To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (9) -- part II
The Explanation and Analysis of Some of the Verses in 1 THESSALONIANS -- part II
It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
(1 THESSALONIANS 1:5-6; 2:13; 4:3-8; 5:5-6,10,14-24)
1 THESSALONIANS 1:5 “ because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ”
(NOTES)
“because our gospel came to you”:
“our gospel ” refers to the Gospel preached by Paul and his co-workers; it is actually the Gospel of God (Rom 1:1). It does not mean that the content of the Gospel they preached is different from others; but it’s saying that their action to preach the Gospel has five characteristics mentioned in this verse.
“not simply with words”:
“words” refer to the message of Gospel. Although the truth of Gospel needs the words of men to pass on and explain, the eloquence of men is not the mere and main pipe. The words of men must be added with the power, Holy Spirit, conviction and conducts and so on to be effective.
“but also with power, with the Holy Spirit ”:
“power” refers to the power of God shown on the Gospel (Rom 1:16). “the Holy Spirit ” refers to the Holy Spirit of LORD Jesus Christ.
“Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mar 16:20)
“and with deep conviction”:
Here, “conviction” refers to the faith of those who preach Gospel, but not the faith of those who hear the Gospel. With deep conviction, the person who preaches Gospel can display the power of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit to the most.
“how we lived among you for your sake”:
“how we lived” , that is, how we conducted ourselves (Php 1:27). The message of Gospel that is preached out of the mouth of the preacher, if can not be verified in the life and conducts of himself, can not convince others.
There are five basic elements mentioned in this verse:
(1) word -- the connotation of the Gospel;
(2) power -- the capability of the Gospel;
(3) Holy Spirit-- the work of the Gospel;
(4) conviction -- the application of the power of the Gospel;
(5) live a life -- the testimony of the Gospel;
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) “not simply with words”, it does not mean that the words are not important. Preaching Gospel still needs the eloquence and proper words (Eph 6:19; Col 4:4).
(2) We preach Gospel, not by empty words, but to show the mighty power of God (Rom 1:16), with the Holy Spirit(Act 1:8), and with our deep conviction.
(3) The words of God that being preached are not just some simple principles, and must have the “power”, enlighten and convict in the mind of people so that people will lie prostrate and admit their sins.
(4) Those who preach the words of God should immerse themselves and be filled with the words of God first, and let the words of God put into effect on themselves first; then, they will be able to give out the words with power (Mat 7:28). In another word, those who preach the words of God should be the first to obey the words of God.
(5) Without the work of Holy Spirit, the words that we preach will be in vain and ineffective. Holy Spirit not only exposes the sins of men, but also testifies about Savior LORD Jesus Christ (Joh 15:26-27).
(6) If we want to testify about LORD, besides the dwelling in of the Holy Spirit, we also need the Holy Spirit overflowing (coming on) to get the spiritual power (Act 1:8).
(7) Preaching Gospel needs “deep conviction”, for the conviction will initiate the faith. The preacher needs to have deep faith and conviction themselves first so that to bring along the listener through words and make them produce faith.
(8) If the preacher is not able to completely and sincerely believe that the message is true, the message won’t be effective. We preach the Gospel with deep conviction so that to prove that the Gospel of God is truthful and reliable.
(9) The apostles not only fulfill their duty to preach the Gospel, but also live the Gospel wholeheartedly. The life they live for the sake of others, is the best testimony for the Gospel they preach.
(10) The believers should live a life carefully for the sake of the worldly people -- we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel (Php 1:27). One who lives a life at ease, could not produce effective results in preaching Gospel.
(11) Faith in addition with deeds can give good testimony about LORD; for the worldly people could not see God, but could only see those people who are with God.
(12) The gospel preached by someone with corrupted morality and deeds, could not convince others to accept it.
1 THESSALONIANS 1:6 “ You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ”
(NOTES)
“severe suffering”:
“severe suffering” in original text is much affliction (K.J.V.). Here, especially refers to the circumstance of persecution; not the persecution to Paul, but “you” -- the believers of Thessalonians (1Th 2:14).
