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June 27, 2010 |
| The Christian Walk in Thessalonica | ||
In this chapter Paul talks about living the Christian life. While that life is multi-faceted, Paul deals with two specific areas that are problems for Thessalonicans. The first is sexual immorality, which is a problem everywhere but was especially so in Greece.
"Greek cities like Thessalonica were wide open to all kinds of sexual looseness, including immorality associated with their pagan idol worship. Pagan religions did not demand sexual purity of their devotees, and their so-called gods and goddesses were themselves grossly immoral. These so-called gods were half human, half god, and as immoral as the hearts of the vain imaginings of the men who hatched them and gave them a license to act according to their lewd desires. Their consciences became dull and hardened and the law of the conscience had little effect (see Romans 2:14-15). There were even priestesses (little more than "religious" prostitutes) in the pagan temples who were to help the men who came to "worship" the immoral idols. In fact it is a bit ironic that there were 1000 priestess prostitutes at the Temple of Aphrodite in Corinth […].
"Roman culture had few sexual boundaries and the Greek religion considered prostitution a priestly prerogative. The sanctity of marriage was so distorted that extramarital sex was actually considered to be an act of worship. […] No appeal to Christian liberty or freedom can justify fornication. Such appeals have no Biblical mandate and in fact only give rise to licentiousness [(pursuing desires aggressively and selfishly, unchecked by morality, especially in sexual matters)]."1
Paul was writing to men and women who had come out of that society. "What may seem to many the merest commonplace of Christian living was to them startlingly new. One thing Christianity did was to lay down a completely new code in regard to the relationship of men and women; it is the champion of purity and the guardian of the home. This cannot be affirmed too plainly in our own day which again has seen a pronounced shift in standards of sexual behavior."2
The second problem area that Paul deals with is living the Christian life through love and at work.
1Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
"Live to please God. Such an aim for the Christian's endeavor is the logical outcome of his love for his Lord. […] Such a life will assure the fulfillment of the prayer for blamelessness in holiness at Christ's return."3
"The apostle commends the believers for their practical holiness, but urges them to advance to new levels of accomplishment. Holiness is a process, not an achievement."4
The words "more and more" bear this out. Another way to say it is: holiness is a walk, not a destination.
3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
The word "sanctified" is not a commonly used word in our time and not widely understood. The Aramaic NT renders the last part of this verse as "that you be separate from all fornication". The Microsoft Word dictionary (Encarta) defines fornication, in our context, as "sexual intercourse between a man and woman who are not married, or any form of sexual behavior considered to be immoral."
Which of these is fornication?
Some people might debate the last few of these points, but I think Paul is clear in the following verse.
4that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
Not only are some sexual acts wrong because they are against God’s will but because they hurt others and ultimately the perpetrator as well. But the wrongness of these acts can also be understood in the context of whether we control our body or our body controls us. That is to say, whether we are driven by passionate lusts.
"The [passionate lusts] here encompasses all sex sins which holiness demands the Christian reject. Like other temptations, sexual temptations have a positive side. When we resist them, they enable us to develop self–control. The pagan who ridicules the believer for his "hang–ups" is himself the captive of his own "passionate lusts." The person who masters his body has the real freedom. The person who is driven by her glands acts like an animal rather than a human being, and so loses touch with her real self by indulging in sex sins."5
Note the word honorable is used here. The implication is that sexual sins dishonor the body.
6and 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.
By "in this matter", Paul is saying that he is still on the topic of passionate lusts. Therefore his point is that sexual sins take advantage of another person or persons and are sins against those people. For example, these people might be the spouses and friends (present and future) of those involved.
7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
The Aramaic NT says verse 8 a little better "Therefore, whoever defrauds, does not defraud a man, but God, he who gives his Spirit of Holiness among you." Bearing in mind that defraud means the same as cheat, the message here is that the Holy Spirit leads us not to be impure but to be holy like he is holy, and therefore cheating is not just cheating a brother but cheating God.
Now Paul moves on to a new topic.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
How are believers taught by God? The Holy Spirit teaches believers.
Paul is saying that he has heard such great things about the love that the Thessalonians have shown, that he has nothing to say to correct them. So he encourages them to go even further.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
This is a tough pair of verses. They seem to say that Christians should be quiet, not loud. We can understand "mind your own business", but does "work with your hands" mean that we should all be farmers and carpenters and not managers or engineers. The Aramaic NT verses below add a little light but there still seems to be a deeper reference to an aspect of Thessalonian life.
11And that you would be diligent, peaceable and occupied with your business, working with your hands just as we commanded you, 12That you would be walking in good form toward outsiders and that you would be dependent on no man.
The NIV Lesson Commentary says "[Thessalonica] was the site of a major harbor. Work in the harbor was plentiful, but there were often more workers than work to do. Furthermore a small number of extremely wealthy people controlled enormous wealth, far beyond what they could use for themselves. As a result of these tensions, a system arose in which workers who did not have work received small sums of money from rich patrons, for whom the workers were then obligated to do favors. Such a practice encouraged some to avoid work altogether and simply live from patronage."6
I have not found another reference that says this or interprets these verses in that context, but it does fit very well. This leads us to the understanding that Paul is talking about how our work life should exemplify our Christian walk. The message then is that we should be diligent workers who get along with our co-workers. We should do whatever we can to earn a living rather than trying to live off the generosity or work of others, which presumably includes trying to live off the modern version of generosity of others – government support plans. By doing these things we will be a good example to others and not appear to be lazy.
This also matches many other verses in the Bible that address working hard and laziness
"Cicero, a leading Roman politician and philosopher of the first century wrote
Mind you, if there is anyone who thinks that young men ought not to visit prostitutes, he is certainly narrow-minded (no doubt about it), and completely out of step with our present liberal thinking. In fact, he has nothing in common with the customs and behavior of previous generations, who were quite broadminded on the subject."7
How do these words from almost 2000 years ago compare to words we hear today?
In this chapter Paul says "you yourselves have been taught by God (v.9)". In 1 John 2:27 John says
And as for you, the anointing (the Spirit) which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Does this mean we don’t need to read the Bible or go to church?
"Paul tells the Thessalonians they are to work. What exceptions, if any, do you think are applicable to that principle today?"8
1 http://preceptaustin.org/1thessalonians_43-5.htm
2 Barclay, W. The Daily Study Bible Series quoted from http://preceptaustin.org/1thessalonians_43-5.htm
3 Hiebert quoted from http://preceptaustin.org/1thessalonians_41-2.htm
4 MacDonald, W & Farstad, A Believers Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson
5 Richards, L. O. The Bible Readers Companion
6 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Christian Commitment in Today’s World, Unit 1, Lesson 4
7 http://preceptaustin.org/1thessalonians_44-5.htm
8 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Christian Commitment in Today’s World, Unit 1, Lesson 4