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 Living Translation (NLT)God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.

Context of 1 Thessalonians 4:3

1Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not 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 5:18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
• Psalms 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”
• Psalms 143:10Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
• Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he 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 3:35For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
• John 4:34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
• John 7:17If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
• Romans 12:2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
• Ephesians 5:17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
• Ephesians 6:6not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
• Colossians 1:9For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask 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 bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
• Hebrews 10:36For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
• Hebrews 13:21make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
• 1 Peter 4:2that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

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
• will of God
• Asleep
• Quiet
• Rise
• Sleep
• Trump
• Crime; Crimes
• Sanctification
• Thessalonians, the First Epistle of Paul to the

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