“with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ”:
In the original text, there is no “given”; but is “joy of the Holy Spirit” (K.J.V.). This joy is the fruit produced by being filled with Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22).
“joy” is in contrast to “severe suffering”. “severe suffering” should have brought pains to people; however, this joy of the Holy Spirit can make people surpass the suffering, even ignore the suffering.
“you welcomed the message ”:
“message” in the original text is word (logos), and refers to the truth of Gospel.
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord”:
Based on the context, here, the “imitators” especially refer to imitating of the faith of the apostles (1Th 1:5,8) and imitating of perseverance of LORD Jesus and the apostles in the persecution and sufferings (1Th 2:14).
Note that, here, it talks about becoming the “imitators of us ” first, and then being the “imitators of the Lord”. This is because before people see the example of LORD Jesus, they see the example of the workers of LORD first, and then from them, they will see LORD.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Martin Luther once said that: our LORD wore crown of thorns on the earth; we who follow Him should not expect to wear royal crown of rose. The sufferings are predestined to all the true believers in this world (Joh 16:33; Rom 5:3; 8:35; 12:12).
(2) Even in “severe suffering”, there is still the “joy”. It is obvious that this joy is not because of the favorable circumstance, but simply because of the Holy Spirit. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ” (Rom 15:13).
(3) “severe suffering” is the persecution because of faith. “joy” is given by the Holy Spirit. Both of them are not caused by oneself, but from the arrangements of God. Therefore, need not to seek for them particularly.
(4) If a Christian is not willing to suffer for the Gospel, he can not taste how wonderful and rich is the joy given through the Holy Spirit in the suffering by God.
(5) The ministry himself must be the imitator of LORD so that he can be the example for others to imitate. When we imitate those who guide us and preach to us, we imitate the LORD on them, but not their language and movements in the outward.
(6) The true workers of LORD always guide the eyes of people to look upon LORD, but not themselves. Those workers who only let others praise, admire and hold high the strong points of themselves, but not look upon LORD Himself, are “evildoers” (Mat 7:23).
1 THESSALONIANS 2:13 “ And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. ”
(NOTES)
“And we also thank God continually ”:
“thank God continually ” and “always thank God ” (1Th 1:2) are what we should do.
“because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, ”:
“received” implies that believe in the word of God and take it into heart (Joh 1:12).
“accepted it not as the word of men”:
“the word of men” is the word being preached to cater to the current popular knowledge.
“but as it actually is, the word of God, ”:
The word that they preach are from inspiration and revelation of God, and the source of it is God.
“which is at work in you who believe”:
The word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12), and at work in those who believe. The Holy Spirit is at work in the believers. “is at work ” is the present tense; it shows that the word of God is at work continuously.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) To “preach the word of God” and to “hear and accept it in mind” are two factors to spread the Gospel.
(2) For one to “accept” the words of God, one must “hear” the words first; while hearing the words results from “preaching” the words of God (Rom 10:14).
(3) What we preach, is not the word of men, but the word of God. It is not by relying on the eloquence and the knowledge to make it interesting and impressive; it is not to show off ourselves; it is by the Holy Spirit to send the word of God to the hearts of people.
(4) If those who heard do not combine it with faith, the message they heard is of no value to them (Heb 4:2).
(5) The word of God in the mind of those who continually rely on God becomes the strength continually at work.
(6) From the attitude of a Christian to the Bible, it can be told his attitude toward LORD Jesus Christ. He is the living word (Joh 1:14); and the Bible is the written word; however, the essence of them are the same. After understanding this relationship, we will pay more attention to the Bible in our daily life.
(7) The word of God is in us; it is the biggest resource when we endure the tests and sufferings. When the words of God work in us to a extent, our minds and thoughts, even the whole person of us, will be controlled by the words of God so that we can surpass the circumstance and overcome.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:3 “ It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ”
(NOTES)
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified”:
The will of God can be divided into two types: one is the guidance to the individual believer, such as where to go and what to do and so on (Jam 4:13-15; Act 13:22); the other is the general will to all the believers, such as He want us to do good and so on (1Pe 2:15). Here, it refers to the latter, that is the will which is applicable to every believer.
