1 Thessalonians 4:5

Text (1 Thessalonians 4:5)

5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God;

Translation and Paraphrase

5.

(By possessing our vessel in sanctification, we shall) not (live) in the passion (which) lust (arouses) as (do) the Gentiles who do not know God.

Notes (1 Thessalonians 4:5)

1.

The big word concupiscence in this verse (pronouncedkon-KUE-pi-s-'ns) will derail the thought of most readers from what this verse says, as it is a stranger in modern English.

Actually, the word simply means ardent desire, hence, sexual lusts. (Webster's Collegiate Dict.)
The American Standard Version translates lust of concupiscence as passion of lust.

2.

There is little difference in meaning between the words lust, concupiscence, and passion; Thayer says that the phrase passion of lust is a genitive of apposition. The word translated concupiscence (epitkumia) may be a slightly more comprehensive term, describing desire and lust as a way of life; whereas the word translated lust (pathos) can refer to a more momentary passion, the ungovernable desire. Hence in our paraphrase We have rendered the phrase, the passion (which) lust (arouses).

3.

Some men think that nothing can be done about sexual passions except to gratify them. This verse teaches us that this is not so. We can pray to God for deliverance. We can deliberately turn our minds toward other matters. We can do physical work which will absorb the energy that is showing itself in the form of lust.

4.

Once again here Paul emphasizes the moral degeneration of the Gentiles. The heathen moralists condemned unchastity only in the case of a child-bearing wife, as it would wrong her husband not to know the paternity of her children. (B. W. Johnson) See also paragraph 2 of the notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2.

5.

The statement that the Gentiles do not know God is more than just a casual bit of information. It is a judgment upon them. The reason that they do not know God is that they refused to have God in their knowledge. Romans 1:28. God will take vengeance on them that know not God. 2 Thessalonians 1:8. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not. Jeremiah 10:25. See also Psalms 79:6; Galatians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 15:34.