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

1Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and appeal in the Lord Yeshua—just as you received from us the way you ought to walk and please God (as in fact you are walking)—that you keep progressing more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Yeshua. For this is the will of God—your sanctification: to abstain from sexual immorality; 4to know, each of you, how to gain control over his own body in holiness and honor— 5not in the passion of lust like the pagans 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 God’s will for you in Messiah Yeshua.
• Psalms 40:8Then I said: “Here I am, I have come— in the scroll of a book it is written about me.
• Psalms 143:10Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Ruach lead me on level ground.
• Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will 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, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
• Mark 3:35For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
• John 4:34Yeshua tells them, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
• John 7:17If anyone wants to do His will, he will know whether My teaching comes from God or it is Myself speaking.
• Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
• Ephesians 5:17For this reason do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• Ephesians 6:6not just under your master’s eye as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Messiah doing God’s will from the soul.
• Colossians 1:9For this reason also, ever since we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking God that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding—
• Colossians 4:12Epaphras, who is one of your own, a slave of Messiah Yeshua, greets you. He is always laboring in prayer on your behalf, so you may stand complete and fully assured about everything that is God’s will.
• Hebrews 10:36For you need perseverance so that, after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
• Hebrews 13:21make you complete in every good thing to do His will, accomplishing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Messiah Yeshua. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
• 1 Peter 4:2As a result, he lives the rest of his 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
• 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