“be sanctified”:
indicates to be set apart from the secularity; here, it particularly indicates to be set apart from the sexual immorality and corrupted secularity of the heathenism.
The will of God is that those who are redeemed by Him should live a sanctified life according to the divine nature (2Pe 1:4); and be set apart from all the things outside God and belong to God completely. For this purpose, God give the Holy Spirit to us (1Th 4:8), to help us and to make us be completely holy (1Th 5:23).
“avoid sexual immorality”:
“sexual immorality” refers to all kinds of sexual relationship outside the relationship of a proper marriage. The believers should completely avoid all the improper sexual immorality, including sexual behavior before marriage, sexual behavior outside marriage, and homosexual behavior and so on.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The purpose of God to choose us and make us as the citizen of the kingdom of heaven is that we can understand and obey the will of God; so that the will of God can be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mat 6:10). Therefore, we believers should value the will of God.
(2) As to the Christians live in this world, they should obey the will of God on everything; thus, our living and life will be valuable (1Jo 2:17).
(3) May God equip us with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ (Heb 13:21).
(4) God created men in His own image (Gen 1:26-27) , so that we can show Him (Rom 9:23). If we want to recover the image created by God in Christ, we should sanctify ourselves, for God is completely holy.
(5) As to whatever makes us impure, we never need to particularly seek whether it is the will of God or not, for it is always against the will of God.
(6) It is God's will that we should be sanctified. Holiness is on the contrary to the sinful and evil desires. Therefore, we must get rid of the sinful and evil desires.
(7) The temptation of the “sexual immorality” is more severe and general than the temptation of any other sins and evils. The believers should be especially cautious (1Co 5:1). To avoid the temptation and do not come to the temptation is the secret to overcome the sins and evils.
(8) We should flee the evil desires, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2Ti 2:22).
1 THESSALONIANS 4:4 “ that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ”
(NOTES)
“learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable”:
“holy and honorable” in the original text is “in sanctification and honor”. “sanctification” mainly refers to the situation in front of God; “honor” mainly refers to the status in front of people. If the body of the believers follow the sinful nature and evil desires, it is defiled and impure in front of God.
“body” in the original text is “vessel”. The body of the believers is the instrument for the treasure (2Co 4:7). We should cleanse ourselves to be an instrument for noble purposes, be made holy, and be useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2Ti 2:21).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Every believer should honor the body of himself and control it well so that to make it useful to the Master and prepare to do any good work .
(2) Any sexual immorality and indulgence in the sinful nature and evil desires, is a behavior that dishonor others and the body of oneself.
(3) The body of the believer is the member of the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit and is brought at a price (1Co 6:19-20). Therefore, do not commit any sexual promiscuous sins and indulge in the selfish desires and sinful nature; but should use it to honor God.
(4) As to their own body, the believers should not only passively avoid (1Th 4:3) and resist it, but should actively control the body and make it useful only for the holy and noble purpose.
(5) The best way for the believers to actively use their own bodies is to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, let the holy life of Christ take the charge in them and live a holy life to please God (Rom 12:1), and offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness (Rom 6:14,19).
1 THESSALONIANS 4:5 “ not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ”
(NOTES)
“not in passionate lust ”:
“passionate lust” originally is “the lust of concupiscence”. In the beginning, when God created men, He gave men all kinds of normal desires and instincts in their bodies; for example, the appetite makes one take the food to live and grow up; the sexual urge makes men and women attracted to each other and multiply the mankind through the marriage. However, these desires and instincts are used by sins because of the fall of men and become shameful lust, as a presumptuous guest usurps the host’s role and make men do a lot of unreasonable things (Rom 1:26-31). These desires that are out of normal control are the “passionate lust ”. Self-pride is a kind of “passionate lust ” that is often ignored by people.
