Fathers

1 Thessalonians 4

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Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

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What the Fathers say

1 Thessalonians 4:3

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." And observe how he nowhere so vehemently glances at any other thing, as at this. As elsewhere also he writes to this effect; "Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14) And why dost thou wonder, if he everywhere writes to his disciples upon this subject, when even in his Epistle to Timothy he has said, "Keep thyself pure." (1 Tim. v. …

Homily on 1 Thessalonians 5 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

That is, chastity. Everywhere he gives commandment concerning this virtue, both in the Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim. 5:22), and to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:6), and to the Hebrews (Heb. 12:14). For this passion is especially strong and therefore requires many and constant remedies. There are many different kinds of this passion, which are even unbearable to speak of, and therefore he simply said: "from all fornication."

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗

Clement of Alexandria

For the devil tempting us, knowing what we are, but not knowing if we will hold out, but wishing to dislodge us from the faith, attempts also to bring us into subjection to himself. Which is all that is allowed to him, partly from the necessity of saving us, who have taken occasion from the commandment, from ourselves; partly for the confusion of him who has tempted and failed; for the confirmation of the members of the Church, and the conscience of those who admire the constancy [displayed]. ... …

The Stromata Book 4 ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

This disease of concupiscence is what the apostle refers to, when, speaking to married believers, he says: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the disease of desire, even as the Gentiles which know not God." The married believer, therefore, must not only not use another man's vessel, which is what they do who lust after others' wives; but he must know that even his own vessel is not …

On Marriage And Concupiscence 1.8.9 ↗

Gregory the Dialogist

It is said through the voice of the prophet to the soul that grows proud, "You trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your renown." For a soul to trust in its beauty is to presume within itself on its righteous works. It plays the harlot on the basis of its renown when in its righteous acts it seeks the glory of its own reputation rather than the spread of its Creator's praise.… What then is to be done in this case but that, when the malignant spirit of pride enjoys the good things that we have done in order to exalt …

Register of Epistles, Book 9, Epistle 122 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

The precepts are as follows: this is the will of God, your sanctification, as if saying: All the commandments of God are for the purpose of making you holy; for sanctity means purity and constancy, and all of God's precepts lead thereto, so that a person may be cleansed from evil and constant in good: "That you may prove what is the will of God" (Rom. 12:2) which is made known through the precepts. …

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