1 Thessalonians 4:6-8

The Purpose of Paul's Warning

Apparently, Paul had devoted some of this teaching in Thessalonica to warning the brethren of God's avenging wrath in situations where one is defrauded. One has to wonder if the so-called social diseases and A. I. D. S. are not manifestations of such wrath. God's call, which goes forth in the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14), has a twopronged purpose. Negatively, it prohibits uncleanness. Positively, it brings the Christians to sanctification, or holiness, as Paul wrote in verse 3.

When Paul warned the Thessalonians against rejection, McGarvey said he was referring "to the forewarning and testifying of verse 6." As he went on to write, such rejection would not really be of Paul but of God, in whose behalf Paul spoke (compare Acts 5:4). The Christian who rejects God's warnings, as revealed by the inspired penman, rejects the Holy Spirit and the Father. To fail to obey God, is to reject him (1 Thessalonians 4:6 b-8; 1 John 5:3).