“like the heathen, who do not know God”:
“the heathen” refer to those who do not believe in LORD Jesus (1Co 10:20; Eph 4:17; 1Pe 4:3; (3Jo 1:7).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The believers are the owners of their bodies; they should exercise the authority to use their own bodies, but not live in the passionate lust.
(2) All kinds of desires in the body must be controlled so that to conduct reasonably and lawfully. A normal Christian is above the desires of the body and is not controlled by the desires of the body.
(3) Do not know God; this is the fundamental reason that men indulge in the selfish desires and passionate lust.
(4) The mores of society are declining daily. As to the believers live in such a corrupted and depraved society, they must not drift with the current, but should show different style and testimony from the worldly people.
(5) The behavior of the Christians should be different from the worldly people, for the worldly people do not know God (Jer 10:25; Psa 79:6), but we know God.
(6) The more the Christians know God, the more they will know how to behave in the household of God; that is, the more they will show God in their bodies (1Ti 4:15-16).
(7) We who believe in LORD are not “the heathen” any more, but are fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household(Eph 2:19), citizens in the kingdom of God (2Th 1:5; Rev 1:6).
1 THESSALONIANS 4:6 “ and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. ”
(NOTES)
“and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him”:
“this matter ” refers to sexual immorality and passionate lust (1Th 4:3,5); “ take advantage of ” refers to transgression.
“wrong his brother ”:
“wrong” refers to deceiving due to greed; “brother”, here is a general term, including the sisters.
“The Lord will punish men for all such sins”:
“all such sins” indicate to wrong his brother and take advantage of him. “The Lord will punish”; it indicates that LORD will judge those who do wrong (Col 3:25), and give them the corresponding punishment. The fear of the judgment and punishment of LORD is one of our motives to keep pure and clean.
“The Lord will punish ”; God "will give to each person according to what he has done." (Rom 2:6) and all humans will hand over the accounts of their conducts in front of the throne of Christ in the end, including the Christians (1Pe 4:17).
“as we have already told you and warned you”:
“warned you” implies to admonish and caution about certain acts.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Do not indulge in the passionate lust and selfish desires. It will not only do harm to others, but also offend God.
(2) As to those who do not obey the teachings of LORD and do wrong in the eyes of the righteous God, God will punish.
(3) In the church, one must not wrong his brother, with words, deeds or attitude; whoever does harm to the brothers, LORD will judge and punish (Mat 18:6,10; 24:48-51).
(4) Some people have the wrong concepts and prefer the ministry to talk more about the positive words in the church -- “do what”, while talk less about the passive and negative words -- “do not do what”. However, the teachings of God in the Bible is not in this way. The warnings and reminders proclaimed by the watchmen are an important part in the scriptures of the Bible. Only those who know their sins, confess their sins and repent, are those who understand the will of God and are truly saved.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:7 “ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
(NOTES)
“For God did not call us to be impure”:
“impure” indicates that the result of being in the passionate lust is to sin against one‘s own body (1Co 6:18) and make oneself impure.
“but to live a holy life”:
“holy” and “impure” are two words opposite to each other. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." ”(1Pe 1:15-16).
The purpose of the calling on men from God is to set men apart from the impurity and make them holy; this is another reason that the believers should keep pure, clean and holy.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The salvation from God is to make us be separated from sins, but is absolutely NOT a permission for us to set our mind at ease to continue in living in sins. Therefore, we must not rely on the grace of the forgiveness of God and dare to be contaminated by the impurity. That is a foolish, self-hurting and killing, and self-deceived concept.
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” (1Jo 3:7).
(2) Since the believers have the holy life of Christ in us, we should let Christ in us be in charge and live a sanctified life. Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Php 2:5) and we should do what please Christ.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:8 “ Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. ”
(NOTES)
“he who rejects this instruction does not reject man ”:
“reject” implies to “reject” the command that we should be holy.
