1 Thessalonians 4:3 BSB

1 Thessalonians 4:3

For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication;

KJV

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

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Commentary

4 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,.... Which is another reason to enforce the above exhortation. "Sanctification" is internal or external. Internal sanctification is the work of the Spirit of God, and is a principle of spiritual life in the soul, a divine and spiritual light in the understanding, a flexion of the will to the will of God, and a settlement of the affections on divine things, and is an implantation of every grace in the heart.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Sanctification - Entire holiness of heart and life: particular branches of it are subjoined. That ye abstain from fornication - A beautiful transition from sanctification to a single branch of the contrary; and this shows that nothing is so seemingly distant, or below our thoughts, but we have need to guard against it.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification - It is the will or command of God that you should be holy. This does not refer to the purpose or decree of God, and does not mean that he intended to make them holy - but it means that it was his command that they should be holy. It was also true that it was agreeable to the divine will or purpose that they should be holy, and that he meant to use such an influence as to secure this; but this is not the truth taught here.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
τοῦτο	touto	This	G3778 →
γάρ	gar	for	G1063 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
θέλημα	thelēma	[the] will	G2307 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
θεοῦ,	theou	of God,	G2316 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
ἁγιασμὸς	hagiasmos	sanctification	G38 →
ὑμῶν,	humōn	of you:	G4771 →
ἀπέχεσθαι	apechesthai	To abstain	G568 →
ὑμᾶς	humas	you [are]	G4771 →
ἀπὸ	apo	from	G575 →
τῆς	tēs	<the>	G3588 →
πορνείας·	porneias	sexual immorality;	G4202 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

G38hagiasmossanctification10×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
leads to
- 1 Peter 1:14
  As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Ephesians 4:22–24
  to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Colossians 3:10
  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- 1 John 2:15–17
  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Through
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
leads to
- Genesis 2:24
  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Through
Ephesians 5:17
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
leads to
- Romans 12:2
  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
Through
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
leads to
- Jude 1:24
  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—