey while he
was in Corinth, to encourage the faithful in Thessalonica and to call upon them
to remember by whose authority (v. 2) their instructions came. The need for
such assurances would be rooted in the confusion and resistance of their rivals
who would surely have brought the missionaries ‘authority’ into question after
they were driven out.
1As for
other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to
please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord
Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we
gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2
In the
verses leading up to today’s reading, Paul has commended the Thessalonians for
their faith (v. 3:6) and for standing firm in the distress and persecution they
have endured (v. 3:7). We cannot be certain if their persecution is from the
Jews or from the city officials in the aftermath of Paul’s unceremonious
departure, or from something entirely different. What we can be certain of is
the Thessalonians have remained strong in their faith and they are living to
please God (v. 1). Yet … Paul encourages them to do this more and more (v. 1). This is the first of two
occurrences in today’s reading where Paul will use this phrase: encouraging
them to please God (v. 1) and to love one another (v. 10).
Today,
the Thessalonian letters are not used as commonly in sermons and teachings as
letters like Romans or Galatians, because of the limited amount of teaching
about salvation found in them. But in both Thessalonian epistles is a deep
understanding of the Spirit by Paul found in his understanding of eschatology
(messianic prophecy) and the importance of ethical living rooted in his
training as a Pharisee. The middle verses illustrate the importance of personal
holiness and sexual purity and the role the Holy Spirit plays in becoming pure
and sanctified.
3It is
God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual
immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control your own body
in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like
the pagans, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one
should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all
those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7For
God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore,
anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the
very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
For
the Apostle Paul the Holy Spirit was essential to a Christ-centered life. The
Spirit was God’s empowering presence given to us by a Holy God so that we could live holy and become purified (v. 7). The
passage emphasizes sexual immorality (v. 3) … but by extension also directs us
to discipline our bodies and emotions in a manner that keeps us free from
unholy entanglements that drag us into the sins of the world and makes us
dependent on physical needs. For Paul an ethical life consisted of walking in
holiness, embracing the Spirit, and doing God’s Will. Most of the Thessalonians
were living to pleases God (v. 1), but some were still walking in sexual
immorality (v. 3), and all could do more to control their own bodies in ways
that were holy and honorable (v. 4). Failure to do so would lead to the
rejection of God and to His judgment (v. 6). The reward for doing “more and
more” was the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 8). The Holy Spirit is the key to
everything Paul has instructed the Thessalonians to do in this passage and the
term is intended to be more than just a name.
Throughout his
epistles Paul uses the term “Holy Spirit” as the name and reality (the holiness) of the Spirit of God just as the term “our
Lord Jesus Christ” refers to the name and reality of Jesus. In the Old
Testament “the Spirit of God” is the most common reference to the spirit the
Holy God gives to men. Thus Paul is using the term here to refer to the
character of God, the Christian ethic, and the producing of that character in
His people. Secondly, this verse represents Paul’s first reference to the Holy
Spirit as a gift from God in
fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies promising God would send his Spirit to
indwell his people. (cf. Ezekiel 37:14). This indwelling is a constant
presupposition of Paul’s writings (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6; 1
Corinthians 6:19). Lastly, this passage also presents the work of the Holy
Spirit as ongoing evidenced by the use of the phrase “who also gives”. For
Paul, the Spirit is the constant divine companion by whose power the believers
lives out their Christian ethic.
Walk
with the Lord …
Ephesians
1:17
(RLB231011)
© Copyright
2018: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