“but (reject) God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.”:
It implies that: (1) the purpose that God give Holy Spirit to us is to sanctify us; (2) Holy Spirit works in us; His main work is to make us holy.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) God give the Spirit of Christ to each believer, in order to sanctify us so that we can live in accordance to the Holy Spirit, follow Christ, and become holy to be one in Christ (1Co 6:17; Eph 3:6).
(2) Living in the passionate lust and sins is equal to rejecting God, and especially rejecting the Holy Spirit. As to such persons, if they do not repent, they will be rejected by God in front of the throne of Christ in the final judgment.
(3) To deny oneself and take up one’s own cross daily to follow LORD (Luk 9:23) and live by the Spirit, that is the secret of the believers to be able to live a sanctified life (Rom 8:6, 13-14). If we look upon Christ, let the life of Christ take the charge in us, and live by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature any more (Gal 5:16).
1 THESSALONIANS 5:5 “ You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ”
(NOTES)
“You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. ”:
“sons of ” is the habitual grammar of the Jews; it is used to show the particular nature of a person. “sons of the light ” shows that the life of the Christians has the characteristics of light (Eph 5:8-9).
“day” versus “night”, show two different periods of time. This age is the age of the night; the age that is coming is the age of the day (Rom 13:12). “sons of the day” implies that the Christians live for the glory of the eternity and belong to the eternity.
“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”:
“belong to” is different from “in” (1Th 5:4); the former refers to being controlled, ruled and managed by it; the latter refers to living in it. “belong to the night ” refers to their deeds of darkness , as if do it in the dark night. “(belong) to the darkness” refers to their dark nature, which are under the domination of the darkness (Col 1:13)
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The different life lives differently. The life that belongs to light and day naturally lives in the light; the life that belongs to the darkness and night naturally lives in the darkness.
(2) There is the particularity of the light in the believers -- the Spirit of Christ. “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” (1Jo 4:13). Therefore, the Christians should not live in the darkness any longer, for they do not belong to the darkness.
(3) The problem of the Christians is, although we have the life of light that belong to God, we often put it aside and still live by the corrupted and natural life of ourselves. Therefore, we still live in the darkness. Only by truly denying oneself and carrying the cross to follow LORD everyday, and breaking the jars of clay, we can let Christ’s life of the light in us to show.
(4) The Spirit of Christ is the treasure in us, and is also the attraction in front of us. We should carry the cross to follow LORD, go out of the darkness and enter into the light, to become sons of the light.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:6 “ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. ”
(NOTES)
“let us not be like others, who are asleep”:
“asleep” does not mean the death of the body (1Th 4:13,15), but indicates that one is not spiritually clear-headed, alert and cautious (Rom 13:11).
“let us be alert and self-controlled”:
“alert” is in contrast to “asleep”; “self-controlled” is in contrast to “drunk” (1Th 5:7). Therefore, what’s on the contrary to self-controlled is, to live a befuddled life as if drunk or dreaming, being numb, dull-witted and indulgent spiritually.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Since the Christians have the life and particularity of the light and day (1Th 5:5), as long as we make every effort to be one in Christ and are alert and prepared all the time, we can meet LORD with confidence at any time.
(2) Being “asleep” (refers to the deep sleep of the spirit) should not be the situation of the Christians. Therefore, no matter what, we must always “be alert and self-controlled”; this is the reminder and requirement of God to us.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:10 “ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”
(NOTES)
“He died for us”:
indicates that the redemption through the death of LORD Jesus Christ changes the meaning and the purpose of our life. We do not live for ourselves any longer (Rom 14:7; 2Co 5:15).
“whether we are awake or asleep”:
One explanation is: whether we are spiritually awake or slumberous (1Th 5:6; Rom 13:11). Another explanation is whether when we are awake in the day or asleep at night (Mar 4:27). According to the context, it implies whether we live or die.
“we may live together with him”:
“live together with him” implies that due to the union of life to Christ, we produce the same phenomenon of life as Christ.
