New Living Translation
1 Thessalonians 4:7
7God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
- New International Version (NIV)For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
Context of 1 Thessalonians 4:7
5not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. 6Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 8Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 9But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another.
Read all of 1 Thessalonians 41 Thessalonians 4:7 word by word
οὐ γὰρ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἁγιασμῷ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- hathκαλέωkaleō · to call: callG2564
- notοὐou · noG3756
- calledκαλέωkaleō · to call: callG2564
- usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- untoἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- uncleannessἀκαθαρσίαakatharsia · impurityG167
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- untoἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- holinessἁγιασμόςhagiasmos · holinessG38
Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 4:7
- Leviticus 11:44For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground.
- Leviticus 19:2“Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
- Romans 1:7I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
- Romans 8:29For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
- 1 Corinthians 1:2I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
- Ephesians 1:4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
- Ephesians 2:10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
- Ephesians 4:1Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
- 2 Timothy 1:9For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
- Hebrews 12:14Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
- 1 Peter 1:14So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
- 1 Peter 2:9But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:3So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.
- Galatians 5:19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
- Ephesians 4:19They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7God hath not called us unto uncleanness - He is the creator of male and female, and the institutor of marriage, and he has called men and women to this state; but the end of this and all the other callings of God to man is holiness, not uncleanness. And they who use the marriage state as he directs, will find it conducive to their holiness and perfection.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7For God hath not called us unto uncleanness - When he called us to be his followers, it was not that we should lead lives of impurity, but of holiness. We should, therefore, fulfil the purposes for which we were called into his kingdom. The word “uncleanness” ( ̓́ akatharsia), means, properly, “impurity, filth;” and then, in a moral sense, “pollution, lewdness,” as opposed to chastity; Romans 1:24; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7not … impurity … but … holiness: Compare with 1:4; 2:12; 5:23–24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 1 Peter 1:15–16.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. unto uncleanness--Greek, "for the purpose of." unto--rather as Greek, "in"; marking that "holiness" is the element in which our calling has place; in a sphere of holiness. Saint is another name for Christian.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 4:7
In the dictionaries
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
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