For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
Parallel Translations
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For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
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For god hath not called vs vnto vnclennes: but vnto holynes.
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For God hath not called vs vnto vncleannesse, but vnto holinesse.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to 1 Thessalonians 4:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 11:44 For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
- 1 Peter 2:9-12 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.
- Ephesians 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love,
- 1 Peter 1:14-16 as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
- Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
- Romans 8:29-30 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
- 1 Peter 2:21-22 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.”
- 2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
- 2 Peter 2:10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;
- Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
- 1 Thessalonians 2:3 For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in deception.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which he called you through our Good News, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,
- Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
- Ephesians 4:19 They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
- Romans 1:7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 1:2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7 For God hath not called us. This appears…
7 For God hath not called us. This appears to be the same sentiment with the preceding one — that the will of God is our sanctification. There is, however, a little difference between them. For after having discoursed as to the correcting of the vices of the flesh, he proves, from the end of our calling, that God desires this. For he sets us apart to himself as his peculiar possession. Again, that God calls us to holiness, he proves by contraries, because he rescues us, and calls us back, from unchastity. From this he concludes, that all that reject this doctrine reject not men, but God, the Author of this calling, which altogether falls to the ground so soon as this principle as to newness of life is overthrown. Now, the reason why he rouses himself so vehemently is, because there are always wanton persons who, while they fearlessly despise God, treat with ridicule all threatenings of his judgment, and at the same time hold in derision all injunctions as to a holy and pious life. Such persons must not be taught, but must be beaten with severe reproofs as with the stroke of a hammer.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness,…
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
Ver. 7. For God hath not called us] {See Trapp on "Eph 4:1"} It is a sure rule given by the ancients, Confusiones libidinum sunt signa cuius libet sectae. Simon Magus had his Helena, Carpocrates his Marcellina, Apelles his Philumena, Montanus his Priscilla and Maximilla, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain These two verses are added, as further arguments to…
These two verses are added, as further arguments to persuade to that chastity he had spoken of, called sanctification, 1Th 4:3,4. The first is taken from their Christian calling, which is not to uncleanness, but to chastity, called holiness. When they were Gentiles in state, they lived in the lust of uncleanness, but they were now called by the power of the gospel, and brought to such a profession that did forbid and condemn it. And the author of their call is God himself, though the apostles and other ministers were the instruments. Whence he fetcheth this second argument, 1Th 4:8, that if this chastity he despised, or rejected, as we may read the text, it is not man, but God, that is despised. To despise a minister in a commandment he delivers from God is to despise God himself, Luk 10:16, &c.; and the apostle doth here intimate, not to obey the commandment of God is a despising God. Or, that the apostle was despised by some because of the outward meanness of his person, or questioning his authority.
Who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit: this he adds as a third argument; so that what he had preached to them, was not from himself, but from the Holy Spirit. Or if by us he means these Thessalonians also, as some copies read it, he hath given you, &c., then he argues from the gift of the Holy Spirit they had received against living in the sin of uncleanness. This would be very disagreeable, not only to their holy calling, but the Holy Spirit God had given them. Or else these arguments of the apostle are to persuade to universal holiness, taking sanctification and holiness in a larger sense; and uncleanness, for all sin in general standing opposite thereunto. Sin is often spoken of in Scripture under the notion of filth, defilement, pollution, &c., and so was typed forth under the law; and to be cleansed from sin is a cleansing man from filthiness, 2Co 7:1; so that to live in sin, as the apostle argues, is to live in uncleanness, to contradict our holy calling, to despise God, and to walk contrary to the nature and dictates of his Holy Spirit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For God hath not called us,.... The Syriac version…
For God hath not called us,.... The Syriac version reads "you". This is another reason to enforce the above exhortations, and to caution them against the above unclean practices, taken from the end of the effectual calling by the efficacious grace of God, which is not
unto uncleanness of any sort, as before specified. This they had lived in before their calling, and were now called from it into communion with Christ, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and by the Gospel, which teaches to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to forsake all impurity, both of flesh and spirit:
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but this call is
unto holiness of life and conversation in general, and to chastity in thought, look, word, and actions in particular; for God that calls is holy, and therefore those who are called ought to be so; the calling with which they are called is an holy calling, principles of grace and holiness are wrought in their souls, when they are called; and the end of their calling is to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and then, and then only, do they walk worthy of that calling wherewith they are called, and of God who has, by his grace, called them to his kingdom and glory.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. God hath not called us unto uncleanness]…
Verse 7. God 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For God hath not called us unto uncleanness -…
For 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” (ἀκαθαρσία akatharsia), means, properly, “impurity, filth;” and then, in a moral sense, “pollution, lewdness,” as opposed to chastity; Rom 1:24; Rom 6:19; 2Co 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain unto uncleanness--Greek, "for the purpose of."
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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. For—Ground of these warnings.
7. For—Ground of these warnings.
Not called us—Says Erasmus, (quoted by Lunemann,) “God has not called us under the law that we should be impure, since, indeed, the very cause and condition of our calling is, that we should cease to be what we once were.”
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Uncleanness—Impurity; primarily applicable to sexual impurity, but capable of including any moral contamination, as here of both adultery and fraud. These were closely allied vices, and, to the chaste and unselfish mind of the apostle, both were a foul stain upon the body and soul.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness,…
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 2Th_2:13, “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of 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. 1Th_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 1Th_4:3-4. True believers in Christ are necessarily “saints;” so the Apostle commonly addresses all Christians to whom he writes (see Rom_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 call is 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 (Eph_4:1). So he comes to his last word on this matter:—
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) For God.—This gives the reason for stating that…
(7) For God.—This gives the reason for stating that the Lord will take vengeance on such sins; because they are not part of the terms on which His Father called us. It should be “did not call.” These 1Th_4:7-8, sum up the little disquisition, returning to the principle announced in 1Th_4:3.
Unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.—The preposition translated “unto” has the same force in Gal_5:13, “Called unto liberty,” and Eph_2:10, “Created unto good works.” It implies not so much the definite end to which we are invited, as the terms on which the invitation will still stand; for the call is not yet accomplished. (See Note on 1Th_2:12.) The second “unto” in the Greek is simply “in,” used in the same sense as in 1Th_4:4. Paraphrase, “For God did not call us on the understanding that we might be unclean, but by the way of sanctification.”
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Holiness is a mistranslation for sanctification. The process, not the quality, is meant.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For God hath not called us unto; or, for…
For God hath not called us unto; or, for the purpose of. Uncleanness; moral uncleanness in general. (comp. 1Co_6:15) But unto; or, in; in a state of Holiness ; or sanctification; the same word as in the third verse; so that holiness is the whole sphere of cur Christian life.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 7. Unto holiness. The Christian calling demands purity of…
7. Unto holiness. The Christian calling demands purity of life.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain For God called us not for uncleanness, but in…
For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification . ["God has not called us under the law that we should be impure, since, indeed, the very cause and condition of our calling is that we should cease to be what we once were."--Erasmus.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 God did not call us to uncleanness, but to…
God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "God called us to cleanness and holiness" (See: Double Negatives)
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God did not call us
The word "us" refers to all believers. (See: Inclusive "We")
he who rejects this
"whoever disregards this teaching" or "whoever ignores this teaching"
rejects not people, but God
Paul stresses that this teaching is not from man, but from God.
translationWords
God
call
clean
holy
reject
Holy Spirit
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:7 holy . . . not impure: Cp. 1:4;…
4:7 holy . . . not impure: Cp. 1:4; 2:12; 5:23-24; 2 Thes 2:13-14; 1 Pet 1:15-16.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.