1 Thessalonians 4:3

1 Thessalonians 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
• New International Version (NIV)It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
• English Standard Version (ESV)For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
• New King James Version (NKJV)For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

Context of 1 Thessalonians 4:3

1Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God — as you are doing — do this even more. 2For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, 4that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 word by word

τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ ἁγιασμὸς ὑμῶν, ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πορνείας·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the willθέλημαthelēma · will/desireG2307
• of Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• sanctificationἁγιασμόςhagiasmos · holinessG38
• thatἀπέχωapechō · to have in fullG568
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• fornicationπορνείαporneia · sexual sinG4202

Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 4:3

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
• Psalms 40:8I delight to do your will, my God, and your instruction is deep within me.”
• Psalms 143:10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.
• Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
• Matthew 12:50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
• Mark 3:35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
• John 4:34“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.
• John 7:17If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.
• Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
• Ephesians 5:17So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• Ephesians 6:6Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing God’s will from your heart.
• Colossians 1:9For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
• Colossians 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.
• Hebrews 10:36For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.
• Hebrews 13:21equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
• 1 Peter 4:2in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3This is the will of God, even your sanctification - God has called you to holiness; he requires that you should be holy; for without holiness none can see the Lord. This is the general calling, but in it many particulars are included. Some of these he proceeds to mention; and it is very likely that these had been points on which he gave them particular instructions while among them. That ye should abstain from fornication - The word , as we have seen in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3it is God’s will that you should be holy: Christian ethics focus on doing God's will, not on philosophical ideas about virtue (Romans 12:1–2; Ephesians 6:6; Hebrews 10:36; 13:20–21). Holiness affects every part of a person's life (1 Thessalonians 4:4, 7; 5:23). Here, it means restraint from sexual sin (Greek porneia, meaning any sexual union or activity outside marriage).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. For--enforcing the assertion that his "commandments" were "by (the authority of) the Lord Jesus" (1Th 4:2). Since "this is the will of God," let it be your will also. fornication--not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the more to be denounced (Ac 15:20).Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 4:3

• Adultery
• Chastity
• Commandments
• Holiness
• Sanctification
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• will of God
• Asleep
• Quiet
• Rise
• Sleep
• Trump
• Crime; Crimes
• Sanctification

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings