July 29, 2014 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4

1st Thessalonians Chapter 4

Originally posted Monday September 15, 2008 

1st Thessalonians Chapter 4:1-12 A Life Pleasing to God

All of Paul's letters contain a directive relating to and defining a life pleasing to God, the "fullness of life in Christ." For the most part such passages address the issues of sexual morality and relationships within the church community. The life pleasing to God is not encouraged simply because this is the right thing to do. It is Paul's way of pointing out the transformational change from the believer's past life as an idolatrous pagan whose sexual morals were understood to tend toward promiscuity (stereotypically as in vs. 5; Wis. 14:12ff) to the morally appropriate life in Christ. The believers are exhorted to adhere to what they first learned from Paul, for which he commends them for already doing. Like a good teacher, he urges them to do so even more, examining their thoughts, words and deeds to rid themselves of all impurity. This, Paul writes, is their sanctification, the path to holiness and honor. Underlying this injunction is the clear separation Paul sees between the world of the believer and the world "outside" the church community. In the community "self control" is a goal of spiritual introspection, to "abstain from fornication, lustful passion, and wronging another member by adultery (vss. 4-6)." He punctuates these moral imperatives with the warning that the Lord (Christ) will judge (avenge) those who reject these teachings and fail to live according to God's call to holiness. His mention of the Holy Spirit here is not gratuitous for, according to Paul, it is through the Holy Spirit and not human authority that God has taught these moral values.

Although Paul writes that the Thessalonians do not need to be reminded of the love for one another which serves as the binding force for unity in the community, he will do so nonetheless. As with moral values, through the Spirit, God has taught them "to love one another" and, Paul writes, they are already doing so, not just within their local community but throughout all the churches of Macedonia. But he also urges them to express that love in specific ways: to live quietly (peacefully); to mind their own affairs and to work with their own hands. These expressions of love and respect within the community have two outcomes. First it will provide a clearly observable difference between how believers and nonbelievers act toward one another in their respective communities. Second, but not removed from the first, is the self sufficiency derived from individual labor, working with one's own hands and not becoming dependent on others to provide sustenance.

1st Thessalonians Chapter 4:13-18 The Parousia

There is another distinguishing feature that separates those inside the community with those outside: hope in the return of Christ and the beginning of the God's reign. However, there is a concern requiring Paul's assuring words. There was an expectation, probably fueled by Paul's own predictions that Christ's return would be happening very soon, perhaps before anyone had died. But this was not realized and some church members had died. The Thessalonians understood what the Parousia would mean for themselves - being with Christ in the heavenly places. But they are deeply distressed about those who had already died. What of them? Paul begins with his well reasoned claim that since Jesus died and rose from death, God will also raise those believers who have died and will bring them with Christ to heaven. So, Paul writes, they should not grieve as those who do not share this hope. There is more. In what was no doubt a Christian Psalm or creedal statement used in worship, Paul declares the rhapsodic, visionary events to come using themes common in Jewish Apocalyptic writings. They include the shouted command of the Lord; the Archangel Michael's call to the living and the dead; the sound of God's trumpet; Christ's descent in the clouds; the resurrection and raising of the dead first and then the living to meet with Christ in the air (heaven) where they will be forever. This is the hope of the Thessalonians, a hope to be repeated to one another for encouragement.

Much has been made of this passage, claiming it as a description of the "rapture" in which all believers, the living and the dead, will be raised and "rescued from the wrath (of God) that is coming" (1:10). Everyone else (non-believers) will be "left behind." This concept of a rapture is just a literary convergence of Paul's declaration with that of the book of Revelation. There is no "left behind" in Paul. For him this is the end of the old age. All that was part of the old age and has not been rescued from the wrath of God has been wiped away. The realm of Satan has come to an end. What is left is God's Kingdom.

At least five theories of when the rapture will occur are in vogue among those who claim it as doctrine. Also there have been a number of formulations as to the dating of such an event, the most recent date being May 21, 2011. Of course these dates are changed each time the old date proves to be wrong, a convenient way to keep the idea alive (e.g. the Millerites of 1843). The phenomena which gave birth to such interest were part of the 19th century revivals of England and America. Since then it has become a mainstay of fundamentalist doctrine. One thing is certain about the rapture: it has made a lot of money for those who write books about it and those preachers who use it to convince their parishioners - in the pews and in their living rooms watching television, to give now before it is too late.

As for John Wesley, he seems to have been an "amillennialist." While he did believe in a second coming of Christ at the end of history, it was not for a one thousand year reign as believed by the millennialists.  For him it was sufficient to know that at Christ's return there would be the general resurrection of the dead and a final judgment. As he writes, "Christianity, as it includes the whole moral law of God both by way of injunction and of promise, if we will hear him, is designed of God to be the last of all his dispensations. There is no other to come after this. This is to endure to the consummation of all things. Of consequence, all such new revelations are of Satan and not of God and all pretenses to another more perfect dispensation fall to the ground"

For Wesley, the age of Christ began with his resurrection and the establishment of the Church over which he is Lord. The ultimate return of Christ and reign of God will come when it comes. All other theories "fall to the ground."