Due to the death of Christ as the substitute, we received His life of resurrection. No matter how is our current situation in spirit or in the body, we can all get back to LORD and live together with LORD in His life of resurrection. We have the life of Christ in us (2Ti 1:14; 1Jo 4:13), and we can live together with LORD all the time.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The redemption of Christ through His death, allows us to be able to enter the effective relationship of being one in Christ: for every believer of us, we have the life of Christ in us (2Ti 1:14; 1Jo 4:13).
(2) From one aspect, LORD left us and we are waiting for His Second Coming; from another aspect, LORD is still with us (Mat 28:20), and we live a life together with Him (Rom 6:8).
(3) To live together with LORD is the secret for the believers to be alert and self-controlled. By relying on ourselves, we are not able to be alert and self-controlled; however, by living together with LORD, we are able to be alert and self-controlled to live a life. To be alert and self-controlled and to make every effort to be holy, we can be one in Christ.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:14 “ And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ”
(NOTES)
“warn those who are idle”:
“idle” in the original text is “unruly”. “who are idle” refer to those who do not follow the law, commandments and words of God.
“encourage the timid”:
“the timid” might refer to those who are “unsettled by these trials” (1Th 3:3).
“help the weak”:
“the weak” refer to those who are weak in the faith (Rom 15:1).
“be patient with everyone”:
implies that there are more or less shortcomings and difficulties on every member of the church; therefore, we need to be patient with everyone.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) To those who do not follow the laws, commandments, and words of God, we should warn and admonish them.
(2) There are members in the church who are timid and weak, and we should encourage and support each other. The strong one should always understand and undertake the weakness of others (Rom 14:1-15; 1Co 8:13); do not look down on them or abandon them.
(3) To admonish, warn, encourage and support others, we should be patient and help them to the end with love.
(4) There are always many difficulties in the life of church. And we ourselves might be the difficulties to others too. To face all the difficulties, there is only one unchanging principle, that is, to be patient and to return good for evil (1Th 5:15).
1 THESSALONIANS 5:15 “ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. ”
(NOTES)
“Make sure ”:
to be or cause to be certain. It emphasizes that the following is what one must do certainly.
“nobody pays back wrong for wrong”:
“wrong for wrong” is to lower oneself to the same level as the other party and repay the other party in the same way.
“to each other and to everyone else. ”:
implies to treat others no matter in secret or in public.
“always try to be kind ”:
Actually, no one is good--except God alone (Mat 19:17; Mar 10:18; Luk 18:19). To “try to be kind ” is to treat others in the same way that we want God treat us.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) In the church, no matter how others treat us, even with bad treatments, we should not act in the way of tooth for tooth (Mat 5:38-42). The Christians should always overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21).
(2) Taking a revenge is absolutely not a way that the Christians should choose (Rom 12:17; 1Pe 3:9). The Christians are called to forgive others (Mat 5:38-42; 18:21-35).
(3) Natural instinct for natural instinct, is evil for evil. To treat others with the divine nature of the life of God is to try to be kind.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16 “ Be joyful always;”
(NOTES)
“Be joyful always”:
indicates to be joyful any time, any where and in any situation, without exemption even in the sufferings. Since this verse follows the verses of (1Th 5:14-15), it might indicate that when being treated badly by others, one should not only be patient(1Th 5:14), but also repay with good for evil joyfully (1Th 5:15).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) If we rejoice in things of this world, our joy will be constantly changing. However, if we rejoice in God and things about God only (Luk 1:46-47), we are able to be joyful always.
(2) The joy of Christians comes from what has been accomplished by Christ, and it is lasting.
“your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. ” (Psa 45:7)
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 15:13)
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ” (Php 4:4)
1 THESSALONIANS 5:17 “ pray continually;”
(NOTES)
“pray continually”:
does not mean to utter one’s prayer without stopping; but means to keep the close communion with God frequently and live a life that “remain in LORD” (Joh 15:4-7).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The Christians should continually give thanks to God in the prayers, cast our cares on God, and continually experience the deeds of God in the prayers.
