1 Thessalonians 4

Makestraightpaths.com examines the teachings of the religious group variously known as “the Family,” “The Family International,” the “Children of God,” or the “Family of Love,” and evaluates these teachings from a Christian perspective. This page is one in a series on the 'Law of Love.'

1 Thessalonians 4

Advice to new believers surrounded by a sexually free society.

Unique among groups that claim to be Christian, the Family believes that extra-marital sexual activity is lawful in the sight of God when conducted in love and in accordance with the rules laid down for Family members. However, there are numerous passages throughout the New Testament where sex outside of marriage is unequivocally condemned. This web page examines the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians in view of the Family's position.

1 Thessalonians

Paul's letter to the Thessalonians was one of the first documents of the New Testament to be written, dated at only about 20 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. Paul founded the church on his second missionary journey immediately after the famous incident in Philippi when he and Silas were beaten and imprisoned, only to be freed by an earthquake and then released by the authorities (Acts 16:14-40). Leaving Philippi, they travelled to Thessalonica (modern day Salonika, Greece). There, they preached in the synagogue and began getting converts: some Jews, a large number of Greeks and some of the 'leading women' of the city (Acts 17:1-4). Such success provoked intense jealousy among the Jews, who stirred up a riotous mob and caused such trouble that Paul and Silas had to slip out of the city by night to continue their journey (Acts 17:5-10).

As he only spent a short time in Thessalonica, Paul was unable to thoroughly ground the new believers in all aspects of the faith and this fact worried him tremendously. Being unable to communicate any other way, he sent Timothy to the city to find out how the church was doing (1 Thess 3:2-5). The report he received was for the most part positive and encouraging and Paul was tremendously relieved (1 Thess 3:6-7). There were, however, a couple of issues that Paul wanted to address, several areas in which the young Thessalonian church was "lacking in their faith" (1 Thess 3:10). So, he wrote them the letter which we now call 'First Thessalonians.' Several of the important matters are discussed in chapter four.

Chapter 4:1-8

1 Thess 4:1-2 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
NASU

Paul reminds the Thessalonians that the things he is about to talk about are topics he had already taught them, and which for the most part they are doing quite well at. They can, however, do better.

1 Thess 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; NASU

The reason why Paul mentions sexual immorality is because the church, as mentioned above, consisted of a large number of Gentiles, for whom Judeo-Christian moral standards were relatively new. Greco-Roman society accepted all kinds of sexual promiscuity as a normal way of life, but Paul is concerned that the fledgling church does not retain any of these ungodly practices or attitudes.

Verse three may be translated in various ways:

1 Thess 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality NIV

1 Thess 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity RSV

1 Thess 4:3 For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality NET

Any way that this verse is translated, there is no ambiguity about the general meaning. Avoidance of sexual immorality is the will of God. This is not Paul's personal opinion, but God's will. The next two verses reinforce his point, again shown here in several translations.

1 Thess 4:4-5
4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God
NASU

1 Thess 4:4-5
4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
NIV

1 Thess 4:4-5 that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.
NET

New believers are to control their passions, their lust, their bodies, their sexual urges. If they do not, then they are acting the same as those who do not know God.

1 Thess 4:6-8
6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
NASU

Paul is very clear about this: if anyone rejects his counsel on sexual purity, he is not merely arguing with Paul or Paul's interpretation of the faith; he is rejecting God, he is rejecting the Holy Spirit.

He's coming soon

Later on in the same chapter, Paul writes the well-known passage about the return of Christ.

1 Thess 4:16-17
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
NASU

The Family has always believed that these verses about Jesus' return are to be taken literally: Jesus Christ himself will literally appear in the sky. He will be shouting and angels will be blowing trumpets. The bodies of believers who have died will rise from their graves and then believers who are alive will rise into the air to meet Jesus and then depart for heaven.

It is unfortunate that the Family does not act as though Paul's other words in the same chapter, written to the same audience, and containing far more practical advice, are also to be taken literally.

Conclusion

Paul is justifiably concerned that the new converts might not have fully understood the importance of forsaking the attitudes and practices stemming from their Gentile background. They have made some progress in this area but Paul urges them to obey more fully, especially when it comes to sexual matters.

He repeatedly stresses that sexual purity is God's will. Rejecting this teaching is not a matter of disagreeing with Paul's personal opinion on the topic but it is rejecting God himself. People who live in sexual promiscuity are already acting as though they don't know God, and if they continue to do so in defiance of Paul's teaching, they are proving that they do not know God and have no interest in obeying him.

The founder of the Family (Berg/Dad) taught his followers that there were several reasons why Paul prohibited sex: he had not fully come out from his restrictive Pharisaic heritage, his own personal opinion was against sexual freedom, he had been experiencing problems in the churches caused by sex and so decided to ban it as a punitive reaction, and so on. None of these 'reasons' are sustained by scripture. To the contrary, the Bible says that sexual purity is the will of God. Therefore, the Family's sexual practices are in opposition to the will of God.

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