1 Thessalonians 4

     4:1-18.  Just as there are those today who teach a cheap grace that presumes on a forgiving God while ignoring his calling to holiness, so there was then in Gentile philosophy the seeds of the Gnostic heresy.  There was the notion that the sins of the evil flesh did not corrupt the purity of the divine spirit within.  This was, of course, a danger to the Christians, and a denial of the completeness of both the incarnation and the atonement of Christ, and of his bodily resurrection and bodily coming again to save the whole man complete–spirit and soul and body (5:23).  What we are saved from is not the evil body, but the judgment of God, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Mt.10:28).  God is not mocked.  Thus Paul reminds the Thessalonians of their calling to holy living, as they live lives of hope, and responsible care, and watchfulness, as they await the Last Great Day.

     4:2.  Cf. Mt.22:37-40; 1 John 3:23; 5:2.

     4:3.  Sanctification; i.e., purification; consecrated to a holy purpose.  Just as the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper are consecrated to a holy purpose, though the elements remain unchanged, so God’s saints are set apart and consecrated to holiness, though they remain men of flesh.  Our bodies are for the Lord, not for such things as fornication.

     4:5-8.  Possess his own vessel; control his own body (margin).  The context is that of restraining the passions of sexual lust (cf. 1 Sam.21:5; 2 Cor.4:7; 1 Peter 3:7).  The brother defrauded by such lust (6) would include the husband, or the father and the future husband in the case of a virgin.  (And these masculine terms apply in the generic sense.  Women have no less responsibility.)  Such defrauded brothers might take their own vengeance, but the avenger to fear is the Lord.   He has called us to purity (7).  Rejecting the will of the Holy Spirit in you is a very serious thing indeed (8).

     4:9-12.  How we are to live until the Lord’s return: we are to love the brethren, lead quiet lives together, not pry into other people’s business, and not be too good or too lazy to put our hands to any necessary work.  We are to behave properly toward outsiders, and take care of our own needs.  This implies that we are to keep ourselves watchful and ready to give a good account should the Lord return today, but not ignore the work that needs doing if he tarries for a long time.  We should be redeeming the time (Eph.5:16 margin), because we know not the day nor the hour.

     4:13-18.  What will happen when the Lord returns: We grieve when separated from loved ones by death, but not as those who have no hope.  They are at rest in Jesus, who died and rose again (13-14).  If we die, or if we remain until the Lord comes, it makes no difference.   What does time or timing matter to those who enter eternity?  No one precedes those who have died in the Lord (15).  When the Lord comes, it will be with the power and with the command that all creation must bow before, even death (16; cf. Ps.24:7-10).  The dead in Christ shall rise up first, and we all together as one body, one host of believers, shall rise to meet our coming Lord (17).  This is the true rapture of God’s people, and takes place as one climactic event shared in by all his people together, as the Lord comes to gather them to himself and to judge the world (5:3).  These are plain words, comforting words.  We shall meet again, and best of all, be with the Lord (18).

     See notes on Rev.20, which is to be interpreted in light of these and other clearer passages.  There is no rapture, based on some confused and forced literal understanding of the symbols in Rev.20, that is to take place a thousand years before the judgment.  When the Lord comes, our great tribulation is over, and no one gets “left behind” except those destined for wrath (5:9). 

     4:17  Caught up…in the clouds; the word the is not in the Greek.  Since we are said to meet the Lord in the air, the NASB text is surely correct (cf. Dan.7:13; Acts 1:9-11), but the lack of the article does allow an interesting thought.  Caught up in clouds could mean clouds of people (cf. Heb.12:1, where we are said to be surrounded by clouds of witnesses).  Perhaps the clouds that surround the Lord’s glory are not mere water vapor, but the host of the redeemed.