(2) Prayer is the spiritual breath of the believers; just as the breath of the body can not stop, the spiritual breath can not stop either.
(3) If in everything, a Christian always responds after a silent prayer to God, he will see that the gracious hand of God is upon him (Neh 2:4,8).
1 THESSALONIANS 5:18 “ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ”
(NOTES)
“give thanks in all circumstances”:
“in all circumstances” refer to all kinds of circumstances, no matter favorable or adverse, joyful or painful.
“give thanks ” is because in all things of the Christians God works for the good of those who love him(Rom 8:28); therefore, we give praises and thanks to God always (Luk 10:21).
“for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”:
This includes the three things mentioned above: (1) Be joyful always; (2) pray continually; (3) give thanks in all circumstances. Such a life, is the will of God predestined for us.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Apart from God, we have no good thing; therefore, we should give thanks to the grace of God in all circumstances.
(2) The Christians should always give thanks to God for everything in all the circumstances(Eph 5:20). If we admit that we actually have nothing originally by ourselves, we will give thanks to God for even a little we have at present.
(3) We have the life of Christ in us, and we should live a heavenly life: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:19 “ Do not put out the Spirit's fire; ”
(NOTES)
The Holy Spirit is like the fire (Act 2:3), works in the believers, and often makes one inspired to have the spiritual fever (Rom 12:11), so that one will naturally be warmhearted to others and serve with extraordinary zeal (Rom 12: 10-11). If one does not obey the inspiration, he will turn cold or neither cold nor hot (Rev 3:16).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The inspiration of the Holy Spirit could be put out or extinguished by us; therefore, it requires the cooperation of the believers.
(2) The more the believers are obedient to the Holy Spirit, the more prosperous the fire of the Holy Spirit will be. If the believers are hard and indomitable, and resist the Holy Spirit, the fire of the Holy Spirit will be put out.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:20 “ do not treat prophecies with contempt. ”
(NOTES)
“prophecies”:
refer to those who are inspired by Holy Spirit, and can proclaim the revelation and messages from God, in order to build up, comfort and encourage the believers (1Co 14:3).
In the Bible, sometimes, the preaching of the prophecies refer to the preaching to explicit the will of God(forth-telling, such as 1Co 14:31); in a few cases, refer to the prediction (foretelling, such as Act 11:28).
The basic attitude of the believers to prophecies is with no contempt. However, one should not accept it blindly either, and should compare with the Bible, think carefully and recognize clearly (1Th 5:21).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The proper preaching of the prophecies is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, treating prophecies with contempt is equal to putting out the fire of the Holy Spirit.
(2) Being fond of hearing the preaching does not equal to thinking highly of the prophecies; hearing the words without doing the words is to treat prophecies with contempt.
(3) Many believers are similar as the Athens, and like to take the word of truth as the news to say and to listen(Act 17:19-21). However, they are not willing to take it into heart. Therefore, the words come into one ear and get out from the other ear right away.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:21 “ Test everything. Hold on to the good.”
(NOTES)
“Test everything”:
“everything” refers to all things of course; but here especially refers to all the preaching of the prophecies.
“Test” indicates to examine and check it according to the Bible. In the complete and balance light of the Bible, prove whether the prophecies are in accordance to the teachings of the Bible or not (Act 17:11).
The Bible teaches our Christians to test everything, including: (1) thinking the preaching of the prophecies carefully and distinguishing clearly (1Co 14:29); (2) distinguishing between spirits (1Co 12:10); (3) testing the spirits to see whether they are from God or not(1Jo 4:1); (4) testing and approving what God's will is(Rom 12:2); (5) finding out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5:10).
“Hold on to the good”:
Here, it is not talking about the good and evil of the deeds, but the prophecies. After the test, what is proved to be in accordance to the truth of Bible is good; otherwise, it is evil.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) To any preaching claimed to be in the name of LORD, we should not accept it without any doubt. We should put it in the light of the word of God, and test it carefully one by one.
