1 Thessalonians 4:7

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness The two prepositions alike rendered "unto" in the A.V., are quite distinct in the Greek. St Paul writes, God called us not for (with a view to) uncleanness, but in sanctification; similarly in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, "God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctificationof spirit." The call of God was from the first a sanctifying call for the Thessalonians, and was attended with holy influences that forbade all uncleanness. Certainly He never intended them to live impure lives, when He "called them to His own kingdom and glory" (ch. 1 Thessalonians 2:12); the understanding on which that call was received was the opposite of this. The entire purpose and tendency of God's message to them was "in sanctification." For this last word, see notes to 1 Thessalonians 4:3. True believers in Christ are necessarily "saints;" so the Apostle commonly addresses all Christians to whom he writes (see Romans 1:7, &c. "called saints," i.e. "saints in virtue of your calling"); and their sainthood excludes impurity and wrong-doing.

Observe that God's callis the starting-point of a Christian's life. All the motives and aims by which that life is governed are virtually contained in this. "Walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called" is with St Paul an exhortation that includes all others (Ephesians 4:1). So he comes to his last word on this matter: