(7) For God.--This gives the reason for stating that the Lord will take vengeance on such sins; because they are not part of the terms on which His Father called us. It should be "did not call." These 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, sum up the little disquisition, returning to the principle announced in 1 Thessalonians 4:3.
Unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.--The preposition translated "unto" has the same force in Galatians 5:13, "Called unto liberty," and Ephesians 2:10, "Created unto good works." It implies not so much the definite end to which we are invited, as the terms on which the invitation will still stand; for the call is not yet accomplished. (See Note on 1 Thessalonians 2:12.) The second "unto" in the Greek is simply "in," used in the same sense as in 1 Thessalonians 4:4. Paraphrase, "For God did not call us on the understanding that we might be unclean, but by the way of sanctification."
Holiness is a mistranslation for sanctification. The process, not the quality, is meant.
Verse 7. - For God hath not called us unto; or, for the purpose cf. Uncleanness; moral uncleanness in general (comp. 1 Corinthians 6:15). But unto; or, in; in a state of Holiness; or sanctification; the same word as in the third verse; so that holiness is the whole sphere of cur Christian life.
4:1-8 To abide in the faith of the gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of faith. The rule according to which all ought to walk and act, is the commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification, in the renewal of their souls under the influences of the Holy Spirit, and attention to appointed duties, constituted the will of God respecting them. In aspiring after this renewal of the soul unto holiness, strict restraint must be put upon the appetites and senses of the body, and on the thoughts and inclinations of the will, which lead to wrong uses of them. The Lord calls none into his family to live unholy lives, but that they may be taught and enabled to walk before him in holiness. Some make light of the precepts of holiness, because they hear them from men; but they are God's commands, and to break them is to despise God.
For God hath not called us,.... The Syriac version reads "you". This is another reason to enforce the above exhortations, and to caution them against the above unclean practices, taken from the end of the effectual calling by the efficacious grace of God, which is not
unto uncleanness of any sort, as before specified. This they had lived in before their calling, and were now called from it into communion with Christ, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and by the Gospel, which teaches to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to forsake all impurity, both of flesh and spirit:
but this call is
unto holiness of life and conversation in general, and to chastity in thought, look, word, and actions in particular; for God that calls is holy, and therefore those who are called ought to be so; the calling with which they are called is an holy calling, principles of grace and holiness are wrought in their souls, when they are called; and the end of their calling is to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and then, and then only, do they walk worthy of that calling wherewith they are called, and of God who has, by his grace, called them to his kingdom and glory.
Unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.--The preposition translated "unto" has the same force in Galatians 5:13, "Called unto liberty," and Ephesians 2:10, "Created unto good works." It implies not so much the definite end to which we are invited, as the terms on which the invitation will still stand; for the call is not yet accomplished. (See Note on 1 Thessalonians 2:12.) The second "unto" in the Greek is simply "in," used in the same sense as in 1 Thessalonians 4:4. Paraphrase, "For God did not call us on the understanding that we might be unclean, but by the way of sanctification."
Holiness is a mistranslation for sanctification. The process, not the quality, is meant.
unto uncleanness of any sort, as before specified. This they had lived in before their calling, and were now called from it into communion with Christ, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and by the Gospel, which teaches to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to forsake all impurity, both of flesh and spirit:
but this call is
unto holiness of life and conversation in general, and to chastity in thought, look, word, and actions in particular; for God that calls is holy, and therefore those who are called ought to be so; the calling with which they are called is an holy calling, principles of grace and holiness are wrought in their souls, when they are called; and the end of their calling is to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and then, and then only, do they walk worthy of that calling wherewith they are called, and of God who has, by his grace, called them to his kingdom and glory.