(2) All kinds of work of Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts are possible to be misused or abused. Especially some super natural phenomenon, the evil spirits can use people to do the same. Therefore, the believers should test it carefully.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:22 “ Avoid every kind of evil.”
(NOTES)
“evil”:
wrong and wicked things.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) We must forbidden all kinds of wrong and evil things and things that offend God.
(2) We must forbidden our hands to do the evils; we must not indulge in the selfish desires and passionate lust.
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ” (1Co 6:9-10)
1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 “ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ”
(NOTES)
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.”:
He is “the God of peace”. Not only He is willing to have people to reconcile to Him, but also He is willing to make peace with people (Eph 2:14-16). And for us, only when we are at peace with each other (1Th 5:13), we can be with the God of peace (2Co 13:11). He is the God of peace and are pleased to give grace and peace to people (1Th 1:1). Only when we share in His holiness, we can share in His peace (Heb 12:10-11).
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.”:
implies that the work of sanctification can be only accomplished by God through the Holy spirit. Therefore, we should cooperate with Holy Spirit, and do not put out the Spirit’s fire (1Th 5:19). To be one in Christ is to be sanctified through and through.
“sanctify you through and through”:
shows that the sanctification is complete without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but is holy and blameless (Eph 5:27) like God (Eph 4:24).
“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless”:
It shows clearly that human are composed of three parts: spirit, soul and body. The detailed discussion is in the “DISCUSSION AND CORRECTION” in the following.
“ be kept blameless” and “sanctify ” have slight difference: the former emphasizes the outward state; the latter emphasizes the inward quality.
(DISCUSSION AND CORRECTION)
“your whole spirit, soul and body”, the dualist can not explicit this verse well, and can only take it as an excuse that it refers to the whole person and the three parts can not be divided. Actually, in the Bible, it is clear that the spirit and the soul are different, and can be divided (Heb 4:12). Many theologians are not clear of the difference between these two things. They themselves lack the true spiritual experience; therefore, they confuse the spirit with the soul and lump them together; and advocate the dualism of “spirit and soul” and “body”.
Actually, the difference between human and the animals is: human has spirit, soul and body; while the animals have only soul and body, the plants have only body. Therefore, in the beginning, when God created men, it especially described that: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (or spirit of life); and man became a living soul. ” (Gen 2:7 K.J.V and A.M.P.) This verse shows clearly that the body of man was formed from the dust; spirit was given through the breath of God, and the spirit entered the body of man; man became a living soul. The outward “body” of man is the part to contact the material world; “soul” is the personality of man, including mind, feeling and will; and is the part to contact the mental world; “spirit” is the part to contact the spiritual world; and it is especially given to man by God, as the organ to accept the Spirit and life of God so that man can commune with God.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The capability to be sanctified is not from man himself, but from God.
(2) We should believe that God can make men holy; and also believe that God can keep the believers in Christ blameless (2Ti 1:12); that is, keep the spirit, and then soul and body, thus, the whole person blameless.
(3) By relying on Christ in us, we can be sanctified thorough and thorough.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:24 “ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. ”
(NOTES)
“The one who calls you is faithful ”:
“The one who calls you ” refers to God Himself. “calls” refer to the calling and election from God. “is faithful ”, God is the faithful God (Deu 7:9), for he cannot disown himself(2Ti 2:13).
“he will do it. ”:
“it” indicates to “sanctify you through and through” and that “ your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless”.
This verse implies three characters of God are the guarantee to sanctify the believers of us thoroughly: (1) the election of God; (2) the faithfulness of God; (3) the might of God.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) God neither keep all the people in the whole world, nor the fake believers, but only keep those believers who are called by Him, who are willing to deny oneself and to let Christ be in charge in them.
(2) As long as we are willing to deny ourselves, God and His Holy Spirit can surely make us be holy (1Th 5:19, 23). The faithfulness and might of God will also keep us till the Day of Christ.
Reference:
1. Jiale Huang: “The Notes for 1 and 2 THESSALONIANS ”.
