1 Thessalonians 4:1-Paul Authoritatively and Politely Requests the Thessalonians to Excel in Pleasing God More and More

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) that you do so more and more. (NET)

1 Thessalonians 4:1:1-5:11 contains the third major section of First Thessalonians, which addresses the spiritual life of the Thessalonian Christian community which appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:11 and is divided into four sections.

The first (4:1-8) contains an exhortation to continue to abstain from sexual immorality and for the Thessalonians to continue to experience their sanctification.

The second (4:9-12) is an exhortation for them to continue to exercise the love of God toward one another.

The third (4:13-18) is designed to encourage and assure the Thessalonians and addresses the concerns of the Thessalonians regarding their dead in Christ in relation to the rapture or resurrection of the church.

The fourth (5:1-11) is an exhortation for the Thessalonians to conduct their lives as children of light in light of the imminency of the day of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 presents an inference from Paul’s statement in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, which brings to an end a section which began in 1 Thessalonians 3:11.

This section expresses Paul, Silvanus and Timothy’s desire for the Father and the Lord Jesus to guide their journey into the presence of each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

It also is communicating the content of their intercessory prayer they offered to the Father on behalf of the Thessalonians.

So therefore, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 presents an inference from the statement in 1 Thessalonians 3:13.

This is indicated by a comparison of the statements contained in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 with the statement in 1 Thessalonians 3:13.

The former addresses the subject of the Thessalonians continuing to experience their sanctification while on the other hand, the latter speaks of the Thessalonians having their hearts strengthened to be uncensurable with respect to holiness in the presence of the Father.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 addresses the subject of sanctification and which subject is inferred from the reference to holiness in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 since sanctification and holiness are inextricably tied to each other.

For the child of God, experiencing sanctification is experiencing the holiness of God in one’s life since they are one in the same.

“Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Perfective.

All three stages of sanctification refer to the process of conforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the Father’s plan from eternity past (Romans 8:28-30).

By positional, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ, identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1).

“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.

“Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Romans 6:19, 22; 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 7; 1 Timothy 2:15).

Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of conversion, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time.

“Perfective sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Corinthians 15:53-54; Galatians 6:8; 1 Peter 5:10; John 6:40).

It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at justification.

“Brothers and sisters” (adelphos) describes each member of the Thessalonian Christian community as related to each other, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy as well as the Lord Jesus Christ through regeneration, which took place the moment they were declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior (cf. Gal. 3:26-28; Col. 3:11).

The word is functioning as a vocative of emphatic emotional address expressing the fact that the statements recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 are an impassioned plea for the Thessalonians to continue to experience their sanctification more and more.

“Ask” is the verb erōtaō which is expressing the idea that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were politely requesting that each person in the Thessalonian Christian community would continue to live in a manner more and more that pleases God just as they had received instruction from them to do so.

“Urge” is the verb parakaleō which contains two ideas.

The first is expressing the idea that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are encouraging each member of the Thessalonian Christian community to continue to live in a manner more and more that pleases God just as they had received instruction from them to do so.

Also, this verb indicates that they were exhorting the Thessalonians in the sense that they were authoritatively training them through instruction to continue to live in a manner more and more that pleases God just as they had received instruction from them to do so.

In other words, they were compelling obedience in every area of the lives of the individual members of the Thessalonian Christian community.

So therefore, the verb erōtaō implies that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are approaching the Thessalonians as equals and as their friends.

On the other hand, the parakaleō expresses their authority over the Thessalonians as pastors who have been delegated authority over them by the Lord Jesus.

This is not the first time in First Thessalonians that we find Paul using this type of language in that he not only requests a particular manner in which he desires the Thessalonians to continue to live but also urgently and authoritatively encourages them to do so since he uses such language in 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12.

Also, 1 Thessalonians 4:1 is not the first time that Paul affirms that the Thessalonians were being faithfully obedient to the instruction they received from him, Silvanus and Timothy because he affirms this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

Paul asserts that these two requests are made on the basis of the Lord Jesus’ commands, which is indicated by the prepositional phrase en kyriō Iēsou (ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ), “in the Lord Jesus.”

This interpretation is based on a couple of factors.

First, the noun kurios contains the figure of metonymy which means that the Lord is put for His commands.

Secondly, the noun kurios is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of cause which indicates the basis of the action of the verbs erōtaō and parakaleō.

Therefore, this is expressing the idea that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were requesting, yes authoritatively, earnestly encouraging each of the Thessalonians “on the basis of the Lord Jesus’s commands” to continue to live in a manner more and more that pleases God just as they had received instruction from them to do so.

This interpretation is indicated by Paul’s statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:2 in which he asserts that the Thessalonians knew for certain the commands that he, Silvanus and Timothy gave to them through the Lord Jesus.

In other words, the Lord Jesus was the source of the commands the Thessalonians received from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.

These commands were the basis for which Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were urgently, authoritatively encouraging them to continue to live in a manner more and more that pleases God just as they had received instruction from them to do so.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 is not the first time Paul, Silvanus and Timothy have politely but yet urgently authoritatively encouraged the Thessalonians to live in a godly manner since they do so in 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 is not the first time that Paul has mentioned the subject of pleasing God to the Thessalonians since he does in 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:15 he speaks of unregenerate Jews who killed Jesus and the prophets and persecuted the apostles severely as never pleasing God.

1 Thessalonians 4:1 is also not the first time Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to excel in something since in 1 Thessalonians 3:12, he exhorts them to excel with regards to the practice of God’s love when interacting with each other and with all of humanity.

Notice in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 that this verse asserts that obedience to the doctrinal instruction which the Thessalonians received from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy was the means by which the former was to make it their habit of living in a manner so as to make it their habit of pleasing God.

Consequently, it is also the means by which they were to please God.