1Th 4:3-8 | TNotes | STEP | 4:3 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).

4:3 ^a 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 ^b; Eph 6:6 ^c; Heb 10:36 ^d; 13:20-21 ^e). Holiness (1 Thes 4:4 ^f, 7 ^g) embraces all of a person’s life (5:23 ^h); here it involves staying away from sexual sin (Greek porneia, any sexual union outside marriage).
4:4 ⁱ will control his own body: Self-control brings honor from others (Rom 12:10 ^j) and from God (Rom 2:7 ^k; 1 Pet 5:4 ^l, 6 ^m).
4:5 ⁿ Willful ignorance of God and his ways is the root of moral corruption (Rom 1:18-32 ^o; Eph 4:17-18 ^p).

• 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 ^q; 1 Cor 6:12-20 ^r; Col 3:5-6 ^s).
4:7 ^t holy ... not impure: Cp. 1:4 ^u; 2:12 ^v; 5:23-24 ^w; 2 Thes 2:13-14 ^x; 1 Pet 1:15-16 ^y.
4:8 ^z 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 ^aa; Rom 8:1-4 ^ab; Gal 5:16 ^ac; 1 Jn 3:24 ^ad).