Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5.1–5.28

“But concerning the times and the moments, brothers, there is no need for anything to be written to you; for you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” This is what the Lord said in the gospel: “Watch, because you do not know the hour at which your Lord will come” (Mark 13:32–35; Matt 24:42). And again: “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Look, there,’ do not believe it” (Matt 24:23). For he will appear suddenly and unexpectedly, as lightning appears from the east to the west (Matt 24:27), having with him the army of God the Father’s host, for the destruction of the Antichrist and his henchmen. For when the faithless feel secure about the devil’s kingdom, the saints, that is, Enoch and Elijah, having been killed, rejoicing at their victory and sending gifts to one another, as the Apocalypse says (Rev 11:7–10), then sudden destruction will come upon them. For at his coming Christ will destroy all of these, so that the saints, seeing that they have escaped, may glory.

“But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of the day; you are not of the night nor of darkness.” By “darkness” he means ignorance and falsehood, by “day” knowledge and truth. So he says that Christians are not in darkness, but that gentiles and unbelieving Jews are sons of darkness, because they are worshipers of falsehood. Therefore he indicates that the faithful ought to be untroubled, because they are not ignorant of the Lord’s future coming but await it with eagerness, that he may come. But those who are ignorant, having no faith in it, he will overtake suddenly, unprepared, and will slay. (Verses 6–11.) “So then let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation; for God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we wake or sleep we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, as you are doing.” What he says is clear; he warns us not to act carelessly, as if secure in the Savior’s name, and so that we ought to be fortified by three bulwarks, that is, faith, hope, and love. For while faith remains, it rouses hope; and hope is necessarily solicitous about the promise and does not sleep; and love offers a devoted mind to God, for love admits nothing contrary. For this reason the Lord Jesus died for us and rose again, so that “whether we wake,” that is, live, “or sleep,” that is, die, we may enjoy eternal life together with him. This is what he said above, that at the Lord’s coming the faithful, the dead as well as the living, will be lifted up to meet the Lord and will live with him for ever. He teaches them to meditate on this, so that they may build one another up in this understanding.

“But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, that you hold them in the highest honor in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” This is what he says in another letter too (1 Tim 5:17), that presbyters who labor in the word of teaching are to be honored with double honor. For one who suffers want may be reluctant to carry out a service that profits the hearers. For what good is it to have honor without fruit? Or what great thing is it to offer fleshly things to one who bestows spiritual things? For just as riches breed neglect of salvation, so poverty, while it seeks to be filled, turns aside from righteousness. Hence Solomon asks to be made neither too rich nor needy (Prov 30:8). Yet this itself ought to be done in love, so that the honoring of the priest may come not from fear but rather from love, so that it may profit the one who does it as well. For a thing that is not done willingly does not reach its effect; for although it may profit the one who receives it for the present, it will profit the giver nothing in the future. And because dissension breeds many evils, he urges them to be peaceable.

“And we ask you, brothers, rebuke the restless, comfort the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient toward all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always pursue what is good, both toward one another and toward all. Rejoice always in the Lord; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all things. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in all of you.” Since there must be some in the congregation who are unruly, some faint-hearted, that is, fearful, and some weak in faith, he therefore urges with entreaty those who are restrained and great-hearted and grounded in faith to look after them, bearing with them, so that they can make progress; lest, if evil is repaid, they become worse. For this reason he urges that nothing but good be pursued, not only in the case of the brothers but of all. For unbelievers can be drawn to belief by good works, by which there is always rejoicing in the Lord, that is, in what is good. And one must pray without ceasing, for constant prayers move the judge’s mind to grant mercy. And thanks must be given to God in all good acts, for he has granted this teaching in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good; abstain from every evil appearance.” He says this so that no one who speaks through the Spirit should readily be forbidden (for it is quenched if the fervor of one beginning to speak is stifled by contradiction), lest perhaps, not understanding that spiritual things are being spoken by him, they wrong the Holy Spirit and sin through ignorance; and that anyone who, as it were, opens up the Scriptures ought to be heard patiently, but that everything said should be examined and so judged, lest perhaps, while they reject the grace given to a brother, they resist its author. So he warns that everything that is said must be tested, and whatever has been said soberly and well is to be retained. For whatever agrees with the words of the apostles and of the Lord himself is to be held well said and retained; but one must abstain from what seems hostile to the faith. For the spirit of the world is accustomed deceitfully to say good things by a kind of imitation, and among them to slip in wicked things, so that through the good things the evil are also accepted; so that, because they are thought to be the words of one spirit, they are not distinguished from one another, but what is unlawful is commended by what is lawful, by the authority of a name, not by the reason of virtue. For they are accustomed to teach unspeakable and contrary things under the name of the apostles and of the Lord himself; and so he warns that everything must be tested, because the words of the Lord cannot be contradictory. Hence too the letter of John the apostle says: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1); because if it says many good things but in something brings out what is against the faith, let it be known that it is not the Holy Spirit. For nothing of error can be found in the Holy Spirit. But through the exercise of speech some things are spiritual and some fleshly, for all error is ascribed to the flesh; or at any rate by some cunning device it feigns good things in order to insert evil things among them, as I mentioned above; just as in Montanus and Priscilla and Maximilla, the prophets of the Cataphrygians, the spirit of the world by a kind of imitation simulated good, so that through many plausible, and even true, things it might lie that it was the Holy Spirit.

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you, perfect in all things, so that your spirit and soul and body may be kept whole and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The God of peace is Christ, for he says: “My peace I give you, my peace I leave you” (John 14:27). Since all that the Father has is the Son’s, the apostle wishes him to sanctify us, so that he may enlighten us with the kindness of his mercy and direct all our action in perfection, so that the spirit given to us may be whole. For it is whole if we strive for a good life, having a clean soul and a body without blame, so that the whole man may be perfect. For the body can be clean and the soul defiled by an evil thought; and so he says that the spirit must be clean in the light. But if an evil life or thought intervenes, the spirit will not be whole, because it leaves a man burdened with sins. For while soul and body disagree with it, though it [the spirit] be without feeling, they become estranged from it, and, as if losing them, the spirit will not be whole; for it is given to man to remain in him and be as it were his head. So it will not be whole, because it loses its members when the man withdraws from it, doing what the Holy Spirit hates.

“For God who has called you is faithful, and he will do it. Brothers, pray for us.” He calls God faithful in his promises, so that, sure of the reward, we may live rightly. And because those who live rightly according to the gospel can easily obtain what they ask, he therefore urges them to pray for him; for many easily obtain what they desire.

“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.” Holy kisses are those in the Christian greeting; the others are fleshly, because whatever is done without Christ is fleshly and therefore mortal too. For whoever despises the author of life is in death.

“I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers.” He binds them to take care that the letter is read to all the brothers, so that they may learn both his praises and his admonitions, by which they may become perfect.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” So he wants them to advance in good works, so that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may remain in them for ever.